Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 7th, 2012
An aimless slacker named Jeff shambles out of his mother's basement (where he lives, hence the movie title), tasked with a chore, but is sidetracked by a theory that he is being given signs. What are these “signs” meant to mean? Not even Jeff knows as he runs into his brother and mother along his seemingly random path. The films asks, is said path truly random? Or is he finally on a journey to find true meaning in his life?
This film is essentially about people who are dissatisfied about their placement in life and are in need of something drastic to shake them out of it. Jeff, played by Jason Segal, seems to focused on fruitless theories and journeys to ever make something of himself. His brother, played by Ed Helms, suspects his wife of infidelity after she blows up at him over buying a new Porsche without consulting her. Their mother, played by Susan Sarandon, is a widow who has not had excitement in her life since her husband passed on. When an anonymous love note arrives, she takes the chance of discovery who her “admirer” is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 30th, 2012
"Now, if you're unfortunate right now and don't have any weed, I'm sorry. But please stop this movie right now — it just won't work if you can't watch this without no weed."
Did I mention that this disclaimer at the start of Mac & Devin Go to High School comes from a profane talking joint named Slow Burn (voiced by rapper Mystikal)? Anyway, I can't say I wasn't warned.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 26th, 2012
The notion that nice guys finish last — or that girls tend to gravitate toward bad boys — isn't exactly the most original idea in the world. There have been many cinematic examples that both support (The Last American Virgin) and debunk (Bridget Jones's Diary) this theory. The Jerk Theory — a totally formulaic, surprisingly watchable "teen" comedy where most of the actors are pushing 30 — wants to be the movie that proves not every girl in the world wants a bad boy. Instead, the movie inadvertently makes the point that every girl in the world (except maybe one) wants a bad boy.
It's no more Mr. Nice Guy for Adam (Josh Henderson) after his girlfriend dumps him in favor of their school's resident jerky jock. We meet Adam after he's already re-invented himself as the kind of popular lothario who will barely stop his car to allow his date to get in and puts on impromptu rock concerts at his high school. Adam successfully counsels fellow nice guys in the ways of jackassery, but begins to reconsider his philosophy when his charms fail to work on Molly (Jenna Dewan-Tatum), who has sworn off jerks after recently breaking up with one. Will Adam's jerky veneer give way in time for Molly to see what a genuinely nice guy he is? Will there be contrived misunderstandings before a final-act declaration of love? (This is a romantic comedy — what do you think?!)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 18th, 2012
Take the supernatural comedy of Groundhog Day, merge it with the in-your-face ultra awkwardness of HBO's comedy Extras, then shave away all that stuff I said about “comedy” and you have this film. Oh yes, this film follows the formula of a Comedy, but has none of the fun implied in such a label.
Eddie Murphy plays a successful Book agent named Jack McCall, who makes his living by the way he can spin his words. There is a running gag that he represents authors and yet does not take the time to actually read books for he's too busy talking...but it's about as humorous and the sentence I wrote describing it just now. When McCall tries to reel in a religious guru to sign with his agency, he is soon cursed (or blessed, depending on whether you've guessed there's a happy ending by now or not) with a tree that holds a thousand leaves (mind you, this is not the actual amount but a random guess made at one point), which represent a thousand words McCall speaks. Each time he says a word, a leaf falls off of the tree. What happens to a tree after it loses it's leaves? To a Californian, it is dead...to me (as a Canadian) it simply means it is winter....but here I am trying to be funny when I've got a gosh darn Eddie Murphy film to talk about!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 14th, 2012
Cult movies are some of my favorite kinds of movies. I am a complete sucker for Rocky Horror Picture Show and films like the Warriors or Duel. These movies are often a product of their time but are not fully appreciated until many years later. Today, I am reviewing The FP, a film that attempts to be a cult classic but without going through the usual hoops of society. As we go to the film, one has to wonder if that is even remotely possible.
For Years, an underground war has raged for dominance over the small town of Frazier Park between two clans: the 248 from the North and the 245 from the South. Now…with a skirmish between the two clan leaders imminent, the battle for the FP has only just begun.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 13th, 2012
“You're the good kind of addict. You're the I-got-messed-up-with-the-wrong-girl-and-ended-up-on-a-blow-bender addict. But Ertz is the Skeevy-old-man-who-got-caught with-a-crack-pipe-and-the-17-year-old-from-Speed-Racer addict.”
Where season seven of Entourage was all about the hard life and times of Vinnie Chase (Adrian Grenier) and company stumbling through the shallow traps of an impossibly expensive Hollywood lifestyle: i.e. growing addictions, porn star girlfriends, and desperate career moves, Entourage: The Complete Eighth Season is all about redemption through hard choices. It picks up as a newly clean and sober Vincent is released after a 90 day stint in rehab, and his cohorts scramble to provide a safe environment for him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 11th, 2012
“Ugh. How many times do I have to explain this to you? If you see the neighbor's house getting broken into, it's probably Karl high out of his mind thinking he's locked out of our house.”
When it comes to office based slacker comedies, Mike Judge’s Office Space still sets the gold standard. Workaholics wishes it could be as quotable and timeless as Office Space, but settles for goofy, instantly forgettable juvenile ramblings suitable for a stoner’s short term memory. Much like the boy’s prank of choice, involving a dollar bill wrapped around poop, Workaholics looks good on the surface, but is pretty much the same old crap underneath.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 5th, 2012
A successful writing team, who also happen to be a married couple, are the creators of an award-winning show in the UK that has just completed after four seasons. An American network wishes to create a US version of the show. The couple are flown to LA, put up in a lavish mansion and are introduced to the Hollywood method of creating television...and it nearly destroys them.
Even before they arrive in LA, this pair begins sinking in a quagmire of big-time Hollywood lies and bluffs that drive them to losing their lead actor, a respected, elderly British man, in exchange for Matt LeBlanc, converting their program from the story of a headmaster at a boarding school to that of a handsome hockey coach who is chasing after a sexy librarian, and generally sacrificing all they hold dear (both creative and personally) in order to survive the shoot of a single pilot episode (which, by the way, seems to be the most arduous and lengthy studio shoot I have ever witnessed...it lasts the entire season of Episodes!).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 5th, 2012
"I'm yelling for society, for everybody! It's not just me!"
That's Larry David chastising a dog walker who didn't bring along a bag to clean up after her pooch, but that statement also tidily summarizes the premise of Curb Your Enthusiasm. After 11 years, seven seasons and 70 episodes of over-analyzing and kvetching — and after pulling off an incredibly well-received Seinfeld reunion in season 7 — a small part of me wondered if David had anything left to complain about heading into season 8. I should've known better.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 5th, 2012
YouTube had all but killed off the idea of mailing silly home videos to the likes of America's Funniest Home Videos. These days, people prefer to stream dozens of videos on their computers and save themselves from the watered down jokes of Bob Saget or current host Tom Bergeron. Tosh.O takes a similar format of displaying such silly videos, but focuses on things that have gone “viral” online. Like AFHV, Tosh.O adds their own commentary and sketches to the presentation but in a much more crass, cable-savvy manner.
Daniel Tosh makes for a very suitable host, which makes the difference to those who may consider aimlessly surfing through YouTube's channels to be a more valuable way of taking in the latest in mind-numbing entertainment. Tosh not only is capable at delivering edgy quips but often places himself at the butt of self-deprecating and/or harmful sketches where he may partake in the same idiocy he seems to be lambasting at other points in the episodes (a memorable example being his attempt to eat a teaspoon of cinnamon and karate chop a hundred coconuts after smoking Salvia).
