"Bad Grandpa" PG 13
Irving Zissman, Johnny Knoxville in pounds of makeup, is a widower and has a daughter on crack who is going to jail, and leaves him grandson Billy, to take to his father across country. Thus begins the hidden camera casing road movie of the summer, Bad Grandpa.
The old man bits on Jackass are usually tired except for the last one in part 3, but this movie refreshes the concept by ditching Spike Jonze in drag and transforming him into a corpse that gets into a lot of trouble. Jeff Tremaine and the others are along for the ride behind the scenes, and are not featured directly.
Also note that although having a corpse might seem like Weekend at Bernies it is a lot funnier than that movie because here they so not reanimate it.
The trailer directly riffs from the independent road movie Little Miss Sunshine, the inspiration for the Honey Boo Boo series, (Toddlers and Tiaras/Honey Boo Boo being a direct rip off also), and then turns it head over heels into a parody of Victor Victoria. If you're going to homage a classic why not make fun of two, for the price of one.
Clearly they have also been inspired by the work of Walter Matthaw, Neil Simon and the classic old sketches of what to do with a body, and they use this quite a bit including a funeral home scene that although similar to something Mel Brooks would do, was a fun homage not a rip off.
A lot of the funniest stuff isn't in the trailer, including what seems to be an ode to Robot Chicken's humping robot, involving Zissman and a vending machine. Yikes. Also because Jackass is always joking about the penis, there is bound to be a penis joke somewhere.
The breakfast diner scene where they turn the roadie movie cliche about having a man to man talk with the boy is just incredible! They are so making fun of several movies like this, including Little Miss Sunshine again, which is a lot considering that movie was a cult hit. Why not make a nod or two?
The reactions make the story as hidden cameras and staged bits come together to make puerile comedy gold. If you liked Jackass you won't get so many stunts, and might not like that, but you will get Sasha Coen type pranks. Some critics have called them out on this, but actually Knoxville and team are the American form of Ali G show, of which Sasha is the lead, so it's kind of a nod too, not a rip off. In fact, Knoxville has better timing.
Yes, in Borat Sasha dud ruin a wedding, but he was just spoofing wedding movies, and when Jackass did it in at least one episode and in one of their movies, doing it here isn't ripping of Sasha. It's them just doing what they did before. Now what would have been sweet would have been to have Sasha show up in a cameo, but they didn't do that.
The movie was dedicated to Ryan Dunn, the Jackass guy with the cars and the long beard, who died in a car accident. This caused the audience to react positively to the end also.
It should make a lot of money but will likely not get the Oscar. The comedy awards might be the place to go, and it is one of the best of the year.
Review by Adam Browne
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Review: "Captain Phillips" is tense and cramped modern pirate thriller
"Captain Phillips" PG 13
Paul Greengrass (Flight 93) uses the book and screenplay of the Rick Phillips story to make a Hollywood thriller in order to get Tom Hanks another Oscar. The story is based upon the events of spring 2009 when Somali pirates held up a cargo ship off the coast of Africa and ransomed the captain. The Alabama merchant ship is set upon in open waters. It caught the news media at the time and it's a wonder Hollywood waited so long to make a movie out of it. Phillips wrote a book about the story from which the movie is based, centering on him, and only showing his side of the story, even though the crew worked together to stop the pirates.
The hero of the story faces off with the evil toothy pirate captain, who is played slightly older than the actual person was. The pirates were all young men about 16 to 19 including their leader. The pirates board the ship after a long chase, but the crew fights back using the ship against their oat, cutting power, and breaking some glass so one of them steps barefoot onto it. It's a little hard to buy that they would be that dumb or careless. Anyway, the navy comes in to the rescue, and chases the lifeboat the pirates have fled in with Phillips as their hostage. Eventually they have to drag the boat out to international waters to arrest the pirates.
The background characters are reduced to a few heroic moments but mainly it's a Hanks vehicle, which at times is unfortunate.
The military is played off as kind of trigger happy, sending in a warship, destroyer and a full SEAL team just to extract one merchant captain held on a lifeboat with pirates. It seems a little over the top. It's not like the man was a ranking admiral or something. The navy also manages to retrieve the ship. It is not clear how old the bad guy is supposed to be, but apparently the real bad guy was no older than 18, but the actor in the movie seemed to be in his mid to late 20s. Curiously though there was an awful lot of press about the incident at the time and they made it sound like he was someone incredibly important. Still, the movie is a fine tense thriller and will likely get an Oscar nod. Finally there is a drama that is worthy this year.
Review by Adam Browne
Paul Greengrass (Flight 93) uses the book and screenplay of the Rick Phillips story to make a Hollywood thriller in order to get Tom Hanks another Oscar. The story is based upon the events of spring 2009 when Somali pirates held up a cargo ship off the coast of Africa and ransomed the captain. The Alabama merchant ship is set upon in open waters. It caught the news media at the time and it's a wonder Hollywood waited so long to make a movie out of it. Phillips wrote a book about the story from which the movie is based, centering on him, and only showing his side of the story, even though the crew worked together to stop the pirates.
The hero of the story faces off with the evil toothy pirate captain, who is played slightly older than the actual person was. The pirates were all young men about 16 to 19 including their leader. The pirates board the ship after a long chase, but the crew fights back using the ship against their oat, cutting power, and breaking some glass so one of them steps barefoot onto it. It's a little hard to buy that they would be that dumb or careless. Anyway, the navy comes in to the rescue, and chases the lifeboat the pirates have fled in with Phillips as their hostage. Eventually they have to drag the boat out to international waters to arrest the pirates.
The background characters are reduced to a few heroic moments but mainly it's a Hanks vehicle, which at times is unfortunate.
The military is played off as kind of trigger happy, sending in a warship, destroyer and a full SEAL team just to extract one merchant captain held on a lifeboat with pirates. It seems a little over the top. It's not like the man was a ranking admiral or something. The navy also manages to retrieve the ship. It is not clear how old the bad guy is supposed to be, but apparently the real bad guy was no older than 18, but the actor in the movie seemed to be in his mid to late 20s. Curiously though there was an awful lot of press about the incident at the time and they made it sound like he was someone incredibly important. Still, the movie is a fine tense thriller and will likely get an Oscar nod. Finally there is a drama that is worthy this year.
Review by Adam Browne
Friday, October 4, 2013
Review: "Gravity" is epic acting showcase to get oscars for scifi at last
Gravity PG-13
Alphonso Cuaron, Harry Potter 3, Children of Men, tackles outer space thriller territory in this Oscar worthy performance of two astronauts stranded in space during a space walk mission. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, both Oscar winners, are cast as two astronauts, although Clooney would be too old, he is likely just there as his last mission into space, as is implied. Bullock would be pushing it actually, but maybe it is also her last space mission.
The story opens with the shuttle crew of a make believe ship called the Explorer making repairs on Hubble, the space telescope, but a freak satellite explosion sends bits of other satellites at them, stranding them in space and out of control. It is sort of like those movies where two people are stranded at sea and that's the movie.
The technology is pretty spot on although the oxygen would have run out long ago. Despite that, the story includes nifty new space stations, a 3D version for those who want a headache in addition to vertigo, and a lot of stuff flying past the screen and being blasted in weightless grandeur.
It appears to be Cuaron's attempt to get an Oscar for a science fiction movie. He tired before with Children of Men. This one though is a pretty exciting bit that makes you root for the Bullock character, even if she has a funny name, and the character does too. Stone.
Clooney is Kowalsky, which is not so funny, but is not an homage to the guy in Big Bang Theory who also went into space in an episode or two.
The idea of being trapped in outer space with little air, floating out there, and the idea of claustrophobic space stations and having Bullock in her shorts flying around inside the cramped station, might cause some alarm bells to go off. She looks the part of an astronaut more than if they cast someone ridiculously hot, as that wouldn't be realistic, and they were trying for that look. Casting Clooney was to appeal to the crowd that thinks he's the hot lead, but the ladies won't get to see him in shorts. Sorry. The older Oscar folks will probably not get it, but maybe if they show enough of the silence it will make them feel like giving it a vote.
NASA people are probably scratching their heads, but at least it's a fun ride and probably deserves at least a nod for acting and special effects. Not going to say best picture yet. Too soon to call.
Review by Adam Browne
Alphonso Cuaron, Harry Potter 3, Children of Men, tackles outer space thriller territory in this Oscar worthy performance of two astronauts stranded in space during a space walk mission. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, both Oscar winners, are cast as two astronauts, although Clooney would be too old, he is likely just there as his last mission into space, as is implied. Bullock would be pushing it actually, but maybe it is also her last space mission.
The story opens with the shuttle crew of a make believe ship called the Explorer making repairs on Hubble, the space telescope, but a freak satellite explosion sends bits of other satellites at them, stranding them in space and out of control. It is sort of like those movies where two people are stranded at sea and that's the movie.
The technology is pretty spot on although the oxygen would have run out long ago. Despite that, the story includes nifty new space stations, a 3D version for those who want a headache in addition to vertigo, and a lot of stuff flying past the screen and being blasted in weightless grandeur.
It appears to be Cuaron's attempt to get an Oscar for a science fiction movie. He tired before with Children of Men. This one though is a pretty exciting bit that makes you root for the Bullock character, even if she has a funny name, and the character does too. Stone.
Clooney is Kowalsky, which is not so funny, but is not an homage to the guy in Big Bang Theory who also went into space in an episode or two.
The idea of being trapped in outer space with little air, floating out there, and the idea of claustrophobic space stations and having Bullock in her shorts flying around inside the cramped station, might cause some alarm bells to go off. She looks the part of an astronaut more than if they cast someone ridiculously hot, as that wouldn't be realistic, and they were trying for that look. Casting Clooney was to appeal to the crowd that thinks he's the hot lead, but the ladies won't get to see him in shorts. Sorry. The older Oscar folks will probably not get it, but maybe if they show enough of the silence it will make them feel like giving it a vote.
NASA people are probably scratching their heads, but at least it's a fun ride and probably deserves at least a nod for acting and special effects. Not going to say best picture yet. Too soon to call.
Review by Adam Browne
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