Cineplexus

AS SEEN ON DVD: 2 Movies about loser duos ★★★

Role Models and Pineapple Express, both from 2008, both 3 Stars, both available in "Unrated" DVD editions. 

In the life of a film critic, there occasionally arises a kind of inner conflict between the entertainment lover and the film snob within. Sometimes a film is so entertaining that the snob approves; sometimes a film is so unpleasant that both sides disagree. But occasionally, for healthy, well-rounded critics LIKE MYSELF, a movie comes around that is really enjoyable without actually reaching the filmic level of "good."

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you two such movies.

These pictures, Role Models and Pineapple Express bear nothing in common other than the trait just mentioned and the one I brought up in the title of this post. They're both about pairs of total douchebags who are sort of friends as the films start and best friends when they end. How two movies with such a core value in common could be so vastly different is, I suppose, a testament to the power of human storytelling.

One difference between the two is what they appeared to be aiming for. The former was your traditional, hard-cracking buddy comedy, gunning for laughs and sometimes winning them. The latter film aimed for nothing higher than the designation of "stoner comedy," and, á la Cheech and Chong, threw in some raucous action, blood, and gunfights. It aimed low, and it hit the mark. But where Role Models seemed to be trying too hard to make us laugh with old antics like crude sex jokes, naked body parts, and kids saying "boobies," Pineapple Express suffered a bit from its own laziness. Perhaps that could be considered a virtue for a movie about potheads, but I couldn't help but imagine entire sections of the script reading "The two run around screaming. Continue until everyone has forgotten why they are doing so, which is, in fact, for no reason at all." 

Then we have the characters. I waxed poetic in a recent post about how lovable Paul Rudd makes every character, but even I had trouble liking Danny, the total jerk he plays for the first half of Role Models. Down on his luck and fed up with the world, this guy actually had me wishing that Seann William Scott had more lines. And that's saying something. Luckily, things picked up when the kids were introduced. The true stars of the film, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (the infamous "McLovin" from Superbad) and Bobb'e J. Thompson (see him slay as Tracy, Jr. on 30 Rock) make their characters so fantastically comical that it only emphasizes what jerks their older counterparts are playing.

On the flip side of character issues, we have team Rogan-Franco smoking their way through Pineapple Express. While Seth Rogan's character, Dale, is definitely a loser, it's at least possible to relate to him – he's not a total asshole, he just lacks ambition. Then there's James Franco, who conjures up one of the most amazing stoner-pot dealers cinema has ever seen in Seth, who spends the entire movie in his pajamas. Here is a character that couldn't be more of a loser, and yet he's all the more likable for his occasionally-enlightened confusion. These aren't just any two stoners; they're made unique by their quirks and some spirited acting. Yet again, Pineapple Express manages to meet and exceed its clearly low goals.

So, if one film aimed high and faltered, while the other aimed low and succeeded, doesn't it follow that the two should even out? And so we have two enjoyably average comedies. God Bless America.

Earth ★★★1/2

Happy Earth Day, everyone. I consider myself part of the whole "Earth Day is Everyday" crowd, but I think it's great to really focus in our planet every April, especially now when we have so much work to do. But, hey, we're not here to get political; we're here to talk about Earth, DisneyNature's first big release, which is in theaters today.

Earth, which was released in 2007 in the UK, albeit in a slightly different form, and with a different narrator, is actually made up of footage culled from the groundbreaking hours-long special Planet Earth, which aired in 2006 on the BBC and in 2007 on the Discovery Channel. The British voice of Patrick Stewart was replaced with a slightly lower and more American one, that of James Earl Jones. The film, like the miniseries, has been distributed in other nations with other narrators as well.

If Earth's one goal was to portray a vast array of wildlife as beautiful and elemental, it succeeds. This is not surprising when you consider the astonishing and moving source material. But the film's big failing lies in its desperate aversion to anything that might seem political. Despite frequent mentions of the planet's changing climate, and how it is causing glaciers and rqunforests to shrink while deserts grow ever larger, Mr. Jones' booming voice is never heard naming humans, pollution, or dirty energy as the cause. One stray mention of mankind, injected into the middle, is the movie's most painfully didactic line: "This is the circle of life, that most of us in out urban lives have lost touch with."  

Spare me. If the film's editors truly wanted to keep things so tame, why keep bringing up the subject, only to drop it immediately? Decisions like these made the voice over, silken-toned though it was, seem heavy-handed. The gorgeous imagery speaks for itself; theres no need to be preachy.

Speaking of the gorgeous imagery...wow, is it ever gorgeous. While I didn't love every minute of Earth, there are parts of it I could watch over and over again for their stirring, often frightening beauty and rarity. The time-lapse video of blooming flowers is astonishing, the slo-mo footage of a great white shark is horrifying, and I found myself wishing the footage of birds of paradise would go on forever. Chances are, parts of the movie will strike every viewer that way. As such, the film creates an up-and-down montage of animal life which proves partly great, but only that. In fairness to the film, it seems to be aimed mostly at children and the impatient; anyone with an attention span would likely do better to stick with the original Planet Earth in all its 530 minutes of glory.

I Love You, Man ★★★★

Remember the sweet, studious step-brother from Clueless? That was Paul Rudd. The hunky mega-jerk from Wet Hot American Summer? Also Paul Rudd. The ultra-cool but slightly disfunctional brother-in-law from Knocked Up? You get my drift. Paul Rudd has been around, shining a little light on his films from whatever role he's playing. Paul Rudd forces you love him. He has some kind of magic.

The many faces of Paul Rudd

I Love You, Man finds Rudd in a rare position for the actor: leading man. While billed as a kind of buddy-comedy (it has, alas, brought the term "bromance" into fairly regular use), the film really stars Rudd in the primary position as Peter Klaven, a good-natured but dorky real-estate agent and serial-monogamist who has never really had any close, male friends.

Enter Jason Segal. Remember the talk goofy guy from Freaks and Geeks? Okay, okay, I'll spare you the reminiscences of Segal's past roles, but once again, here is someone whose mere presence on screen can produce a smile. I can't think of a pair of actors I'd rather see in a light-hearted comedy. Even if it means I have to say "bromance."

I think it's fair to say that this film is part of the lovable-loser comedy revolution that Judd Apatow seems to have revived several years ago with 40-Year-Old Virgin. Compared to other films of that ilk – Superbad, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall – the majority of I Love You's dialogue and subject matter feels a little tame, but it has so much more comedic bang than your average romantic comedy that it seems unfair to group it with that latter genre. Sure, there's no full-frontal nudity, but this is hardly Fool's Gold. The film also greatly benefits from a stellar supporting ensemble; in addition to Rashida Jones (The Office) as Peter's fiancee, the film casts Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl) and Jon Favreau as a hot-tempered couple, and Jane Curtin, J.K. Simmons, and Andy Samberg as the Klaven family. They even have Daily Show great Larry Wilmore in a cameo with only one line, and the list goes on. 

I Love You, Man is a funny, happy movie that revels in its own weirdness, just as its stars love to revel in theirs. It may not be the movie of the year, but there's no doubt you'll have fun watching.

30 Rock's Funcooker is Real!

 Hey, It's on Netflix Instant Watch. And It's Episode 14 of Season 3.

 

The world is full of products that seem more like a joke than reality. Case in point: the Obama Chia Pet. But there's one product on the market right now that's both a joke andreality. 

A recent episode of 30 Rock found Jack (Alec Baldwin) – who, as you may know, heads up Television and Microwave Programming at 30 Rock's fictional version of GE – desperately searching for a new name for his ground-breaking mini-microwave after the name "Bite Nuker" failed in European focus groups. In the episode, which originally aired on March 12th, Jack derails all progress on the week's TGS script, looking for new names for the device; strong candidates included "The Small Wonder" and "Port-a-Hottie," but Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) eventually suggested and Jack settled on the winning marketing moniker: "The Funcooker." This name is a go until Tracy (Tracy Morgan) uses the term to refer to his bared posterior on national television. Oops. 

 

Fate of the fake Funcooker aside, I can't help but wonder what the folks at iCubed International think of the joke. While the company seems to have a slew of interesting products in the works, their current inventory involves just one primary item: a portable mini-microwave called the iWaveCube. The unbelievable device (I'm not entirely sure I do believe it!) comes in a host of fun colors and costs only $99; it's to be followed later this year by the iToastCube and the iFridgeCube. What's more, for $149 you can get one with a transformer that allows you to use it "in case of natural or man-made disaster." That model can be powered by your car.

 

 That's right. You can microwave things in your CAR. 

 

So, is this all just a hilarious coincidence, or are the 30 Rock writers paying homage to their favorite gadget? The jury's still out on that one; I'll have to do a bit more research and see what I can dig up. That said, if Season 4 of 30 Rock finds Jack pitching the Funfreezer or the Funburner, we'll know for sure where the inspiration came from.

Reno 911! Returns Tonight

The newest episode of Reno 911 starts on Wednesday, April 1 at 10:30 P.M. Is it worth tuning in for another season of police ineptitude?

As episode one of Reno 911!'s sixth season begins, Lieutenant Dangle (Thomas Lennon) willfully ignores the most obvious change to the department: a personnel change. While quickly glossing over the fact that two deputies were burnt up in a (season five) taco stand fire, he deftly changes the subject to the arrival of new coffee mugs. But the change is noticeable, at least for the first few minutes of the show. Then the mayhem begins, and it becomes obvious that it's still shady business-as-usual in Reno.

Two new officers join the team with a world of experience. One, Lt. Jack Declan (Ian Roberts, Upright CItizens Brigade) is actually an expert, by-the-book lawman whose rigidness in the face of chaos is bound to make for some chuckle-worthy situations. The other, Deputy Frank Rizzo (Joe Lo Truglio, Pineapple Express, Superbad), comes to Reno with "a very long resume" and "not one letter of recommendation."

Notably missing are the dearly departed Clemmie (Wendy McLendon-Covey) and Kimball (Mary Birdsong), whose absence leaves the Reno Sheriff's Department a little low on estrogen, but thankfully the always outrageous Raineesha (Niecy Nash) and dorky comedy cornerstone Trudy (Kerri Kenney-Silver) are still around to keep the guys in check. They have their work cut out for them, especially since the team has been rounded out with two more gentlemen (I use the term loosely). Also gone is Deputy Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui), whose colorful worldview will be greatly missed. Or so you might think. I actually didn't notice he was gone until a blogcritics reader pointed it out to me. Oops.

I'm thrilled to that the show's producers have brought on another member of the cast of '90s sketch comedy show The State, which served as the proving ground for Lennon, Kenney-Silver, Robert Ben Garant (Junior), and co-creator Michael Patrick Jann. New guy Lo Truglio was a part of that cast, and is a very welcome addition to this cast as Deputy Rizzo.

As usual, a hilariously bad public service announcement falls at about the halfway point of each episode. And the comedy industry clearly hasn't lost any love for the series. Jonah Hill guest stars in episode one, as does Keegan Michael Key; Patton Oswalt and Jordan Peele guest star in episode two. Nick Swardson is back as the mind-boggling but hilarious Terry Bernadino, on roller skates as ever.

Considering the cast changes and long hiatus, the new season of Reno 911! does a remarkable job of keeping things the same as ever: the officers are still clueless, the townspeople are still crazy, and the screw-ups are still swept under the rug. And for this riotous mock-reality show, that means another season of original and very funny television.