Horrible Bosses trailer and poster; ever wanted to kill your boss?

Check out this comedy gem. The film is Horrible Bosses, and stars a pretty amazing cast. It features Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as three friends who hate their bosses. Their bosses are played by Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell respectively.  Check out the trailer below and read my thoughts after.

So, looks good right?  I have to say, my favorite boss is played by Colin Farrell.  Maybe it's the hair or just his demeanor in general, but I thought he looked hilarious.  Jennifer Aniston's character shows promise, but I think she will most likely just be eye candy for us male viewers (if you couldn't tell by the trailer).  Spacey looks like he will be a fitting 'horrible boss' as well.  

The friends are interesting casting choices.  If you read this blog, you know Batman is one of my favorites; but I'm interested in seeing Day and Sudeikis in this.  They look like they have great material to work with and will hopefully deliver.  I'll post more as it's released!

Hector Hammond Green Lantern poster

Peter Sarsgaard plays Hector Hammond in the upcoming Green Lantern.  And now he has his own character poster.  I liked it and thought I would share.  He looks pretty creepy right?  Really can't wait for this movie!

Bridesmaids review... girls just wanna have fun

I only posted the trailer a few weeks go.  I have been anxiously Tweeting away about it.  The ensemble cast is as different and as funny as they come.  So what movie has got me so hot and bothered?  Bridesmaids!  It stars Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph (both SNL alumni) as best friends.  They have grown up together, been there for each other, and now Rudolph's character is getting married.  And of course, like any best friend should, she has asked Wiig's character to be her maid of honor.  The real comedy magic happens when Rudolph introduces Wiig to the rest of her bridal party.  I have a lot I liked about this movie, so let's begin!

What I liked about the film:
The Characters

I know this pretty much goes without saying; but the characters in the film are so funny, so unique, they're among the funniest I've seen in a long time.  Ironically, the last time I saw characters this unique; it was in the movie Bridesmaids keeps getting compared to, The Hangover.  There are five bridesmaids including Wiig.

Rose Byrne is the antagonist... according to Wiig's character.  She has formed a relationship with Rudolph that threatens Wiig's role in the bride's life.  She is everything Wiig is not, rich, has friends, connections, etc.  Byrne found a way to bring comedy to the role that could have otherwise been viewed as a villainous role.

I loved "Reno:911" when it was on Comedy Central, and one of my favorite characters on the show was played by Wendi McLendon-Covey.  In this film, she plays Rudolph's cousin and is the only bridesmaid with children.  She's a woman with a lot of marriage experience she shares with the other ladies; and she also has an urge for strip clubs.  Hillarious!

Ellie Kemper is one of my favorite characters on NBC's "The Office".  In this film, she plays a similar character in that she is sweet, innocent and a newlywed with very little sexual experience.  She forms a bond with McLendon-Covey's character and the two share a hilarious scene together!

And the award for scene-stealer goes to Melissa McCarthy who plays Rudolph's future sister-in-law.  The plus sized woman is electric in the role!  She's a lovable loser who happens to be confident with herself.  Her character definitely helps the movie earn its much deserved "R" rating.  McCarthy nailed it and will reap the same benefits as Zach Galifianakis did after The Hangover.  She's so good, I'm looking up her past roles to rent on redbox.

Heart

The movie was written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo.  It has a lot of heart.  I'm sure the real life friendship between Wiig and Rudolph only helped to authenticate their relationship on screen.  In Judd Apatow fashion (he is a producer on the film), you fall in love with the characters.  Most of the film is based in reality, which also helps us care for the characters.  This was great.

The Love Story
Believe it or not, this isn't like most "chick flicks".  Granted some of it is cliche and you can see certain plot points coming a mile away; but for the most part it is a grounded film.  Jon Hamm has a great little role in the film; he plays Wiig's screw buddy.  We see Wiig's character grow and evolve, eventually dumping Hamm for the other love interest in the film.  It is tastefully done and very well written.  I actually wanted to see Wiig end up with the good guy, something I usually don't care for in romantic comedies.


What I didn't like about the film:
Pacing / Run Time
I know this is something not a lot of people will concern themselves with, but I do.  The film goes from 100 miles per hour to 5 within a few minutes.  There are obviously fast paced scenes involving all the bridesmaids, but the character development material is exhausting.  Also the run time was a bit long.  I would have completely cut out some of the characters and sub-plots, like Wiig's roommates.  I understand what they were trying to do by having them in the film; but I believe it hurt the film more than it helped.  They were unique characters, but unfunny for the most part and made the movie drag a bit.The movie could have been tightened up and maybe even cut back a half hour or so.

The Repetitiveness

Sure, there are scenes where the repetitiveness is on purpose, but there were a lot of scenes in the movie where it didn't work in my opinion.  Or it was just too long a scene and it killed the joke.  Take the maid of honor speech at the engagement party for example; Wiig and Byrne compete for Rudolph's attention by fighting over the microphone confessing their love to her.  The joke works, but after 10 or so exchanges of the microphone, it becomes redundant and unfunny.  Unfortunately there are several examples of this in the film. 


The Verdict:
A much needed start to Summer 2011

I am so happy my Summer movie season is off to a good start.  I thoroughly enjoyed Thor last week and Bridesmaids was a treat for my wife and I.  I have to reiterate what a lot of people online are saying; hopefully this movie will help to generate a new breed of female driven comedies.  We need to laugh and cheer, not just fight super villains with our superhero friends.  It was a fun movie and hopefully the rest of the Summer goes as well as the last two weeks have, we'll look back at this post and see if it does!

Latest Green Lantern posters and trailer

Ryan Reynolds leads the Green Lantern Corp in this group poster

I've already posted the 4+ minutes of footage from the the upcoming Green Lantern.  That footage was amazing.  It did a lot to restore faith in the project after the so so trailer that premiered back in November of last year.  The special effects were tightened up, the comedy was scaled back in exchange for a more 'epic' approach.  This is the official trailer containing a lot of that footage, but there's more!

We finally get to see the voice actors attached to a few of the all CG (computer generated) characters.  Let's review.

Mark Strong will play Sinestro with some CG help

Michael Clarke Duncan will voice the massive Kilowog

Oscar Winner, Geoffry Rush will voice Tomar Re

Check out the trailer below and then read my thoughts after.

That's what I'm talkin' about!  The voice actors were perfectly cast!  I especially love Rush as Tomar Re.  Michael Clarke Duncan almost feels like the obvious choice.  But Rush, to me, is an inspiring choice.  I've never really commented on Mark Strong's Sinestro; I may be taking him for granted.  Strong has quickly become one of my favorite actors in Hollywood; especially following Kick-Ass and Sherlock Holmes.  He looks the part and for all the fans of the comic book, you know what's coming!

Overall, this is the perfect cut for the last trailer to Green Lantern.  I know the earliest clips had a lot of people nervous, but this should make everyone believe in Green!

Last but not least, the Gaurdians

Thor review... expect to be delighted

For months I have been hesitant towards Thor.  I didn't know what to expect out of an unknown lead (Chris Hemsworth) and a Shakespearean actor turned director (Kenneth Branagh).  Sure there were Oscar winners in the film (Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins), but that doesn't guarantee a good film.  So the Summer movie season has kicked off in full swing.  I skipped on Fast Five last week and watched Thor instead, let's get it started in here.

What I liked about the movie:
The Storytelling, director
Branagh is a wonderful actor.  His work has been solid for well over a decade... as an actor.  Why elect him to direct a big budget Summer film?  Well, here's my two cents.  He was perfect in his storytelling.  He understood how to divide the story between Asgard and Earth.  He made Asgard a grand, mythical place while keeping it believable.  The parts on Earth were tastefully done and grounded in reality.  It was just the right tone and pacing necessary for a something as mythical as Thor.  He knew how to direct Hemsworth, and in turn got a wonderful performance out of him.  The editing was solid as well.  The only thing I would critic Branagh for was his lighting, which I'll explain later.

The acting

Hemsworth gives a wonderful performance.  He has a commanding presence, a swagger if you will.  While in Asgard, he is a cocky, arrogant man who feels entitled to his father's throne.  When he is banished to Earth, he plays the "fish out of water" very sincerely.  It's always a risk casting a relative unknown for a movie of this size and scope, but this was perfect casting.  Hemsworth got so unbelievable big for this movie, he was physically believable as Thor.  The long hair and beard were spot on to what I felt Thor should look like on the big screen.  The accent was perfect as well.  Because we're dealing with the Norse God of Thunder, there has to be a sense of grandeur, and Hemsworth nailed it.  

Thor's father, Odin, is played by the masterful Anthony Hopkins.  He is the stern father figure we would expect Odin to be, but has a sensibility that any good father must posses.  The primary villain in the film is Thor's half-brother Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston.  Hiddleston nails it!  I loved his performance in this film.  He is vengeful and sinister.  The only thing I didn't like was the "turn".  We get to see Loki's motivation for turning on his family, but it would have been nice to dig deeper; especially considering it has been officially announced that Loki will be the primary villain for The Avengers film. 

Natalie Portman does well as an astrophysicist.  She plays the character as genuinely as we would hope.  Her side kick is played by Kat Dennings; who despite all the hate online, I thought was blessed with some of the best one-liners in the film.  Portman's mentor is played by the great Stellan Skarsgard who did great with what little screen time he had.

The Visual Effects

This is a Marvel film, so we shouldn't expect any less out of a big, blockbuster film.  The visual effects both on Asgard as well as on Earth were awesome.  I couldn't tell where some of the special effects blended with the practical effects, and that's what we really want as an audience, we shouldn't be able to tell.  Thumbs up to Marvel for spending the money necessary to make the worlds look real. 


What I didn't like about the movie:
The lighting, cinematography

This was a major, major issue for me.  I endlessly complain about 3D (I saw it in 2D mind you), but the lighting in this film was so bad it was unbearable at times.  All the scenes featuring our hero on "Jotunheim" were so dark and difficult to see.  I don't know if this was a poor print at the theater I went to or if it were intended that way, but nonetheless, it was tough to watch and understand what was happening.


The verdict:
Satisfying to all

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  Goes to show you, yet again, never judge a film by its trailer.  I was not impressed with the trailers leading up to the release of this film, but gave it a chance and enjoyed myself.  I will say it is very kid friendly at times, a darker version would be nice, but then again I'm a 30 year old man, not a 12 year old child.  I think Marvel realized they spent too much time during Iron Man 2 setting up The Avengers, they didn't do that so much in this film.  But they did set up the villain.  Loki and his powers should be a worthy opponent of the superhero team. 

Hiddleston did very well and has made me a fan.  Good job to everyone involved, I really liked Thor and would recommend it to anyone who wants to see a good action film to kick off the Summer season!

Little Fockers DVD review

There were two major releases this week on DVD and blu-ray; the first was The Green Hornet.  The second was Little Fockers, starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in the third film in the franchise.  I am a big fan of the first film, Meet the Parents.  It did so many things right, it was really refreshing.  The second film, Meet the Fockers, wasn't the best in movie history, but still good.  It introduced Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman in hilarious roles.  Now, Little Fockers, oh boy, here we go.

What I liked about the movie:
Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman
There was a bunch of drama prior to the movie being shot about whether Dustin Hoffman would even be in the movie.  Then there were reshoots for his character.  Let me start by saying that, Streisand and Hoffman are in the movie for a total of about three minutes.  So the movie is so bad that the parts making up 5% of the movie are the only things I enjoyed in the film.  They're funny, loveable Fockers and scored points for me.

What I didn't like about the movie:
Jessica (I'm a terrible actress) Alba
Wow.  And that's not a positive wow, that's a "wow, how the hell is this woman making money for this".  Alba is a terrible actress in general, but this movie... this movie takes the cake as her worse.  She is about as bad as Anne Hathaway as an Oscar host, THAT bad.  She's overzealous, annoying, disingenuous and down right bad.  Her character could have been a breath of fresh air, but she phoned in her performance just like the rest of the cast.

The rest of the cast
The movie has become the definition of a "paycheck" in Hollywood.  Robert De Niro made fun of himself while accepting an award, referencing his performance in Little Fockers.  This man is a two-time Oscar winner?  "The God-Focker"?  Really?  What the F happened to the Godfather!?!?!  Whoa.  Ben Stiller tries his best but can't duplicate the success of the previous two films.

Teri Polo is wasted completely as a stay at home mom.  And most importantly, the little Fockers themselves... not very good child actors.  In fact, they don't do much.  The only reason they're in the film is to have a reason to bring DeNiro and Stiller together.  Wow, so bad.  I also don't want to forget Owen Wilson in what will surely be one of his worse movies in... the next year or so ;o)

The story
I don't want to spend more than a sentence or two on this.  The little Fockers are turning five, and everyone is invited.  Much like the second film where DeNiro suspects that Stiller has a son, in this movie he suspects Stiller of cheating with Alba's character.  I'll let you all figure out the rest.


The DVD:
Lots of options, very little substance
The list of features is pretty long, but not many that I cared for.  Here are all the special features:
Alternate Opening: Wedding Dream and Morning Wakeup
Alternate Ending: Treehouse
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
The Making of A Godfocker: Behind the Scenes of Little Fockers
Bout Time
The Focker Foot Locker

I liked the making of featurette, but that was pretty much it. The rest is a ways of space on the DVD.


The verdict:
Skip it entirely
I know I sound harsh, but it's bad, really really bad.  I always defend films that are bashed on by the critics.  But with a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, we can't all be wrong!

The Green Hornet DVD review

This week there were two major releases on DVD and Blu-Ray, the first being The Green Hornet.  The movie stars Seth Rogen as the title character as well as Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou (who plays Kato).  I really want to jump right in. 

What I liked about the movie:
Christoph Waltz
Wow, this man is so good at what he does!  Waltz plays the primary villain in the film and nails it.  This role doesn't require quite the evil necessary for his Academy Award winning role in Inglourious Basterds, but is still great.  He has a dark comedic tone that he just gets perfect.  Towards the end of the film his character falls off the deep end.  And while I think the script was terrible, Waltz did what he could.  Great job.

What I didn't like about the movie:
The rest of the cast
I'm not kidding, the rest of the cast was terrible in this film.  Start off with our "star" of the film, Seth Rogen.  Forget how terrible the script is (I'll get there in a moment), all he does is scream his lines.  Seriously, it feels like his voice cracks every minute or two just to scream his lines.  Diaz is forgettable at best.  It seriously makes me wonder why she took the role in the first place.  Last is Jay Chou who was obviously cast for his martial arts and not his acting.  I hate to bag on the guy, because his martial arts are very impressive, but he is a terrible actor.  It's so bad people, believe me.

The Script
Am I supposed to care that Seth Rogen and his buddy Evan Goldberg wrote this?  It's such a stupid story, written in the most idiotic way imaginable.  I'm not an expert of writing, but the structure, the flow, the character development was all terrible.  I can't explain to you how much I disliked this film.  It was like a train wreck I couldn't get my eyes off of.


The Blu-Ray:
Tons of goodies
Despite how much I hated this movie, this is a DVD review after all.  The blu-ray featured some great visuals as well as sound.  The special features are as follows:
PS3 Theme
Jay Chou Audition
Double Barrel
movieIQ
The Green Hornet Cutting Room
Filmmakers' Commentary
"Awesoom"-Gag Reel
"Trust Me" -Director Michel Gondry
Writing The Green Hornet
The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool
The Stunt Family Armstrong
Finding Kato
The Art of Destruction

The best of the bunch was The Black Beauty featurette about the new car.  Gag reels are always fun and soo too was the Art of Destruction.  Overall thumbs up for the blu-ray and it's extras.


The Verdict:
PLEASE PASS
I say please because I want it to be a hint to Hollywood to stop making total stink rehash remakes.  I know I defend movies like The A-Team for being a 'go numb for two hours' appeal to them.  This is way different.  The movie didn't have likeable characters at all, the action felt stale, and the story is God awful.  I will say, relentlessly, this movie is terrible!