The Boss Baby

"Cookies are for closers."

Tim Templeton (Bakshi) is a happy 7-year old.  He has loving parents, Ted (Kimmel) and Janice (Kudrow), and a great life.  All of that changes when his baby brother arrives.  The baby wears a suit and carries a briefcase.  Tim discovers that the baby is actually the Boss Baby (Baldwin), who can talk and is on a secret mission.

The Boss Baby works for Baby Corp and is trying to stop the release of a new breed of puppy.  Tim wants his life back and reluctantly agrees to help the baby.  Can they stop the evil CEO of Puppy Corp, or will they be stuck together forever?


I never intended to watch this film.  The trailers didn't capture my attention, and I didn't hear many positive reviews of the film.  I promptly forgot about it, until it was nominated for an Academy Award (instead of The Lego Batman Movie, like I expected).  I still didn't plan to watch it, until my 2-year old niece asked to watch it.

The story is loosely based on Marla Frazee's board book "The Boss Baby."  Screenwriter Michael McCullers used the basic ideas from the book to create an original story for the film.  Frazee's book had interesting ideas, but the movie tries to do too much.

Dreamworks brought in Tom McGrath, who previously directed all 3 Madagascar films (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted) and Megamind for Dreamworks, along with voicing Skipper the Penguin in the Madagascar franchise, to direct the film.

Most of the laughs in the film come from the impressive visuals.  They have lots of ideas and they don't all work.  It is funny to see the baby in a suit, with Alec Baldwin's voice.  The battle of wills between the brothers gets some laughs as well.  It has some nice moments and the ending is heartwarming.

I laughed while watching it, but I genuinely don't remember much about the film.  I enjoyed it, but I don't plan to watch it again.

The film was popular enough to get it's own Netflix TV show The Boss Baby: Back in Business (they have not released a premiere date at this time).  Apparently, Dreamworks is also planning to make a sequel in 2021.

The Boss Baby (2017) 97 minutes
Director: Tom McGrath
Starring: Alec Baldwin as Boss Baby
Steve Buscemi as Francis E. Francis
Jimmy Kimmel as Ted Templeton
Lisa Kudrow as Janice Templeton
Miles Bakshi as Tim Templeton
Tobey Maguire as Narrator
Conrad Vernon as Eugene Francis
James McGrath as Wizzie

Marshall (2017)

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think we could win."

In 1940, NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall (Boseman) is sent to Bridgeport, CT.  He was hired to defend Joseph Spell (Brown), a chauffeur accused of raping his employer Eleanor Strubing (Hudson).  He needs to be admitted to the local bar and is forced to work with Sam Friedman (Gad), an insurance lawyer who reluctantly agrees to help.

Judge Foster (Cromwell) permits Thurgood to join the defense, but he is not allowed to speak during the trial.  Sam has minimal court experience, but is forced to serve as the main defense counsel.  They meet with Joseph, who claims to be innocent.  The prosecutor, Lorin Willis (Stevens), is confident in his case and offers them a deal.  With their reputations and Joseph's life on the line, can they find the truth and win the case?


Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, serving from 1967 to 1991.  Before that he was a lawyer and founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.  As an NAACP lawyer, he rose to prominence arguing high profile cases before the Supreme Court.  This film, written by Paula Wagner, Reginald Hudlin (who also served as the director), and Jonathan Sanger, focuses on one of his first court cases.

This is the fourth biopic to star Chadwick Boseman.  He portrayed Floyd Little in 2008's The Express, Jackie Robinson in 2013's 42, and James Brown in 2014's Get on Up.  Boseman is a strong and commanding lead as Marshall.  He works well with Josh Gad, who is best known for comedy roles.  Gad sells the role of inexperienced trial lawyer Sam Friedman, while also showing his confidence in other legal matters.  Boseman and Gad play off each other well in both the dramatic and lighter moments.  The rest of the performances are also well done.

The film is interesting... but feels like it is missing something.  The script, Michael Koskoff and Jacob Koskoff, is fine, but doesn't leave a lasting impression.  The film lets Boseman shine and utilizes the talents of a strong cast, but probably will not be remembered as a strong biopic.

The end credits song "Stand Up for Something" is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Marshall (2017) 118 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexuality, violence and some strong language
Director: Reginald Hudlin
Starring: Chadwick Boseman as Thurgood Marshall
Josh Gad as Sam Friedman
Kate Hudson as Eleanor Strubing
Dan Stevens as Lorin Willis
James Cromwell as Judge Foster
Sterling K. Brown as Joseph Spell
Keesha Sharp as Vivien "Buster" Burey
John Magaro as Irwin Friedman
Roger Guenveur Smith as Walter Francis White
Ahna O'Reilly as Mrs. Richmond

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

"But Holmes, that's impossible."

"Anything is possible until proven otherwise."

At the start of WWII, British Intelligence is plagued by a German saboteur.  The saboteur mocks them through a radio program called the "Voice of Terror."  The Inner Council of British Intelligence reluctantly calls Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Bruce) to help solve the case.

That evening one of Holmes operatives, Gavin (Robert Barron) dies while giving them a cryptic clue.  They turn to Gavin's wife, Kitty (Ankers) and her contacts in the criminal underworld to get information.  As the threats escalate, can Holmes find the traitor in time?


This is the third Sherlock Holmes film to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  This was the first Holmes film to transport the story from it's traditional time period to the 1940s.  At the start of the film there is a title card that explains that the Holmes story is ageless and explains that the story will be set in modern times (for when the film was made).

The story is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "His Last Bow," which was originally published in 1917.  That story is written in the third person and takes place at the beginning of World War I.  This film takes the story and transports it to World War II.  The character names are different and the story is told in a different way... but the over-arching story is the same.  The book and film end with the same exchange between Holmes and Watson, where Holmes compares the weather to the impending war.

Rathbone and Bruce have great chemistry.  They are joined by "scream queen" Evelyn Ankers as Kitty.  Ankers gets to make a rousing speech and let loose an iconic scream.  Henry Daniell regularly played a villain, so I expected him to do something devious here.  Daniell also appeared in the Sherlock Holmes film in The Woman in Green.

It is an enjoyable film spy film, but not a great Holmes film.

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) 65 minutes
Director: John Rawlins
Starring: Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson
Evelyn Ankers as Kitty
Reginald Denny as Sir Evan Barham
Thomas Gomez as R.F. Meade
Henry Daniell as Sir Anthony Lloyd
Montagu Love as General Jerome Lawrod
Olaf Hytten as Fabian Prentiss
Leyland Hodgsonas Captain Roland Shore
Hillary Brooke as Jill Grandis