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Capone Will Remember FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL!!
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
And the hits keep on coming. After staggering a bit in the quality department with Drillbit Taylor, the House of Judd Apatow produces another unqualified winner. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (which Apatow produced) is the story of Peter (Jason Segel, Seth Rogen's very tall friend in KNOCKED UP), a musician for a successful television cop show starring his girlfriend, actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). The two have been a couple for many years, but one day she announces that she's leaving him.
The scene would be tragic if Peter wasn't completely naked in what might be the most memorable breakup scene ever filmed. Peter wallows in a sea of self-pity over his loss until his friend Brian ("SNL's" Bill Hader, who seems to get funnier each time I see him) suggests that Peter take a vacation somewhere to take his mind off things. Peter remembers Sarah talking about a resort in Hawaii, and so he hops on a plane and decides to take a trip. Soon after arriving in this island paradise where couples are getting married or honeymooning all around him, Peter runs into Sarah along with her rock star boyfriend Aldous Snow (the scene-stealing Russell Brand). The couple is essentially in a non-stop game of slap-and-tickle, and Peter's world is shattered once again at the beginning of what promises to be the worst vacation ever.
Most of what I've just outlined takes up about the first 20-30 minutes of the film. What the film could have done is turn Peter into a stalker trying to ruin his ex-girlfriend's spirited and athletic sex vacation. But the screenplay (by Segel) is much smarter and more layered than that. Peter makes friends with Rachel (Mila Kunis from "That '70s Show"), the front-desk clerk at the resort. Their relationship seems more based on her taking pity on him, but a really nice friendship develops that eases his suffering a little bit at a time. First-time director Nicholas Stoller (a writer for the Apatow-created TV show "Undeclared") shows a nice touch for drawing these characters and making us really enjoy their company. As with many Apatow films, there are no villains, just people we are meant to like more than others. We even grow mildly fond of Sarah by the end of the film, especially after the best-written scene in the film in which she finally explains to Peter why she ended their relationship (reasons that seem wholly acceptable and universal).
Sure, we still get the patented extended cameos from the Apatow stable. Paul Rudd is on hand as a dim-witted surfing instructor who gives Peter some truly uninspired life coaching. And the exceptional Jonah Hill plays a waiter at the resort who happens to be an obsessive fan of Aldous the rock star. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has a lot of nice touches, such as the snippets of Peter's Dracula-inspired rock opera and the unconventional track that Peter and Rachel's relationship takes. Segel not only shows that he has a gift for screenwriting one of the best romantic-comedies I've seen in years, but he really shines here as an actor. I was afraid Segel would wear the hang-dog face he has for much of the film's early scenes, but once he begins to relax and consider his life and future with Sarah, he takes on a truly likable tone without sapping it up. Peter is a flawed character, to be sure, but those flaws are part of his charm and not something to be eliminated or "fixed" by a woman.
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL makes comedy and relationship movies look easy and effortless. I've never been of the school that Bell is the end-all most beautiful, desirable woman on the planet (she seems like a lovely person, don't get me wrong), but my exposure to her work has been limited. That said, she's totally fearless in this film, getting put through the sex-comedy paces without compromise. There's a quick montage of her sexual escapes with the rock star that is a riot, and a botched rekindling with Peter late in the film is awe-inspiring if only because it's one of the most awkward sequences ever committed to film.
As for Kunis, she's more my type and she wears her role as part-rebound, part-therapist to Peter perfectly. It extremely difficult to find flaws with this wonderful film. Some might grumble about the standard-issue Apatow running time of two hours, but I didn't even notice the time. I was too busy laughing. And when I wasn't laughing, I was trying to figure out what jokes I missed while I was laughing. And if you have issues with long running times, look at it this way: you pay the same ticket price for a hilarious two-hour R-rated movie as you do a 85-minute piece of crap PG-13-rated comedy. So which film should you really be grumbling about?
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is the comedy to beat this year.
Capone
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... very good.
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That is a big turn off for anyone. By the way he's probably done your girlfriend. If you're gay he's probably done your boyfriend too. There is no more notorious swordsman walking the Earth today.
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Anyone else feel that when she was saddened when her show got canceled suddenly?
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Had some great moments but the story was lazy and unfocused, like they filmed the first draft or something. It just sort of rambled on incoherently from scene to scene. But Rudd and Brand are great in it. Solid, but not worth repeat viewings, IMO.
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FSM looks to take in just $16 million or so in its opening weekend when I was hoping for maybe double that.
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laying out her fears and concerns for the future; it was Kristen, too, and that's why you stop thinking she's a bitch once the scene where her show got axed onward. She was monumentally kickass from that point onward.
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Considering the HUGE marketing push this movie got, 16 million is a disappointment and I am thrilled.
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... and I loved it. Funniest thing I've seen since Superbad.
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Apatow and all these guys are great. And FSM had some great moments too, but it felt a bit like the little brother. Less polished, and not as smooth as say knocked up or superbad. And honestly i wish it were a little funnier.
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Score another one for the Apatow camp.
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40-year-old and Knocked Up GOOD, Drillbit SUCKED.
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Sarah Lee that is. Love their products.
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Not terrible, but hardly worthy of the praise they got.
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the laughs didn't come as fast and freely as Superbad and Knocked Up but it was still very enjoyable and kept in line with the Apatow crew films having real heart and sweetness to them. One thing I was torn on was who looked hotter Kunis or Bell - still no verdict. Oh and Brand steals almost every scene he's in too
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Saw this last night, my only complaint was the idiots behind me complaining we saw Segel's wang. Get over yourselves.
This and 'In Bruges' are the best films I've seen so far this year. -
insert "this site needs and edit feature" line here
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What I can't forget is that redhead on those Busted Tees ads. SMOKING!!!!!!
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Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell naked - yet the only full-frontal in this movie comes from the dude?!? The world's gone MAD, I tells ya, MAD!
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I loved when Jonah said that. So cute. I thought the parts with him and Russell Brand were best. Anyway, I thought it was great for a romantic comedy. I mean it wasn't meant to be a laugh a minute comedy I don't think. It was supposed to have all that relationship stuff in it, so it had to be serious some times. And I don't understand how Paul Rudd became the funniest person on the planet. When I first saw him in 'Clueless' I thought he had no personality whatsoever. Oops.
I'd really like to see that whole Dracula musical too. Jason Segel's got a good voice. I saw him and Doogie singing Les Mis stuff on Youtube, and thought he should definitely be doing more of that. -
From last Thursday's afterparty for Forgetting Sarah Marshall at the Hollywood and Highland mega-mall
http://tinyurl.com/5fabvo -
I think Bell is capable of giving great performances. Check out that episode of Deadwood she was on... good stuff. Granted, it is Deadwood, so any bad acting on her part would be swept up in the tide of total-fucking-awesomeness.
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Was this Regal's first red-band since the announcement they would be be bringing them back? Great fucking trailer by the way.
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I think it played at all theatre chains. I saw it at a non regal theatre. That is an amazing trailer, I like the song played in it
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Mila Kunis is fucking stunning in this movie. Couldn't believe how gorgeous she was.
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out what you were talking about, Xiphos; wow. The stuff you learn on AICN every day. ;) Once Sarah learned of her show's fate, did Kristen kick it into a fifth and sixth gear, acting-wise or what?
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Of that crappy "88 Minutes", but I was treating my little brother to a show and he picked out what we'd see. Maybe tomorrow I will go see this instead, but of course I will be alone. :(
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I guess it was just a premise that Kristen herself was familiar with. But that's not to detract from her acting in the first part of the movie: you just FEEL for her more. But you still want to feel her as much as before, if not more.
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I felt like the only person in the theater laughing when they parodied David Caruso's "Sunglasses Lines" from CSI Miami.
Did anyone else have a smarter audience? -
This is why I plan my movies out several months in advance. One movie a Friday almost guarantees I don't see a flop.
Except the time I mistakenly went and saw Superhero Movie. Ehh... -
Nope. My theater was just as dumb. Everyone was laughing at "dicksicle" - but I think that was because of the word "dick." They probably didn't get it, because they're the same shit section of middle America that loves CSI derivatives. P.S. I'd be a Sorrow Sucker for Aldous Snow!
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And it's too bad too... In the wake of Date Movie, Epic Movie, and Superhero Movie, there was a reference that was ACTUALLY FUNNY. Instead of feeding the audience the reference, as those movies did, the Carusotas scenes made it exceptionally funny for smart people.
And BTW, I do love CSI Miami. But probably not for the same reasons other people do.
It appears.... *puts sunglasses on* I like to laugh at Caruso. *Cue "Won't Get Fooled Again" scream* -
...by the positive reaction this movie is getting here. I thought most of the comedy was completely dead-in-the-water and the "serious" scenes overwritten and boring.
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my life would then be complete
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i miss veronica mars. and hell yes i will see this movie some good reviews here
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Just got back and I think it was better then Superbad.Ive never understood the Superbad hype.Its funny but the movie feels like 2 seperate flicks with one really funny,the second not so funny.
Sarah Marshall was better anyway.Fu*ken Jason Seagul man. -
FSM felt a lot like a Blake Edwards movie, and I do mean that in a good way. Great perfs all around. Excellent writing. There were a few places where I was the only person laughing, but that happened to me with a proletarian audience at Kill Bill 1 as well (then when I saw it with fellow actors, we were laughing our asses off).
My fave scene was the four leads (Segel, Bell, Kunis, & Brand) together for dinner (in this type of rom-com, a requirement). The two chicks going after each other - right as Sarah realizes she fucked up royally dumping this guy - as only two chicks can. Wow. Kunis held her own with Bell, which is no mean feat. The two dudes agreeing on how idiotic the cell phone horror movie was priceless, as Segel worked in a dig at a less-than-stellar Bell outing called Frequency.
I'm not much for the sausage on-screen either, but the reason it worked in FSM is that Segel's physical nakedness was a metaphor for his unbridled emotional nakedness, which he carried through the entire film. It's how he is with women, which is why he has to be naked when KB dumps him at the beginning AND when MK comes back to him at the end (like that's a spoiler. please, this is a rom-com).
Oh, and as for "Animal Psychic", I think it didn't generate laughs in my theater because it really did look like something NBC would put on their schedule. -
Haven't seen Drillbit, but I've enjoyed 40yroldvirgin, superbad, KU, Dewey Cox, & FSM.
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i want a 3 way with Harry and a petition to save Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" (instead of waiting an extra year and a half to see the studio's version)
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Apr 20, 2008 4:14:51 AM CDT
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the best rom-com I've seen since...
by wackybantha
....When Harry Met Sally. Take your significant other and you wil not be sorry. Brilliantly funny movie with a heart. I have to go see it again...
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I wondered what Russell Brand was famous for, apart from nobbing 3000+ women.Someone told me he was a stand-up comic, but that couldn't be right because he isn't funny.Shame really, because he looks hilarious...
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...simply because he still has all his hair and the ability to shag anything that moves.No, I'm not jealous, not a bit. Jealous? Moi? Pshh...never!Bastard.
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You lucky, lucky man. Congrats on the Pennsy + KB II. I can't wait to see the movie.
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How I Met Your Mother is I think one of the top few comedies on television, and hopefully this breakout success will push more people to watching the show. I love Segel's character in it, and would hate to see it get cancelled.
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halfway through Jason Segel relinquished his nancyboy jilted lover routine, chainsawed his ex and her sleazy new boyfriend into chum, fed them to the local tiger sharks, then he and Mila Kunis spend the remainder of the movie ON THE LAM as they are pursued by an unnaturally-tanned Tommy Lee Jones wearing a grass skirt and one of those tropical-flowered bras stuffed with two coconuts. Maybe he also plays the ukelele, maybe not.
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Not great, but really good. I thought the cereal container part was really sweet.
I do have to say, though, that seeing a romantic comedy sucks when you're seeing it with a buddy and his girlfriend who you've had a thing for for years, despite all efforts to quash those feelings. I'm such a woman. -
You'll enjoy it a lot more. The trailers made it seem like a laugh-a-minute comedy and it's not like that at all. In fact, at least half the stuff in the trailer isn't even in the movie. Good film, though. Very touching. And the dracula song at the bar is heart wrenching when you know everything he's just been through.
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Based on the trailer and talent involved, I thought it would be a much funnier movie. That being said, it's by no means a bad movie. It's a full, well rounded comedy with real characters doing real things, and in that sense it's a better film than these comedies that just offer laughs. A lot of it was actually painful (Sarah yelling at Segal's character telling him why she left), as I know he wrote this script based on an actual breakup. A good movie thouh, that IS funny, but it's not packed with laughs, and people may hold that against it. Jason Segal deserves this attention though.
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Nice to see some Undeclared support. Also, Pennsy, you actually fucking MET Kristen Bell? I suppose that pushes your adoration for her past mine.
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Judd Apatow seems like he always has a place for his Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared alums. Even if it's just bit parts for the likes of Martin Starr and Carla Gallo, who don't seem to be getting work from anyone else. Contrast that with Linda Cardellini, who's never worked in another Apatow production. I just find it interesting in that Forgetting Sarah Marshall was at least partially inspired by Segel's breakup with her. It just makes me think that Apatow has avoided her out of respect for his boy Jason, which makes me like him all the more.
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But she is also steadily working on ER. She WAS going to appear on a second season of Undeclared, had it happened.
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I have to confess that I've never seen Kristen's (aka my future wife) work before this flick. She is elegantly sexy which is tough to find in Hollywood these days. Her voice in this film reminded me of a long-since-past girlfriend which added to the experience. See this with a few friends who appreciate racy humor.
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Apr 20, 2008 12:03:09 PM CDT
um..Forgetting Sarah Marshall is this year's...Little Miss Sunsh
by stupendous man
or maybe not..i dont know..ya...
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im sure i typed it! wtf
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I have been a big fan of the Apatow films thus far with "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" topping the list. I think "40 Year Old Virgin" is a funny movie, but I didn't like it as much as the the other two. I found FSM to be on par with "40 year old..." in terms of comedy, which is to say, funny with occasional bouts of hysterical laughing. I laughed from beginning until end in "Superbad," but that was not the case in "40" or "FSM." However, as a movie, I enjoyed "FSM" better. I think the story holds together a bit better than "40" and even though I like Steve Carell a lot, I liked Jason Segal's character much better, which ultimately affects how much I enjoyed this movie since we spend so much time with him.
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Apr 20, 2008 12:14:13 PM CDT
$17.3 million opening weekend - vs. $21m for Forbidden Kingdom (
by pennsy
No accounting for taste...
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Jason Segel combined two of my favorite things, sex comedies and puppets. Can't remember the last time that happened in a non-creepy way.
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and one doesn't know her well enough to know if she's single or not, what's the preferred protocol? Do you boldly ask if she's single, and then, if she is, ask her back to your parents' house for tea and strumpets? Or do you ask her out first, and let her tell you if she's unavailable? The latter option gives her an excuse right away, which is never good. But the former option seems a bit loaded. If the woman turns one down because she's dating someone, does one say, "That's cool, no problem," or the more accurate, "I can find out if you're lying"? This is purely hypothetical.
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I wouldn't attribute this movie to aptaw anyway. it's segel's movie, and SUPERBAD was rogen's. without aptaw, they don't happen, but anway...
I liked it. I'm not all over it like capone, but it's a good movie. a lot of talk-backers seem to be saying the cameos are the best part, though, and I'm gonna have to say hell no. rudd's appearance was virtually useless, and a lot of hill's stuff was really forced (brand saved a couple of those scenes so they weren't BAD just...pointless).
I'd say it felt like a good (semi) independent movie, not unlike 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. of course, they're NOT the same movies. segel doesn't play a socially inept romantic lead, but the tone is understated in a way that WEDDING CRASHERS or AMERICAN PIE is all glossy and polished. All are examples of movies that do what they do well, but a lot of people need the gloss and a lot really don't like it. worst case scenario for FSM is that it turns into another MALLRATS except it didn't take critically. now lessee how this thing looks -preview buttons, aicn! c'mmon! ;-) -
A little of him went a looooong way.
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with Mila Kunis. Macaulay Culkin, of all people, took this pic of us: http://tinyurl.com/6lttkn. But you've been a fan of hers longer than I have, I think. Thus, you win.
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Yes, I'm a moron.
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...with Cardinelli has nothing to do with the movie. Me? I think elements are there whether or not he realizes it, but it's not meant to be a "Heartburn" situation.
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Dammit, geeky Philly-based film critic. Get out of my head!
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having seen the ads and commercials, did Cal Schenkal design the logo for this? You know, the guy who did the art for all the early Mothers of Invention albums? It's either him or someone really deliberately aping his style.
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There was an Ebay auction sponsored by the Equal Justice Initiative, whose contents were a ticket to the world premiere and afterparty for FSM, and props from the movie, including the white labcoat Kristen herself wore in it. I placed my bid, thinking it would be eclipsed in short order. 33 hours later, I won, which meant having to scramble to get a hotel room, a round-trip ticket on an airline that eventually filed for bankruptcy while I was out in LA (Frontier Airlines), all in less than 2 hours after the auction ended.
The premiere was at Graumann's Chinese. I walked the red carpet and took tons of pics which took up two digital one-use cameras. After 1 hour and 52 minutes of one of the funniest and most entertaining movies I've seen in a few years, I saw a group of folks in the center of the theater mobbing someone who I couldn't point out, until I slowly maneuvered toward the scene, and came across a vision in blue and white in a Jenny Kayne dress;
I couldn't even get a word out when Kristen turned around....and her eyes popped out of her head. K-Bell said "Paul?!" and hugged me. I told her there was a story about how I got here, and I'd love to tell her at the afterparty. She said fine, said some other flattering stuff that I don't remember right now, and then this: "You're blushing."
I never blush. Normally. But theni I wasn't just blushing - my knees were doing a texas two-step, it was all I could do to keep them from buckling outright. She remembered me from that sci-fi convention in New York 5 months ago.
The afterparty was at The Annex at Hollywood and Highland, an experience and a half, a once-in-a-lifetime thing I will always treasure. I talked with Jason Segel and Mila Kunis, and Macaulay Culkin, of all people, took a picture of his girlfriend and me. All of them could not have been nicer. could not have been nicer. Kristen's boyfriend was there as well. So my first time meeting her was telling her about how I got here, how I escaped a 6-inch snowstorm 2 hours after I left Denver, and she high-fived me afterward. Her mom and stepdad were there as I spun my tale.
She eventually told me she's going to aim for a Guest Actress, Drama Series Emmy nomination, and that "Cautionary Tales" would be her submission tape. I told her I'm going to donate that labocat to her favorite charity, Invisible Children. It's a cause close to her heart, and she was beside herself happy that I'd do that. I'm waiting on a call from IC's communications director on the particulars of when and where the handover would take place. Unfortunately, she got called over to do an press interview and I said I'd see her a little later.
About a half-hour passed, and we met up again, and we hugged againbriefer still as the party revved up. At this point, it was almost 11:45PM (which meant 2:45 East coast time), and we said our goodbyes. She thanked me again for the labcoat gesture and that I was a pretty nice guy. I told her she redefined the word 'FORE!', as "I've seen you in a golf cart", which just cracked her up to no end. (check http://tinyurl.com/66qup3 to see why I brought that up). Then we parted and the longest night I've ever spent vertical, because I'm usually asleep by 11:30 ET was over. And one of the best of my f-in' life. -
Laughed a lot. The best stuff is NOT in the trailer and will go over the heads of the unwashed masses. Fuck the Apatow whiners.
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since "Bullworth". Short, sweet, and spot-on. Funny stuff.
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Was even better. If only for the mullet.
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The fact that she just remembers random people she meets, in what is likely a sea of thousands, makes her even more likable.
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i mean who can remember the last director/producer to bring us more than one actually funny movie that wasnt just stoner bullshit the entire time.. i mean i love those movies and all but apatow movies at least have good stories and some heart to keep the viewer attached to the characters and make us feel familiar with them... i think him and his "team" are the best in the business right now..
p.s. who else wants a movie that headlines seth rogen and paul rudd equally?? i could watch them go back and forth all day. -
Sorry, but there isn't a story on the planet that is any good. Everything sucks, and that includes anything anyone thinks is good. The most any movie, book or television show can do is mildly amuse me for three seconds while I make fun of how lame it is.
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Superbad sucks. If you were not that kind of kid growing up then yeah. See these kids where not total losers (the whole scene with the bullies at the begining should've been cut they never went back to it). They were guys stuck in the middle trying to be cool but didn't have jock skills, so they were grouped with the nerds, even though they weren't total geeks. And if you weren't them then I could see why it would seem gay and dumb. Plus the movie was way too long, like every scene was funny. But there were scenes that were very funny. Had they trimed out some of the fat, and maybe explained something a little better (like the whole werid college guy and college party scene was way too disjointed) slimed down the movie to an hour and a half. It would have been much better. As for Knocked up, it sucked. It was not funny, nor heart felt. It was a story told to you (a early 20's kind of guy) buy that late 30's early 40's guy around the office. Trying to make a story sound a lot cooler then it really was. Case and point, the Vagas trip. I can just imagine some douche being. Yeah then me and my bud went to vagas and went to a strip club and did shrumms yeah you had to be there to see how crazy we were.
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Yeah THAT scene was pretty hot, seeing Bell give her ex a bj! But really this was Mila's movie. Compared to her, I don't see why all the love for Bell? Never caught her tv show.She doesn't really have a body and her face is kinda messed up. Is she a stroke victim or something? Or is she just like the popular girl at school who talks to nerds? At least she seems to have a sense of humor about herself. What we need now is for Paul Verhoven to make a movie where Mila and Anne Hathaway are lesbian cyborg time traveling assassins/lovers. Bell could be their hippie house girl: "Rain Flower".
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