Topic: Emma's Film Reviews (snowcat)

[snowcat]

Step Brothers - 2008
Directed by: Adam McKay
Running Time: Theatrical Cut 98 mins / Uncut 105 mins
Stars: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen

According to statistics, %0.74 of the population gets divorced every year,  so naturally it is a subject ever present in films. Generally, divorce is not something you laugh it is the stuff of Christmas films and dramas about children. It's not often you see the effects of divorce on an older child, but why is that? just because somebody is 30 doesn't stop them being your child... right?

Step Brothers reunites the writing tag team of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, it also brings back third time producer Judd Apatow and second time comedy partner John C Reilly. It's been said that after making Taladega Nights the guys enjoyed working together so much they wanted to make a new film.

For anyone who has not seen a Ferrel/McKay production id recommend the US sight “Funnyordie” the site houses a few short the guys made for the internet the Landlord has quickly become and internet sensation, and the follow up video Good Cop Bad Cop is just as funny. Of course, Apatow is also now a part of Funny or Die so there are also a few videos from him.

Long before his Apatow days John C Reilly was one of my favourite actors, his roles in the Good Girl and Chicago are some of my favourites, of course I also loved Anchorman. I was so excited to see them team up in Taladeaga Nights but alas I did not like the film, why? Because I didn't think Will Ferrel could carry it alone, in Anchorman he had a team to fall back on, for most of Taladega he had no one. Step Brothers changed that. Having another character to bounce off of reinforced the comedy of the film, Ferrel and Reilly make a brilliant comedy duo.

The film Step Brothers starts in the kitchen of Will Ferrel's character Brennan Huff, he is watching the microwave plate spin as a woman speaks to him,  the film cuts to Brennan sitting on a sofa, we discover this woman is his mother she tells him she's leaving and he barely takes notice hes too busy watching television. The film cuts to another house John C Reilly's character Dale Doback is playing guitar hero whilst his dad tells him he has left money for Dale to order a pizza, Dale argues that he may need more money and his dad leaves. We can see from the outset that both Brennan and Dale are like over grown teenagers.  At a medical convention the parents meet, they fall in love and quickly announce they marriage, they move in together as the opening title roles.

As with any McKay/Apatow comedy, childish jokes, shouting and gross out humour are a staple, if you like Taladega Nights then I think you will like this as well, Step Brothers helped reinforce Will Ferrel and John C Reilly as a comedy duo, I hope they work together more often, and not just on the proposed sequel to this film., it would be a shame for them to stop now.

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[Najemikon]

Step Brothers helped reinforce Will Ferrel and John C Reilly as a comedy duo, I hope they work together more often, and not just on the proposed sequel to this film., it would be a shame for them to stop now.

That partnership is good and I agree that I hope they do more, but good grief, Step Brothers was awful. 

[snowcat]

Jon, have you seen this video before?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JAPkvnyso (wouldn't embed)

John C Reilly, Jack Black and Will Ferrel performed at the Oscars a few years back. I think its quite funny

[Critter]

Emma I have the same problem you do. Everytime I try and embed a youtube video on this site, I use the Youtube ID and do it properly but it only ever comes up with the link, not the actual video.

[Najemikon]

Jon, have you seen this video before?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JAPkvnyso (wouldn't embed)

John C Reilly, Jack Black and Will Ferrel performed at the Oscars a few years back. I think its quite funny

I do remember that! It's great.  

Emma I have the same problem you do. Everytime I try and embed a youtube video on this site, I use the Youtube ID and do it properly but it only ever comes up with the link, not the actual video.

Let me have a crack...



Yup, that worked. The tag should be used as (minus spaces): [ youtube]o5JAPkvnyso[ /youtube] So not even "v=o5JAPkvnyso"

[venomsinner]

Ok you have talked me into it, Ill watch Step Brothers.

[snowcat]

Im glad I have influenced you James!

:K now get out of my house!

[venomsinner]

But I like being in your house! :p I can steal Step Brothers this way 

[snowcat]

Hoping to review the 40 Year Old Virgin before Christmas, just watched my HD version... interesting.

[snowcat]

Marley and Me - 2008
Directed by: David Frankel
Running Time: 115 minutes.
Stars: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston

Currently there are around 8 million Dogs and 8 million cats kept as pets in the UK, there are also 50 million fish but well that's another story. This story is about a pet and the relationship a family can have with said pet.

Marley and Me stars Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson two actors known for their comedy, I was honestly worried about how well they could pull of the “dramedy” needed for this film.

Marley and Me is the autobiographical story of journalist John Grogan. (Played by Owen Wilson in the film) the film starts as John and his new wife Jenny move to Florida to start a new warmer life, as journalists they both apply for jobs at competing news papers, John getting his upon recommendation from his friend Sebastian.  When John sense Jenny is thinking about becoming a mother, he discusses with Sebastian how he doesn't know if they are ready to which he friends responds by telling him they should adopt a puppy.  John takes Jenny to see a Labrador rescue centre where Jenny instantly falls in love with the dogs, they are told the prices of the males and females but are told the runt of the litter is discounted. They decide to get the runt and call him Clearance Puppy.  Of course the film now follows the course of Marley's life with John and Jenny. Marley is a fairly disobedient dog, causing trouble and eating things. John gets a job as columnist where he starts to write about Marley, the column becomes a success, John and Jenny have children and they move to the country.

The last 30 or so minutes of this film are often unbearably sad, you know what's coming but you hope it's not going to happen, the actors emotional performances only strengthen the sadness. this film is so simple, so authentic that I challenge anyone who has ever been a dog (or cat) owner not to feel something by the end of this film.

Any film about a family pet makes you think of you own pet, often people who don't or have never had pets cannot understand how much a person can love a cat or dog but I think this film sums up the relationship between a pet and its family amazingly well, although I have never owned a dog, I can relate Marley's final years to that of my own cat. He too is having trouble getting around and is getting fairly old now. I really enjoyed how real this film felt, of course that is probably because it is in fact based on John Grogan’s autobiography. I have ordered the book and am waiting for it to arrive.

[snowcat]

Fritz the Cat – 1972
Directed By – Ralph Bakashi
Running Time – 78 minutes
Stars:  Skip Hinnant (as the voice of Fritz)

When you think of an animated anthropomorphic cat you think Garfield or Top Cat, but another cat is long deserving of being remembered, and that cat is Fritz. “we are not X rated for nothing” the cover of my DVD copy bares proudly, how right it is. To watch this film blindly would be a mistake, it was made to shock, or was it?

Fritz is your regular 60’s hippie Caucasian college student, convinced he must find something better then college to save the world whilst at the same time taking drugs and finding girls. In a park he manages to pick up three girls, he takes them back to his Friend's apartment and Fritz the three girls and later on some more of his friends have an orgy in a bath tub. This help Fritz come to the realisation that he must try to fit in with the disadvantaged, he visits a club that contains only crows, Crows represent African Americans, they have a stereotypical 60’s jive way of talking, but this is in no way racist, it merely represents the time it was set with caricatures of history.

Fritz the Cat follows Fritz loosely linked adventure across a manor of different places, his friends party, a “Crow club”, “a Crow revolution” and finally to the underground hideout of a group of revolutionaries who plan to blow up a power station, to prove a point to America.

At its release Fritz was nothing like any other animated film of its time, it became the first animated movie to receive an X rating in America, although only rated 18 in Britain. It is something I can see easily put people of this film. The way Fritz is portrayed it looks to be a film of specialist interest, and often people watch it and are disgusted by its gross out nature, but if this was a live action film I doubt it would have received such criticism. I have seen this film in the Children's section of a few shops id say the big 18 in the left corner gives a way this is not a children's film, whilst I agree it's not a children's film I think it is an important film.  A film not only important to animation, but a film important to society, Fritz broke boundaries, I think it paved the way for gross out cartoons a la Bevies and Butthead etc, whilst Fritz is not considered anime, without it I doubt anime would be as mainstream in the western world without it opening doors.

All in all, I enjoyed Fritz, but I only started to enjoy it when I looked past the graphic scenes of sex and drug taking, something that I can see a lot of people can't, sometimes we must look behind the visuals and concentrate on the story to get a better understanding of what a film is trying to be. I don't think Fritz was purposely trying to be an “X rated movie” it's something it played upon during release.  Although for all of its provocations I believe the film ended up being creative and interesting and not failure its often portrayed as.

[Jimmy]

Emma the United States X rating is the same thing than the 18 rating in England and it's even lower. This rating was created to replace the NC-17 when Midnight Cowboy won the best picture award in 1970.

X just means no one under 17 is admited just like the R rating in Canada.

By the way, I will have to get this film one day since it's on my Amazon wishlist since more than 3 years.

[snowcat]

Interesting, I always thought the X rating was after NC-17.... and I thought children could go to an NC-17 if accompanied by an adult 

...Jimmy, I believe amazon.co.uk has it fairly cheap right now

[Kathy]

Emma (and everyone else!) the novel Marley and Me is absolutely laugh out loud hysterical. I have bought several copies and loaned them out to everyone I know. John Grogan's style of writing has captured me and I will buy everything he will every write. The book is only sad for the last few pages but so poignant and touching. I can not recommend this book highly enough.

[Jimmy]

Interesting, I always thought the X rating was after NC-17....

It is, while taking my shower I realized my error but I didn't had the time to edit it before you read it

and I thought children could go to an NC-17 if accompanied by an adult

No it's possible with the US R rating, but sadly no theater enforce any rules anymore in North America.

I believe amazon.co.uk has it fairly cheap right now

My film budget is already spent this month. I've 2 order in the mail for more than 100 $US who will arrive here sooner or later.