... And I'm back.
- Man, Monday's FUNNY PEOPLE review was probably one of the most difficult I've tried to write in a while. It's one of those movies where it's just extremely tough to articulate where, exactly, it goes astray. It's funny because while perusing Rotten Tomatoes, there was pretty much zero consensus in the assemblage of reviews. There were indeed a good portion of primarily negative reviews, but each of them seemed to focus on different aspects of the movie that deserved criticism. I guess, if anything, the two key phrases are probably "self-indulgent" and "self-important." Those might best describe why the movie ultimately rubbed me the wrong way. That said, people seem to have skimmed my review and assumed I hated the movie. I think I focused on the negative mostly because Funny People is in many ways a potentially great movie, and it's a case where the parts are much greater than the whole. The parts that work in Funny People are the parts that keep the tone light. But it's Judd Apatow's attempts at giving the movie dramatic weight - and his transformation of what was a movie about stand-up comedy into a semi-autobiographical morality play - that feel very tonally off. This makes Funny People a flawed film, but it also makes it a fascinating one to discuss and disect. I do think it's worth checking out if you're a fan of Apatow, because I think this will ultimately be his most controversial and hotly-debated film. I would add though that I am by no means ready to just hate on Apatow because of this one movie. I think he went overboard in a lot of ways with this one and gave in to some of his worst storytelling instincts. But the guy has had a hand in way too much great comedy to just claim that he's now jumped the shark or whatever. Personally, I'd love to see Apatow's next movie just be something completely crazy and absurd. Remember - he's had a hand in movies as crazy as Anchorman and Walk Hard. I'd love to see more in that style from him. Funny People, however, is certainly an interesting and thought-provoking entry in the Apatow cannon.
- Speaking of funny people, I do have to make mention of Sunday night's ROAST OF JOAN RIVERS on Comedy Central. All in all, I've loved these Comedy Central roasts. If nothing else, they are a different type of comedy than what you typically see on TV. The roasts are a great chance to see comedians like Greg Giraldo and Jeff Ross do what they do best: scorch people with one scathing and hilarious insult after another. At the same time, there are always interesting guest appearances - this time we got Donald Trump and Don Rickles via video, for example. And there is always an oddity or two. For example, the Rivers roast featured an 87-year-old Carl Reiner as one of the roasters, performing a set that basically celebrated the level of vulgarity that one can get away with in the 00's as opposed to the 50's. I mean, Reiner talked about how he couldn't even use the word "pregnant" back on the Dick Van Dyke Show ... and then went on to use various curse words with the relish of an 87-year old man who knew he was getting away with murder. And then there is Gilbert Gottfried, who is basically in a class by himself at these roasts. Gilbert is one of those people who is just so out-there that he's inherently hilarious. His delivery alone just cracks me up, but his enthusiastically-told made-up story about a sexual encounter with Joan Rivers was just side-splittingly funny. Man, Gilbert is one messed-up man, but good lord can he be hilarious. A couple of the comedians in this particular roast were more filler than killer: Brad Garett, Robin Quivers, etc. Although the cool thing about a show like this is that they are a great way to discover new comedic voices - one person who impressed me here was Whitney Cummings, a regular on The Chelsea Handler Show. She had a pretty funny set that tossed some excellent zingers Joan Rivers' way. And then Joan herself capped off the show as only she can, giving a nonsensical yet pretty entertaining rant on why America needs her, pushing her trademark scratchy squeel of a voice to its breaking point. One thing is sure: she is definitely one of a kind. Overall, not as consistently funny as some of the previous roasts (I think the Pam Anderson, William Shatner, and Bob Saget roasts remain my favorites so far ...), but still, definitely one of the more entertaining pieces of television I've seen in a while.
My Grade: B+
- Also want to give a shout-out to MICHAEL & MICHAEL HAVE ISSUES on Comedy Central. The show has seemed to increasingly find its groove with each new episode, and while it still has to iron out some things, the show has been consistently funny week in and week out. It's great just to see Showalter and Black's trademark insane humor on TV every week, and I hope everyone is checking out the show!
- And yes, I do have to make mention of last night's season finale of NYC PREP. As I've mentioned here on the blog, I work closely with Bravo here at my job even if I am not exactly in the target Bravo demo. Suffice it to say, after working to help promote the pilot of NYC Prep on digital platforms like iTunes, I sat down to watch the first episode, and quickly, much to my surprise, became a total addict of the show, and helped to get a good portion of my office addicted to it to boot. What can I say, I don't usually like reality shows, but NYC Prep is so compelling first and foremost because the Upper East Side high-schoolers it profiles are honestly pretty fascinating. Sure, they can be shallow and snobbish, but the show didn't just paint them as stereotypes. You couldn't stop looking away as these kids grappled with their own unique version of typical teenage drama. And man, was this show hilarious. The antics of the dim-witted, girl-chasing Sebastian alone were amusing as hell. So, as much as I hate myself for saying this ... bring on Season 2.
- Finally, did you hear that AMC has committed to a TV series based on the uber-awesome comic book series THE WALKING DEAD? Robert Kirkman's insane zombie comic has been one of the most intense, gripping, and unpredictable reads out there for the last several years, and it's still going strong. The comic is paced very much like a TV show, so it's always seemed a natural for adaptation. Now, I remember checking out a script for a Walking Dead pilot that at one point was in consideration at NBC. The script was actually pretty darn good, but at the same time you had to wonder if network television could handle a violent and brutal post-apocalyptic zombie adventure. AMC is probably a better home for such a series, although, man, it'd be VERY interesting to see how a full-fledged zombie series would do in primetime. CBS came extremely close to having such a show, Babylon Fields, a couple of years ago (although that was more of a quirky zombie comedy, if you can believe that). Still, with Frank Darabount attached to write and direct, and AMC typically being a bastion for good original TV content, The Walking Dead is now potentially *the* TV show to be on the lookout for. And by the way, if you've yet to sample The Walking Dead, there's no better day than today -- the latest monthly issue, as well as the tenth graphic novel volume, both hit stores today.
- Okay, onto today's movie review. All I can say is ... TENNNNN HUTT!
G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA Review:
- GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is good, solid, goofy fun. If you were a fan of the old-school GI Joe cartoon or comic books back in the day, I think that this one will be a nostalgia trip that takes you back to the days of waking up early on a Saturday morning and camping out in front of the couch for three hours in your pajamas. All that's missing is a bowl of Lucky Charms to slurp down while watching.
Now, you might be one of those too-cool-for-school hipsters who's all like "GI Joe? What the hell, that movie blows goats." To which I say ... "drop and give me twenty, Maggot!" Seriously though, GI Joe is good clean summer movie fun. Unlike the Transformers flicks, GI Joe does right by the franchise in that it basically presents the material as is. This isn't Citizen Kane, but it is pretty much everything you'd want in a GI Joe flick. Bigger-than-life good guys, majorly evil bad guys, cool action scenes, and Snake Eyes. Sure, things can get pretty cheesy at times, but at least the focus of the movie is on the Joes and their world-saving mission. There's no Shia LeBuff character stealing the spotlight away from the real stars of the movie. There's no age-inappropriate sex jokes. GI Joe is the kind of movie that's plenty light enough that a young kid could watch it, get a kick out of it, and come out of it screaming "Yo, Joe!" just like we did at age ten. And get this: there are action scenes that actually make sense, are easy to follow, and that feature the movie's best and coolest characters kicking ass and taking names. Are you listening, Michael Bay? The fact is that director Stephen Sommers (best known for the first two Mummy films), love him or hate him, knows how to do big, over-the-top, fun action scenes and set pieces. He's no Spielberg, but he has a sense of how to produce finely-orchestrated chaos in a manner that's fast-paced yet coherant.
Getting back to the movie being a living, breathing cartoon - to me there's nothing wrong with this choice. Sure, they could have gone the route of doing a darker version of GI Joe, but I mean, is that really what best suited the franchise. I think that fanboys sometimes get greedy in that they want every franchise to get the "mature" treatment a la Batman and The Dark Knight. There's nothing wrong though with the occasional light-hearted action flick that is made for kids and kids at heart.
That said, I'm not going to pretend that GI Joe is some kind of action-movie masterpiece. The story and characters are underdeveloped at times, and the plot can be a bit too simplistic in places. In particular, the love-hate relationship between Marlon Wayan's Ripcord and Rachel Nichols' Scarlett is a bit much even for a cartoony movie like this one. Plus, it would have been nice to get slightly more insight into the motivations of the evil Destro and his plans for world domination.
But man, in some ways GI Joe, perhaps surprisingly, kicks some serious ass. For one thing, I came away sort of shocked by how fun the ensemble cast here is. No one is going to win any Oscars, but a lot of the roles are filled out by more-than-capable actors who hit just the right notes in terms of playing comic book-style heroes and villains. I mean, you've got Christopher Eccleston as Destro. Eccleston is a fine actor and is a lot of fun here as the Joe's charismatic nemesis. Even more fun is scene-stealer Joseph Gordon-Levitt as The Doctor, aka the man who will become the criminal mastermind known as Cobra Commader. It's funny because I just couldn't envision how Levitt would play this type of role, but he totally kills in the part. Partly hidden behind a metal mask, he uses an over-the-top, full-on EVIL voice that calls to mind the classic cartoon, and is just an awesomely fun villain here. The other huge scene-stealer is Sienna Miller as Baroness. Miller is pretty great here, chewing up scenery like nobody's business, kicking ass left and right, and reinforcing the idea that everybody loves a badass girl with glasses. Sienna Miller comes away as the movie's MVP - a femme fatale that will make the young boys in the audience feel funny feelings they've never felt before. Rounding out the cast of villains, you've got Storm Shadow - the arch-enemy and rival of Snake Eyes and one badass martial-arts master, and Zartan, a cunning master of disguise. Fun stuff.
On the Joes side, our two leads are unfortunately the movie's weakest links. Channing Tatum is okay as the All-American Joe leader, Duke, but at the same time you wish they found someone with a bit more, well, gravitas, to play the part. Marlon Wayans has some fun moments as Duke's right-hand man, Ripcord, but sometimes his comic relief does fall a bit flat. That said, you've got to love Dennis Quaid as General Hawk. I mean, it's Dennis Quaid as a GI Joe General whose name is Hawk. That is basically inherently awesome right there. Plus, you've got Ray Park as GI Joe's resident silent ninja warrior, Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes basically has always ruled, and continues to rule in live-action. Like everyone else, I agree that the drawn-in mouth on his ninja mask is kind of lame, but not a huge deal. Just fix it in the sequel, dammit all. Even Mummy star Brendan Frasier makes an uncredited cameo. I would have preferred a Sgt. Slaughter cameo, but, oh well. And hey, noted British thespian Jonathan Pryce plays the President of the United States! Sweet!
So yeah, the cast is really pretty good. Similarly, the action is fast and furious, and covers all the bases you'd want in a GI Joe movie, and then some. You've got your Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow sword battles, your Scarlet vs. Baroness grrrl fights, your underwater shoot-outs, death-defying airplane jumps, and a standout chase scene through the streets of Paris. Not too shabby.
In addition, there are some fun shout-outs to the old cartoon, which I won't spoil here. Suffice it to say, by the film's end, you leave primed and ready for a potential sequel that is now set up to deliver a full-on Joes vs. Cobra war. To that end, this movie's ending is a little bit abrupt, basically one giant to-be-continued. But it's a testament to GI JOE that it has me eagerly imagining what a sequel could be. This one has its moments of cheeseball stupidity, but it more than makes up for it with lots of grin-inducing action and adventure. Like I said, all that's missing is the bowl of Lucky Charms.
My Grade: B+
- And that's all for now. What did you think of GI JOE? Post your responses here!
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