Inside Out

I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart…..it’s simple, really, we’re all emotional for both the positive and the negative…it’s called a balance and it makes us who we are.  Personify those emotions and put a child into a new situation in one of the best cities in the world (San Francisco….love it) and you’ve got your basis for the latest Pixar flick.  It relies on the voice character actors to emit the feelings they’re portraying working as a team in a little girl who’s out of her comfort zone and does so brilliantly.  Amy Poehler is the stand-out among this motley crew as “Joy”.  She finds the good, the happy place from any situation.  On the opposite end, we have “Sadness” voiced by Phyllis Smith, “Anger” - Lewis Black, “Fear” -  Bill Hader, and “Disgust” - Mindy Kaling, all of whom are key to our girl's, Riley’s, healthy emotional state and well-being.  A special shout-out about Richard Kind as “Bing Bong”, I had a friend like you, but his name was Tommy.  The parallels to this writer’s life are spot-on…the dialogue, extremely familiar, and the one-liners, priceless.  I would love to see Riley progress even further in a sequel.  This film gets a heartfelt rating of happy, silly, fluffy, blue, and rainbow aka 4 stars.  

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Knights of the Roundtable, not looking for the Holy Grail, but protecting the British Empire and the world from crazy, what more could you ask for?  The special effects are brilliant…and even if you frown when someone tells you that this movie is extremely violent, there’s still the fact that most of it is “clean”, not visceral.  Still in all, the style used in telling the story of Eggsy and his journey from a “slacker” to the potential to be a new Lancelot or Galahad, is definitely worth the watch.  Situations pop along at a brisk pace with several surprises throughout, and even though it’s exceptionally violent, it still has its tongue firmly placed in its cheek.  Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Sir Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, and cool as a cucumber, Sofia Boutella as Gazelle, all deliver the goods with style, grace, and less “cheese” than you would expect from a movie based on a comic book.  Rating:  3.25 stars…not for the little ones by any stretch of the imagination, and by that, I mean pay attention to the rating, it’s there for a good reason.  Looking forward to a new episode when and if, it comes to pass.