‘Mike and Dave’ and ‘Star Trek’ are movies to see | @ the Movies

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates ***

As the stars of a film embodying the very definition of “screwball comedy,” Mike and Dave, played respectively by Workaholics’ Adam Devine, and rising comedic star Zac Efron, find themselves in a pretty funny movie with equally funny co-stars. As the partying brothers who manage to ruin every family event, Mike and Dave are mandated by their dad, played by Stephen Root (Office Space), to bring dates to their sister’s wedding. The boys post a video, an open invitation looking for “nice” girls, which goes viral leading to a meeting between Mike and Dave and two opportunistic young women looking for a free vacation. The girls, played by Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect) and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), lie about everything, and derail the wedding in some pretty funny ways. Plaza, in particular, steals the show with her quirky delivery. With some nudity, and lots of carefully hidden, but still graphic sexual situations, this comedy is not a fun family film. But for those not easily offended, and not expecting high art, there are plenty of bawdy laughs from a really likable cast.

Star Trek Beyond ***

With stunning 3D imagery, an ensemble cast lead by Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, and a spaceport that has to be seen to believed, Star Trek Beyond continues the reimagined franchise that in 2009 first matched a young new cast in to the likenesses and style of those from the original 1960s television series. After 13 feature length films, and the third in this newest series, Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the distant but relatable future shines on. Twenty-seven-year -old Anton Yelchin, who plays Pavel Chekov in the series, died in an automobile crash earlier in the year, adding a sad note to his final portrayal as the Federation officer. No word yet and who (or how) producers will replace him in future reboots. As stunning as the J.J. Abrams-produced film is visually, the plot is all-too familiar, and lacks the creativity of the first two films in the series, or even an average episode of Next Generation. Still, Pine, Zachary Quinto (Spock), Simon Pegg (who co-wrote the screenplay, and portrays Scotty), Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy), and the rest of the cast save the film, and make it worthy addition to the cannon, which may stretch far into some distant star date we can’t yet imagine.

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 8:32 AM with the headline "‘Mike and Dave’ and ‘Star Trek’ are movies to see | @ the Movies."