Friday, August 22, 2008

Rocker Review

When rock stars try to be in movies or movie stars try to be rockers, it is rare that the transition is successful.
Was "The Rocker" one of these rare exceptions? No. It wasn't.
Rainn Wilson plays Robert "Fish" Fishman, an original member and drummer for one of one of the biggest bands in the world, Vesuvius. However, the band unceremoniously removes him from the band in order to sign on with a major record label. Skip ahead 20 years and Fish still hasn't given up his dream of being a rocker and still living in the past with a strong hatred for his former band-mates.
After being fired and dumped, Fish goes to live with his sister until he can get back on his feet. He discovers that his awkward and socially-inept nephew, Matt (Josh Gad), has a band that requires a drummer. Since this is the "only way" Matt will ever make it to prom, Fish dawns his drumsticks once more to help out his nephew. However, he only ends up making things worse by providing an embarrassing, overzealous and unfunny performance
After the disastrous show at the prom, Fish promises to land the group a gig to make up for his actions. Matt decides to set up a practice that allows each of the band members to practice from their homes. However, Fish, who doesn't quite understand technology, decides to practice naked thinking the camera is a microphone.
It is one of the only funny scenes in the film, and that is just because an ugly guy being naked and playing drums is just always going to be funny.
After the video hits YouTube and becomes an internet sensation, the band is swept away on a tour with Wilson trying to teach the youngsters how to be rock stars but only causing trouble.
Wilson playing a rock star is about as believable as me playing a track star (FYI that is unrealistic because I'm heavyset). I'm not sure if that is part of the joke, but if it is, it doesn't translate well and the joke falls flat on its face. Wilson, who is hilarious as Dwight on NBC's "The Office" all but confirms that he is good in one role — Dwight from "The Office."
Wilson does deliver some funny lines, but mostly tries to do physical comedy that just wasn't funny. Gad does maybe too good of a job of playing an awkward nerd and falls from funny to just pathetic and annoying. I know half of his lines were supposed to be jokes, but they may as well have just put in the noise of crickets chirping because they were just terrible.
The lead singer of the band, Curtis, is played by real-life musician Teddy Geiger and he does an excellent job of playing the character. Mainly because the character he is playing is him. A teenager with a lot of built up angst and a great voice. However, having Geiger in the film does make for a good soundtrack. I found myself wanting to buy the music after watching the movie. Hey look, a silver lining on a terrible movie.
Amelia (Emma Stone) is another character that just falls short of what they are trying to accomplish. The supposedly-punk-rock-girl-power teen doesn't display a strong teen spirit, but more of a confused look throughout the 90-minute run time of the movie.
Jason Sudeikis is the one redeeming factor in the movie. Sudeikis plays sleazy record manager David Marshall and delivers the best lines of the movie. He is only in a small number of scenes, but he was the only one making me laugh throughout the whole movie. However, Demetri Martin also has a funny cameo as a eccentric music video director, which only lasts for two minutes and wasn't enough to make it work the seven dollars I dropped to see the movie.
The movie seemed like it was trying to come across as a sweet comedy with a lot of heart, but it doesn't quite achieve its goal. There are moments that are somewhat heartwarming, but again, they are spread out and don't last long making the film just seemed like a confused comedy.
If you are interested in good music, go buy the soundtrack for the movie. It is catchy. If you are looking for a laugh, however, look somewhere else.

The Rocker
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Josh Gad, Teddy Geiger and Christina Applegate
Rated PG-13 for language and crude humor
Rating: One star

Mirrors Review

Kiefer Sutherland should take a long, hard look in a mirror — and then stick to television.
Sutherland's newest venture to the big screen is "Mirrors" a horror film that surrounds the murderous intent of, well, mirrors.
The movie is a poor reflection of other horror films, but doesn't completely fall on its face. Sutherland plays Ben Carson, an ex-cop with a sordid past (surprise), who gets a job as a night watchman at a burned down department store where strange things begin to happen to him (surprise #2). Sutherland quickly discovers that the store is haunted by those who died in the fire and something else and must destroy whatever it is before it kills his estranged family. This is difficult, however, because everyone thinks he's crazy because he sees dead people in mirrors.
Personally, I would just quit that job.
Ignoring the fact that a burned-down department store needs a security guard when the only thing of value to steal are the demon-possesed mirrors, the movie failed to impress me in several ways.
I am admittedly a scardey-cat in horror films, but I still like it when a movie really gets me. I have seen enough horror movies to know when there are going to be scary moments and the movie is chalk-full of obvious "boo!" moments. However, the film did get me a few times that I wasn't expecting and made me throw my popcorn in the air in fright. My favorite type of scare moments are the very subtle scares of things stirring in the background or something or someone just acting absolutely creepy.
I was happy that the film relied more on scare tactics then it did on gore, but don't get me wrong, there is plenty of gore to go around.
The mirrors kill their victims by showing them a reflection of a gruesome death that becomes reality. However, the movie never really explains the rules about how not to get killed by the mirrors so no one is safe. The mirrors cause one victim to slit his own throat and another to rip off their own jaw. Those being the only moments of extreme violence was a pleasant surprise from the director of "The Hills Have Eyes," which mainly relied on its gore factor.
One of the most important things in a horror movie is the ending. You can either go the happy route with the everyone-is-going-to-be-okay ending or the we-are-going-to-scare-you-out-of-your-pants-once-last-time ending. "Mirrors" climax was also somewhat disappointing. It seemed like the writer was going for something good, but then just decided to rip off an ending seen in countless horror films. Getting scared is fun and if I get scared at the end of a movie, I walk out of the theatre giggling or calling my wife to comfort me. When I left this movie, I had almost forgotten about the entire film by the time I reached my car.
I'm not exactly sure why Sutherland chose to do this movie. I'm not sure why people would want to see Sutherland in this movie, either. With all the films I have seen the actor in, I'm pretty sure he always plays the same character, Jack Bauer from 24. He always seems conflicted and angry, even when he is supposed to be happy. I like 24, but I don't like watching the same character in a movie that requires more than a grimace and shooting a gun. Especially in a horror movie, everybody knows that guns don't work until the end of a horror movie and even then they probably still won't kill the bad guy.
Amy Smart plays Sutherland's sister Angela, and has to keep reminding the audience that she is his sister and they are not together. I think I got it after the first time she blatantly stated the relationship, but the director really wanted to drive the point home because they mention it about six more times. It really got me wondering why it was so important to know that she was his sister, and maybe there was a secret to be reveled about their family's past. Nope. It was just bad writing.
None of the acting in the film was all that great or all that believable, but, hey, its a horror movie, you just have to be able to act like you scared. I guess when Sutherland is scared, he looks angry and constipated.
The movie isn't really worth seeing in theaters or even spending money on a rental. If you happen to pass by it on a Saturday afternoon, you can watch 15 minutes or so and get the drift of the movie, or look in a mirror and imagine a bad horror movie save yourself two hours.

Mirrors
Rated R for language, graphic violence and brief nudity
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart and Paula Patton
Rating: One and a half stars

Tropic Thunder Review

Robert Downey Jr. started the summer movie season with a bang with "Iron Man" and ended the season on the same high note with "Tropic Thunder."
The film surrounds the making of a war movie based on a book, based on a true story. The movie is a disaster, costing too much money and running behind schedule.
Downey plays five-time Academy Award winner Kirk Lazurus, an Australian method actor who undergoes a controversial surgery of having his skin pigmented so he can play the platoon's African-American sergeant.
Lazurus bumps heads with Tugg Speedman, an action hero played by Ben Stiller who appeared in a huge action film and its seven sequels. The two prima donnas can't find real emotion behind the characters and are slowly destroying the film.
It doesn't help their co-star, Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), who is famous for playing an entire family of obese people in "The Fats" and "The Fats: Fart Two," has a small problem with heroin and Brandon T. Jackson, who plays Alpa Chino (sound it out), a rapper turned movie star who is more focused on promoting his energy drink, "Booty Sweat" than the film.
With the movie going down fast, rookie director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) and war veteren Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte) hatch a plan to bring out the true emotion in the actors by "taking them off the grid."
Coogan and Nolte fly the actors out to the jungle, which has been rigged with hidden cameras and tells them the rest of the movie will be filmed guerilla-style. However, the actors have actually landed in drug territory and are being hunted by a heroin cartel.
Stiller is soon captured and still thinks he is being filmed, thus really enjoying being tortured and spit on, saying, "that was good, keep doing that."
Ironically, the rest of the cast must rescue Stiller from his captors, just like they were supposed too do in the movie they are no longer making.
In short, the movie is hilarious.
Stiller wrote and directed the film, and made sure to poke fun at every Hollywood stereotype you can imagine. From a heroin addicted comedy star, to the method actor who "doesn't drop character until he does the DVD commentary," every stab is spot on.
One of the more clever jabs has recently caught severe flack from several groups. The movie Speedman starred in called "Simple Jack." The movie is about a mentally-challenged farm hand who can speak to animals. Speedman hopes the movie will mark him as a serious actor, but the movie just ends up being terrible and slammed by critics.
Is the idea offensive? Yes. However, it is also true.
Several actors in Hollywood have taken roles as someone mentally handicapped or deformed to mark themselves as a "serious actor." I find it hard to believe that this movie gets tagged as bad because it shows actors use mentally-challenged people to gain award-recognition. Shouldn't that make people angry?
And, it's a comedy. There is no sacred ground. Downey is an Australian playing an African-American, and it's funny. It is funny because it is what actors really do in real life.
The movie is one of the best satire films I have ever and has a fantastic cast. Each actor fits his character perfectly and plays them so well you forget you are watching Stiller, Black and Downey and start to think of them as Speedman, Portnoy and Lazurus.
Downey is the best out of the bunch — which may be because he is not tagged as a comedy actor and people don't expect him to be funny — but he outdoes both Stiller and Black in the laughs department. Black is sort of funny, but his character quickly becomes annoying and you aren't sure why you ever thought he was funny in the first place.
Stiller is always great at playing tough guys without a clue and he plays the part to perfection in this film. Watching him interact with the people who have captured him is one of the funniest things in the entire film.
However, the funniest moments in the film don't belong to any of the main cast.
They belong to Tom Cruise.
I never thought I could like another movie with Cruise, but he changed my mind when he put on a bald wig and glasses as Less Grossman in the film. He alone is worth the price of full admission. Cruise plays and extremely foul-mouthed producer who occasionally breaks out in dance to the tune of rap music.
I can honestly say I'm not the biggest of fan of foul language being used to excess in films because I feels it takes away from the movie, but when Cruise is spitting out his lines, I was buckled over in laughter.
Another side character bringing big laughs is Cody, the pyrotechnics supervisor, played by one of my new favorite comedic actors, Danny McBride. McBride recently starred in "Pineapple Express" and brings the same gut-busting material in this film. I don't want to spoil all of his good moments, but I will say he describes his past experiences with pyrotechnics as "almost blinding Jamie Lee Curtis on the set of 'Freaky Friday.'"
I can't say this is the best comedy of the summer, but it is a close second. It is definitely worth seeing and then going back again to show your friends Cruise's new dance moves.

Tropic Thunder
Rated R for graphic violence, language and crude humor
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Tom Cruise
Rating: 3 and one half stars

Monday, August 4, 2008

Pineapple Express Review

At first glance, "Pineapple Express" might seem like a typical stoner movie, but in reality it is one of the best buddy comedy's in the past several years.
I have to admit, I am a little biased to this film because Huey Lewis and the News wrote the theme song. How can you go wrong with Huey Lewis and the News? The new song pales in comparison to "Power of Love" from "Back to the Future," but it fits the movie with its uplifting and just plain fun attitude.
The movie's plot is fairly straightforward, a marijuana smoking loser played by Seth Rogan witnesses a murder so he and his drug dealer, played by James Franco, have to go on the run. Again, at first glance it seems like a stoner movie. However, the premise is actually much sweeter than it initially seems. Rogan and Franco play two people who know each other, but slowly become friends throughout the film.
Following them on their journey is as much about watching their friendship bloom as it is of the characters trying to escape the assassins trying to kill them. I am a sucker for buddy comedy's and this particular story was one of my favorites. While several other movies with a pot that surround pot would only allow audiences who are either high or stupid to enjoy, this movie actually has the most clever writing I have seen in a comedy all summer.
There is easy humor in the movie, but most of the laughs can be found in the subtle humor that is prevalent throughout the 90-minute run time.
Franco, who is normally tagged as a pretty-boy and given roles that accentuate that stereotype, returns to his roots from his days on "Freaks and Geeks," one of the best shows to ever grace the television screen.
Rogan has established himself as a comedy icon in the past two years, but Franco blows him out of the water with his performance as the simple-minded drug dealer who just wants to be friends with everyone. I can only hope and pray that Franco will continue to dig into his comedy roots and take more roles like this one.
That isn't to say that Rogan does not do a phenomenal job as well. He is also spot on as a pot-smoking process server who is 25 and dating a high-school student, which could have been a disgusting side-plot, but is tastefully done as just another hilarious story-line.
The humor in the movie is crude and cursing is prevalent throughout the film. However, most of the movie I was laughing at the subtle humor that takes place in the background of most scenes. It is the type of humor that is targeted at a very particular audience and people expecting a cut-and-dry comedy will walk away with less than those who are looking for the underlying humor in the scenes.
Another up-and-coming comedy frontman, Danny McBride, also delivers a hilarious performance as Red, a drug-dealing friend of Franco's who spends his time equally split between helping Rogan and Franco escape the assassins and helping the assassins kill Franco and Rogan. McBride is easily the funniest character in the cast and has the audience waiting for the next scene he will appear.
The other supporting cast of Rosie Perez and Gary Cole do a great job, but still can't hold a candle to Rogan, Franco and McBride.
I knew how good the movie was when my wife had to tell me to stop quoting the movie she hadn't seen every day and then pointed out that I would just occasionally laugh to myself and mutter a line or two. The film is definitely one I will see again in theaters and then purchase when it comes to DVD.
I can't say the film is for everyone because the humor is very complex, but I can say if you enjoyed "40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up" or "Superbad," you will love it. And, again, how can you go wrong with Huey Lewis and the News?

Pineapple Express
Rating: 3 and one half stars
Rated R for violence, language and crude, sexual humor
Starring: Seth Rogan, James Franco, Danny McBride, Rosie Perez and Gary Cole