Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, douchebag!

Okay, so here at the end of summer we’ve got some new movies and some notorious douchebaggery. Remember the Dark Knight? Yeah that stupid movie that everyone loved (fortunately it’s only #3 all time on imdb now…) Well, apparently it did kind of well this summer at the box office. So well in fact that it’s publisher Warner Bros realized that it is a much better idea to release a movie in the summer than in say, winter, because kids will be “out of school” and thus more likely to see a movie a million times… And this brings us to our

Douchebag of the week:

Douchebag

Alan Horn! President of Warner Bros and the man in charge of moving the November release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince back half a year so that it premiers in July of 2009, despite the fact that he says the film is finished and in fine form now. He cites the reason for this move as being for better business. So he’s taking a movie that would likely make a half a billion dollars, pissing off all its fans by moving it back half a year, and hoping that MORE of them would want to see it. You sir, are an utter git, and a total douchebag who cares more about the green, which he already has, especially after Dark Knight, than about the fans, the art, or the betterment of his perceived social image. Enjoy the title you loathesome pretzel. Look at him there, just basking in his doucheyness… ‘Oh I am SoOOO Smug cuz I like RED ties cuz they match the color of my soul, and it makes christmas colors with my favorite color.. GREEN! oOoo I LOVE myself sooOO much’. Normally I’m quite against movie piracy, bootlegging, and clandestine internet distribution, but you pirates out there.. feel free to get your hands on Half Blood Prince as soon as possible, and make sure that every person under 20 with an internet connection sees it this winter for free!

Now some reviews.

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- TROPIC THUNDER – (2008 – R)

Dir: Ben Stiller; Star: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte
Clever, star studded movie within a movie, following the production of the Vietnam war movie “Tropic Thunder,” which is doomed for failure despite its collosal budget. Citing this, the director of the movie sends his actors into the Vietnamese jungle (which is clearly filmed in Hawaii, despite the insistence that the movie in the movie was being filmed in Asia) to live in the conditions the soldiers would have encountered. Then everything goes wrong, and the interesting situation arrises regarding how combat ready these actors are. Among them are the action star (Stiller), the academy award winner (Downey Jr), the drug addict funny man (Black) and others. The characters themselves are funny Hollywood archetypes and are all amusing, although Downey Jr.’s character becomes annoying and undecipherable by the end. It starts off comically, with some clever movie “previews” that help to establish the characters, however the midsection of the movie is hardly funny despite its often inane attempts, and it finishes like the action movie they’d been trying to film! By then there’s hardly a shred of hilarity, and many scenes are unnecessarily and distractingly pointless (can we say Tom Cruise dancing to ‘Apple Bottom Jeans’?). Overall, the action sequences were actually the BEST part of this movie, and even then they’re only as good as say.. those in Forrest Gump, which wasn’t even about the Vietnam war. An initially compelling satire of mainstream filmmaking that doesn’t really fulfill its purpose. Some more intuitive screenwriting, some annoyance ridding, and some directorial focus could have served the clever premise to a greater degree. A shabby effort indeed. Oh, and Ben Stiller, please get a new character.
Keywords:
Star studded, Big Budget, Postmodern, Uneven, Annoying, Clever idea

- PINEAPPLE EXPRESS – (2008 R)

Dir: David Gordon Green; Star: Seth Rogen, James Franco
What a hoot. A stoner movie that is never off putting, pretentious, overly bizarre, disgusting, or dull. Take THAT Harold and Kumar! Everyman Rogan gets caught up in an inter gang drug war with his marijuana dealer Franco, and both are too high to really comprehend what is going on. Hilarity ensues. Seth Rogan is in top form, instantly likeable and continually funny with his ballsy yet believable sense of humor and perfect mix of physical, intellectual, and social comedy. Franco is a perfect, subdued counterpart. The two have great chemistry and it seems as though many of the best gags were the result of a natural and tireless improv. The screenplay is sharp as well, and never stupid for the sake of being stupid (but it can still be ridiculous, in a good way). By the end guns are pulled and chaos follows, like an exciting high school fantasy during a day in the life of your typical pot head. Like other Judd Apatow productions, (including the very funny Superbad and Knocked Up) this one is all based on very moral principals that give the whole subject some weighty resonance even if the characters and their comedy are always high. A hillariously realized fantasy that’s fresh and likeable through and through. Highly entertaining proof that potheads aren’t the only ones that can enjoy a stoner comedy.
Keywords:
Stoner comedy, fantastical, hilarious, dynamic duo, moral values, entertaining, fresh, raunchy

- VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA – (2008 pg13)

Dir:Woody Allen; Star:Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz
Woody Allen’s sexy love letter to Spain and European culture, and his third admirable film featuring Scarlett Johansson (with the outstanding Match Point and charming Scoop). Two American tourists are wooed by a sexually aggressive Spanish artist (Bardem), who manages to convince them to stay in Spain where their relationships develop and other interesting factors are introduced. One of which would be the artist’s homicidal, suicidal, jealous, artist ex-wife, played with violent gusto by Penelope Cruz. Her appearance lends some heavy gravitas to counter the other characters romantic illusions, while she herself is an embodiment of the very extremes that unbridled romance can provide. I shouldn’t really say more about the plot (I don’t even know if I could properly explain it…). Needless to say it has all the turns and developments one should expect from a Woody Allen film, except they all seem to work here (thankfully). An elegant, traditional Spanish soundtrack adds a layer of authentic intimacy as well. In the end it’s more about the process than the product; life lessons from a foreign land and its strange and luring culture, in the same way cultural forces work behind the scenes in many of Pedro Almodovar’s films (see: Volver). A sexy dig into the lives of artists and the human search for something more that isn’t an indulgent statement. This film is also further proof that Javier Bardem is awesome. And yes, there IS a lesbian scene involving Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson. I did say it was sexy, didn’t I?
Keywords:
Spanish culture, sexy, Natural, Scenic, Neopolitan, Fantastical, Melodramatic, Twisted

Here’s a trailer.. Yes, it’s sexy.

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Tags: Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

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