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Longtime AICN spy Copernicus aims his trusty telescope at ORANGE COUNTY from high on a mountain in Northern California
Father Geek here. I was watching the meteor shower over Austin, Texas last night when a flaming ember fell out of the sky right into Geek Headquarter's parklike compound landing at my feet between the headquarters building and our new screening room/research center/archives building. It glowed white hot throughout the night. My mind raced, what was this strange visitor from across the galaxy? I stayed up all night keeping watch. Would it sprout furry green hair? Would it crack open releasing a blob like creature to menace central Texas? Would it begin to unscrew as three legged machines arose from it's interior to cover Austin in a cloud of poisonious black gas? Or, would it begin to grow, rising into a towering crystal that would fall crushing our buildings, breaking into fragments, each of which would start the cycle all over again until the entire state became a desolate field of deadly monolith monsters? When it finally cooled to the touch only a few minutes ago I discovered it was indeed only a small space projectile of the type used by ace AICN scientist/spy Copernicus to file his reports from his mountaintop observatory high in the western clouds. This made ol' Father Geek jump for joy, for you see Copernicus, once a regular at Geek Headquarter's outdoor screenings, has not been heard from for months. Here's his view of ORANGE COUNTY...
A little old school spy action coming at ya. Oh yes, Agent Copernicus
lives! Though circumstances have forced me to travel far from the
promised land of Austin, every now and then I manage to make my way
into a screening just to make sure that the ol spy skills don't get too
rusty. In this age of industry shills masquerading as spies, I figure
all of us old time operatives have to file a report every now and then
to keep up our street cred.
This evening I infiltrated a screening of ORANGE COUNTY. It is
directed by Jake Kasdan. Yes he is the son of Lawrence Kasdan. It
stars Colin Hanks, Jack Black, John Lithgow, Schuyler Fisk, Catherine
O'Hara, Lily Tomlin and Harold Ramis.
I did have to lie my ass off to get in though:
"Are you 21 or under?"
"Oh yes. Look I'm wearing Abercrombie!"
"Are you going to write a review of this movie for a web site?"
"No."
"Have you ever heard of Harry Knowles?"
"You mean that megalomaniacal redheaded dude who lives in Austin?
Nope, never heard of him. Never been to his house. I don't know his
dad, Jay, either."
"Do you know Moriarty?"
"Oh I especially have never heard of him."
"Robogeek? Tom Joad? Annette Kellerman?"
"Who the hell are they?"
"Are you high right now?"
"What? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Are you in fact a mild mannered astronomer by day, and by night a capo
in the Northern California cell of the Ain't It Cool News spy ring
known as Agent Copernicus?"
"Now that is just ridiculous. Hell no, really that is the opposite of
everything I stand for. I'm a palm reader from Wisconsin, and I have to
use an abacus to count to 10."
"Ok, well you can't be too careful. We have to ask that of everyone."
After those pleasantries were exchanged we were herded into the theater
and someone explained to us that the film was a work in progress, the
color wasn't final, the soundtrack would probably change, and that we
are one of the first audiences to see this movie. Much screaming was
done to acknowledge that yes we are indeed the chosen people of the
earth, blessed and holy that we are to get to shape this work of art
with the miracle of popular opinion and least common denominator
thinking. And with that the film began.
There are laughs right from the first scene. I won't give it away, but
the punch line of one of the first scenes is a camera move, and it had
people cracking up. Not bad for such a young director. What comes
next also had me laughing my ass off in a, "I can't believe they just
did that," kind of way. It was a gutsy move - a scene that could have
either horrified people or been very funny. It was funny.
The quick description of the movie is this: Shawn (Colin Hanks) just
wants to get into Stanford to become a writer. He devotes his life to
this goal - studies hard, becomes the senior class president, writes
constantly, etc., but due to a mix-up by his guidance councilor he gets
rejected. He makes all kinds of attempts to get into the school, but
his girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk), fuck-up brother (Jack Black), drunk mom
(Catherine O'Hara), crazy dad (John Lithgow), surfer friends, and
others keep somehow ruining his plans. Hijinks ensue. Sounds simple,
but it is actually very well done. It is funny, but not lets-just-go-
for-the-cheap-laughs funny. The characters have some depth, and a
certain humanity that makes them charming.
Maybe the best aspect of the movie is the great performances. Let's
start with Colin Hanks. He is great! And I am not just saying that
because his dad is a true genius due to his involvement with FROM THE
EARTH TO THE MOON and his love for space.
Who knew Colin Hanks could act? Evidently, he was limited by the
source material on Roswell (which is a favorite of Lady Copernicus, who
adds, TRL-like: "You go Little Tom! You rock! Woooooooo!") Despite
spending the first few minutes thinking of his Dad in BACHELOR PARTY,
after a few scenes I didn't see Colin as a mere mini-Hanks, but as a
leading man in his own right, and a guy that can really carry a movie.
Colin Hanks has charisma, range, and plays an excellent straight man.
He reminds me a little of Jason Lee. We are going to see a lot more of
him.
Next up is Jack Black. Oh my god this man is funny. I think I laughed
at every single scene he is in. He can just stand there (and he does a
lot of that in this movie, in his underwear) and crack me up. He plays
the dazed-out brother absolutely perfectly.
Schuyler Fisk (daughter of Sissy Spacek, niece of Rip Torn) doesn't
have a great role to work with, but she is fine as the girlfriend.
Catherine O'Hara is fine as the mom, but the parent that truly shines
is John Lithgow as the dad. He is only in a few scenes, but he really
makes them count. Other comedy veterans Lily Tomlin and Harold Ramis
play small but hilarious roles. I really like the mixing of
established and up-and coming talent in this movie. There are at least
three other very established actors in funny or serious cameos, but I
won't ruin the surprise.
There are things that weren't absolutely perfect about the movie. Some
of the jokes had obvious set-ups and were really quite one-
dimensional. The old injured man in the wheelchair falling down steps
gag just isn't that funny. The confusing urine with wine gag has been
done. Mostly though, the gross-out jokes and physical humor were
underplayed, and rightly so. The movie's real strength isn't in
physical jokes that anyone could write and deliver, but in the comedic
talent. One look from Jack Black is funnier than any number of
physical bits.
Overall, this is a solid and funny movie. It is light-hearted fare
that is an entertaining diversion when you need a laugh. It isn't
going to beat AMERICAN PIE or THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY for laughs,
but like those other two movies ORANGE COUNTY is laugh-out-loud funny,
and it has characters and performances that make it worth checking out.
Copernicus off again... Riding my lightbeam across the universe...
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+ Expand All
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... my severe distaste for this film. You can find my review back a couple of weeks on the site.
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What about High Fidelity? or D's HBO show? Just because Jack Black has been in several bad films doesn't mean he is not funny. Jack is hilarious and just needs a good film. Hopefully now that he is gaining popularity he will get a better selection of scripts.
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Wow, wonder how more than half the people involved in this film broke into Hollywood? For a superior film, let's look at SAN BERDOO written and directed by Malomar Verhooven, son of Paul Verhooven. Starring Eve Buscemi, daughter of Steve, as a girl who just wants to hang out and how no one will let her. Her boyfriend (Freddy Katt, son of actor William Katt) wants her to spend her time having sex with him. Her parents Frank Stallone and Sue Diamond Phillips want her to get the hell out of the house. Even her collie, Sassie, is fed up with her.
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Jack Black is great in High Fidelity and even better in the great film Jesus Son. Everyone should see this film
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oh..your report is nice...when i just read it i got a huge laugh-flash!!)
...i think it`s ok if this movie won`t be sooo good (we`ll see). the little son of lawrence is young, ?talented?, it`s one of his first works ......!
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by several people and IT SUCKED!!! Black was irritating. I guess I have no taste in movies.
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Well, I was excited about this movie, while reading your review until you said that it wasn't as good as American Pie and There's Something About Mary. If American Pie were a mathematical equation it would be as follows, American Pie <= Crap and Something About Mary was a total waste of Ben Stiller. Sure, Mystery Men was no Picaso, but at least I giggled. Mary disgusted me. Ben's humor is much smarter than that movie, he deserves better. That's why I look forward to the Royal Tannenbaums.
On another note: Jack Black is a God. Ok ok, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, no Picaso either. But dammit, the guy knows how to rock my socks off! Shallow Hal is going to kick some major boo-tay and the "Wonderboy" video was not only weird, it totally blew my ass out! David Grohl should be so lucky as to be able to work with The D. And yes, you hated High Fidelity? Then your assumption is correct, you have NO taste in movies!
You have been blessed by the words of Lord Fergtastic, carry forth and be merry..... -
I just had to post on your site Harry because I think it's a great thing that you are doing here. I love movies and I like to read the stories that come through your site. Who are all these bitter people that post here? It's sad really and these people disgust me. Don't let them near any children. Oh, and I think Jack Black is hilarious except for his debacle in Saving Silverman.
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this movie has certainly gotten mixed reviews, which seems to assure that I will probably like it. Colin Hanks is a groovy guy and evrything, he's the next Freddie Prinze Jr. or whatever and he can carry a movie etc etc, but whoever cast JB in this movie is no fool. Long live the two kings. All your base are belong to the D. and Sasquatch has a beer and fucks your wife, or whatever.
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What can be said, if this has Jack Black in it, it will have many laughs. But one hopes that his breakout roles won't encourage more wanna-D's to claim to be Tenacious D fans on the Tenacious D boards and at the shows. Their boards are getting as bad as these Talkbacks with people like Lord Fergnads claiming to know all about them, then asking if anyone has ever heard of the Tenacious D HBO show.
But, like my title states, Orange County looks good on paper. Catherine O'Hara hardly ever disappoints, and perhaps this will let me see why John Lithgow was once funny. Lord someone save us from the crap their passing off as comedies in recent months..... -
Dude, this guy was hilarious in The Jackal. You remember? He gets his arm blown off by his own huge gun thing with the misaligned sight. It's gonna sprawl man! And High Fidelity was perfect for him, although I liked the book better and his character in the book, he still ruled. His little dance scene is funny as balls. And we all know how funny balls are.
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