Terry Pratchett's Going Postal

"Has anyone ever told you, how beautiful you look, when considering violence?"

Moist von Lipwig (Coyle) is a con man and successful forger.  He is caught and sentenced to hang for his crimes. But Lord Vetinari (Dance) gives him a second chance: become the new Postmaster and revive the dilapidated post office or die.  Lipwig accepts the job and plans to escape and restart his career, but is captured by Mr. Pump (Farrell and Van Den Broeke), the golem assigned to watch him.

The Ankh-Morpork post office is in ruins, with most people choosing to send their messages by the Clacks system: a series of towers that send coded messages.  The Clacks are run by Reacher Gilt (Suchet), an unscrupulous man who is willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power.  The post office is overrun with years of undelivered mail and is manned by the elderly Tolliver Groat (Sachs) and pin enthusiast Stanley Howler (Bonar).  He also meets and falls in love with Adora Belle Dearheart (Foy) the owner of the Golem Trust.  Can he survive long enough to restore the post office?


"Going Postal" is the 33rd book in Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  Pratchett started the series in 1983 and wrote 41 books for it before his death in 2015.  The entire series takes place within Discworld, but the stories mostly stand on their own.  "Going Postal" is the first in the series to feature the character of Moist von Lipwig, who served as the narrator for 2 more stories ("Making Money" and "Raising Steam").

The series is incredibly popular, selling over 80 million copies and translated into 30+ languages.  British media company The Mob produced TV adaptations of 3 books from the series: Hogfather in 2006, The Colour of Magic in 2008, and Going Postal in 2010.  There were plans for an adaptation of Unseen Academicals, but the status of the project is currently unknown.  Each adaptation aired on Sky1 in the United Kingdom.

I have not read any of the Discworld series, but I loved Richard Coyle in Coupling and Grabbers and decided to give this film a try.  I loved it.  Coyle is magnetic on screen, you can't help but watch what he'll do next.  Pratchett created a distinctive world, with it's own rules, that is apparent as soon as the film begins.  Coyle holds his own in the lead, and is surrounded by talented actors.  Pratchett has a cameo at the end of the film.

Apparently fans of the books were disappointed in the adaptation, but Pratchett seemed to be a fan of it (he recorded an introduction to the film that appears on the DVD).  As usual, it is probably best to read the book first (and I intend to add it to my reading list).

EDIT: I have now read several of the books in the series, including this one. This was my favorite.

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal (2010) 185 minutes
Director: Jon Jones
Starring: Richard Coyle as Moist von Lipwig
David Suchet as Reacher Gilt
Claire Foy as Adora Belle Dearheart
Andrew Sachs as Tolliver Groat
Charles Dance as Lord Vetinari
Nicholas Farrell as Mr. Pump (voice)
Marnix Van Den Broeke as Mr. Pump (body)
Tamsin Greig as Miss Cripslock
Ian Bonar as Stanley Howler
Steve Pemberton as Drumknott
Madhav Sharma as Horsefry

Penguins of Madagascar

"Well, penguins are our flesh and feathers! They're US! And if anyone's going to save us, it's us."

"But sir, we've got to be five miles up. That pretty much limits our options."

"I MAKE MY OWN OPTIONS."

Skipper (McGrath), Kowalski (Miller), Rico (Vernon), and Private (Knights) have been a team all their lives.  They are bored with life at the circus and decide to break into Fort Knox to celebrate Private's birthday.  However, they are captured by Dr. Octavius Brine (Malkovich), who reveals himself to be an octopus named Dave.  Dave hates the penguins and has been plotting revenge against them... but they don't remember him.  He was an attraction at the zoo until they replaced him... at many different zoos.

They manage to escape, with assistance from an elite spy group called North Wind.  North Wind is a sleek operation with cool gadgets.  They are led by Classified (Cumberbatch), who immediately clashes with Skipper.  Can the team stay one step ahead of North Wind and save all the zoo penguins from Dave?


Dreamworks Animations' Madagascar series is extremely popular.  It has 3 films (Madagascar, Madagascar 2, and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted), 2 TV shows (The Penguins of Madagascar and All Hail King Julien), along with several short films.  The penguins have been beloved characters from the beginning, with their over-the-top antics.  In 2008, Nickelodeon gave the penguins their own TV show, which ran for 3 seasons.  In 2012 when the series ended, Dreamworks announced that the penguins would receive their own film in 2015.

While the penguins are entertaining characters, I had reservations about them as the focus of a film.  I missed the other characters from the series.  The penguins are great, but it would be nice to see some of the other animals (King Julien and Mort were a welcome addition in the in-credits song).  The new characters worked because of the actors that voiced them.  John Malkovich brought the right amount of insanity to Dave, while Benedict Cumberbatch made Classified a slick character while still embracing the comedy of the character.  I love Ken Jeong and I wish Short Fuse had a bigger role to see what he could do with the part.

I enjoyed the film, but I think some of the other Madagascar films are better.

Penguins of Madagascar (2014) 92 minutes
Director: Eric Darnell & Simon J. Smith
Starring: Tom McGrath as Skipper
Chris Miller as Kowalski
Christopher Knights as Private
Conrad Vernon as Rico
John Malkovich as Dave / Dr. Octavius Brine
Benedict Cumberbatch as Classified
Ken Jeong as Short Fuse
Annet Mahendru as Ava
Peter Stormare as Corporal

Sharknado 2: The Second One

"Even the Sharknadoes are tougher in New York."

Fin Shephard (Ziering) and his ex-wife April Wexler (Reid) are on their way to New York City to promote April's new book "How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters."  The book is based on their experience with the sharknado that hit Los Angeles.  Their plane is caught in a storm that reveals sharks.  After the pilots are killed, Fin manages to land the plane, but April loses a hand to a shark.

April is rushed to the hospital for surgery, while Fin tries to warn the city of the approaching shark invested storm.  He manages to contact his sister Ellen (Wuhrer) and warns her to seek shelter inland.  She is visiting the Statue of Liberty with her daughter Mora (Baxter) and some old friends.  Ellen agrees, but asks Fin to find the rest of their group at the Mets game.  At the game, he reunites with his former best friend Martin (McGrath), who is now his brother-in-law, his nephew Vaughn (Plaminteri), and his high school sweetheart Skye (Fox).  As the storm hits, their groups race to Fin's hotel to seek shelter and to find a way to stop the storms.  Can Fin get lucky again and save the city?


After the success of Sharknado in 2013, SyFy ordered a sequel.  This film was again directed by Anthony C. Ferrante (who again had a brief cameo), written by Thunder Levin, and produced by The Asylum.  The film premiered on SyFy on July 30, 2014 and boasted one of the best premiere numbers for a SyFy film.

The story is very similar to the original, while moving the story to NYC and focusing more on Fin and April, and their extended family.  This film also features numerous celebrity cameos.  Most of the cameos are winks to other roles that the actor has had.  Several people appear as themselves.  Once again there are several nods to Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

Again the writing is bad, the acting is terrifying, and the effects are sad.  But once again, everyone seems to be in on the joke... The film doesn't take itself too seriously (the picture above should illustrate that point), and you need to adopt that attitude while watching.  With that mindset, it is a mindless and hilarious way to spend an evening.

Based on the success of this, Syfy ordered another sequel Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, set to premiere in July 2015.

Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) 90 minutes
Director: Anthony C. Ferrante
Starring: Ian Ziering as Fin Shephard
Tara Reid as April Wexler
Vivica A. Fox as Skye
Mark McGrath as Martin Brody
Kari Wuhrer as Ellen Brody
Courtney Baxter as Mora Brody
Dante Palminteri as Vaughn Brody
Judd Hirsch as Ben

St. Vincent

"I'm showing him how the world works. You work, you get paid, you drink."

"You're drinking alcohol?"

"...I honestly don't remember."

Vincent MacKenna (Murray) is a grumpy old man, who doesn't like anyone and keeps to himself.  That all changes when Maggie Bronstein (McCarthy) moves in next door and damages his car.  Vincent soon begins a reluctant with Maggie's 12-year old son Oliver (Lieberher). 

Vincent becomes Oliver's babysitter and teaches him about the world.  Oliver goes to the racetrack, the bar, and meets Vincent's prostitute friend Daka (Watts).  He also learns to defend himself from the bullies at school.  Can their unlikely friendship save both Vincent and Oliver?


I enjoy Bill Murray films and was excited to see that he was doing a comedy.  The screenplay, written by director Theodore Melfi, appeared on 2011's Hollywood Black List for the best unproduced scripts.  The story is excellent: dark and deals with serious topics, while still keeping it light.  The script is elevated by perfect casting choices.

Murray was great, as usual.  He has wonderful comedic timing and makes you care about this mean character  He had excellent chemistry with Jaeden Lieberher, who was a breath of fresh air.  He was adorable and manages to step out of the typical child character tropes.  Naomi Watts was good as Daka, making her demanding / in control and still vulnerable.  Chris O'Dowd makes the most of his small role, getting laughs and propelling the story forward.  Melissa McCarthy plays against type and plays the straight man role, letting her costars get the laughs.  She matches their energy and keeps Maggie from being unlikeable.  I enjoy her in comedy, but she proves her that she can still dive into serious characters / scripts.

It is an interesting independent film.  Real and funny and a nice escape from reality.

St. Vincent (2014) 102 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material including sexual content, alcohol and tobacco use, and for language
Director: Theodore Melfi
Starring: Bill Murray as Vincent MacKenna
Melissa McCarthy as Maggie Bronstein
Naomi Watts as Daka Paramova
Chris O'Dowd as Brother Geraghty
Jaeden Lieberher as Oliver Bronstein
Dario Barosso as Robert Ocinski
Kimberly Quinn as Ana
Donna Mitchell as Sandy

TV: Cougar Town

“You have an outside perspective of the cul-de-sac crew. How do you see us?”

“Well, I see you guys as a bunch of old people with surprisingly good skin given the amount of wine and sun you take in.”

Realtor Jules Cobb (Cox) is ready to begin dating again after her divorce.  But it has been years since she has been on a date, her ex-husband Bobby (Van Holt) is still around, and her son Travis (Byrd) is a senior in high school.  She turns to her best friend and neighbor Ellie Torres (Miller), who has a successful marriage to Andy (Gomez).  She also seeks advice from her fun-loving employee Laurie Keller (Philipps).

She also befriends her divorced neighbor Grayson Ellis (Hopkins), who owns a bar.  Jules loves her friends and gets overly involved in their lives.  Her home is their hub, with everyone sitting around drinking wine in her kitchen and embarrassing Travis.


I loved Bill Lawrence's TV Show Scrubs, so even though I thought the title was ridiculous, I decided to give this show a try.  It took a few episodes, but it became a show I looked forward to watching.  During the first season the show grew and developed, leaving it's initial premise in the dust and embracing the group as whole.  The creators played with changing the name after the show changed, but ultimately decided to stick with it... and they used the opening title card to mock the show (beginning in season 2, each title card had a snarky comment about the title or the show as a whole).

Like Scrubs, the show also featured cameos by cast members from Lawrence's other shows (Scrubs and Spin City).  In fact, Sam Lloyd played his Scrubs character, Ted, on the show.  The show also featured cameos by Courteney Cox's Friends co-stars (Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, and Matthew Perry).

The cast is fun and the characters are wacky.  There are running gags, such as Jules special wine glass (she goes through several, each larger than the previous, with it's own name), or changing the meaning of words.  They even invited a game called "Penny Can" with a unique set of rules that grow each season.

Overall, I enjoyed the show.  I liked most of the main cast and thought the stories played out well.  I was satisfied with the series finale (which didn't feel like a finale, until it did), except I was disappointed that Barb didn't get a cameo and the limited amount of Bobby (which was one of my issues with the 6th season).

I look forward to rewatching old episodes and falling in love with the show all over again.

Cougar Town (2009-2015)
Creator: Bill Lawrence & Kevin Biegel
Starring: Courteney Cox as Jules Cobb
Christa Miller as Ellie Torres
Busy Philipps as Laurie Keller
Dan Byrd as Travis Cobb
Josh Hopkins as Grayson Ellis
Ian Gomez as Andy Torres
Brian Van Holt as Bobby Cobb
Bob Clendenin as Tom
Carolyn Hennesy as Barb Colman