The Virginity Hit DVD review

Have any of our 10 readers even heard of The Virginity Hit?  It's a film starring an unknown cast, but produced by some big players in Hollywood... Will Farrell and Adam McKay.  The movie is about four friends, three of which have lost their virginity.  Matt is the four and final guy to try and lose his virginity in the bunch.  He's been with his girlfriend for 2 years, and he thinks their anniversary will be the day.

What I liked about the film:
Originality
In this day and age, it's all about Facebook and Twitter and YouTube.  In almost every movie featuring teenage characters, they reference these technologies.  TVH (The Virginity Hit) is no different.  It's shot in a very unique way; as a series of home videos/camera phone footage.  It's a unique look that works.  The friends have promised to chronicle Matt's journey to losing his virginity... and posting it to YouTube.  It's definitely in the raunchy comedy genre, but done so differently, it deserves a category all its own.


The Cast

The cast used their real names for their characters to make the film feel more authentic.  I don't recognize anyone in the cast, but they're all terrific.  The actors had a real chemistry between them.  They gave each other a lot of crap but you could see they all genuinely cared about each other.  Great cast!

The Story/Heart

There are so many raunchy comedies out there that don't work, because there's no heart.  They don't make us care about the characters, TVH works.  I cared about Matt and his journey.  I felt bad about his childhood and what he's been through.  The story was well written and the delivery from the actors comes off as improv, which worked in the film.


What I didn't like about the film:
The Absurd
The movie feels real for the most part.  But as soon as it strays away from that and tries to do more, it doesn't work.  There were a few exaggerated scenes that took away from the film more than they added.

The verdict:
Hilarious with heart

It's a film you should see, especially in a group of friends.  It looks different than any movie you've seen; it doesn't have a glossy, polish finish to it.  It's raw footage, that's as real a depiction of this generation as it gets.  Teenagers are doing the things depicted in the movie, period.  Off subject, read here about the controversy surrounding the billboard to the left.  The film gets a thumbs up from me.

I know this is a "DVD review", but the DVD of the film I rented had literally no extras.  Which is too bad.  It was an independent film, but It would have been fun to see the behind the scenes goodies.  Go out and see this movie guys, then let me know what you think!

"The Other Guys" Review

Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay have set a pretty high standard for comedies. They've succeeded in every project they've worked on together leading up to The Other Guys. Mark Wahlberg joins them, playing a tough-guy cop forced to a desk after he shoots Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees! Ferrell plays the bumbling idiot who loves sitting behind a desk all day. The comedy is in the two characters' differences, and craziness ensues. Let's get started.

What I liked about the movie:
Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg chemistry
Wahlberg delivers... for 2/3 of the movie. His tough-guy cop character (who secretly loves to dance) is hilarious. Sudden outbursts of anger with Ferrell on the receiving end were great.

Will Ferrell is playing, yet again, the absent minded moron. There are a lot of scenes where Ferrell is the awkward schmuck in the room; his fellow officers get him to shoot his gun off at his desk, making him believe its tradition. Funny stuff.

The Supporting Actors

I have to be honest, as funny as Ferrell and Wahlberg were, their supporting cast stole the show for me. Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson are by far the funniest aspect of the first 15 minutes of the film. Their satirical look at cops and the way they're portrayed in movies is terrific. They play on every stereotype, all the way to their demise.

Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. are their replacements and do great! There is a scene where Riggle's character fights Wahlberg's character during a funeral ceremony. They roll around on the ground fighting, while only whispering as to not disrespect the family of the fallen officer. This was so funny; I was laughing so hard during this scene.

Then there is the immortal Michael Keaton. Keaton plays the captain of the police force, but the force doesn't pay enough to send his bisexual son to college. So Keaton gets another job at Bed, Bath and Beyond to help pay for his son's school. Throughout the movie, Keaton's character uses the titles of TLC songs to explain what he's thinking. The funny thing is that Keaton doesn't know they're TLC songs! He was great.


What I didn't like about the movie:
The Story
The story is pathetic at best. I follow director Adam McKay's tweets on Twitter and he talks a lot about his political views. This is all fine and dandy, but don't make it the plot of your movie just because it's something that interests you. The plot is so dumb, so preposterous, it leaves no reason to care about the characters. It's all about corporate, white-collar crimes. That's great, because it's relevant, but it doesn't make for a good story for a comedy, especially when it reaches the pinnacle of stupidity. The state lotto is about to get taken for 32 billion dollars? Come on. The police department giving up it's entire pension to invest in a scam? Come on!

Characters
The sad thing is, it looks like this is a direct contradiction of the comments I wrote above, but it's not. I told you about Wahlberg being funny 2/3 of the movie. Well, the last 1/3 he was just straight-up annoying. There was no arc to his character, no growth of any kind. Same goes for Ferrell's character. He was a bumbling idiot to start the movie, and he was a bumbling idiot to end it. I was really disappointed in that.

Then there are characters that have absolutely no purpose of being in the film whatsoever. Take, for example, Wahlberg's ex-girlfriend. He visits her at her ballet class, yells at her and her dance partner and then leaves in a fit of rage. We don't see the ex-girlfriend again for the rest of the movie. What the hell is she in the movie for? Same goes for the "villains" of the movie. Anne Heche and Steve Coogan. Both unfunny and really only in the movie to have a villain at all.

Adam McKay/ Genre
I've seen actors and directors alike do this: try a genre for the first time, and it fails. It hurts me to say this, but McKay failed, big time. The action sequences are bad, the pacing was really bad, and the story was really really bad. McKay couldn't decide what genre it was: Comedy? Action? Corporate satire? Political satire? Law enforcement satire? What was it? Also, there were bits that should have never been in the movie, nor dragged out as long as they were. Case in point, the grandma crossing the street bit. You'll see.


The Other Guys wasn't good at all. I left the theater feeling let down more than anything. Maybe McKay and Ferrell's formula for success has already reached its maximum potential. Maybe this was a good movie, but they've set the bar so high, anything less is considered bad? Well, my opinion stands. The movie is bad, underachieves and loses itself amongst too many genres for its own good. It's OK, I have faith McKay and Farrell will bring the goods on their next project together. Hopefully that project is Step Brothers 2!

Maybe There's No "Anchorman 2," But There May Be a "Step Brothers 2!?"

If you have hung out with me or my friends in the last 2 years, chances are you've heard us quote Step Brothers time and time again. It is BY FAR my most watched DVD of the last two years. In fact, I was watching it as I read the story in which I'm posting about haha. For those of you living under a rock, Step Brothers is a 2008 comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as... you guessed it, step brothers. They played 40 year olds, still living with their parents, played by Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins and the ageless Mary Steenburgen.

In an interview with Cinemablend, director Adam Mckay explains how a sequel is a real possibility. Paramount turned down the option for an Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy sequel, so Mckay and company are shifting their attention to the Step Brothers sequel. This is awesome news! To read more of the interview click the Cinemablend link above.