Many thanks to my friends Arch Campbell and Jen Chaney for inviting me to appear on their wonderful podcast, “At the Movies.”  We talked about what we’re watching, our favorite 1980s horror movies (fortunately for me, my favorite horror movie came out in the 80s), the loss of Eddie Van Halen and Murray Schisgal and lots more.

 

 

Win a $25 gift card from the “Fast and Furious” animated spin-off “Fast and Furious: Spy Racers Rio,” with the second season premiering today on Netflix. Details of how to enter below.

In the series, teenager Tony Toretto follows in the footsteps of his cousin Dom when he and his friends are recruited by a government agency to infiltrate an elite racing league serving as a front for a nefarious crime organization bent on world domination.

Now experienced spy racers, Tony and the crew embark on their first international mission to Brazil. Once in Rio de Janeiro, they discover that Ms. Nowhere’s latest recruit and formidable fellow racer, Layla Gray, is missing in action during an investigation. Unwilling to leave family behind, Tony and the Spy Racers go undercover to find Layla, but end up uncovering a sinister plot that keeps them guessing at every turn.

Tim Hedrick (DreamWorks “Voltron Legendary Defender”) and Bret Haaland (“All Hail King Julien”) are executive producers and showrunners. The series is also executive produced by Vin Diesel, Neal Moritz and Chris Morgan, producers on the live-action Fast & Furious franchise.

To enter the contest: Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Spy Racers Rio in the subject line and tell me your favorite place to drive. Don’t forget your address! (U.S. addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on October 15, 2020. Good luck!

o New episodes of #FastFuriousSpyRacers now available on Netflix!
o Hashtag is: #FastFuriousSpyRacers
o IG: @dreamworks / FB: @dreamworks / T: @Dreamworks
o https://www.dreamworks.com/shows/fast-and-furious-spy-racers

Reminder: My policy on conflicts

The Middleburg Festival begins October 15, 2020 and, as always, it has an impressive line-up of hotly anticipated films including some arriving with a lot of plaudits from other festivals, like “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, and “Ammonite” with Kate Winslet. This year’s honorees include Hollywood legend Sophia Loren, composer Kris Bowers, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, and director Chloé Zhao. And I’ll be on the critic panel again with my friends and colleagues Tim Gordon, Travis Hopson, Jason Fraley, and Susan Wloszczyna.

Check out the full schedule.

There will be some in-person, socially distant events and screenings but much of it is available virtually, so anyone can attend!

Sigh.

Robert Kimmel’s 1984 book, The War With Grandpa, is a lot of fun and also thoughtful about family, resolving conflicts, and war. The movie has tons of star power but it is just dumb slapstick, with escalating cartoon-style mayhem. It’s been on the shelf since it was originally scheduled for release in 2017 and even by pandemic shut-in standards it is barely watchable.

Which is not to say that some children won’t be amused by it because, see above re slapstick and mayhem. For the rest of us, it’s just sad and exhausting seeing Robert De Niro, yes that Robert De Niro, dropping his pants and flashing his son-in-law, plus sticking his hands down the pants of a dead body at a funeral. Then there’s Uma Thurman doing a spit-take and running around in a Christmas elf costume, plus a lot of predictable jokes about old people (they don’t understand technology! Hilarious!), married people (Dad feels diminished by his job, his father-in-law, and sometimes his wife), teenagers (they like to make out!), middle schoolers (puberty humor! bullies!), and little kids (precocious witticisms!).

The story is in the title. De Niro plays Grandpa, still mourning his late wife and not doing so well living at home since he can no longer drive. After he gets frustrated at the grocery store because they’ve switched to all self-checkout and, say it with me, old people don’t understand technology, he gets into a fight with the security guard. And so his daughter Sally (Uma Thurman) says he has to move in with her and her family, including her architect husband Arthur (Rob Riggle), teenage daughter who is always running off to “study” with her boyfriend (Laura Marano), middle school son Peter (Oakes Fegley of “Pete’s Dragon”), and youngest daughter Jenny (Poppy Gagnon).

Pete gets moved to the attic so Grandpa can have his room, and Pete is not happy. And so he slips a note under his old bedroom’s door signed “Secret Warrior.” It is not much of a secret, though, since he says he wants his room back. It is a declaration of war. At first, Grandpa doesn’t take it too seriously. After all, Pete is just a kid and he does feel back about taking the room. But then there is one prank too many and someone who knows what a real war is (“It’s not like a video game”) is in. But first, some rules of engagement. No collateral damage (no one else in the family can be affected, like that’s possible) and no tattling.

Each party is advised by friends. Pete has his pals from school and Grandpa has his buddies Jerry (Christopher Walken) and Danny (Cheech Marin), and later a pretty store clerk (Jane Seymour). But none of it really makes any sense and some elements are unnecessarily sour. If Arthur is an architect, can’t he figure out a better way to use the space than sticking Pete in a rat and bat-infested attic? In fact, Arthur serves no role whatsoever in the story except to try to prove that he deserves some respect, which would be nice if he actually earned some. How can this family afford a crazily over-the-top Christmas-themed birthday party for a child including artificial snow? Even if it made sense for Grandpa to agree to a war, why would he let Pete pick the battleground for the supposed winner-take-all? It never gets past the idea that there is just something uncomfortable about a kid picking on his sad grandfather this mean-spirited and selfish way, while insisting that he loves him and expecting us to like him.

That’s a lot more thought than this movie deserves. Even the A-list cast can’t win the war with a dumbed-down script, awkwardly staged stunts, and lackluster direction.

Parents should know that this movie includes comic peril and mayhem with a lot of pratfalls and injuries but no one seriously hurt. There is also some potty humor, along with references to puberty, a school bully, crotch hits, teen making out sessions, some schoolyard language, and implied nudity.

Family discussion: Why did Pete declare war? Why did Ed agree? Were those the right rules of engagement? What would you advise that family?

If you like this, try: the book by Robert Kimmel Smith, “Spy Kids,” “How to Eat Fried Worms,” and the various versions of “Freaky Friday”

“Black-ish” is my favorite television sit-com, in part because it engages so thoughtfully on contemporary issues of politics and identity, in part because it continues to be innovative with surprising and ambitious creative choices, and in part because it is brilliantly acted, heartwarming, and very, very funny.

The Johnsons and “black-ish” return to ABC with a one-hour television special on Sunday, October 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. The two back-to-back episodes, which will air ahead of the official season seven premiere on October 21 (9:30-10:00 p.m. EDT), follow the Johnsons as they navigate the upcoming election, with Junior (Marcus Scribner) embarking on his journey as a first-time voter and Dre (Anthony Anderson) launching an exploration into local politics. The director is Oscar® winner Matthew A. Cherry (the adorable “Hair Love”).

In “Election Special Pt. 1,” (10:00-10:30 p.m. EDT), Junior is excited for his first time voting but discovers he has been purged from the voter polls so he does a deep dive into why – trying to understand the systems in place for voter registration.

Then, in a special animated episode, “Election Special Pt. 2,” (10:30-11:00 p.m. EDT), Dre’s colleague Stevens (Peter Mackenzie) makes an ill-advised decision to run for Congress, so Dre enlists his family’s help and campaigns against him but gets caught up with fundraising and private interest groups. “Election Special Pt. 2” is directed by Matthew A. Cherry and written by Graham Towers & Ben Deeb.

The animation is produced by Jonas Diamond, Executive Producer and Co-Owner of Smiley Guy Studios and Rod Amador, Executive Producer and Co-Owner of Big Jump Entertainment.

In its upcoming seventh season, “black-ish” will continue to tell stories that shine a light on current events through the lens of the Johnson family, addressing the global pandemic, systemic racism and the movement for social justice and equality.