Review: The Secret Life of Pets 2

by Ben Miller (who has small children)

What do we want from a film when it is obviously not for us? If I'm watching an indie about a life experience that's in no way relatable to my own, I can still admire the artistry and the humanity. If I’m watching a film about talking pets specifically aimed at children, I can enjoy it... but what am I supposed to get out of it? Films like The Incredibles, WALL-E or Wreck-It Ralph are “for” kids, but non-children can enjoy them on a number of levels beyond the bright colors, fart jokes or action sequences.  Those films dug deep into issues about family, loneliness and friendship and had an overarching theme to bring everything together in a coherent way.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is not one of those films and doesn't try to be...

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Grammy Nominees... As They Relate to Movies, Theater, and TV

Nominations have been announced for the 59th annual Grammy Awards honoring the year in music (sort of.. their timelines can be very confusing). More than any of the other big 4 awards shows (Tonys, Emmys, Oscars) Grammy nods are largely based on financial success so it's usually the superstars in the major categories and that's true again this year with Beyoncé leading with 9 nominations and other superstars not far behind. The surprise this year was country star Sturgill Simpson (A Sailor's Guide to Earth) sharing the most coveted category "Album of the Year" category with Beyoncé (Lemonade), Adele (25), Justin Beiber (Purpose), and Drake (Views).

Adele's "25" is so great. But if she loses everything she can console herself with her 10 previous Grammys

But since the Grammys have over 80 categories (we are not exaggerating) here at TFE we just focus on those in which film, tv, or stage types are in play. i.e. the ones that can  sometimes lead to EGOTing are after the jump.

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Finger-Linking Good

No Screen
Indie Wire Patricia Arquette will pen a memoir on her career and single motherhood  
EW A chocolate sculpture of Benedict Cumberbatch. eek.
Tony Awards what's eligible? We'll be revving up more theater posts for Tony Season (everything is about to open... April being the theater's December if you will)
NY Times profiles the "Hand to God" playwright Robert Askins. ("Hand to God" is the latest risque puppet comedy post Avenue Q -- though not really like it otherwise -- and it's very funny)

Big Screen
IndieWire Manoel de Oliveira RIP (1908-2015)

Small Screen
Buzzfeed the greatest article ever written about the Starz series Outlander Season 1
Melanie Lynskey teases a second season of Togetherness. Did you watch it? So funny-sad and endearing
AV Club the 7 defining pitches of Mad Men

Computer Screen
Dartboard Patton Oswalt goes on an epic twitter rant about comedy and our delicate sensibilities in 2015
Variety thinks Marvel & Netflix have nothing to worry about with the impending launch Daredevil though correct me if I'm wrong... this review of 5 episodes (no spoilers) doesn't really say if it's any good or not, does it? 

Today's Must Watch
MISSI PYLE WANTS TO F*** YOU UP. Watch this amusing commercial and then help Missi raise funds to shoot her music video (multiple celebrity cameos promised) for her awesome revenge anthem "I Wanna Fuck You Up" -- Consider your donation a thank you for her awesomely generous guest blogging day right here at TFE. Yes, I am donating. Although I haven't decided who I want to fuck up the most. You can name your target in her video!

Jessica + Cate, Mary Music, and Other Linkables

Awards Circuit I guest starred on their podcast Power Hour this week. We talk Oscar's actress categories and Ben Affleck
Film School Rejects Diana gets a November release date
HuffPo interviews Eric Bana (Closed Circuit) who does not like Hulk
Final Girl lists the 5 best vampires of all time. This list LOL'ed me up good
Gothamist Patton Oswalt and Joss Whedon defend Ben Affleck's casting as Batman
Bad Ass Digest chooses the 11 best movies of the summer. Amidst all the fanboy titles are Short Term 12 and Blue Jasmine so well done. 

Jessica Chastain ♥ Cate Blanchett 
This was posted on the Actress's facebook page yesterday.

Sweet. And generous. And culturally aware just as we've come to expect from Chastain who by all accounts is a lovely person and real film enthusiast as well as one of the most important actors to emerge this decade.

Exit Music
Since we've been on a Mary Poppins kick this year what with that Best Shot steppin' time party and Saving Mr Banks coming out here's a music videdo that uses only sounds from Mary Poppins for its beats and melodies... 

Burning Questions: Why Get Excited For More Star Wars?

Hey everybody. Michael C. here.

Leia & Han will return. Will it still be TLA?Isn’t it always the way that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone? I didn’t really appreciate as it was happening, but for a hot second there wasn’t any urgent need to talk about Star Wars.

Sure there was always the dull murmur  - this is the Internet, after all – but it seemed like every obsessive fan tribute had run its course from Robot Chicken to Family Guy to an entire documentary about obsessive Star Wars fandom. It even felt like folks had started to have their fill of beating up on the prequels, especially after the team over at Red Letter Media had picked all the meat off those particular bones with their epic series of takedown videos.

But it was not to be. Lucas sold off the rights, and that was that. It was like the scene in Jedi where they open the gates at Jabba’s Palace to unleash the horrible monster, only there would be nothing to stop the beast this time. Who would get his or her own spin-off franchise? Boba Fett? The Millennium Falcon? Princess Leia’s hair buns? No speculation was too crazy or unfounded.

Since this looks to be the new reality, at least until the Sun explodes destroying the Earth, and with it the Star Wars franchise, once and for all, maybe some of you can help me by explaining why the prospect of more sequels is a good thing. What is there left to say with Star Wars?

Star Wars wraps it up with tidy finales.

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