The Funny, The Action Packed, The Confusing & The Downright Horrific - justin_guber

The Funny, The Action Packed, The Confusing & The Downright Horrific

So I've been watching a couple of movies lately:
First off, the comedy I've been raving about to my colleagues the second I got into the office that I highly, supremely, God-almightily recommend with all the juices in my loins, The 40 Year Old Virgin. This movie is fucking hillarious and I couldn't say enough good things about it. I haven't had a movie that made me laugh this consistently throughout the whole movie in a long time.
See, one thing I've noticed recently is that most comedies have been falling into the 'story-gag-story' routine. Show ten minutes of the story, then show a gag for about two minutes, then another ten minutes of story.
The really good comedies, though, are the ones where story and gag go hand in hand. 'Aeroplane!' is one such example (although I'll be the first to admit there wasn't that much in terms of story to begin with), 'Theres Something About Mary' too had a good story-gag ratio, and so does this movie. It has it in frickin' spades and I love it to bits.
And it's not just Steve Carrell, though. I loved the guy from the moment he opened his mouth in 'Anchorman' and the dude is on top form, but so are his cohorts, and that guy who played Alicia Silverstone's love interest in 'Clueless' keeps surprising me. First 'Anchorman', now this. Looks like he's put that incredibly stiff character from 'Gen Y Cops' behind him (was it just me, or did he look incredibly bored in that movie?).
More than anything, this is a great guy-flick. For those not in the know, a guy-flick is not a movie filled with tits and guns. Those are movies guys dig. A guy-flick is like a chick-flick for guys (which don't often feature guns but tits are more than welcome).
The execution is different, but the result is still the same, a movie about guys going through the troubles of meeting a girl that makes those watching it go, "yeah!" (as opposed to the female response to chick flicks involving a box of Kleenex and several large quantities of Haagen Daz). My favourite guy-flick of all time has been 'Swingers' and this movie looks set to come up as number 2.
Incidentally, my favourite chick-flick is 'French Kiss'. I've got one of my ex-girlfriends (who'd probably prefer to remain unnamed) to thank for that. Great humor, great performances from Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan and a whole-lotta sweetness.
Then there's the not-as-funny-but-still-quite-funny The Longest Yard. Now, to me Adam Sandler movies fall under two categories: the ones where he's a regular Joe with a tendency to lose his temper (a la Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy) and the ones where he's a complete fucktard (a la Billy Madison and Little Nicky). I prefer the ones where he's not a fucktard, although he doesn't lose his temper that much in this (which isn't a bad thing).
Yet another remake of the original 'The Longest Yard' that starred the man Jason Lee's characters will always refer to in a Kevin Smith movie, Burt Reynolds, this one has the trademark Sandler humor, complete with the 'You can do it' guy himself, Rob Schneider (who I think is about as funny as syphillis). Stand out comedy moments in this movie come courtesy of the supporting cast more than anything, from the security guard who's steroids are swapped with oestrogen ("Why are you yelling at me? I only cared!") to the man who can get you McDonalds on the inside ("It ain't eeeeasssyyy being cheeessy!"), with Sandler playing the straight guy.
And damn, did Courtney Cox's tits grow or what?
From the funny silly to the funny cool: The Transporter 2. Better than the first one by a long shot, Jason Statham will probably seal his status as action-man-supremo with this one (although what's going on with his accent, I have no idea. At least it's better than the dodgy Bronx-Cockney one he used in 'The One'). Watch him as he kicks, punches, swings, drives, jumps, flies, swims, rides and opens very large factory-sized cans of whupass.
And if you're wondering why that chick is always on the poster with him, I'll tell you why: she's super hot and super badass. It's like Bridgette Nielsen in Beverly Hills Cop 2 without the fucked-up accent and super deep voice. Any baddie-chick who only wears lingerie and fishnet stockings whilst sporting two incredibly huge guns is ok by me.
But be warned: this is the type of movie where 'suspension of disbelief' takes on a whole new meaning. If no ones told you yet about the scene I'm talking about, I shall give you a clue: car + bomb underneath + 360 flip + hook on crane = hero saved + car intact.
And then there's Revolver.
...
Yeah, Revolver.
Um...
Can someone please tell me what the fuck this is about?
Although I do admit, it's very pretty.
Oh, and the asassin in it is pretty cool.
...
This is the same guy that did Snatch?
Finally, the downright horrific: Haute Tension. Yes, it's also known as 'Switchblade Romance' and 'High Tension' but if you're hitting up the DVD stalls and shops, look for the one with the French title. Apparently the other versions have a couple minutes shaved off and you really should experience this movie in all it's gory glory.
To quote one of my favourite rock bands, AC/DC, "if you want blood, you got it". Blood flows, sprays, oozes and keeps on coming. This movie is bloody like nobodies business and it's 100% frightening. This is how horror movies used to be made - a haunting sense of dread followed by non-stop terror and a feeling at the end of the movie that makes you feel like you really need to watch a comedy just to calm shit down.
Hmmm... I lent my copy to Tony. I wonder what he thought of it?
And that's that. I'm off to do some 'FX' shots, for want of a better word, for my movie. I need to turn some of the footage I've shot into the same kind of visual quality as a pirated movie copy movie. Ciaoza.

7.11.05 09:42

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