George Clooney and Julia Roberts have reunited on screen again in the new romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise”. Mr. Cotton and Ms. Cotton are a long-divorced couple who cannot stand to be in the same room together. They set their grievances aside to team up and stop their daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) from repeating history and getting married too young.

What follows is The Good, The Bad, and The Spoilers of “Ticket to Paradise”.

The Good

The on-screen chemistry between Clooney and Roberts is golden. Their ability to play off one another makes the “Bickering Exe” relationship very believable. No matter the scene or atmosphere, they are able to hurl well timed, hilarious insults at one another that keep you laughing. The passive aggressive dialogue between them was reminiscent of another great romantic comedy, “When Harry Met Sally”. This romantic comedy is so enjoyable to me because it does not fit the typical mold of a standard Rom-Com.

Their daughter is planning to marry a man she has only known for 37 days. I think most parents of children in their 20’s would probably support Mr. and Ms. Cotton in their attempt to “Trojan Horse” their daughter’s wedding plans.  They plan to be supportive, while secretly trying to change their daughter’s mind and stall the wedding. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when the Cottons play liquor pong against their daughter and her fiancé. Not only do Clooney and Roberts clearly pull off being typical embarrassing parents with their taste in music and dance moves. This is also when we get to see that maybe the Cottons still have some chemistry.

The Bad

“Ticket to Paradise” only had one scene that left a bad taste in my mouth. Immediately after the wedding rings are stolen, Gede (Maxime Bouttier) takes the Cottons out to swim with dolphins. The scene felt altogether out of place. The happy couple just had their wedding rings stolen, their whole wedding may be delayed, so naturally, they went swimming with some dolphins. The dolphins are completely computer generated and it does not look natural. If this scene had been removed from the movie all together, I would not have a single negative comment on the film.

My Overall Opinion

“Ticket to Paradise” is a fantastic comedy with some romance sprinkled in along the way. The entire cast is amazing, and I spent the majority of the film laughing. Other than one scene, I could not find anything about this film that I didn’t enjoy. I would highly recommend this movie as a great date night film this weekend.

On his blog “GoodBadSpoilers.com”, Anthony Ritter critiques and writes a review on selected movies.  Once you see a movie that Ritter has reviewed, visit his blog and share your point of view.

The post The Good, The Bad, and The Spoilers of “Ticket to Paradise” appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Idris Elba stars in Beast, as it roars into theaters this weekend. This thriller is about a father and his teenage daughters as they take a trip to the African savannah, to visit the village of the girls’ late mother. While exploring the wildlife reservation, they find themselves fighting to survive, as a rogue lion begins killing any human that crosses its path.

What follows is The Good, The Bad, and The Spoilers of Beast.

The Good

Idris Elba is truly an amazing actor. I feel any role that he is put in, he is able to embrace and portray it with stunning believability. In Beast, Elba plays Dr. Nate Daniels, a father who fights to reestablish a connection with his daughters while processing the loss of his wife. Elba does an amazing job showing just how much the emotional strain of losing a partner can have on the other relationships in his life. His willingness to sacrifice everything to protect his daughters is understood and completely relatable to any parent who would do the same for their kids.

Beast is a Thriller. Despite all the things I did not like about this movie, which I will get to in a moment, this movie defiantly describes itself well as an edge of the seat thriller. Audiences are constantly leaning forward, trying to spot where the lion will appear next. Only to jump when the lion catapults itself onto the screen.

The Bad

Believability was really my biggest issue with the movie. While Elba is very convincing as the character he is playing, the decisions that character repeatedly makes throughout the film have me questioning the writing. If you see a lion kill/maim someone right in front of you, would you get out of the car 30 seconds later to wander and look around? If your best friend says they are badly hurt, being used as bait by a vicious killer lion, and to stay in the car and wait for help, would you go looking for them? It is never a good sign when the audience collectively groans multiple times due to the decisions characters make in the movie. This was my experience Tuesday night.

Believing the story behind the rouge lion is actually really easy. Believing that Elba would be able to survive 3 encounters with a massive loin, that has killed multiple armed people, is much harder. It is amazing to watch Elba, knife in hand, fight a lion for about a solid 1-2 minutes. This is something I’m sure any dad would do to protect his daughters. Living though this fight with some scratches after the swift deadliness of this lion had already been established, is not convincing.

My Overall Opinion

Beast is an excellent thriller, that keeps the audience on edge. While I liked this aspect, this one was just not for me. I really struggled with the decision-making of the characters. That being said, I have never been stranded in the middle of the African savannah being hunted by a rouge lion. If you like a good action thriller that you don’t have to think too much about, take the time to give this one a watch. I would recommend waiting for this one to hit a streaming service.

On his blog “GoodBadSpoilers.com”, Anthony Ritter critiques and writes a review on selected movies.  Once you see a movie that Ritter has reviewed, visit his blog and share your point of view.

The post The Good, The Bad, and The Spoilers Of The Movie “Beast” appeared first on South Lake Tablet.