The Little Hours (2017)

I added The Little Hours on my watchlist ages ago because of the cast, specifically Aubrey Plaza and Dave Franco, but because of the characters, which are mostly nuns, I kept putting it off. I would have checked it earlier though if I had bothered reading the storyline. 

The film is based on the first tale of the third day of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron —which I'm yet to read—, and mainly follows three nuns, Sister Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), Sister Ginevra (Kate Micucci), and Sister Alessandra (Alison Brie), who lives at a convent in the countryside. When a young, handsome servant (Dave Franco) fleeing from his master (Nick Offerman) takes refuge in the convent, the sexually-repressed nuns find ways to escape from their tedious lives. 

If a plot is what you are looking for then you should probably stay away from The Little Hours as it really lacks in that department and rather than a story it feels like watching a series of more or less connected Saturday Night Live sketches. That said, the story is still interesting enough to hold your attention and be enjoyable. 

The characters aren't very thought through either as they are pretty much walking stereotypes with very little characterization and no development at all, and some of them are nothing but plot devices —that's not very accurate though since you need a plot for that. This being said, each character has his/her own dose of crazy, especially Aubrey Plaza's, and for this reason they make quite memorable characters. 

As for the acting, there may not be award-worthy performances here but the cast does a pretty good job as most of them nail their characters and give humorous performances, the standouts being Aubrey Plaza and Kate Micucci, the first really delivering that contemporary dialogues and attitudes. 

Gunpowder & Sky

All of that being said, The Little Hours is still far from being a great, or good film. The problem is not the unnecessary nudity and vulgarity —it's not like you can't expect it from a movie like this—, but the fact that Dave Franco is criminally underused, the pacing is too slow and as a result, the film feels dragged in several places, a lot of the jokes fall flat, and if feels like director Jeff Baena always went with the first take so of course many scenes aren't as good as they could have been. 

6 Balloons (2018)

I stumbled upon 6 Balloons while searching for films to add on my already very long watchlist on Netflix. It sounded interesting and it had Dave Franco so I decided to give it a chance. 

The story follows Katie (Abbi Jacobson) as she is finishing organizing a surprise party for her boyfriend, Jack (Dawan Owens). When she goes to pick her up brother, Seth (Dave Franco) and his young daughter, Ella, Katie finds out that Seth has relapsed on heroin, and embarks on a journey to help her brother while at the same time dealing with her own life. 

6 Balloons is one of those movies with very little plotting, one of those real drama movies you watch and don't care about the lack of a plot because they are compelling and deliver an important message. The problem with this film? While it shows how hard it can be to deal with someone who has an addiction, the message Marja-Lewis Ryan, director and writer, wants to deliver isn't always clear. On top of that, there's the voiceover of an audiobook that keeps playing that is quite annoying and distracts from and drags the main storyline. It's supposed to enrich the film with some philosophical message but it feels forced and only damages the film. 

The characters aren't particularly well written either. Katie's characterization doesn't go beyond the Type-A, she has this sudden change that doesn't make a lot of sense, and I just didn't empathize with her. Abbi Jacobson's acting also leaves something to be desired. While she does a nice job at portraying the struggle of a woman torn between her life and her drug addict brother,  and beautifully displays Katie's vulnerability, there's too much blank staring for her performance to be entirely compelling. The character of Seth isn't much better but Dave Franco's performance is actually good as he captures the struggle of a young man who wants to be kind, loving and clean, but just can't get his act together, and makes the character very believable.

Netflix

The performances aren't the only good thing about 6 Balloons. If I have to give Ryan credits for something, it'll have to be for keeping the drama at a minimum, without exaggerating it as Hollywood movies always do, and it really helps at conveying a feeling of authenticity. However, the pacing is too slow, some scenes are too long, some are pointless, and the film has some sort of empty vibe which made me feel very little emotion.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)

I grew up playing with LEGO (and I probably still would if I wasn't busy all the time and their stuff wasn't so expensive -- a thing is having your parents paying it, a thing is paying it yourself) and, on my teen years, I occasionally stumbled upon the series Ninjago on TV. I didn't love it but it was okay when there wasn't anything else interesting on TV. I guess I watched The LEGO Ninjago Movie for the same reason, I didn't have anything better to watch and although I had very little expectations, the film managed to disappoint me. 

It's a hard knock life for Lloyd (Dave Franco), the 16-year-old estranged son of Garmadon (Justin Theroux), the evil warlord who keeps trying to take control of Ninjago City and keeps failing because of a secret gang of ninjas. Turns out Lloyd is the leader of those ninjas but this time the battle against his father will be much harder as the ultimate weapon is unleashed.

The plot is like a ninja, so thin you don't even notice it. It has no complexity, which the previous instalments of the LEGO franchise had, no real twists (Lloyd being Garmadon's father is revealed within the first 5 minutes) and it's not engaging. Actually, it's quite boring.

I admit the plot wasn't great in the other movies either, but at least those have great characters. The LEGO Ninjago Movie hasn't got any of those. There's very little characterization, even less development, but most of all, they are not very funny. They are just meh. Also, the villain is pretty stupid. I did, however, like Dave Franco's performance. He really captures the kid's exasperation. 

Warner Bros. Pictures

The characters aren't the only unfunny element in the film, the whole thing is unfunny. That happened because first, many funny gags and jokes were given away in the trailer; second, the humour isn't sharp or wit or clever. It's just bland. I did chuckle a couple of times while watching this, but that's not what you expect when watching a comedy, is it?

The father-and-son relationship does have heart though. It doesn't break any new ground, and it really felt like watching The Empire Strikes Back at some points, but it was nice having it. 

The animation is still very enjoyable. The colours are vibrant, the settings are very beautiful and the characters look good too. The songs are nice too but it's a bit all over the place and they get a little distracting at times.