The Underdoggs

The Underdoggs

Posted on January 25, 2024 at 8:50 pm

B-
Lowest Recommended Age: Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating: Rated R for pervasive language, sexual references, drug use, and some underage drinking
Profanity: Constant very strong and vulgar language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Marijuana and alcohol, including children getting drunk
Violence/ Scariness: Some peril
Diversity Issues: A theme of the movie

Normally, seeing kids use bad language does not make me laugh, not because I am offended but because it is just lazy. So I’m not proud of it, but I admit that “The Underdogs” made me laugh, not because kids use four-letter words or because star and producer Snoop Dogg does, but because it was about more than the shock value. No one will ever call Snoop an actor –he can barely focus on playing a character designed to be as much like his off-camera persona as possible — but he is an able performer and this basic underdog story benefits from being so evidently dear to his heart. We learn from end credits sequence that Snoop created a real-life football program for kids. And we learn from the pre-movie warning that the movie has strong language “that may not be suitable for children” and then goes on to say, in very colorful terms, to disregard that because kids who are not supposed to be watching this….stuff… curse more than the rest of us…..explitives. Those two bookends set the scene.

Snoop plays Jaycen, known as Two Js, a selfish and arrogant former star football player who now spends his days rattling around his gigantic mansion, smoking weed, and getting into trouble. A judge (Kandi Burruss) offers him community service coaching a kids’ football team and he refuses. He does not want anything to do with kid or, really anyone else. So he is given clean-up duty instead, with an orange vest and a pole for picking up dog poop.

And who should be at that location but a scrappy little team of, say it with me, underdogs. And, what a coincidence, who should be the mother of one of those kids but Jaycen’s high school girlfriend, Cherise (the always-appealing Tika Sumpter). She gives Jaycen something the judge did not, a reason to at least pretend to be someone who cares about something other than himself. It is still pretending, of course, but we all know where this is going, as do the characters, who have all seen “The Mighty Ducks” and probably countless other movies about scrappy underdog sports teams with reluctant coaches who grudgingly realize they want to to be the person the team needs them to be.

Trailer for The UnderDoggs

It’s no one’s idea of a classic, or even of being what you might call “good,” but it is an easy watch that stays out of its own way. Mike Epps shows up as Jaycen’s old friend, Kareem, a hustler and sometime carjacker, who moves in and talks his way into a spot as assistant coach. The kids on the team are the basic Smurf-types, each one getting one attribute — quiet, mouthy, butterfingers, etc. Snoop has good chemistry with the kids, though, and they are tougher than he is, which helps keep things moving. George Lopez shows up as Jaycen’s high school coach, reminding us of the difference it can make in a child’s life to have an adult who cares.

The film meanders back and forth between the kids’ underdog team formula and occasional meta-commentary on the classic tropes of the genre, but either way it is enjoying itself so much it is impossible not to go with it.

Parents should know that this movie is raunchy and vulgar. Characters, including children, use constant strong and graphic language with many insults. A child character’s nickname is a coarse word for a female body part. Characters smoke weed and drink and children get drunk and throw up. There is some potty humor. A character is careless with a gun but no one gets hurt.

Family discussion: What made Double J decide to take coaching seriously? What makes a good coach? Is it true that we want to see successful people fail?

If you like this, try: “The Mighty Ducks” and “The Bad News Bears”

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Online Film Critics Society Nominations

Online Film Critics Society Nominations

Posted on January 17, 2024 at 6:28 pm

Copyright 2023 Heyday Films

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES FOR THE 27TH ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS:

Best Picture:
Anatomy of a Fall
Asteroid City
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
May December
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest


Best Animated Feature:
The Boy and the Heron
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem


Best Director:
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Greta Gerwig – Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Celine Song – Past Lives



Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Best Actress:
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Margot Robbie – Barbie
Emma Stone – Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor:
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Charles Melton – May December
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

Best Supporting Actress:
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Rachel McAdams – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Julianne Moore – May December
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

Best Original Screenplay:
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
May December
Past Lives


Best Adapted Screenplay:
American Fiction
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest


Best Editing:
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things


Best Cinematography:
Asteroid City
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things


Best Original Score:
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Zone of Interest


Best Production Design:
Asteroid City
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things


Best Costume Design:
Asteroid City
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things


Best Visual Effects:
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
Poor Things


Best Feature Debut:
Raven Jackson – All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou – Talk to Me
A.V. Rockwell – A Thousand and One
Celine Song – Past Lives

Best Film Not in the English Language:
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Godzilla Minus One
Perfect Days
The Zone of Interest


Best Documentary:
20 Days in Mariupol
American Symphony
Beyond Utopia
Kokomo City
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

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Movies About Martin Luther King for Families

Movies About Martin Luther King for Families

Posted on January 15, 2024 at 1:09 pm

Martin Luther King
Copyright 1963 PBS

As we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, every family should take time to talk about this great American leader and hero of the Civil Rights Movement. There are outstanding films and other resources for all ages.

I highly recommend the magnificent movie Boycott, starring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. King. And every family should study the history of the Montgomery bus boycott that changed the world.

It is humbling to remember that the boycotters never demanded complete desegregation of the public transit; that seemed too unrealistic a goal. This website has video interviews with the people who were there. This newspaper article describes Dr. King’s meeting with the bus line officials. And excellent teaching materials about the Montgomery bus boycott are available, including the modest and deeply moving reminder to the boycotters once segregation had been ruled unconstitutional that they should “demonstrate calm dignity,” “pray for guidance,” and refrain from boasting or bragging.

Families should also read They Walked To Freedom 1955-1956: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Paul Winfield has the lead in King, a brilliant and meticulously researched NBC miniseries co-starring Cecily Tyson that covers Dr. King’s entire career.

The March, narrated by Denzel Washington, is a documentary about the historic March on Washington with Dr. King’s famous “I have a dream” speech. Rustin, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama and featuring a magnificent performance by Colman Domingo, came out in 2023.

The brilliant film Selma tells the story of the fight for voting rights.

The Long Walk Home, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek, makes clear that the boycott was a reminder to black and white women of their rights and opportunities — and risk of change.

Citizen King is a PBS documentary with archival footage of Dr. King and his colleagues.

Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream has his famous speech in full, still one of the most powerful moments in the history of oratory and one of the most meaningful moments in the history of freedom.

For children, Our Friend, Martin and Martin’s Big Words are a good introduction to Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.

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