Horrible Bosses 2 Review Part 1
A film that basks comfortably in the warm glow of lowered expectations.
I have nostalgic feelings for the first Horrible Bosses as it was one of the first films that taught me that Rated R was not an automatic comedy success story. I found it lame and pedestrian with very few funny moments but otherwise relatively unremarkable. It wasn’t as bad as the Change Up but you wouldn’t be wrong to put the two movies in the same paragraph. I walked into this theater expecting more of the same Chef Boyardee pasta with sawdust in place of Parmesan cheese.
Imagine my surprise when I found myself honestly laughing out loud on a fairly continuous basis. I guess in the time since the first movie Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day have figured out how to work together without trying to remake the Three Stooges. Either that or I have been so barraged with bad movies in the last couple years that my own taste has shifted from “I want to see something good” to “I want to see something that compares favorably to being staked out over a red ant pile and covered with honey”.
Regardless of motivation I found this movie to be shockingly entertaining. The story no longer focused on an incredibly lame and nonsensical revenge plot and everyone had a motivation that I could relate to (which of us hasn’t dreamed of faking our own kidnapping in order to test our parents love?). The jokes were better and the villains more worthy of what came to them. 
I also am a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston, Christoph Waltz, and Jonathan Banks (Mike from Breaking Bad. Los Pollos Hermanos image courtesy of our Breaking Bad t shirts)
(continued)
Next
A Question from the Six Million Dollar Man
So I have been taking a lot of yoga lately and it’s supposed to clear your mind and lead you to a spiritual nirvana or something. I must be doing it wrong because my mind is always wandering all over throughout the course of the class. For some reason I seem to always be thinking about either obscure zones I used to visit in World of Warcraft (why do I need to think about the Wetlands? I played Horde) or old TV shows from my childhood.
(Actually that gives me something else to think about. In 30 years will I be thinking about Breaking Bad or SOA? Image courtesy of the Breaking Bad t shirts collection).
Anyway, today I was thinking about the Bionic Man and this occurred to me: one of Steve Austin’s weaknesses was always cold temperature. If he got really cold his arm, legs, and eye would shut down. However the electric blanket was invented in 1912 and the thermostat in 1883. It seems like sticking a heating element into the bionics would be easy peasy. Heck, you could put warming elements into a regular prosthetic limb if you really wanted to. Also if his eye were totally destroyed wouldn’t Steve Austin have massive scarring on his face? Yes this is what I was thinking about tonight while in Child’s Pose.
the Infamous Dave Inman
Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 24 This Side of Paradise
Not my favorite by a long shot. I never liked any of the episodes that force Spock to change his character (except for Amok Time, of course) and this one was the worst. For a guy who only mates every seven years this guy has his love interests, but the hippy spore people were lame.
Also once they managed to get the spores out of everyone why did the colonists really want to leave? As far as they knew Starfleet had just left them to die a horrible, painful death and these spores not only helped them out, they made them continuously happy. There are housewives today who spend every week at the pharmacy trying to medicate their way to such bliss, and drug addicts on the street who do it illegally every day. How do you think Walter White made his money? (Image courtesy of the Breaking Bad t shirts category)
That aside, another great fight scene where Spock really shows Kirk who’s boss. All the shoulder rolls in the universe are not enough to slow Spock down when he is on full on beat down mode. Next time bring more than a length of pipe Kirk (oh wait. Next time Kirk will be on the business end of a lirpa. Oh, well).
the Infamous Dave Inman
Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 27 the Alternative Factor
So we are headed into the final stretch of of this run and to be honest I have had a blast writing them. In retrospect I am very glad I opted to do them back to front so I can end on a high note with some of the best Season 1 episodes.
That being said there are some S1 episodes that aren’t all golden. The Alternative Factor is not really one of the worst (nor even the worst of S1) but it is no Galileo Seven. I kind of liked the idea of Lazarus and Anti-Lazarus fighting in the corridor for eternity but honestly this story has a lot of dopey plot holes.
First of all if Anti-Lazarus is from the anti matter universe does he really have to encounter the body of Lazarus in order to destroy the universe? Wouldn’t any part of him or the air in his lungs be enough to encounter matter and destroy the universe? He could come though the ship and his next fart could end causality (an ending I think anyone with a sense of humor would find hilarious). The human body more or less changes all it’s molecules every seven years or so. What if anti Lazarus came to our universe and got a job somewhere as a pastry chef eating all of our food? In seven years he and Lazarus could have had full on intercourse without destroying any universes. Also what is it about alternate universes that the people over there automatically have to be evil or insane? Why can’t it be the alternate universe where Walter White survived and Jesse died in Breaking Bad or they made twerking punishable by death but are otherwise fine people? Walter White image courtesy of the Breaking Bad t shirt category.
Also when Kirk jumps through the flying saucer to the other universe wouldn’t he automatically destroy that universe because anti Kirk lived there? Or did he have to wrestle anti Kirk? I guess they avoided that issue simply because they had already beaten that dead horse with The Enemy Within.
I’ve often wondered why they named the character Lazarus. In the Bible he is the saint Jesus raised up from the dead after 4 days. Normally Star Trek has some kind of hidden meaning behind such things but I cannot figure out why they thought this name would work for a guy with an evil twin. This name might have worked a lot better for the main character in Requiem for Methuselah.
Anyway, kind of a meh episode but fun nevertheless.
the Infamous Dave Inman
@nerdkungfu
