'The Last Laugh' Trailer: Chevy Chase And Richard Dreyfuss Relive Their Glory Years In Netflix's Comedy

There was a time when a film starring Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss would've been a must-see that packed theaters across the country. Unfortunately, that time was 1985 not 2018, and neither actor commands the same attention. But Netflix knows there's probably an audience out there who still want to see these two veteran stars do their thing, and that's why this trailer for The Last Laugh is here. Whether there is a first laugh is debatable, though.

In a strange role reversal, Dreyfuss plays a long-retired standup comedian who is convinced by his former manager (Chase) to go on one final tour to close out their twilight years. I'm sure this is harmless and all, but the kid in me who loved Chase in the National Lampoon movies is saddened to see him in something this bland looking. I kept waiting for Morgan Freeman to show up this looked like such a mediocre senior citizens comedy.  Andie MacDowell shows up as a potential love interest, appearing to be about a generation too young for them (which she isn't, but still), and a scene where Chase tries to play it cool while buying drugs just reminds me of how much I miss him as Clark Griswold. He used to be able to pull off that lame awkwardness so effortlessly.

Behind the camera is Greg Pritkin, who you probably don't know but he wrote one of the awful skits in that turd Movie 43. Sadly, he wrote the script for this, too.

I'll take this time to remind you that Netflix refused Holmes & Watson, but The Last Laugh they'll happily premiere on January 11th 2019.

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Review: 'Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween' Does The Monster Mash With Less Jack Black

The original Goosebumps movie was more than just a tip of the hat to fans of R.L. Stine's horror novels for kids, they were an attempt to reach out and grab a new audience. The surprisingly sizable box office shows some accomplishment in that regard, but the seasonal sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween has a much narrower focus. It's almost solely for those who enjoyed the first movie, which makes the strange, uneven presence of Jack Black such a puzzler.

As Stine himself, Black was by far the biggest name Goosebumps had but he wasn't guaranteed to return for the sequel. Two scripts, one with Black and one without, were written and somewhere along the way maybe the pages got mixed up. The first half of the film shows almost zero interest in Stine, and certainly there's no sign of Black. And then out of nowhere he pops up on the scene in what amounts to a glorified cameo, so out of place that it's like he wandered in from a different movie. Maybe he did? The House with a Clock in its Walls seems like a reasonable culprit.

Kids who have yet to partake in the gory frights of Blumhouse or Stephen King won't care about the bizarre casting. Goosebumps 2 is perfectly enjoyable Halloween entertainment, full of decent kid-friendly "scares", some passable monster effects, and a story that zips along enough that adults won't get too bored. In the Halloween-obsessed town of Wardenclyffe, best friends Sonny (It star Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) have a fledgling junk business, and in the process of cleaning out an old haunted-looking house they discover not only a blank R.L. Stine manuscript, but his evil ventriloquist's dummy, Slappy. When they open the book, Slappy is released into the world to cause all kinds of mischief.  Jack Black voiced Slappy in the first movie but in another nod to the sequel's fractured production, he's voiced by Mick Wingert even though Black is in the movie.

Slappy is by far the best thing Goosebumps 2 has going for it. The kids are pretty bland, and that includes Madison Iseman as Sonny's older sister Sarah. She joins them when Slappy uses his magical powers to turn Halloween costumes, decorations, and even candy (evil Gummi Bears!!!) into living creatures, forming his own makeshift family. But you kinda find yourself rooting for Slappy, who has the maniacal streak of Chucky without the homicidal tendencies.  He's not even really scary, more like a pest with delusions of grandeur and he makes a good foil for the misfit protagonists. While witches, mummies, and even a giant spider made of balloons stalk the neighborhood, truly the kids' biggest threat turns out to be the school bully.

I take that back. Their biggest threat is being overshadowed by gobs of CGI, fun as it may be, and then later by Jack Black. The funny thing about Stine is that he shows up to help save the day, but the first thing he does is recognize that there isn't really anything for him to do. So...why is he there at all? It's just weird. Much better, and integral to the story, are Wendi McLendon-Covey as Sonny's workaholic mom, and Ken Jeong their wacky neighbor, Mr. Chu, who perhaps is too invested in Halloween for someone without any kids.

Despite some clear problems director Ari Sandel was unable to keep masked, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween should be a treat to its target audience. Whether it's enough to warrant a third movie is unclear but if so let's hope they figure out what to do with Stine well in advance.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Review: 'Slice' Is A Disappointing Start To Chance The Rapper's Acting Career

It's clear right away what writer/director Austin Vesely wants to accomplish with Slice, his campy, B-movie horror that marks the big screen debut of Chance the Rapper. His deep love of horror is evidence, seen in the cheesy retro prosthetics used to create ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches, and more, all populating a town that could have been ripped straight out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And maybe that's the problem; Vesely loves this stuff so much that he can't part with any of it. The litany of bizarre ideas and off-the-walls changes in tone would be endurable if there weren't so many that a clear labor of love is no fun at all.

The  plot is insane as pineapple and anchovies on slice of deep dish. In the town of Kingfisher the human population lives alongside 40,000 ghosts, separated into a section known as Ghost Town. The people have come to accept ghosts, who just look like extras from The Walking Dead, as part of their everyday lives. They even have jobs, like working at a pizza shop that basically sits on top of a Hellmouth. When pizza delivery boys for one particular restaurant start getting killed while delivering in Ghost Town, a group of citizens begin blaming the undead, riling up public support against them.

That's just a tiny slice of Slice's unnecessarily convoluted plot that bogs this 79-minute film down to a halt. There's also Zazie Beetz as Astrid, the ex-girlfriend of one of the murdered deliverers, who starts investigating the crime in-between delivering pies, or 'za, as the characters often call it. Chris Parnell plays the town's goofy, but seemingly upstanding mayor, and Rae Gray is Sadie, an intrepid local reporter sniffing out her own angle on the murders.

A lot is going on, leaving Vesely barely a moment to clue us in to how things work in Kingfisher. He introduces a local gangster, Big Cheese (Y'Lan Noel), as a potential antagonist but it goes absolutely nowhere. And there are plenty of similar dead ends that cause so much of Slice to fall flat.

You'll notice I haven't even gotten to Chance the Rapper's role yet, and there's a reason for that. While he may be the most heavily-promoted face in all of the promos, Chance's role as pacifist werewolf and murder suspect Dax doesn't get introduced until well into the second act. A smart-aleck wolf who just wants to "deliver high quality Chinese food...REALLY quality Chinese food" rather than eat people, Dax is put in the position of clearing his name and avenging his dead homies from the Yummy Yummy Chinese food joint. Chance isn't a terrible actor by any means, and he flashes some potential as a comedy act. But he always comes across as trying too hard to express whatever Dax needs to be in that moment. Some of the problem may be Vesely's strange editing, which lingers too long on Chance, in particular any time a joke is cracked. It's like he's waiting for someone to insert the laugh track.  The intent to amuse stretches to the visual gags, which like the script tend to be hit or miss. Vesely doesn't really do gore, although you do get a lot of slit throats and one case of a ghost with his head flopped to the side after a nasty neck wound. But clearly Vesely isn't looking to gross anybody out here, perhaps wanting to make it easier for those who want to check out Chance's big acting debut.

Slice would have been better served with a little more focus on a central character, whether it be Dax, Astrid, or Sadie. None of them get much time to shine, and the lack of a lead character to follow only hurts momentum as Vesely tries to give them all equal time. He gets some quality work from funnypeople like Paul Scheer, Hannibal Buress, and Stranger Things' Joe Keery, all cranking up the goofball quotient, but their roles feel heavily edited down, which may be the case given the film's long gestation period since being shot in 2016 and delayed on at least one occasion. The impression Slice leaves is of a sincere but overstuffed curiosity that will be an interesting footnote in Chance's career.

Rating: 2 out of 5

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