Friday, February 8, 2019

Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias: One Show Fits All (2019)



Number Rolled: 8
Movie Name/Year: Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias: One Show Fits All (2019)
Tagline: None
Genre: Documentary, Comedy
Length: 90 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Production Companies: Netflix
Producer: Gabriel Iglesias, Joe Meloche, Ron De Blasio, John Bravakis, Jeff Thorsen, Alex McKinzie
Director: Manny Rodriguez
Writer: Gabriel Iglesias
Actors: Gabriel Iglesias

Blurb from Netflix: Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias discusses his teenage son and encounters with Snoop Dogg, Chris Rock and Vincente Fernandez, in this stand-up special.


Selina’s Point of View:
This was Gabriel Iglesias’ (The Nut Job, Magic Mike, Ferdinand) best. Show. Ever.

I’m a big fan of Iglesias. I love his jokes, his timing, his persona… just everything about him. I always enjoy his shows. He’s one of the few comedians that can make me laugh out loud. Most of the time I’m a chuckler. I’ll let out a ‘heh’ and then go back to what I’m doing. Gabriel Iglesias gets my undivided attention along with actual sounds.

Save your ‘that’s what she said’ jokes. I’m getting to the point.

This show ranks up there with one of the best comedy shows I’ve ever seen – not just from Gabriel Iglesias, but in general. That’s saying a lot, because my husband used to interview comedians on a show and we’ve seen a ton of comedy sets together.

Now, stand-up comedy is going to affect everyone differently. That’s just a fact. Humor is a very personal thing. The way people react to jokes changes along with their age and experiences. Hell, nature itself might be behind why some people think one thing is funny while other people don’t. I can’t tell you what’s going to be funny for every person, but I can explain my own take.


Personally, I love comedy that has an edge to it. Dark jokes or aspects of social commentary woven into the story telling will often get me. 

My favorite comedian, without a doubt, is George Carlin (Cars, Dogma, The George Carlin Song). I loved how he could tell a story about something actively going on in the world, something that was controversial and sensitive, and still make it funny. At the end of a George Carlin show, I was always lost in thought. He made me reconsider things. I could argue that he helped me become a better person.

In One Show Fits All, I believe Gabriel Iglesias solidified his quality in my mind and became a legend, pretty damn close to Carlin. He made think, he made a point, he had me laughing out loud, and he still touched my heart.

I think that any comedy that brings people together is incredibly important right now. It feels like the world’s gone crazy and most voices can’t be heard. Iglesias used his comedy set to try to bring people together and I think that’s amazing. It’s difficult to do right, to not sound preachy or biased, but he managed.

I’m going to be watching this special again. Probably a lot.


Cat’s Point of View:
My family and I were rather excited to see that Netflix had released a brand-new comedy special from Gabriel Iglesias. Fluffy is quite likely the stand-up comedian most enjoyed by my household. We made a night of it, ordering pizza and sitting down to watch One Show Fits All.

As usual, we weren’t disappointed.

Where do I start? There are so many reasons to enjoy Fluffy’s specials – this one included.

I love the fact that he’s so grounded. Watching one of his shows almost feels like you’re hanging out with a buddy rather than some famous person who is being paid to make an appearance. Part of this is his delivery, but also because his comedic perspective comes from life experiences both professionally and personally. It’s almost like getting a back-stage sneak peek into his life when he discusses moments in his relationship with his son, his buddies, and things that have happened to him because of his growing fame.


Even when he’s talking about events that have come to pass because he is so well-known now, it comes across as speaking from a humble place. Fluffy passes on to his audience his sense of awe and excitement at the opportunities that are available to him because of his body of work. It’s really refreshing because it feels genuine and conversational rather than rehearsed and lofty. He never comes across as being too big for his britches (even though his big britches are often a comedic topic).

This special is also generally family-friendly. There are a few mature references here and there but they’re brief, and colorful words are generally in Spanish. If that’s a language spoken in your household, then it might not be as great for small children – but I’d say it’s generally a safe bet for the PG or PG-13 crowd.

This show, filmed in Houston, TX, has some really touching moments. I don’t want to give it all away – but maybe have some tissues handy in case you hop on the feels train. I also have to give him credit for including such moments in his show that aren’t geared for laughs, but rather connection with his fans; and without missing a beat in the flow of the production over-all.

I guess you can say that I have zero hesitation in recommending this special to anyone that likes to laugh – and especially to fans of Gabriel Iglesias. My family and I enjoyed every moment of it and will likely watch this more than once.


Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 7.6/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating5/5

Movie Trailer:

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

The Little Mermaid (2018)



Number Rolled: 21
Movie Name/Year: The Little Mermaid (2018)
Tagline: A new twist on a classic tail.
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Length: 84 minutes
Rating: PG
Production Companies: Conglomerate Media, Kingsway Productions (II)
Producer: Kevin Adler, Ed Arenas, James Bernstein, Carrie Lynn Certa, Christopher Dosen, Armando Gutierrez, Andrew M. Hart, Chip Lane, Peter A. Lees, Robert Molloy, Dominick Robinson, Robert Kelley Roth, Corey Saccone, Fabio W. Silva, Jessica Steinbrenner, Ean Sullivan, Anthony Varner, Claudia Vilches, Kyle White
Director: Blake Harris, Chris Bouchard
Writer: Blake Harris, Hans Christian Andersen
Actors: William Moseley, Poppy Drayton, Loreto Peralta, Armando Gutierrez, Shirley MacLaine, Gine Gershon, Shanna Collins, Chris Young, Jo Mari Payton, Tom Nowicki, Lexy Kolker, Claire Ryann, Jared Sandler, Hunter Gomez, Peter Groverman, Alexis Balliro, Joey Martinez, Antoni Corone, James Bernstein

Blurb from Netflix: In this take on the classic tale, a captive circus mermaid transforms the lives of a skeptical journalist and his wide-eyed young sister.


Selina’s Point of View:
I liked the concept of this story, but it really didn’t translate to screen as well as it should have.

There were a ton of problems with The Little Mermaid. It was plagued by bad dialogue, poor direction, and bad acting/casting.

As the main villain, Armando Gutierrez (When the Starlight Ends, Reach Me, London’s Finest) was laughable at best.

If your villain is supposed to be an all-powerful, diabolical, wizard – they should command fear whenever they’re on screen. Or, at the very least, make people believe that they could command fear in others. Gutierrez seemed sure he could accomplish the feat by always tilting his head down a little and putting on his best imitation of a Batman voice.


It troubles me that he’s set to play the villain again in the upcoming Anastasia live-action remake.

William Moseley (The Royals, Friend Request, Carrie Pilby) and Poppy Drayton (The Shannara Chronicles, Writers Retreat, Down Dog) were good with what they had to work with. Even Loreto Peralta (Guardians of Oz, Instructions Not Included, The Prophet) was decent for her part. Unfortunately, they had to deal with dialogue that often sounded like it was written by a fifteen-year-old and then not edited.

As for the effects, I can ignore the occasional costume issues and the bad effects. I love B-movies, so that stuff never fazes me. With a different director and script writer, some different actors, the movie would have been fine, even with those issues.

I’m disappointed. I wanted The Little Mermaid to be good.


Cat’s Point of View:
I was excited when this movie was first released. I love the story of The Little Mermaid (1989). 

There’s been all sorts of talk about a live-action mermaid movie from the mouse house, but this was not it. For all I can tell, that adaptation is still somewhere in development.

That being said, the trailer even made it pretty clear this was not the same sort of story. When I first watched it, I had a mixed reaction of ‘meh’ with the underlying hope that the sneak peak was just edited poorly.

Alas, it was a fair representation of the film as a whole.


I felt that with Shirley MacLaine (Bewitched, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Last Word) and William Moseley attached to the project, it might have more oomph. I’m even a real fan of Poppy Drayton’s work on The Shannara Chronicles (2016-2017); so, I knew there was great potential there. There were a few other cast members that tried their best to elevate the material. It just wasn’t enough.

I think tween-age kids or thereabouts will get a bit more out of this movie. Adults that have grown up with Ariel’s siren songs, dinglehoppers, and thingamabobs will find this production considerably lacking. Though, I could swear that the musical score gave a nod to ‘Part of Your World’ during one of the carnival scenes. Considering this wasn’t a Disney project, that must have taken a chunk out of their budget to license that.

A large part of what undermined the experience for me was that some of it just felt lazy. There were unnecessary ‘pauses for effect,’ the choreography didn’t flow very well, and the majority of the acting on the villain’s side fell absolutely flat.

The best thing I could say, if asked about this movie, is bless their hearts – they tried.


Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 20%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 26%
Metascore - 40/100
Metacritic User Score – 3.5/10
IMDB Score – 4.2/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating2/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating2/5

PS: We're trying out a new Tuesday/Friday schedule. Let us know what you think!

Movie Trailer: