Comedy

Meet Charlie Bartlett

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Charlie Bartlett
  • IMDB: link

“My family has a psychiatrist on call, how normal can I be?”
 

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Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has gotten kicked out of his last private school for making fake drivers licenses for the entire student population.  Now it’s off to public school and an attempt to fit in.

The problem is the uptight Charlie, complete with tie and blazer, doesn’t exactly fit in.  He’s largely ignored and picked on by the resident bully (Tyler Hilton), before finding his niche as the school’s unofficial conselor and drug dealer.  Charlie’s motives are pure, most of the time, and he tries his best to help the student body by using the army of psychiatrists his family has on call to get the medication for them.  Charlie also raises the ire of the principal (Robert Downey Jr.) by dating his daughter (Kat Dennings), and is forced to face the music when some of his schemes are discovered.

There’s something hopefull about this film.  It doesn’t paint a single character as black and white, each has the capacity for change and the yearning for something more.  In a teenage comedy that’s quite rare.

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Hidden Gem – The TV Set

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The TV Set
  • IMDb: link

“I’m fucking freaked because this show, it’s not Shakespeare I know.  It’s not The Sopranos, but it’s my show and if I don’t worry about the content of my show, if I just sit back and let them turn it into another cannibalized piece of shit then I’m part of the problem.  I am the one who’s responsible for pumping shit into people’s living rooms.  I’m making the world more mediocre.”

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Mike Klein (David Duchovny) should be on top of the world.  He and his wife (Justine Bateman) are expecting their first child and a television network is interested in this script for a new comedy based on the aftermath of his brother’s suicide.  So what’s the problem?  Well, this is Hollywood.

At every turn Mike is forced to make concessions to casting, shooting, and script which slowly chip away at the original premise until it is almost unrecognizable.  Here’s a great look at how talented people get roped into bad television shows, and how the power does not come from the actors, directors or writers, but the network.

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Walk Hard

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
  • IMDB: link

“It ain’t easy to walk to the top of a mountain.  It’s a long hard walk, but I will walk hard.”

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The collaboration between Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow is a perfect parody of recent overly serious and sentimental music biopics like Walk the Line and Ray which examine the entire life of an artist with all the skill and depth of a Behind the Music special.  The film follows Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly, who plays the character from the age of 14 to 71) who faces the tragic death of his brother to an unfortunate machete accident, the disapproval of his father (Raymond J. Barry), drugs, booze, and women, to become a legend.

Although it helps if you’ve seen the films this one parodies it’s not a necessity to get most of the jokes (though you will miss some of more subtle moments including specific shots and camera work).  Reilly is terrific in a role that let’s him prove just what a great dumbass he can play.  And, as he proved in A Prairie Home Companion (read that review), he can sing.  It’s a combination of the music and sharp unrelenting wit that transforms this film from the regular mass produced parodies like the Scary Movie franchises, and moves into the elite company with This Is Spinal Tap and Airplane.

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The Coolest Teenage Pregnancy, Like, Ever!

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Juno
  • IMDB: link

“Look, in my opinion the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are.  Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what-have-you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out of your ass.”

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Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is a bit of an outcast at school with a small circle of friends including cheerleader Leah (Olivia Thirlby) and her best friend Bleeker (Michael Cera) who she decides to sleep with, which leads to some unforeseen consequences.

On discovering her pregnancy, and quickly dismissing the other options after a trip to the local abortion clinic, Juno decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption.  She finds Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) from and ad in the Penny Saver and everything seems like its going to work out, but this is a comedy so you know there will be some bumps along the way.

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No Ho-Ho-Ho Here

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Fred Claus
  • IMDb: link

“My brother is Santa Claus.”
 

Fred Claus movie review

Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) is an immortal schmuck.  The older brother of Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti) has spent his life in the shadow of his famous sibling.  He’s a con artist, a thief, a liar, and an all around unlikable guy.  Needing money for his latest scheme he takes a temporary job in the North Pole working for his brother.

There’s more to the film including a reunion with Fred’s parents (Kathy Bates, Trevor Peacock), an evil efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) trying to put Santa out of business, an elf (John Michael Higgins) with a crush on Santa’s little helper (Elizabeth Banks), a troubled orphan named Slam (Bobb’e J. Thompson), and Fred consistently screwing up his relationship with a woman who is too good for him (Rachel Weisz).

Would you believe, with all these stories, not a single one is interesting?  Yeah, Giamatti is not too bad in the role of Santa (and Miranda Richardson does a tolerable job as his wife), but other than look like Santa there’s nothing for him to do in the film except play the straight man to Vaughn’s antics.

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