I'll never forget seeing Rodney Dangerfield LIVE at The Celebrity Theatre at the height of his popularity in 86/87. His energy was off the charts, sweating through his shirt as he fired off jokes at an amazing pace for his age. The man was hilarious. And so is his best film from 1986, BACK TO SCHOOL. Rodney stars as Fat Guy (this was back in the wonderful years when we could all laugh at ourselves) Clothing Magnet Thornton Melon. Hard working and rich beyond his wildest dreams, Thornton loves his job and his customers. When his son Jason (Keith Gordon) starts struggling at college, his Dad decides to attend college with him, setting up one of the funniest film comedies of all time. Thornton proceeds to expand adjoining dorm rooms into a massive bachelor pad where Oingo Boingo performs at night. His teachers range from the insane Sam Kinison "He's a great teacher. He really cares! About what I have no idea....." to sexy Sally Kellerman as Diane, the English teacher he instantly falls in love with in his first class. Ned Beatty is hilarious as Dean Martin, whose eye is on all the Melon grants to his funding and Paxton Whitehead is memorable as the stuffy business professor who Thornton one-ups at every turn. Rodney and six other writers create a fast-moving, fun comedy that gives Rodney plenty of chances to be himself while also creating a warm and lovable character that everyone will root for in every scene. By the time Rodney is doing the triple-lindy dive in the college swim match championships and cramming for a verbal exam from all his professors, your face hurts from laughing. A very young Robert Downey Jr brings plenty of laughs as Jason's twisted best friend Derek. Bob Saget was originally up for the role of Professor Turgeson, but its hard to imagine anyone but Sam Kinison in the role. Every line delivery from Sam is flawless and fall down funny. By far Rodney's best film as a lead, Back to School is a perennial favorite that gets funnier with time. A classic comedy that graduates with an A.

A cheesy B-movie script spruced up with spectacular special effects and a terrific cast, 1991's BACKDRAFT still burns bright as an action film nearly 25 years after its release. Kurt Russell and William Baldwin are the McCaffrey brothers, Bull and Brian. After watching their legendary Chicago firefighter Dad die battling a blaze, Bull grows up to fight fires with more bravado than brains. His younger brother Brian struggles with his desire to be a fireman, which is constantly at odds with the thought of facing the foe that killed his father before his eyes. When a particularly clever and nasty arsonist with a penchant for creating spectacular fires begins his reign across Chicago, the brothers are forced to work together to battle the blazes. Russell is one of my favorite actors, but Bull is one of his least likable roles, all macho bravado and self centered motives that begin to endanger the lives of those around him in explosions of beer soaked rage. Scott Glenn is great as Axe, a fellow firefighter, Robert DeNiro is very good as an arson investigator that takes Brian under his wing and Donald Sutherland nearly steals the movie as a jailed arsonist bringing Hannibal Lecter style insight into their current problem. William Baldwin is pretty damn good as Brian (whatever happened to that Baldwin brother?) but poor Jennifer Jason Leigh, a terrific actress, comes across as stiff and robotic playing the assistant to a shady politician. I'll blame the hopelessly bad dialogue and a poorly written role instead of Leigh. The story of the brothers and their macho antics are strictly the stuff of second rate movies, but Director Ron Howard and his special effects team stage the most realistic fire scenes ever filmed, making "The Towering Inferno" look like a campfire. The fire lives and breathes, roaring and exploding unpredictably and creating some terrific scenes throughout and a jaw dropping finale. Hans Zimmer's music score is an 80's classic and the photography by Mikael Salomon (The Abyss, Far and Away) is excellent. If you aren't holding your breathe in the final warehouse blaze for twenty minutes, you aren't paying attention. Cheezy drama? Indeed. Amazing action sequences and hugely entertaining? You bet. BACKDRAFT still blazes its way to a smoldering B a quarter century after its release.

In 1984, Tom Hanks hit the big screen for the first time with "Splash" and the raunchy comedy BACHELOR PARTY. Hanks has the best moments in the film as less-than-ambitious Catholic school bus driver, Rick. He's engaged to Debbie, played (acted would be an over statement) by the gorgeous Tawny Kitaen. Hanks has a blast torturing his future in-laws by being the anti-yuppie, launching tennis shots out of the court like home runs and always wearing the wrong clothes. Rick's best friends are determined to throw him the ultimate Bachelor Party, which in their mind includes a multitude of hookers, a farm animal and some serious 80's debauchery. Hanks made me smile in most of his scenes, but the only time I laughed out loud was when said farm animal ate an entire table full of drugs and goes on a wild rampage. It's written and directed by the Israel Brothers, who were also behind "Police Academy". If you found that movie funny (I hated it) then you'll probably love this one too. Kudos to Wendie Jo Sperber (1941) as the wife of Rick's brother (William Tepper), a horny dentist that sums up the early 80's with every mannerism. Porsches are ruined, boxer-clad Chinese businessmen chase women around like a Benny Hill skit, suicide becomes a running joke and somehow, Hanks escapes slightly embarrassed but unscathed, rising above the material with his emerging comic chops. BACHELOR PARTY gets a D. Without Hanks, it would have sunk even lower.

Just to prove that the ladies can be as foul, nasty, horrible and HILARIOUS as the men were in THE HANGOVER, producers Adam McKay and Will Ferrell bring us BACHELORETTE. Not for the sensitive, easily offended or faint of heart, this is a damn funny movie with a really, really dark side lurking just beneath the surface. Kirsten Dunst (with another unexpected performance after her brilliant turn in "Melancholia") is the nicest of three bridesmaids gathering for their college friend Rebel Wilson's wedding, and she is a pretty nasty person. These are not nice people, but they are pretty damn funny. With great support from James Marsden, Adam Scott and Andrew Rannels, you are SURE to cringe a LOT and depending on how jet black you like your comedy, you'll either find these ladies hilarious or despicable. Count me as being on the former. Isla Fisher is fearless and Lizzy Caplan is not your Mom's idea of a bridesmaid! They should merge the Hangover series with this one to create a tidal wave or horrible human behavior! Dunst and company party their way to a B.

One of the most original and enjoyable movies I've seen in 2017, BABY DRIVER is a fast paced, violent thriller packed with music, laughs and thrills. Ansel Elgort (The Fault In Our Stars) is Baby, a young man with an incredible talent for driving and tinnitus so bad that he lives with his in-ear headphones in place, banging out accompaniment for every moment of his life. Indebted to a brutal crime boss named Doc (Kevin Spacey having a blast), Baby is a getaway driver for all of Doc's heists. Luckily for us, the other talent in the robberies is equally entertaining. John Bernthal is Griff, Jon Hamm is superb as Buddy, Eiza Gonzalez is beautiful and lethal as Buddy's girlfriend Darling and Jamie Foxx is the unhinged and hilarious Bats. Writer/Director Edgar Wright (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) choreographs every action scene down to the second, staging the set pieces perfectly to the music Baby has in his ears. The bullets are downbeats, screaming tires are the melody, its incredibly well done. The opening ten minutes perfectly set the tone for the film ahead as Baby proves his talents in a wild post-heist escape. As Baby fulfills his obligations to Doc, falls in love with the local waitress at the diner Debora (Lily James looking exactly like Madchen Amick as Shelly the diner waitress in the original 1990 Twin Peaks series) and wants to get out of driving, Doc has other plans. The film shares specific celluloid DNA with Walter Hill's 1978 crime thriller "The Driver" along with Steve McQueen's 1972 "The Getaway" but becomes something wholly of its own through Wright's unique vision. With over 30 songs of almost every genre burning in the background, BABY DRIVER plays its own tune. In a summer of rehashed pirates, transformers, superheroes, animated cars and minions, what more can a movie fan ask for? BABY DRIVER burns rubber straight to an A.

If you love scary movies, take the time to summon up THE BABADOOK. Single mom Amilia (Essie Davis) is haunted by memories of losing her husband 7 years ago in a tragic car accident on the way to deliver her son. Her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) has grown into a socially awkward, strange boy, terrified of all the childhood monsters in his room. Each night his Mom shows him the closet, under the bed, all the usual night creature hiding spots to assure him there is no such thing as monsters. One night, Samuel chooses a book of his shelf titles THE BABADOOK as his bedtime story. The pop-up book is horrifying, detailing a scary creature that will enter their home and kill them. Just like that damn creepy doll Annabelle in "The Conjuring", the book can't be destroyed, it just keeps coming back. Soon, the massive dark creature begins to enter their home and Samuel and Amilia's life is turned upside down. Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent creates three dimensional characters you care about and want to survive, raising the material far above the usual horror flick. Davis is very good and Wiseman is a gifted young actor, creating a young Samuel that is quirky, bizarre and easy to root for as he tries to protect himself and his Mom from a monster that is all too real. Like nearly every horror film of the past decade, the ending is the hardest part to deliver and I can't say that the ending left me fully satisfied, but I have to give it credit for originality. Less said, the better. Just let this creepy little movie wrap its long, dark claws around you. I bet you think twice the next time you try to read a pop-up book to the little ones in your life! The Babadook gets a B.

NO SPOILERS-ASSUMING YOU'VE SEEN INFINITY WAR #DontSpoilTheEndgame #ThanosDemandsYourSilence After 22 films starting with "Ironman", this cycle of the Marvel film universe comes to a spectacular, perfect close with AVENGERS ENDGAME. The world is in chaos after the events of last year's 'Avengers Infinity War", with half the world's population and half of our superhero stable faded into dust with a snap of Thanos' fingers. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) is stuck in space, Captain America (Chris Evans) is feeling defeated, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) are lost on their path and Thor (a terrific Chris Hemsworth, stealing the movie throughout) sits in a corner, silent. What I loved about the film is that I walked in with a theory on how they were going to fix the Thanos snap. I was sure I had it in hand. But directors Anthony and Joe Russo and their writers not only took my theory off the table in the first 30 minutes, they smashed it to pieces. I loved it. I had no idea where this action packed, multi-universe adventure was going but I didn't expect it to be so packed with laugh out loud moments and emotional wallops. These are filmmakers at the absolute peak of their game and everyone is all in. It's nice to see Jeremy Renner finally get his due as Hawkeye. His dark side is a very dangerous place to be. Having fun with time travel, the story basically serves up the ultimate Back to the Future homage with a hell of a lot more at stake. James Brolin is terrific as Thanos too, making the most of his screen time. Paul Rudd gets to show his dramatic skills with a more serious turn from Ant Man than we've seen in the past. Bradley Cooper nails every punch line as Rocket. What so many of the Marvel movies have got right is creating impossible superhero moments, rooted in real emotions, real people and real consequences. That continues in ENDGAME with the stakes higher than ever and the suspense building over a solid, fast-moving three hours. I'm so sick of everyone online bitching that the movie is 181 minutes long. When it moves this quickly, who cares? Just enjoy it! There are genuine moments of triumph that got the entire audience cheering and clapping as one. How often does THAT happen anymore at the movies? The last hour of the movie is flawless, topping Infinity War in scale and emotional payoff. It leaves you exhausted, happy and devastated at the same time. The filmmakers must have seen Star Trek VI too, because they copy that film's terrific final credits by allowing each member of the Avengers team to appear on screen as their signatures scroll out. It's the perfect moment to recognize each and their contribution to the incredibly successful franchise. Alan Silvestri's music score is omnipresent in all the right ways, with some HUGE payoff moments for fans. ENDGAME is the ultimate sendoff. Emotional, powerfully sad, hilarious, stuffed with fan references to the other 22 films, it's the biggest box office hit of all time with $350 million USA and $1.2 BILLION its first three days. It deserves every dollar. My expectations were very high and it exceeded every one. Thanks for the best film series of the past decade, Marvel. Keep 'em coming. ENDGAME blazes its way to an A+.

NO SPOILERS! In the opening moments of the new blockbuster AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, I noticed that the IO in Marvel Studios was now fashioned into a "10" denoting the tenth anniversary of the first Marvel film, "Ironman". How far we've come from that first, smaller but hugely entertaining movie. INFINITY WAR is a blast. A two and a half hour assault of superhero entertainment that's exciting, funny and surprisingly moving. The big bad of the Marvel universe has finally arrived in Thanos (well voiced and acted by Josh Brolin) whose crusade to save the universe is based on the most dramatic population culling since the 1972 cult sci-fi hit ZPG (look it up film nerds!). All of our favorite Marvel superheroes are reunited to battle Thanos and its a HUGE cast. The Civil War between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Ironman (Robert Downey Jr) is quickly cast aside as all the good guys realize the only chance they have against Thanos is to pull together. The power of the film is that you feel that they'll be consequences if they don't. Rather than another rote, loud, boring battle, we watch the pieces of the battle against Thanos's quest to collect all the Infinity Stones take place across the universe. Thor (Chris Hemsworth at his best) meets and pairs up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Doctor Strange (the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch) and Tony Stark band their giant egos together. By the time we all end up in Wakanda for a battle to end all battles, the film feels more like "Lord of the Rings" in size, scale and emotional weight than a Marvel movie. It's fantastic. Balancing the real life and death consequences of this fight for the universe with plenty of laugh out loud moments, directors Anthony and Joe Russo continue their winning streak, making 150 minutes feel like less than two hours. Tom Holland's Spiderman is the heart of the movie. He's awesome, as is Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Brolin brings the most shades of madness to any villain in these movies in decades, which makes Thanos all the more terrifying. The last twenty minutes of the film are jaw dropping. I never saw the conclusion coming and it took me a minute to realize exactly what was happening. This is the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Avengers films, telling you half of a huge story and doing it brilliantly. Like that film, it leaves you satisfied but on the edge of your seat wanting more, a LOT more. I have a lot of questions, my Grandson had plenty of questions, mostly dealing with "what happened?" You know what buddy, I dont really know either, but I can't wait to find out. Don't let anyone tell you too much about INFINITY WAR, see it for yourself. It's about sacrifice and loyalty and the very existence of the universe. If that sounds pretty heavy....just wait until you see it. AVENGERS INFINITY WAR kicks off Summer Movie Season 2018 with a big bang, the biggest box office opening of all time and an A+. "More power, Rabbit!!!"

Following a perfect summer blockbuster like 2012's "The Avengers" is a tough task, but Joss Whedon and his team have done the near-impossible and topped that film with its sequel AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. The film opens in the middle of an action sequence as the entire Avengers teams descends on the last stronghold of Hydra to get back an alien weapon in the hands of the Nazi-like villains. The first fifteen minutes is an amazing action sequence that would have been the epic conclusion of any action film from years gone by, but our team of heroes is just getting started. When Tony Stark (perfect Richard Downey Jr) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo's best Hulk yet) team up to explore the capabilities of the weapon and use its advanced technology as the final piece of their world peace keeping technology, things go horrible wrong. Thor (Chris Hemsworth in his funniest and best Thor performance), Captain America (Chris Evans emerging as the moral center of the Avengers), Black Widow (excellent Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) all have important roles to play as the story unfolds. When Stark's peaceful system reinvents itself into an Ultron focused on the destruction of the human race, the Avengers find themselves battling a very different kind of enemy. The film gets so many things right. Casting James Spader as the voice of Ultron is perfect. As the robot goes from an emerging consciousness to a dangerous superpower, Spader manages to perfectly convey the petulance of a child and the sarcastic menace of a Bond villain. There is a strong streak of terrific humor throughout the film, from Captain America's intolerance of bad language to the heft of Thor's Hammer keeping you laughing between the massive action set pieces. And they ARE massive. Somehow Writer/Director Joss Whedon manages to create battles on a huge scale with personal stakes, so they never collapse under their own weight like those endless boring battles in the Transformers films. Whedon also cleverly dives deeper into the characters, giving the audience a much bigger stake in the consequences. This time, we see Hawkeye in much more depth. His personal life, his background and his acceptance of the fact that in the middle of these superheroes he's "just a guy shooting bow and arrows, it doesn't make any sense". It's that sense of humor that makes the film standout and enjoyable from its opening moments to its final post credits teaser. The nearly always present music score by Danny Elfman builds nicely off of the original themes by Brian Tyler. A huge supporting cast lends excellent support, with strong moments from Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Hayley Atwell as Agent Carter and Anthony Mackie as The Falcon. Paul Bettany's role as Jarvis is expanded with great results and two new characters with powers are launched. Elizabeth Olson is menacing as The Scarlett Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the blindingly speedy Quicksilver. As Cobie Smulders summarizes in her role as Agent Hill (you Agents of Shield fans know who I'm talking about) "She's weird and he's fast". Luckily, by the end of the film, there's a lot more to the brother and sister than that fact. There's a lot more of EVERYTHING in Age of Ultron. More laughs, more action, more bad guys and more expectations. The final battle with an entire city lifting off the ground could have been confusing and repetitive. At the hands of this cast and these filmmakers, its a visual feast of action, music, drama and solid laughs. This is one helluva a way to kickoff the 2015 Summer Movie season. Age of Ultron gets an A+.

What an EXCELLENT way to kickoff the 2012 Summer movie season! THE AVENGERS is excellent from start to finish. I was really wondering if Joss Whedon could juggle all these characters and do them justice in one film, and he's exceeded expectations. Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, IRONMAN is the hilarious core of the film, with Chris Evans in his second turn as CAPTAIN AMERICA (after last summer's great film of the same name) Mark Ruffalo as the screen's best HULK, Chris Hemsworth as THOR, Scarlett Johansson as the deadly BLACK WIDOW and Jeremy Renner as ARCHER form Marvel's THE AVENGERS. Non-stop action, excitement and fun light up the screen as this team first meets, becomes a very disfunctional family and then teams up to defend the Earth against a nasty bunch of invaders. Favorite bits: (no spoilers here) The Hulk's final battle with our main villain, almost any scene with Ruffalo as David Banner, the Galaga playing crew member, Ironman and Thor's battle in the woods and the entire last half hour New York City battle sequence. I thought I was well past being surprised by weaponry, a battleship or hardware, but consider me pleasantly surprised! The writing, special effects, direction, music and editing all come together here to create an excellent summer movie for the ages. The Avengers is clever, action filled fun and gets an A! Followed by AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.

Mike Meyers hit comedy gold with 2002's AUSTIN POWERS in GOLDMEMBER. Oh man is this one funny movie, laugh out loud funny from beginning to end in our house. Mike Meyers is now (with great makeup and hilarious acting) Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard AND Goldmember. Too many highlights to count, but some of our faves are Michael Caine's "There are only two things I can't stand, People who are intolerant of other cultures, and the Dutch!" Dr Evil and Mini Me's "Hard Knock Life", Young Austin and Evil, Austin and Mini Me's shadow play in the Dr's office, Beyonce in her film debut, "LOWER THE GLOBE!" "Shmoke and a Pancake? Bong and a Blintz?"hahahaha oh man, too many to name. GOLDMEMBER is Golden. It leaves us very hungry for a fourth Austin Powers movie. Never Say Never Mike Meyers! A shagadelic A.

When Mike Myers original Austin Powers film became a big hit, he followed up with an even better sequel, AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME. Hilarious from start to finish, its IMHO the best of the Powers trilogy. Dr Evil (Myers again riffing on Blofeld with a Lorne Michaels impression) creates a time machine that allows him to go back to the early 60's and steal Powers mojo, effectively shearing Sampson's hair and all his magic spy powers. It's a great set up that Myers and his big cast of regulars milk for all its worth. Myers adds Fat Bastard to his lineup, with a hilarious Scotch accent and the foulest hygiene in spy history for his rotund bad guy. Heather Graham is fun as Felicity Shagwell, Michael York is great as Basil Exposition and we add Verne Troyer as Mini Me and Rob Lowe as the younger version of Robert Wagner's Number Two, all with tons of laughs. Some favorite moments that are often quoted in our house: ________________ Number Two: Why not use your knowledge of the future to play the stock markets? We could make trillions. Dr. Evil: Why make a trillion when we could make... billions? Scott: A trillion's more than a billion, numbnuts. ____________________ Scott: If you've got a time machine, why don't you just go back and kill Austin Powers when he's sitting on the crapper or something? Dr. Evil: How about, no, Scott? Okay? _____________________ Dr. Evil: Ow! You shot me, you A-Hole. _____________________ [Austin picks up a boiling pot, with a stool sample from Fat Bastard inside] Austin: Cor! This coffee smells like shit! Basil: It is shit, Austin. Austin: Oh, good. Then it's not just me. [Drinks] Austin: [Smacks lips] It's a bit nutty. _____________________ I could watch this thing every three months and it makes me laugh just as hard every time. Great cast, clever funny dialogue and plenty of OO7 allusions to balance some tribute along with the hilarity. Myers has never been better than he is here. Let's hope he soon gets that long anticipated 4th Powers movie off the ground! THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME gets a fall-over-laughing A+. Followed in 2002 by Austin Powers: Goldmember.