‘Bad Grandpa’ brings bad humor, pranks
Irving Zisman, Johnny Knoxville’s 80-something “grandpa” character, has a weirdly offensive libido, which would make him an inappropriate role model for anyone, let alone pudgy eight-year-old Billy (Jackson Nicoll). Yanked into a caretaker role after his daughter’s prison sentence, the ornery old creep feels the need to pick up women after the “couldn’t happen sooner” death of his life partner.
“Bad Grandpa” continues the “Jackass” franchise in a mocking gross out style. Blending candid camera and reality stunts, Knoxville and Nicoll have an unstructured and mostly ill-motivated compilation that mostly takes itself too seriously. Unwilling to acknowledge the repeated hidden camera gimmicks, the film contends with jerky cuts and jumps that have even the laughing viewer thinking about the likely consequences of everything from bold shoplifting and underage consumption to impaired vehicular driving.
Still, a dysfunctional wake, a mockery imitation of little girls’ beauty pageants, several restaurant faux pas, and a too-short wedding wreck jolt laughs and smiles. But other stunts and continuing cadaver transport necessitate “reaction” shots for proper scene seques.
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The Counselor
Don’t anticipate tense legal maneuvers or a even an assembly line of intoxicating clues. The attorney (Michael Fassbender) has crossed over onto the other side of the law in a drug deal which endangers his gal (Penelope Cruz) and anyone with whom he’s in contact. Having crossed a moral line, can any lawyer joke save him?
Gravity
Think “2001: A Space Odyssey” with cutie Sandra Bullock lost where no one can hear her weep or scream. Technically beautiful and intimately choreographed , this is a 3-D epic worthy of the added dimension. I can’t urge you enough to see this weightless ballet on a big screen. It’s the birth of a space icon.
Carrie
Here’s what happens to those who bully the wrong shy gal target at a prom. This reimagining of the Stephen King classic stars Chloe Grace Moretz as the troubled teen with the peculiar talents and Julianne Moore as her holy roller mother.