It’s the battle of the stand-up comics this weekend with our friends Bert Kreischer and Sebastian Maniscalco duking it out with movies that center on their relationships with their fathers.
Bert Kreischer’s “The Machine”…in theaters only, is based on the event that led to Bert’s most viral clip fame as a stand-up. It’s based on his true experience with Russian mobsters on a boozed-up college trip. His estranged dad, played by the iconic Mark Hamill, never did believe “The Machine” story til 23 years after, they’re both kidnapped back to Russia to deal with a sociopathic crime family who’s out to get Bert to atone for what they say he did them as a college student. I don’t think a single critic got to see Bert’s movie in advance. He knows his fans love him and if he builds it, they will come!
Sebastian Maniscalco stars in and co-wrote ”About My Father”, with his dad played by the great Robert De Niro. Maniscalco’s fiancée, played by Leslie Bibb, gets him to invite his immigrant, hairdresser dad to join her very wealthy, very eccentric family for a weekend together at their bougie home. What could possibly go wrong??!! The critics are NOT loving it, giving “About My Father” just 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Also in theaters only (for now) is a comedy for adults, “You Hurt My Feelings”, from writer/director Nicole Holofcener, who joins me on “Sonstein Sunday” this weekend. Based in Manhattan, the wonderful Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is spot-on as a writer who feels positively betrayed by her husband (played by Tobias Menzies who was Prince Phillip in seasons 3 & 4 of “The Crown" and also starred in “GOT”) when she overhears him saying he really didn’t like her latest book. This, after he raved to her face, about how great it was. It’s all about the lies we tell to protect those we love. Yes- you WILL have THAT discussion with the loved one you take to this movie! It’s VERY relatable. 95% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it thumbs up.
"The Little Mermaid”… in theaters only, this is the latest live action re-make of a beloved animated movie. Halle Bailey is getting high marks as Ariel with Oscar winner Javier Braden as King Triton and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. “The New York Post” pans it as a cash grab but the critics at Rotten Tomatoes give it 71%.