Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Like most Judd Apatow movies, this one is not so much about the main for character or story line but instead about it is all the interesting, quirky, and charming supporting characters. Like if you remember Superbad, McLovin’ with the two cops were the best part of the films. I have talked to girls who have said that they wished the movies was about them. (for McLovin fans check out funnyordie.com “McLovin’ Fund” which was has Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Kirsten Bell). I really loved everyone in this film except for the main character Peter, played by Jason Segel; who by the way also wrote the screenplay.

The movie is basically guy loses girlfriend and is depressed. Goes to a report in Hawaii and finds his ex-girlfriend and her new guy in the same resort.

I found the Peter character to be winy, boring and complete uninteresting, which might come from the fact I never really bought into his performance. The film does spend a lot of time with him, but if you can forget about him, you are in for a bit of a treat.

There were a lot of things that I liked here. First of all, you have the Apatow regulars like Jonah Hill of SuperBad, who plays this waiter, a soften down character of what he normally does, who is in love with a British pop star Russell Brand, who is staying at the resort with Peter’s ex-girlfriend Sarah Marshall. Russell Brand is this very funny character who is a microcosm of what you think a overconfident- oversexed British pop star should be. Sort of like a cross between Sting, Chris Martin and George Michael. He has cheesy songs about saving world, is recovering from his substance abuse issues, is a sex addict, and basically a nice guy. The ex-girlfriend, played by Kirsten Bell, is surprising normal except that she is an actress from TV crime shows. The spoof of those shows is way overdue and watch to credits to see another CSI parody along with Jason Bateman. The supporting characters are so well defined and more interesting that you cheer when they appear and you really don’t want them to leave. My favorite was the young Christian couple who waited for there honeymoon, for whatever people do on their honeymoon. The woman is really excited and the guy complains to no end. It’s really funny. The cast is rounded out by Paul Rudd, being Raul Rudd, and Mila Kunis, from Family Guy and That 70’s show, basically playing her role straight as the love interest of Peter.

There are some funny musically numbers. My favorite was when Peter plays a really depressing song, then after a few bars you realize that it is the opening song to the Muppet Show.

Overall the movie is very long and the story is tired. However, there is this new comedy team. It looks like the Will Farrell, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn crew have been supplanted with this lot and this style of humor. In summary, if you know and like the name “Apatow” this movie is for you, and if you are tagging along there are some good laughs in there when Peter isn’t crying or showing his shlong.

Drillbit Taylor (2008)

This is by far the worst movie I have seen this year. It might be the worst movie I will see all year. It is the second worst movie I have seen in two years. The number one worst movie in two years being Reno 911.

Watching this movie you see why Owen Wilson tried to kill himself. When I first heard about that, I thought it was sad for a human being to try to take his own life. Now, I respect Wilson for the effort.

So, is there anything good about this movie? Well, yes there is one thing. In the movie, the kids are being bullied, seriously bullied, by two kids. The movie got this right. It showed a world almost invisible to adults of kids brutalizing other kids. It shows the humiliation of this. It shows how these bullies appear so cute to authority figures. How parents don’t get it either. In the end, the kids who are victims get in trouble for bringing it up. I think it is only now with school shooting that this is getting any kind of attention. There is something so unconscionable about this that it can only be thought of as a common phenomenon.

There is some where serious satisfaction when the bullies finally get their ass kicked in the end.

Other than that the movie tries to be another SuperBad, and fails miserably. The two Laurel and Hardy, fat guy and skinny duo, fail by a lack of chemistry or charm. The hero Drillbit, Wilson, has as much presence as Pauley Shore. The plot is so bad that I won’t even get into it. OK, three kids are getting the sh*#t beat out of them hire homeless body guard Drillbit, and all hell breaks loose.

The worst part was that somehow the whole movie didn’t to work in this day and age. I kept on trying to see if it was suppose to be get 20 or 30 years ago when the plot would have made more sense. But the technology always gave it away. Still there few cell phones except for a couple of adults. School security had a pre-columbine aspect to it, which meant that there was none. A few myspace or facebook jokes would have been good.

Despite adorable, 18 year old, Valerie Tian from Juno, none of the actors have any likeability including Wilson. I really can’t say enough bad things about this movie.

Superbad (2007)

Ok, this movie is about to be released on DVD soon. It was a big hit this summer. I have to admit that I missed it on the big screen and saw it on an airplane.

My first impression is that this is a very well made movie. It is an excellent Hollywood formulaic teen movie. It used every cliché extremely well.

I think these movies have to be remade every couple of years, because they become outdated extremely quickly. You see that when the actors of these films grow up or dies from an overdose it is hard to take the movie seriously because you see the character as the older version of the actor. Also, teen styles change so often that it effects the shelf life of the film too.

There isn’t really anything special about this film. You have an oversexed fat kid and a skinny kid. The oversexed fat kid is practically an homage to John Belushi, and the duo goes back to the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy.

Although this time, I have to admit there was more overtly gay subtext than I expected. But Hey, everyone is open to their own interpretation of this story.

The story is always the same. Outcast teenagers need booze to get to a party in a hope of getting laid, and there is a coming of age story there; something the kids can connect to.

My favorite part of the movies was the B story, which was about this kid who got a fake ID where he calls himself “McLovin” goes from complete geek to total badass, with the help of the funniest cops since the Keystone cops. Bill Hader and Seth Rogen , the cops, were the best part of the film.

Overall, SuperBad was an enjoyable fluffy film in the same category of “10 things I hate about you.”