The Other Guys

I have waited since 2004 to see a Will Ferrell movie I really really liked. Stranger Than Fiction was a good role for him, although I don't think I loved it as much as most people. Talladega Nights had its moments, but then Ferrell seemed to be typecast into a collection of sports-comedy roles, which I chose not to see. I hated Land of the Lost last year, worrying that Ferell might have permanently lost his comedic way. Finally, here he is back in a film that has consistent laughs and feels fresh for him.

He plays Detective Allen Gamble, a forensic detective who prefers to be at his desk rather than on the streets. He has had Terry Hoitz (played by Mark Wahlberg) as his partner ever since Hoitz accidently shot Derek Jeter during the World Series. Though the rest of the department thinks of the duo as butt-ends for office jokes and pranks, the pair get the break they never thought they'd get when their idol police detectives take a literally unexpected drop (which I found hilarious).

There are many great comedic moments in this movie, one of my favorites being an old lady with a walker being used as a go-between messenger when Gamble tries to make up with his extremely hot wife. I tend not to watch a funny movie too often for fear that the jokes will wear off on me if I overkill viewing them, but this along with Hot Tub Time Machine are two 2010 movies you should consider seeing more than once for a good laugh.

Wolfman or Jason joins in the screaming.

1. Did I enjoy the movie? YES
Almost as enjoyable as the decidedly Gothic setting of the film was the man behind me shouting at the screen. As if the characters could hear his warning. As if in some metaplot twist actually comprehend his warnings and violate the narrative course of events. As if I could help myself and avoid joining in.
2. Would I watch it again? MAYBE
 I really enjoyed this movie with its dark Gothic landscape, characters who chew their dialogue more than deliver it, and unbridled gore, I do not know if I would enjoy it a second time. Part of the fun of a movie like this is seeing it with a crowd. Everybody starts to get pulled in, screaming and yelling at the screen, that it becomes a communal event. There is a power in that moment of inter-connectivity. Sitting on my couch by myself...not so much. Even if it is Blu-ray.

Furry Venegence or My two year old son tried to walk out of this film then came back and grabbed my hand so I could help him walk down the stairs so he could leave.

1. Did I enjoy the movie? YES
I don't normally find myself contemplating bear rape when I look at movie poster, but when I do a few thoughts run through my mind. Does the bear represent the wilderness "coming" into the hero and changing him from a city-boy to a feral-child. Is the bear rape symbolic of the character's mental disturbance that finally comes to the surface? Or, maybe, the scriptwriters drew words at random during a moment of writer's block.  Furry Vengeance let me down.

Let it be known: If like me, you looked at the movie poster and thought to yourself that bear looks like he's going to rape Brendan Frasier, know no bear raping occurs in this movie. The bear merely steals Brendan Frazier's pants. Steals them in a way that seems physically impossible, even if said bear was propelled from the doomed planet krypton and upon arriving at earth found he had superpowers from earth's yellow sunlight.

The bear's superpowers or lack of superpowers aside, the bear and Brandon Frazier share a scene that defies description in it's awfulness. Watching Furry Vengeance, I found myself in a two part viscous cycle. First I would watch a scene and think how the movie has set a new low in every one's career. Then the next scene would lower the bar even more.
But through it all there was Brandon Frazier. For me it was method acting taking to the next level. The actor becomes the character in that moment so thoroughly that it transcends the medium and starts to work voodoo magic on the audience.

Then Felix, my two-year old son, had enough and wanted to leave. Guess the kid has no taste for camp.

2. Would I watch it again? MAYBE
When I first saw this movie, I thought it was so campy I could watch it again and again. Bring all my friends over and laugh at how ridiculous and awful the movie is. Then I watched it a second time for work, and well, no. I never want to watch this film again. Each scene of this movie is like a clip from a future retrospective on Brendan Frazier's career. The low points. It only gets the Maybe because I actually did see it again, but not from choice.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief or Jason makes a savings throw versus nostalgia

1. Did I enjoy the movie? YES
I have not enjoyed Chris Columbus' movies in the past. Yet, with this film he hit the right notes. Notes building to chords of myth, action, and magic reminding me of a summer past.

I don't know why my dad asked me to keep Kevin Ryan's nephew company that summer before sixth grade. I did not mind. He seemed like a cool kid. A little older than me but not haughty. (Wanting to watch Clash Of The Titans was a big plus.) Something in that movie clicked with me.

My classmates knew the latest sexual innuendo and I knew the Olympians. They had access to cable without adult supervision. I had access to the Kankakee Public Library's children section. Oh it was marvelous. I would love to walk down the dull stone stairs turn and be blasted by the primary intensity of colors. There was a series of books covering the myths of the world. Those were my go-to books. I would be lost in the stories. When waiting for class to begin I would devour these stories of heroes and monsters from afar-ago. There was a realness, without being real if that makes sense, that the Bozo Show lacked. (Side note: as I type this I am trying to decide if I just drank a glass of urine or bad smelling water.)

"You should be playing Dungeons and Dragons," Kevin Ryan's nephew said to me as I explain the myths that were cobbled together to build Clash Of The Titans' narrative.

Wow, was he right. I LOVED it. Loved it like how you love your your first girlfriend and don't notice her flaws but everyone else does. Yeah. Like that. I bought the red Basic Set and it was brought to a new world. A place where I had powers and weapons. A world with no homework, gym class, indifferent classmates, and angry fathers.

2. Would I watch the movie again? MAYBE
I enjoyed all of the book but only most of the movie. The divergence in the character of Luke from the book to the movie gives me pause. Patriarchal rage is converted to blind megalomania. It cheapens the character and also reduces the power of the "absent parents" theme running through the movie.

Hot Tub Time Machine

I had very low expectations for this film and boy was I pleasantly surprised! What a crazy idea, four guys going back to the 1980s after an accidental mishap in the hot tub. And that's just the beginning! To give away the laughs in this movie would just be wrong because so many of the gags work because they take you by surprise. All I will say is that the jokes with animals are in my opinion the best. I will admit that several jokes with sexual humor went too far for me, but the jokes that did work were so pee-in-your-pants funny that I forgave these crude interludes. If you're looking for some solid belly laughs and know going in some parts might be a bit offensive, you'll be in for a hilarious surprise.

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