Currently browsing the "Mindy Kaling" tag.

Review: Late Night

Late Night is a solid workplace comedy that fluctuates between really smart and funny, and just okay. That unevenness may limit its success at a crowded box office, though it does have all the key ingredients for a second chance at life in the streaming and rental market. Emma Thompson plays Katherine Newbury, a legendary late night talk show host in danger of losing her show after 30 years. She’s brilliant and witty, but also harsh, demanding and stuck in her ways. As a boss, she’s like a hybrid of intimidating editor Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada and the prickly genius diagnostician from House. In a last-ditch effort to shake things up and become more relevant, Katherine decides to finally add a woman to her all-male writing staff, and that opens the door for Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), an efficiency expert at a chemical plant who has a flair for comedy. Molly happens to be in the right place at the right time to get the kind of big break we all dream about. But she’s going to have to overcome a lot of obstacles and resentment to prove she’s more than just some “diversity hire”… all while staying true to her enthusiastic and idealistic self.

Review: Ocean’s 8

As expected, Ocean’s 8 is Ocean’s Eleven – with women. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Ocean’s Eleven was a smart and entertaining heist flick with a strong ensemble cast. Ocean’s 8 is too, though we have seen it all before. It doesn’t quite measure up to the 2001 Clooney classic, which was a remake of a 1960 Sinatra classic. But it’s a fun escape with a talented, diverse group of ladies (skewing a bit younger than the recent all-star female cast in Book Club).

Review: A Wrinkle in Time

I sooo wanted to like this movie. Really, I did. But despite its star power both in front of the camera (Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, etc.) and behind it (director Ava DuVernay), A Wrinkle in Time is a bit of a hot mess. It’s colorful, visually stunning in parts, and spreads a heartfelt message about familial bonds, embracing your faults, finding strength in your individuality and all that good stuff. But in the end, the narrative gets lost in the spectacle – and Oprah’s larger-than-life, eye-glittered presence is more of a distraction than a serviceable plot device. The story just doesn’t add up. I don’t recall that being the case with Madeline L’Engle’s classic novel, first published in 1962. I read it in the 1970s (when I actually devoured more books than movies – probably because I couldn’t drive) and have fond recollections of protagonist Meg Murry’s travels through time and space in search of her scientist father who went missing while studying the universe.

Inside Out

What were the Pixar folks thinking, making a film about the conflicting emotions in a little girl’s head? It might seem like a pretty cerebral premise for a kids’ flick, but from this very unlikely subject matter comes a fun for the whole family film. I went with my nephews (ages 6, 8, and 17), my sister in law (40ish), and my mother (age 89), and we all appreciated it for different reasons depending on our ages. There are funny and thoughtful bits that only an adult will get, but the kids and the teenager were thoroughly entertained.