Piranha 3DD and Three Word Review

Boobs and Blood.

The Other Guys

The Other Guys is the latest comedy by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. This time Will Ferrell is less bafoonish and more clueless. The person they pick to balance him off is Mark Wahlberg. I feel the shine is off Wahlberg. He was believable in The Departed but little else in years. He's passable here, but barely.

The joke is while the "Bruce Willis" type action cops are running around town, Wahlberg and Ferrell are doing paperwork and chasing permit issue developers. Then the movie gets turned on it's head and look out, they are the top cops. Crazy, I know.

It sounds like I am bashing it, but really, you know what you're getting. There are plenty of laughs. Will Ferrell does this in his sleep. I still hope he continues to branch out and do more stuff like Stranger Than Fiction (one of my favs).

If you're looking for a comedy right now, I would divert you from this to Going the Distance. But I won't say you're in bad company if you see it. You'll laugh at something (my guess would be the Jackson / Johnson rooftop pursuit of criminals).

Also, I have to give props for having Ice - T narrate. Genius.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes

Would you see it in theaters again?
Nah

Would you buy it?
Pralle not, maybe.

Would you rent it?
Sure

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Of course.

The Expendables

The Expendables. The manliest movie of all time. Eh, just a second. Maybe not. Sure there are a lot of veiny juicers in this. Sure I can barely make out what Sly and Mickey Rouke and Dolph Lundgren and Jet Li say. It's funny when the limey brit has the clearest speech.

It is good to see Charisma Carpenter in a role. She's still looking good. But is that enough? Nope. Especially when she's not using her assets to make it a true 80's throwback film.

The Schwartzenegger, Stallone, Bruno scene. Pretty terrible. So rough. The plot itself is threadbare. We're badass, but we protect the little guy. We're super sensitive. Love us!

Stallone shoots the movie with that terrible frenetic action where you can't see anything. At least in RAMBO I could see him make those people into a sticky mess. Here everything is at night and quick cut. And I swear to God that he's running like an old man with a limp the entire time. It's so comical.

Glad I saw it, so I can say I have. Now let's never talk about it again.

Did you enjoy it?
Eh. Barely.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Nope.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you rent it?
Probably not.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Nah

Going the Distance (with director Q&A)

Charlie Day. Jason Sudekis. Third and fourth billing. That should tell you something. This is being billed as a romantic comedy. And it is, until the first time you hear Drew Barrymore start swearing like a sailor. Two people fall in love. Then they move to different cities. Blah blah blah. (FYI, Jim Gaffigan is here too).

This movie came out of nowhere. I give it the pleasant surprise of the summer. There have been only a few. August is usually a wasteland and we're turning it into the best month.

The movie is filthy. But it is also funny. And its grounded in somewhat real situations. It isn't all love an sunshine. They meet. They try to make it work. Does it work? Will they end up together? There are a couple moments where you have the "jealous/ is (s)he cheating on me" that gets turned on it's ear, which was funny.

Justin Long and Drew Barrymore were dating at the time(?). Regardless, they do have good chemistry. The only issue I have with the film is that they try a couple different camera styles and they're sort of jarring and take you out of the movie. They're used once and left in a trail of dust after that. If they have used it intermittenly then maybe it would be something, but they don't. So...

But as I said before, the supporting cast is what really makes this movie. I got a chance to ask the director after the screening how she got Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis in the movie, she said she just liked them. She also said that the movie was about 50% improvisational. And that really makes the difference. Most of the scenes have some great conversational improv. Let's get to my questions...
Did you enjoy it?
Yes

Would you see it in theaters again?
Yes

Would you buy it?
Maybe

Would you rent it?
Probably

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Totes Magotes

Iowa State Fair

*Yes, that is a cow made entirely made of butter

Nugs has been quiet. It's my busy season at work. But I got a quick vacation in last week. Went to the Iowa State Fair, went to a family reunion (280 folks, knew about 40). But we'll be up and back in full force soon.

Lots of good stuff coming up. Fall softball, weddings, more vacations.

Dinner For Schmucks

The poster says "From the Director of Meet the Parents". Does that tell you what kind of movie this is? I guess it would be closer to a fable? Is that right? In any real world situation, would you pretend to propose to your stalker only to have her smash your porsche in front of the restaraunt in the next scene?

A sad misuse of Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Jemaine Clement, et all. There are a tiny few amount of laughs. I saw this in a pretty packed theater and you could count the laughs in the movie on two hands. The "dinner" itself was fairly enjoyable but does start to drag on.

Since At the Movies ends its legendary run on TV next week I will steal their slogan and say "Skip It"!

Did you enjoy it?
Sort of. Not enough to pay for it.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you rent it?
No.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Eh, maybe if it was the last 20 minutes of the movie.

Michael Cera: Action Star

Michael Cera. Video games. Cartoons. Edgar Wright. If those four things have any interest for you, you'll love Scott Pilgrim Vs the World. Based on a comic I have never read, this movie went into production before the last two comics were released. Supposedly, the movie follows the first few issues in the series and then veers off in it's own direction.

Like the campy version of the Batman TV series, words pop up on screen as if having a life of their own. People do outrageous cartoony things. It starts slow with a few clever things here or there. But once we run into the first member of "the league" things really start hopping.

Does Michael Cera stretch his acting chops? Yes. But not in the way that you think. He still plays the mumbling quiet kid. But he also can fight. Since this is a cartoon I was able to believe that he could fight just as easily as I could believe he could jump out a five foot high window. If you're not sick of Michael Cera, you won't be pushed over the edge by this movie. He's the perfect fit for the role.

There are a lot of laughs here. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) keeps a good pace while packing the movie with a lot of humor and action. These are things he can do in his sleep. Its funny that even with the action set pieces this movie feels small. Well, small is a bad word. It feels intimate.

Did you enjoy it?

Yes

Would you see it in theaters again?

Yes

Would you buy it?
Yes

Would you rent it?
Yes

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes

Century Club: Success

You tell me if we had a good time...?