Grant Minnick's Movie Reviews

“Hey, whassup?  Me and KG wrote this song five minutes ago.” - JB a.k.a. Jables Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny is a 2006 comedy directed by Liam Lynch.  It stars Jack Black and Kyle Gass as themselves. In the film, they form the band Tenacious D, and they go on a quest to find a legendary satanic guitar pick called The Pick Of Destiny, encountering many strange things along the way. This film has achieved cult status over the years, and while it is a fun party movie that you can have a good time with among friends, make no mistake, it is also a terrible movie.  The storyline is what you would expect if you are familiar with real life comedy rock band Tenacious D, but the script is absolutely awful.  The dialogue was just unbelievably stupid, and had me shaking my head the entire movie. The “comedy” here isn’t even funny, and when it is, it’s funny for the wrong reasons.  This is the type of movie that is so bad it’s laughable. The acting is very ove...

“Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!” -Truman Burbank The Truman Show is a 1998 comedy-drama directed by Peter Weir, and starring Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, the ultimate everyman, whose life just so happens to be on live t.v. for all to see, 24/7, without him knowing.   For those who don’t know me, I love a good satire.  The satire film has become my favorite movie genre over the years, and when a great friend of mine recommended this film to me for that reason, I decided to give it a watch.  I really enjoyed this film, and found that it really has a lot to say about how much of our lives we share with others, whether we’re willing to or not. I think that the messages it conveys are even more important and timely today than they were when the film came out.   It’s safe to say that this is one of the most frightening films I have seen.  While it’s far from a horror film, the things that are implied in...

“There’s no law saying best friends have to have the same dreams.” - Shank Ralph Breaks The Internet is directed by Phil Johnston and Rich Moore, and stars John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot and Taraji P. Henson.  The story takes place six years after the events of Wreck-It Ralph, where Ralph and Vanellope find themselves in the internet, trying to find a replacement steering wheel for Vanellope’s game, Sugar Rush. I was a little nervous going into this movie, because I really loved the the first one, and didn’t want to be disappointed by a mediocre sequel.  Thankfully, this movie was not a disappointment at all. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise in more ways than one. To start out, the animation is truly something to behold.  It’s so crisp and clean, and it is very pleasing to the eye. The colors really seem to pop out at you, and the set pieces and characters look very nice. This is a very beautiful looking film.  Besides just looking good, i...

“Fortune favors the bold.” - Jim “Miami” Beach Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic directed by Brian Singer, and stars Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury.  The film is about the journey of legendary rock band Queen, and the life of their lead singer Freddie Mercury.   To start off, I’ll say that the casting choices in this movie are fantastic, with all of the actors looking exactly like their real life counterparts.  Rami Malek gives one of the best male performances of the year, and with the way he chews up the scenery and struts around so elegantly and boisterously on stage, you’d think it was actually Mercury himself playing this part.  I love how they portrayed all the characters, and I thought the way they explored elements of Freddie’s life, and also the life of the band was excellent. The way they dealt with Mercury’s homosexuality was very tasteful, and I commend the way that they handled that element.  One of the things that I walked away with from the fil...

“If you build it, he will come.” - Shoeless Joe Jackson Field Of Dreams is a 1989 sports drama directed by Phil Alden Robinson, and starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Ray Liotta.  It tells the story of Ray Kinsella, (Costner) an Iowa farmer who hears a cryptic message in his cornfield, which prompts him to build a baseball field.  This brings around a magical turn of events including the return of legendary deceased baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson. I’ll start by saying that this is one of my top three favorite sports movies.  The story is really well thought out and creative, and I enjoyed the character development very much.  The characters are all very likeable, even despite the fact that a lot of them are flawed. The film explores some very interesting character dynamics including, but not limited to a farmer who feels regret surrounding his damaged relationship with his now deceased father, a baseball player who was permanently suspended,...