Hall Pass

Apparently all men who have been married for any length of time think that they were super-studs in their single lives, and could be again if just given the chance (for the record, I have no illusions about this), so what if a couple of married guys barreling towards middle-age were given one week to regain their single glory? Could they do it, and when it comes down to it, would they? This is the premise for the new Farrelly brothers movie “Hall Pass”.

Rick (Owen Wilson: “The Darjeeling Limited”) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis: “Going the Distance”, “30 Rock”) are just a couple of average married guys; they love their wives, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy the female scenery around them. Unfortunately they both have a serious problem with telling when they are being observed. Fred's wife, Grace (Christina Applegate: “Going the Distance”, “Married... With Children”), accepts this because she views her husband as far too pathetic to ever be able to do anything but look, but Rick's wife, Maggie (Jenna Fischer: “The Office”) is becoming increasingly worried.

After being caught mocking their hosts at a friend's housewarming party, Maggie gives in and takes the advice of a friend of hers who had similar issues (Joy Behar: “The View”). She packs up herself and the kids, and gives Rick a week of single-hood. Fred is more excited about this than Rick is initially, but Grace does not give in until her husband is caught doing something hilariously embarrassing by the police. Suddenly it's off the Maggie's parents' beach house to leave the men to their own devices for a solid week.

Free at last, the guys decide to live it up, and regain their youth, with their friends in tow living vicariously through them. Of course things do not go as planned, and the guys find that it is a lot harder to pick up women than they imagine that it used to be. By comparison, they women have no trouble flirting it up on their own week away from marriage as they socialize with the young men of a minor league baseball team. Ultimately each person has to decide how far they are willing to go, and how seriously they are going to take their “Hall Pass”.

This film has a decent cast, aside from the main stars you can also look for Stephen Merchant (“Extras”, “The Ricky Gervais Show”), Larry Joe Campbell (“According to Jim”), and J.B. Smoove (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) as Rick and Fred's married friends, and Richard Jenkins (“Six Feet Under”) as the group's rich single friend who knows all the tricks of getting with the ladies and is the envy of all of the married men. It's a strong group of actors, and they manage to not come across as fighting for screen time, nor do they overstay their welcome and become annoying.

What does become a little annoying, to me at least, is Owen Wilson's voice; he seems to spend a good part of the film whining. I know that part of this is just his voice, and part of it is the character, but it just started to annoy me after awhile. Sudeikis, on the other hand, comes across as warm and friendly to the point of being creepy at times (one of the pick up lines he uses implies that he is trying to chloroform the woman), and this may end up being a good role for him to get some more exposure as a main character instead of just being in the supporting cast.

On the women's side Applegate is essentially playing the same role she did in "Going the Distance", that of a massive ball-buster. It seems that this is going to be the role she plays from now on. Luckily she is able to take the old Kelly Bundy snark and cruelty, ratchet it up to about twelve, and aim it directly at any man who annoys her. It's a fine line to walk between being humourously mean and just being a bitch, and I think she does a good job of staying on that line most of the time.

Fischer is sort of the one oddity in the film. She is surrounded by over-the-top characters, but never really strays into that territory herself. She is the lone sane person surrounded by lunatics (even the kids get zanier dialog than she does), but she does not fade into the background as a result of it. One interesting thing about Fischer too is that they seem to have used make-up to make her look considerably older than she does in “The Office”. It's subtle most of the time, but in closer shots her face looks kind of blotchy and a little haggish, and I found this distracting because I couldn't tell if they were doing it intentionally (her character does have three children after all) or not. While this is not something important, anything that pulls you out of the story is generally not a good thing for a film to have.

I found the movie as a whole to be a little disappointing; when it's funny it's really funny, but taken as a big picture it's just rather lacking overall. In all fairness, I've never been a huge fan of the Farrelly brothers. If you really enjoyed movies like “Dumb and Dumber” or “Something About Mary” then you will probably like this too, but it does not stand as an equal to some of their earlier work. If I were to rank it with their previous films I would place it around “Shallow Hal”; strong cast, plenty to laugh at, but a rather weak premise (only a true idiot would believe there would be no consequences to taking advantage of their hall pass), and a less than satisfying overall story (especially the climax, which was entirely predictable, and felt largely thrown in just so they could end the film).

Full of jokes about jokes about masturbation and poop (and there are a lot of the latter), full frontal male nudity, and people struggling with committing adultery (although not struggling too hard), “Hall Pass” is a movie that will make you laugh out loud, but will also have you leaving the theater feeling disappointed. Unless you are a hardcore fan of the Farrelly's movies then I strongly suggest giving this movie a pass. Even if you are Farrelly Brothers fan, I would suggest just popping your copy of “Something About Mary” into the Blu-ray and watching that instead.

“Hall Pass” is in theaters now.

Ten Days of Holiday Movies: Day Ten

What? Huh? Oh, I made it, this is day ten. I guess this means I can spend tomorrow watching these movies... or getting things ready for family.

Yeah, probably getting things ready for family.

So here it is, last chronologically, but not least in my heart. The most recent holiday movie on my list is:

Karroll's Christmas (2004)

You've probably never even heard of this movie, but it's a made-for-cable film that is based on the well-worn Dickens' classic, “A Christmas Carol”. As with most comic takes on this particular story, things get twisted up a bit in this telling. Think “Blackadder's Christmas Carol”, but not nearly so bleak.

Allen Karroll (Tom Everett Scott) is a nice guy, if a bit of a loser. After planning the perfect, and very public, way to propose to his girlfriend and getting shot down, very publicly, he's not feeling that great about the holidays anymore. As if the heartbreak is not enough, there's the matter of his grouchy old jerk of a neighbor, Zeb Rosecog (Wallace Shawn) to just make things all that much worse. Still, as down on the season as he is, he's still no Scrooge... or is he?

On Christmas Eve Allen is visited by the Christmas ghosts (Larry Miller, Alanna Ubach, and Verne Troyer) who quickly realize that there was a bit of a clerical error, and they are in the wrong house; they are meant to be visiting Zeb next door. Still, orders and orders, and the ghosts are not going to leave without showing Allen the error of Zeb's ways.

The movie is a bit syrupy at times, but it still has a sharp sense of humour, and is quite entertaining for a movie I just happened to stumble across in the middle of the night while channel surfing (if you're wondering why I bothered to stop, it's because of Wallace Shawn). I don't know if the fact that it makes my top ten is indicative of it being good, my being sleep deprived each time I've seen it, or if I just had that much trouble thinking of ten holiday movies that I actually like.

I wanted to post up some sort of trailer or advert for this, but I just cannot find one. I have found sites where you can stream or download the movie, but I'm not linking to those. If you want to find them you can use Google just as easily as I can.

So there you have it, ten days of holiday films for those of us who don't like are films sweet enough to make our teeth hurt. There's still a couple of days to go, so it's not too late to go and pick up a few of these while you relax in relief at the end of the season. It's almost over, folks, another Christmas come and gone... at least until June when all the merchandise hits the shelves again.

Happy Winter, everyone!

Ten Days of Holiday Movies: Day Eight

We're closing in on the day now, have you got your shopping finished yet? Yeah, me neither.

So if you thought that yesterday's movie pick was a little dark, wait until you see my favourite holiday movie for today. We're jumping into the 21st century with:

Bad Santa (2003)

Probably the least family-friendly item on the list, this film is exactly what it says on the tin. Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is a foul-mouthed, ill-tempered, alcoholic criminal, who is everything a Santa should not be; he curses, he has violent outbursts, and he has sex with pretty much anything that will let him. Naturally he gets a job as a mall Santa, but this is all part of a bigger plan. With the help of his elf sidekick, Marcus (Tony Cox), they plan to rob the mall blind and take all that Christmas shopping cash for themselves.

Of course things don't go quite as planned. Not only does Willie find himself more and more at odds with Marcus as to how the heist should go, but he accidentally finds himself actually caring about someone other than himself. After meeting a loser of a kid named Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), and falling for a bartender, Sue (Lauren Graham), he starts to rethink his life choices a little bit.

Aside from just being a really fun, if very dark and adult, film, it is worth noting that this movie is John Ritter's final live action film appearance (if he seems like an odd choice for the film, remember that he and Thornton previously appeared together in “Sling Blade”). If you want to laugh, and then feel a little bad about it, put the kids to bed, Irish up some coffee, and pop this film into the DVD player.

Ten Days of Holiday Movies: Day Six

For day six we're going back to the creepy, but we're also going animated with a movie that has become something of a cultural phenomenon over the years (at least it is if you regularly shop at Hot Topic). This film is probably the most merchandised of all of the films on my list with toys, video games, board games, clothes, accessories, perfume, and even a theme park ride based on it. Check under your bed, and then check out:

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

It's a Christmas movie! No, it's a Halloween movie! No, it's two, two, two holiday films in one! When the inhabitants of Halloween Town discover the doorway to Christmas Town they find it impressive. Really impressive. So fantastically impressive that they decide to steal it. They kidnap Santa, and decide to run the holiday themselves.

Of course the ghoulish inhabitants of Halloween Town completely miss the point of Christmas (that would be secular Christmas, I'm sure the film would never have been made has it addressed the religious aspects of the holiday), and end up put their own hideous spin on it. Things go horrifically wrong when Jack Skellington decides to play Santa himself, and he realizes that maybe he's just not cut out for this whole Christmas thing, but can he free Santa an put things right again?

A great film for people who find “Gremlins” to be a bit too extreme for the young ones, but still like a little horror with the holly jolly. The stop-motion animation is fantastic, and the character designs are creepily beautiful. Throw on some really memorable songs and great voice acting and you have yourself a holiday(s) classic.

Ten Days of Holiday Movies: Day Five

Day five! We're halfway through my list, which also means that this is the last weekend before the big day, and that shopping deadline is barreling down on you like a fright train... unless you did most of you shopping back in the fall. Once your done with your shopping you should pour yourself some eggnog and sit down to watch a holiday film that will make you realize how much easier your holidays are.

We're sticking with laughs for day five as we move chronologically through my list. I remember seeing this film when it first came out in theaters (alone, I should mention, as the family members who brought me went and saw something else). So, without anymore generic prattle: on the fifth day of holiday movies, Munashii gives to theeeeeeee:

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

Clark and Ellen Griswold (Chevy Chase, Bevery D'Angelo) are back with a new set of kids for a new vacation. Traveling has not worked out so well for them in the past, so this time they are staying home and letting the adventure come to them in the form of Christmas with the family. It's too bad for Clark that Finagle's Law is in full effect, as everything that can possibly go wrong will, spectacularly, and at the worst possible time.

Clark W Griswold is one of the world's great optimists; he does not let anything get him down, and takes every new problem on with a smile and a laugh. He is a man that turns even the sourest of life's lemons into lemonade; very, very tart lemonade. Sure, Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) may be pumping raw sewage into the storm drain in front of his house, and maybe the Christmas lights aren't working right, and maybe his Christmas bonus has been replaced by a subscription to the Jelly of the Month Club, but that is not going to stop him from having the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f***ing Kaye!

Ten Days of Holiday Movies: Day Four

My next pick came out the same year as “Die Hard”, but is a little more traditionally considered a holiday film. Lets step away from horror and action and back to mostly straight comedy with:

Scrooged (1988)

Charles Dickens' classic is brought into the 1980's with Bill Murray cast in the Scrooge role as Frank Cross, a cold-hearted jerk of a television executive who has been tasked with putting on a live broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” on Christmas Eve night, but soon finds himself being visited by the ghosts featured in the classic tale.

“Scrooged” is probably the most star-studded (depending on how you want to define that term) of the films on my list, featuring appearances by Bobcat Goldthwait, John Forsythe, David Johansen, Carol Kane, Karen Allen, Buddy Hackett, Jamie Farr, Robert Goulet, John Houseman, and even Olympic medalist Mary Lou Retton. So come on, put a little love in your heart with this holiday treat..

Easy A

I grew up watching those John Hughes teenage comedies; “Ferris Bueller's Day Off”, “The Breakfast Club”, etc. I remember, as a kid, thinking how cool it would be when I was that age and in high school... yeah, not so much. Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone: “Zombieland”, “Superbad”) has a similar issue (save that where I saw those movies in the theater, she would have seen them on DVD); she badly wants to live in a 1980's John Hughes movie, but instead she finds herself in “Easy A”

“Easy A” is the story of a teenage girl, Olive, who, while not the “homely” girl who just needs to remove her glasses and comb her hair, is not one of the popular girls. She's just another teenager in a school full of teenagers until one little lie spins out of control. In order to avoid going camping with her best friend, Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka: “Bandslam”), she makes up a story about having a date with a college guy.

When the weekend is over, and Rhiannon grills her for details, Olive ends up saying that she slept with him. This lie is overheard by super-Christian Marianne (Amanda Bynes: “What I Like About You”), and quickly spread across the school, growing in ridiculousness as it goes. Unlike most high schools, apparently no one at this school is sexually active because everyone seems either shocked or impressed by the news. Suddenly Olive, while not exactly popular, is the center of attention.

Things get worse when Olive admits to another student, Branden (Dan Byrd: “Cougar Town”), that she made it all up. Branden is the regular recipient of beatings from the school's homophobic jocks because he is gay, and when Olive suggests to him that he pretend he is straight until he's out of high school he asks her to help by pretending to sleep with him.

“Easy A” is a surprisingly smart and funny movie. Even though it appears to be set in the town of Ojai, California everyone seems to live on the planet Snark, from Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church: “Spider-Man 3”), the English teacher, making jokes about teachers rapping in bad movies to Olive's repeated references to the Demi Moore version of “The Scarlet Letter” witty dialog flies fast and furious. The style of humour in this movie reminded me a lot of the borderline absurdity found in “Arrested Development”, and that's not a bad thing.

One of the major purposes of this film seems to be turning those old John Hughes films on their ear. Far from the oblivious/absent/panicky parents found in those films, Olive's parents are present and accounted for, they just don't interfere. The school principal (Malcolm McDowell: “Heroes”), while still stern, makes jokes about school fundraisers with musical numbers, and the guidance counselor (Lisa Kudrow: “Friends”)... well, that would be spoiling things a bit.

Fast paced and funny, the film is not perfect. Amanda Bynes comes off like someone trying to do an impression of Mandy Moore's character from “Saved!”, and it really just never works for me. In a film full of over-the-top characters, she just seems like she's trying to hard. While she does succeed in creating a really unlikable character, it just doesn't seem as natural as everyone else in the film.

The other small issue, and this really is just nitpicking, is Olive's brother, Chip (Bruce Clyde Jenkins). The poor kid only has three lines the entire movie, and seems more like a piece of the set than an actual character. Judging by the look on his face in some scenes, even he's not sure why he's in the movie.

The only big potential issue, and this is not one for me, is the religious aspects of the movie. It is almost impossible to like Marianne and her cadre of Christian fundamentalists. While the hypocrisy of her group is not as blatant as in a movie like “Saved!”, they still manage to be mean, hateful, judgmental, and just out and out liars. They are never really portrayed as the bad guys, but if this film has antagonists, they are it. It's all quite funny really, but if you are one of those Christians who thinks you are part of an oppressed minority then you may not see the humour.

Big applause has to go to Emma Stone. She plays her character as smart, witty, sexy, and just a little bit bitchy; switching from being a cheerful snarker to someone who just starts spitting out facts when she's flustered (think two parts Michael Bluth and one part Temperance Brennan). Plus it's just nice to see that she can carry a movie as the lead instead of just a supporting actress or part of an ensemble.

While I don't think this movie is going to be the next “Superbad”, it is better than a lot of the mediocre stuff out there (I'm look at you, "Going the Distance"). “Easy A” gets a solid B+ from me; it is a funny movie that won't insult your intelligence, and I definitely recommend heading out to the theaters to see it.

“Easy A” in in theaters now, and is rated PG-13 for sexual content, drugs, and strong language.

The Social Network

I love social networks; without them there are a number of people who I almost certainly would have lost track of over the years. Heck, you probably found the link to this review through Twitter... or Buzz, Friendfeed, Tumblr, Myspace, or the current big daddy, Facebook, so I guess that maybe you like them too.

“The Social Network” is the new film by director David Fincher (“Fight Club”), based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich, about the birth of Facebook, and the controversy about who really created it.. As if having Fincher directing was not enough, the screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing”, “Sports Night”); with names like that in charge I went into this film with some pretty high expectations.

The story is told through a series of legal depositions where Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg - “Zombieland”, “Adventureland”) is being sued by his former best friend, and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) as well as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence), whose idea for a Harvard-only social network seemingly inspired what would become Facebook. As the parties in the two depositions are questioned the movie gives us flashbacks to the incidents they are describing.

Lets speak plainly here, this movie does not portray Mark Zuckerberg as a nice guy; a genius certainly, but also a complete horse's arse. From the opening scene where he gets dumped by his girlfriend for implying that he is doing her future a favour by dating her, Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as someone who is either truly incapable of interfacing with live people, or as someone who suffers from a mental handicap. He's rude, a jerk, insecure, and completely incapable of going more than thirty seconds without insulting someone, but he's also easily manipulated in the right hands.

The right hands belong to Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the creator of Napster. Parker is everything Zuckerberg wants to be; he's smart, popular with women, people respect him, and he can do pretty much whatever he wants. Parker can see the potential in what Zuckerberg and Saverin are doing, but he thinks he knows how to make it go even bigger. Saverin is completely against Parker's ideas, and this puts Zuckerberg in a position of choosing between someone he respects and the only person he could truly call a friend.

Sorkin's writing shines through beautifully in the movie's dialog. He manages to write a conflict where there are no heroes and no villains, there are simply a bunch of people who all think that they are in the right. From Zuckerberg's thinly veiled insults to Parker's overly confident manner, the movie manages to keep the audience laughing while still telling an interesting story without ever really giving you someone you should be rooting for.

Of course the best writing in the world would be worthless in the hands of bad actors; luckily the young stars are able to pull it off. Playing against his normal awkward nice-guy characters, Eisenberg creates a perfect genius jerk; playing things cold and clinical for the most part with just enough human in there to still keep Zuckerberg from being completely unsympathetic. Garfield brings a nice balance to Saverin, making him seem both smart and professional, but still susceptible to emotions that seem foreign to his friend. As far as Timberlake goes, this is the perfect role for him: a complete douche-bag.

The only things really going against this movie are its length and ,strangely enough, its music. The movie is pretty long, coming in at about two hours, but it would be hard to cut anything; the parts that get dull are important to the plot, and the parts that are not important to the plot (Eduardo's girlfriend and the scarf, for example) are genuinely funny.

The musical choices for the movie are not bad, per say, but they are a little odd. The film's original score is by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor, yes, that would be the Ross and Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame, and it shows. A lot of the film's music is tense and brooding; stuff that would be a lot more at home in a horror film than a serious drama with comedic highlights. It's not that the music is bad, it's just that I kept waiting for the zombies to show up.

“The Social Network” is one of those rare movies that plays computer use straight; characters speak a language that many people will find foreign. Is your average movie goer going to understand what an “Apache server” is? How about what “PHP” is? No, probably not. I consider myself fairly computer literate, and a lot of that was Greek to me (but then I could never wrap my head around programming). I like that they took this route in dealing with computers though; programming is done in a plain black window and they don't try to make it look cool or exciting. If you want to see flashy montage sequences where programming/hacking is done using cute computer graphics and people hitting keyboards very quickly then go rent “Hackers” because this is not that movie.

It will be interesting to see how this movie is ultimately received both critically and in the box office. It is a good movie, probably even award-worthy, but it's a little Inside Baseball . I would compare it to movies like “The Late Shift” or “Pirates of Silicon Valley” in the sense that the subject matter may not be that interesting to most people, but that the movie itself still manages to be quite compelling.

Even if you are not that interested in computers or Facebook, “The Social Network” is still an interesting movie. With a strong script, good directing, and a solid cast, this is a great movie to go see. It's fun and entertaining while still maintaining a strong sense of drama. Don't forget to whip your phone when the movie is over and Facebook about seeing it; at least that's what people did at the screening I was at.

“The Social Network” opens nationwide on October 1st, and contains adult language, sexual situations, and drug and alcohol use.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Relationships can be difficult; you have to learn to give and take, to compromise on things, to not expect to always get your way. You have to learn to deal not only with your own romantic history, but that of your partner as well. Of course when your partner's romantic history has challenged you to a battle to the death, things may be getting out of hand.

“Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” is based on the “Scott Pilgrim” series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, and follows the misadventures of Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera: “Arrested Development”, “Superbad”) as he tries to win the heart of the literal girl-of-his-dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead: “Live Free or Die Hard”).

Scott has obstacles to overcome before claiming the heart of Ramona though: he has to break up with his high school aged girlfriend, Knives (Ellen Wong), survive the sarcasm and dubious of his snarky best friend Wallace (Keiran Culkin), drop his natural tendency to be an oblivious jackass, and defeat all seven of Ramona's evil exes who start to make themselves known as soon as Scott hatches his plan to ask Ramona out.

As important as the actors are, it is the direction of Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”, “Hot Fuzz”) that plays a big role in bringing the comic book to life complete with costumes and sound effects that look like they jumped off the page of the books. Almost everything in the film from each character's hairstyle to the locations they are at feel like live action versions of their two dimensional black and white counterparts.

The film starts off very faithful to the book, following the first volume very closely, but as the movie progresses it does stray farther and farther from the books, eliminating characters like Mr. Chau and Lisa as well as entire subplots like Sex Bob-Omb's recording an album and Scott's wilderness sabbatical. Of course when you have to condense 6 volumes (one of which wasn't even finished at the time of filming) into a single feature length film you have to expect some cuts. The problem is that some of these cuts have big effects on the overall plot; removing development for some of the secondary characters and causing some fight sequences to be combined or eliminated altogether..

The characters suffer the worst in translation though, with only Wallace and Scott really coming across the same as they did in the books, while Knives, Kim (Alison Pill: “The Pillars of the Earth”), Stephen (Mark Webber), and Young Neil (Johnny Simmons) get little to no development, and as a result don't feel as genuine as they did in the books. The character that suffers the worst from the move from paper to film is Ramona.

In the books Ramona Flowers has a lot more to do; she has scenes of her own, her own fight sequences, and seems like a much stronger and more independent woman. In the movie Ramona comes across more as the damsel-in-distress from the video games that the movie is joking about than the strong fighter she is in the book. Yes, she does have a couple of fight scenes (that are both different than any of the ones in the books), but she is easily the biggest victim of feature length time constraints.

Aside from the pretty standard the-book-was-better kind of complaints though, I really did enjoy this film. Cera did a much better job than I thought he would, and just seeing him in the film's many well choreographed fight sequences is worth it. Sure the movie would have been better served by being split into two parts a la “Kill Bill” or “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, but being targeted as a rather niche audience of gamers and geeks that probably could not have happened.

Ultimately I do recommend this film as long as you are the sort of geek that smiles when you hear “Legend of Zelda” sound effects, recognizes the bass line from Final Fantasy II, and sees nothing illogical about a person turning into a pile of coins when you kill them. While the movie fails to perfectly duplicate the books on the big screen the general flavour of the original story does come through beautifully. Have yourself an epic geekgasm with “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World”, in theaters now.

"She's Out of My League"

Have you ever heard something to the effect of “A one doesn't get a ten”? If you haven't, it basically means that the ugly dork doesn't get the hottie, and it's true. There are ways of making your score go up or down, being rich, being in a band, having a nice car, etc, but there is only a certain disparity that can exist between you and your mate. It is this concept that backs up the plot of the new movie “She's Out of My League”.

“She's Out of My League” (which shall be referred to as SOML from here on, as I am too lazy to keep typing it) is the story of Kirk (Jay Baruchel: “Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist”), a TSA screener at the Pittsburgh airport who cannot get over his ex-girlfriend, Marnie (Lindsey Sloan), although it probably doesn't help that she works at the same screening station, and that his family seems to like her more than they do him.

Even though he is a bit of a loser, Kirk still has his close circle of friends. There's a the jerk, Stainer (T.J. Miller: “Cloverfield”), the almost cool guy, Jack (Mike Vogel: “Cloverfield”), and the nice guy, Devon (Nate Torrence: “Get Smart”). They work together, they hang out together, and they alternately jeer and cheer Kirk on for the decisions he makes and has made with his life.

So Kirk is living his craptastic life until the day that Molly (Alice Eve) comes through his checkpoint and loses her iPhone. Molly's bitchy friend, business partner, and airplane seat mate, Patty (Krysten Ritter: “Breaking Bad”) calls the phone and Kirk answers. Molly sets up a time for Kirk to return the phone to her at an event she is organizing, where they hit it off, and the rest of the story is set in motion.

SOML is equal parts gross-out guy humour and romantic comedy, and is more reminiscent of films like “Meet the Parents” or “There's Something About Mary” than it is “The Hangover”. This makes for a decent date movie (although probably not a first date movie) as it never spends too long on either movie type at a time, and it is equally funny while in either mode.

I only had a couple of problems with this film. The first was that when we Molly enters the airport at the beginning every guy's head turns to her as if she were the hottest woman on Earth. I'm not saying she's not attractive by any stretch here, but I honestly thought that Patty was better looking, although she is a bitch which would lower her a point or two, but you're not going to get that just from her walking into an airport terminal. Clearly your mileage may vary on this based on your own likes and dislikes, so it's not worth dwelling on.

The second problem is that I could never totally buy the relationship between Molly and Kirk. In a movie where all the of the actors have great chemistry you have this alpha couple who just seem wrong for each other. I know that it is meant to be awkward, and I know you are supposed to spend half the movie waiting for her to dump him when someone better looking comes along, or for his low self-esteem to sabotage things, but it still never really worked for me. Their interactions seem just a little too awkward, forced almost. This would be a big problem if the movie wasn't otherwise as good as it is, but the fun script and believable interaction between the other characters cover for this flaw.

One of the best things in SOML has to be Nate Torrence's portrayal of Devon. Torrence steals every scene he is in whether he is refusing to curse for money, offering manscaping advice, or dropping Disney references in regards to Molly and Kirk's relationship. I could not help but smile every time he was on the screen. He brings an unflappable brightness to his role that made me believe that he would actually do some of the things his character does for his friend.

SOML is probably the best comedy in theaters right now, and if you are looking for a good laugh that you can have with your special someone this is likely your best bet. It's rude and crude, but still manages to be sweet when it counts. Compared to larger fare like “Alice in Wonderland” this is really only a rental, but if you just want to have a good time with an adult-oriented movie, then I recommend spending a little time finding out how you rate at “She's Out of My League” this weekend.

Like zombies?
Check out ”Mallville – A Journal of the Zombie Apocalypse”, my free ongoing blognovel.

"Hot Tub Time Machine"

Remember the 80's? Day-glo clothes? Big hair? Unsafe sex? Reagan? You showed such promise then, but the 80's ended, and the 90's came and went, and now at the start of the second decade of the 21st century you find yourself drudging through each day at some meaningless job. What if you could go back in time and do it over again? What if you had a “Hot Tub Time Machine”?

Adam, Nick, and Lou are three friends who not only saw all their dreams die, but grew apart from each other as the years passed. Now Adam (John Cusak: “2012”) is a lonely insurance agent with his geeky nephew, Jacob (Clark Duke: “Sex Drive”) living in his basement, Nick (Craig Robinson: “The Office”) works at an upscale dog salon, and Lou (Rob Corddry: “The Daily Show”) is a complete train wreck of a man.

After Lou has a close call with death the guys, Jacob in tow, decide to relive a bit of their youth by returning to the ski resort they went to during their high school years; a winter party Mecca. Unfortunately the resort town has fallen on bad times, and they find that main street is almost abandoned, and their favourite lodge has become a dump.

Depressed and defeated the foursome decides to make the best of it and get completely wasted. After an accident with a can of Russian energy drink, the guys find themselves magically transported, “Quantum Leap” style, into their younger selves during Winterfest '86. Yes, this is an incredibly stupid premise, get over it, you'll be glad that you did.

Combining a lot of the feel of 80's comedies like “Better Off Dead”, “One Crazy Summer”, and “National Lampoon's Vacation” with the modern mentality of films like “The Hangover” and “I Love You, Man” with a dash of the loose science fiction found in movies like “Back to the Future” and “Weird Science”, “Hot Tub Time Machine” manages to create a hilariously raunchy comedy that any child of the 80's should feel right at home with. Sure the things that happen don't always make sense, but it's okay because it's funny.

Aside from the four main cast members, there are also appearances by Crispin Glover (“Back to the Future”) as a disgruntled one-armed bellhop, and William Zabka (“The Karate Kid”) as Rick the gambler. Of course the most prominent small role goes to Chevy Chase (“National Lampoon's Vacation”) as the repairman who offers cryptic advice to the guys that may be about the effects their actions will have on the future, or it may just be about fixing their hot tub.

This movie was clearly crafted by people who liked watching (or starring in) 80's comedies. Not only does it manage to blend a lot of the tropes of the movies of my childhood, but there are clear shout outs to films like “Sixteen Candles” sprinkled throughout the film. Sure there are things that are just wrong like a football game being played on the wrong date, or completely ignoring the concept of creating a temporal paradox, but we accepted that two nerds could create Kelly LeBrock using am MTX512 and that Michael J. Fox could time travel in a Delorean when we were younger, so we can accept this too.

Unlike a lot of the 80's comedies that this movie tries to recreate, this is not a family friendly film. Gross-out humour, cursing, sexual references, and nudity (mostly Rob Corddry's ass) as splashed over this film like butter-flavoured topping on your popcorn. Don't bring the young ones, they're not going to get half the jokes anyway.

While you could easily wait to pick this movie up as a rental there is a certain something about seeing this kind of comedy in a theater full of people that just adds to the experience. There's just something special about cringing at a scene of projectile vomiting with a hundred other people that you cannot recreate at home.

The plot is paper-thin, but the acting and writing make up for it. If you want to see a movie that is funnier than it has any right to be, and will make you long for the days of “Red Dawn” and cassette players, then I heartily recommend “Hot Tub Time Machine”. You can get tub'd in theaters starting March 26th.

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Cop Out

What do you get when you take Bruce Willis (Die Hard), Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), a valuable baseball card, a Mexican gangbanger named Poh Boy, a free-running burglar, a teddy bear with a hidden camera, a stolen car, a lot of cursing, and have Kevin Smith direct it all? You get the new buddy-cop comedy “Cop Out”

Willis and Morgan play veteran New York police officers Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges, who after nine years together as partners have just been suspended for a month after spectacularly screwing up a case and embarrassing the entire department. This is bad for Monroe, as his daughter (Michelle Trachtenberg: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is getting married and the bill is going to be $48,000, so he can hardly afford a month without pay.

In order to get the money to pay for the wedding Monroe decides to sell an extremely valuable Andy Pafko baseball card. Unfortunately the sports card shop is robbed during the sale, and the card is stolen by a quirky and somewhat annoying thief, Dave (Seann William Scott: “American Pie”), and the quest to retrieve the card quickly gets the two detectives caught in the middle of the plans of an up and coming Mexican drug dealer.

I will admit that from the trailers and the title I expected that this to be something like one of the fictional movies that Tracy Jordan would have starred in on “30 Rock”, but I am happy to say that I was totally wrong. “Cop Out” may not be original, it may not be action pakced, and it certainly isn't family friendly, but it is a lot of fun to watch.

To say the humour in this movie is childish would be an understatement. Not only are there the requisite poop and dick jokes, but there are actually knock-knock jokes, and a couple of scenes with Scott's character copying everything other characters say in order to piss them off. This is not a slight on the movie though, as you weren't expecting highbrow humour from a film like this anyway, but this is the only movie I can think of where a knock knock joke has actually made me laugh out loud.

It is nice to see Bruce Willis playing the snarky cop again, bringing back shades of the “Die Hard” trilogy (there is no fourth film). There's nothing about this character that we haven't seen him play before, but it's nice to see him playing it again in a movie that doesn't suck.

As for Tracy Morgan, he brings to the screen the same sort of borderline mentally handicapped character he plays on “30 Rock”, so if you like Tracy Jordan, then you should enjoy Paul Hodges. Morgan steals more than a couple scenes based on the fact that his idea of playing good cop/bad cop means doing (frequently random) movie quotes from movies like “Heat”, “Jaws”, and “Star Wars”. Morgan ultimately brings an almost frenetic Robin Williams-esque vibe to the role, and I fully expect to see a number of deleted scenes with him when this comes out on DVD.

“Cop Out” dances along the line between plausible and zany. This is not a “Police Squad” style parody, but it's also not as straight as a “Lethal Weapon” movie. Characters frequently do things that are just beyond the bounds of believability, but never so much as to actually ruin your suspension of disbelief.

If you are looking for a buddy cop film with less violence and more laughs than a “From Paris With Love” then “Cop Out” is the perfect flick for you. It won't make you think, but it will make you laugh. There's no real reason not to just wait and give this a rental, but if you want a good laugh you could do a whole lot worse.

“Cop Out” opens fire on theaters starting February 26th.