I think Disney got their brands switched up this year. ”Wreck-It Ralph” felt like the real Pixar movie, and “Brave” felt like the kind of fun but unmemorable Disney animated movie from the people who brought you “Tangled.”
Much to my surprise, “Wreck-It Ralph” left me walking away with a wide grin and a full heart, something that the Pixar movies of my youth like “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo” did so well. It’s a movie with undeniable charm and a winning spirit, one that envelops you in a giant bear hug. Not to mention, it also boasts a brilliant script with pop culture references and cleverly constructed worlds and humor not unlike what DreamWorks Animation did particularly well in the “Shrek” films.
It also rolls deep with an impressive voice cast, adding another dimension of enjoyment to the proceedings. They could not have picked a better person than John C. Reilly to play Wreck-It Ralph. As a video-game villain who just wants people to recognize him, Reilly is able to bring all the same sympathetic sad-sack pity that he used as Amos Hart (Mr. Cellophane) in “Chicago.” The innocence in his voice and the yearning to be accepted come across in Ralph’s first monologue, and we are on his side from the get-go as he tries to find someone to appreciate him.
The first time Sacha Baron Cohen lost himself in a character for a full-length theatrical release was 2006′s “Borat,” and it hilariously exposed American xenophobia while also providing a rollickingly good comedy for those unwilling to see what the humor was meant to reveal. He did it again in 2009 for “Brüno,” and its lack of success (and arguably humor) may have shown how much less ready America is to deal with pent-up homophobia.
Now Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again in “The Dictator,” this time not as a personality from his outrageously funny “Da Ali G Show” from HBO. Admiral General Aladeen, the dictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya, is every bit as politically incorrect and outlandish as his previous three (if not more so). He makes jokes about 9/11 and being friends with Osama bin Laden, executes just about anyone who disagrees with him, sleeps with actress/underground escort Megan Fox, and asks his pregnant wife (Anna Faris) if she will be having “a boy or an abortion.” Yeah, he went there.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few jokes that Cohen can squeeze out of his boundary-pushing routine. ”The Dictator” has plenty of brilliant comedic moments, although the ones that succeed seem only giggle-worthy and the ones that fail appear to have been ripped straight from the Adam Sandler playbook. However, the laugh gap isn’t the movie’s biggest problem.
Every medium has its distinct storytelling capabilities. The written word can inundate us with rich details and vivid characterization. The stage can engage our hearts and our eyes with proximity and unflinching reality. Film can wow us through fast manipulation of image and story that words or actors alone cannot illuminate. Some, but not many tales can bounce between the different media. Those that make the jump require strenuous retooling to fit the expressive purposes of their newfound home.
The fatal flaw of Roman Polanski’s “Carnage” is that it is merely a carbon copy of its source play, Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award-winning play “The God of Carnage.” The two masters of their respective crafts, collaborators on the script, ultimately fail to realize what is cinematic about the story. As a result, it just feels like a performance of the play itself (which I have read and deeply admire!) merely caught on film.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly happy that more people will be exposed to Reza’s keen insights into our primal natures. Not everyone can afford to see it on Broadway, nor are touring or repertory companies going to be performing this in every town. But it does the work a disservice to merely slap it onto a screen when it belongs on a stage.
I don’t know if you have any romanticized notions about how bloggers watch movies outside of theaters, but let me dispel just about all of them right now. Be it through Netflix, iTunes, Redbox, Blockbuster, or basic cable, watching movies is usually just us sitting in front of some sort of screen (and in rare cases, we can manage to net a friend or family member if the movie has wide appeal). We generally just plop, watch, and write, sharing our opinions not verbally with the person we endured the movie with but digitally with people who read our site or happen to accidentally wind up here after Googling “did the kings speech win any oscars?”
This method of movie watching inevitably favors one genre and shorts another. It’s easy to love a drama you watch at home because it’s hardly different than watching in the theater – that is, the audience is mostly silent for the duration of the movie. It’s hard to love a comedy because you have no one’s reaction but your own to measure as audience laughter has a significant impact on how we perceive the humor of a movie. Plus, no one really likes to laugh by themselves.
So when I come across a movie that can make me laugh while I’m curled up alone underneath my bed sheets, I rejoice! Ladies and gentleman, “Cedar Rapids” is one of those movies. Sure, it may be hopelessly pathetic and wallow in endless jokes of naïveté, but it’s actually funny! I laughed! A lot! In bed! Seriously, that doesn’t happen very often at all!
Ed Helms, best known as Andy Bernard from “The Office” and Stu from “The Hangover,” stars as Tim Lippe, the insular Wisconsin insurance salesman who gets a chance to go to the titular metropolis representing his company. There, he is exposed to the dangers and pleasures of true urban living and meets an exciting cast of characters including the crude Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), mild-mannered Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), good-natured Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche), and the prostitute with the heart of gold Bree (Alia Shawkat in the first role of its kind likely to be snubbed by the Oscars). Tim is totally clueless the entire movie, never really leaving his tighty-whitie turtle shell of ignorance. But even the cheap laughs work here, and my reactions ranged from chuckles to belly laughs. So what are you waiting on, book a trip to “Cedar Rapids” and enjoy comedy that can illicit a verbal reaction from you in the comfort of your own home. Humor me. (It’s also alright to laugh at the pun.) B+ /
Over the past few years, we’ve seen over-the-top comedy after over-the-top comedy, and it’s been a little exhausting. But you don’t need to go into outer space or back to prehistoric times to be funny; there’s humor in the average lives of ordinary people. The Duplass brothers understand that and bring us “Cyrus,” a modest comedy that finds laughter in the awkward and trite moments that make up the days of a new couple trying to coexist with an overbearing son. In a summer filled with giant explosions and comedies so corny you can all but hear the laugh-track, it’s a very welcome change of pace.
It’s like a feature-length sitcom where the writers provide the situation and the actors are left to bring the comedy out of it. There are no ridiculous lines or scenarios to pump easy laughs into the movie; it all comes from the way someone glances at another person or a few too many seconds of silence. John C. Reilly headlines the cast as John, the seven-years divorced loner just beginning to come out of his shell as his ex-wife, played by the always fantastic Catherine Keener, is getting married again.
At a party, he makes a drunken connection with Molly, Marisa Tomei’s spontaneous fireball. But little does John know what lies ahead down the road with her – a 22-year-old son played by Jonah Hill who still lives at home and is uncomfortably close with his mother. It’s a very different role for the young comedic star, who has starred in plenty of the ridiculous comedies I alluded to above (although I generally consider him to have good taste in choosing roles). He exhibits the subtlety necessary to make the passive-aggressive antagonist wholly convincing. Hill masters the death glare, just one of many great idiosyncrasies he brings to the character.
The production values are so simple that I can imagine just one of the movie’s four marquee names cost more than making the movie. The two brothers were extremely lucky to land them all because it does lend a sort of mainstream sensibility to the film that could be a little too indie for some people without them. But the crowning achievement of “Cyrus” is not how digestible the mumblecore movement (a phrase that doesn’t register with most Americans) can be made; it’s how the combination of a well-written script and actors capable enough to understand its nuances can create comedy out of anything. A- /
I had always been interested in seeing “Boogie Nights.” And for those of you who happen to know the film’s subject matter, no, it’s not because I wanted to see certain things. Released in 1997, the movie features plenty of today’s stars long before they had the luster and prestige their names bear now. Five members of the ensemble have since been nominated for Oscars, and an actor who wasn’t even given top billing has even won an Oscar.
In an effort to see some of Julianne Moore’s finest roles, I decided it was time to watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award-nominated second feature. The movie was her breakout, earning her notices from everyone, including the first of her four Oscar nominations. But it’s not just to feature her that “Boogie Nights” is my “F.I.L.M. of the Week;” the entire ensemble shines in a true work of artistry by Anderson.
I can’t dance around the topic any longer – this is a movie about the adult entertainment industry, in Los Angeles during the ’70s and ’80s. Director Jack Horner is looking for an actor to build an empire around, someone who can do more than just look good. He finds just that in Eddie Adams, a young nightclub employee with talents that Horner seeks. Changing his name to Dirk Diggler, Horner’s discovery becomes the star he always dreamed of.
But the bigger Diggler’s star becomes, the closer he moves towards becoming a supernova. His fame has made him violently angry and cocky. He has also spiraled into severe drug abuse and addiction. Soon enough, he finds that his greatest asset for his job doesn’t function the way he wants. Diggler slowly drops towards rock bottom, and thanks to a strong performance by Mark Wahlberg, it’s a gripping journey to watch. See, the stories of fame in the adult film industry are no different than any other entertainment industry.
As I said earlier, there is quite the ensemble at work here, including John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, and William H. Macy as members of Diggler’s posse. It’s quite fun to see them in their younger years, just getting started in Hollywood. He was leagues away from stardom at the time, but a definite standout is Philip Seymour Hoffman as a crew member infatuated with Diggler. He plays an unsettling character, and it’s nailed with the precision we now regularly associate with Hoffman.
The women are great, too. Heather Graham, who most people don’t take seriously, is seriously brilliant as Rollergirl, an actress who does all her movies wearing rollerskates. Anderson wrote the character with great depth, exploring her insecurities and weaknesses. Graham goes there with him, truly shocking us not only by how good she is but how far she is willing to take her character. And then there’s Julianne Moore, who entered mainstream consciousness for her portrayal of Amber Waves. She acts as a mother figure to Diggler, yet at the same time, she finds herself very attracted to him. Moore can play both objectives well, but she’s at her best when they clash.
In only his second movie, Paul Thomas Anderson handles “Boogie Nights” with the precision of a Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino, sharing the former’s knack for great camerawork and the latter’s ability to select great music. Now that I’ve seen this, I have to wonder why I like his later movies so much less.
In the promotional campaign for the movie “Step Brothers,” most of the advertising featured Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in tacky family portrait photos in argyle sweater vests. At a promotional screening for the movie, I was selected to participate in a trivia contest for prizes. My question was … drumroll …
“What is Will Ferrell’s best Christmas movie?”
If you can’t answer that one, you need to spend more time at the movie theater. I answered it correctly and won a “Step Brothers” T-shirt with argyle sweater print on the front. I wear it around proudly much to my parent’s dismay. It was even in my Facebook profile picture for a while.
I think Disney got their brands switched up this year. ”Wreck-It Ralph” felt like the real Pixar movie, and “Brave” felt like the kind of fun but unmemorable Disney animated movie from the people who brought you “Tangled.”
In the promotional campaign for the movie “Step Brothers,” most of the advertising featured Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in tacky family portrait photos in argyle sweater vests. At a promotional screening for the movie, I was selected to participate in a trivia contest for prizes. My question was … drumroll …
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