UNCLE DREW (20180 – My rating: 8.5/10

Uncle Drew is a sports comedy directed by Charles Stone III and written by Jay Longino. Being that I’m not a lover of comedies, I didn’t know what to expect of Uncle Drew. All I can say is, I’m glad went to see it. To my surprise, a 5:05pm showing on a Tuesday, only had the 2 front rows available. I’ve changed my opinion of animated films and I think I will have to change my opinion of comedies. Keep reading to find out what all the fuss is about.

Uncle Drew is a basketball legend, especially in his neighborhood. Years ago, he was supposed to play at the Rucker Classic with his team, but due to an (unknown to everyone else) conflict, he and his team broke up and disappeared the night before the competition. He seemed to have disappeared, as no one had heard from him since that night of the Rucker Classic.

—  SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW  —

Currently, Dax (Ashton Tyler) is an underappreciated coach of a team called Harlem’s Money. Broke and disillusioned with the condition of his current team, Dax also has a longstanding rivalry with Mookie (Nick Kroll). Mookie is a great basketball player and on a winning team. He also has a lot of mouth, as he steals Dax’s star player, Casper Jones (Aaron Gordon) and Dax’s girlfriend, Jess (Tiffany Haddish), who kicks him out of her apartment, leaving Dax homeless as well as broke.

An older neighborhood acquaintance, Angelo (J.B. Smoove) who hangs out in the barbershop, suggest that Dax try to find and meet Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving), after he is turned down by all the players he approached. Sad and bewildered, Dax oddly gets to see Uncle Drew play in the park. Drew turns out to be an exceptional basketball player, despite his age, so Dax approaches him and convinces Uncle Drew to join his team. However, there’s a condition. Uncle Drew wants his own team which consist of Preacher (Chris Webber), who has a wife, Betty Lou (Lisa Leslie) and a ministry, Boots (Nate Robinson) who’s in a wheel chair and in a nursing home under his granddaughter’s care Maya (Erica Ash), Big Fella (Shaquille O’Neal) who is enormous and teaches a karate class and Lights (Reggie Miller) who is partially blind.

To see where this all leads is hilarious.  Dax and Uncle Drew begin an adventure that will have you laughing the whole time.  Uncle Drew is utterly ridiculous but fun despite it’s craziness.  This movie is a delightful fantasy that will take you away from all the stressful politics, and negativity of the day.  I highly recommend it.  Everyone clapped when the movie ended — that’s always a good sign.  Check it out!

 

REVOLUTION – My rating: 8/10

I didn’t think this series would last.  The lights went out along with all power.  In other words, the world went back to fire and labor intensive task like walking.  Just image what this ever advancing technical universe would be like without the discoveries of the last 100 years.  In some ways, we would be better off and in most other ways, we would be screwed.

I was curious about the direction of Revolution.  What in the world would cause such a catastrophe?  As the series progresses, more and more is explained but still no real explanation as to the how.  On the way to the knowledge we all have been waiting for, many beloved cast member have perished and many situations that make for exciting viewing are revealed.  It’s interesting to see what man will do for power.  In this series, we are pretty close to Anarchy.  The biggest power group was lead by Sebastian Monroe alone with his best friend,  Miles Matheson, played by David Lyons and Billy Burke, respectively.  Through the seasons, that power group has been dissolved which means new groups have emerged. The hope was to regain power but that failed to do the trick, so off went the lights, again.  New issues have surfaced leaving us to interpret what a Nano does and what the future will hold.  There’s no end to the direction of Revolution.  It has gotten increasingly better over the seasons.  Check this one out — I think it’s a keeper.  The cast is huge and the stories are well acted and well told.  Revolution is currently airing on NBC.