Category: Comedy

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts’

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You have to laugh at the point when even Eddie Murphy won’t sign on to do a sequel to one of his movies.  For three films now, the ‘Dr. Dolittle’ franchise has both been straight-to-DVD, and it has moved Kyla Pratt front and center as Maya Dolittle, the daughter who can also communicate with animals.  Having missed ‘Dr. Dolittle 3’ and ‘Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief,’ I can’t, with 100% certainty, say that ‘Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts’ falls into the same, generalized trappings those other films fell into.  I’m pretty much leaning that way, though.

If ‘Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts’ does anything, it serves as evidence that simply throwing talking animals up on the screen just isn’t funny any more.  It might never have been to anyone with an age higher than their shoe size.  But, even going where countless other films have gone before, ‘Million Dollar Mutts’ is just bland.  It never tries to do anything to liven its central idea up, and it isn’t very far into the film’s running time when boredom kicks in.

In ‘Million Dollar Mutts,’ Maya Dolittle is planning on her venture to veterinarian school to follow in her father’s footsteps.  Papa Dolittle is conveniently out of the country.  After helping pop idol Tiffany Monaco (Tegan Moss) with her dog’s issues, Maya finds her talents can be used to make her a star.  Shady agents and moral dilemmas ensue.

‘Million Dollar Mutts’ is lackluster writing and even more so in the execution.  The people behind the film either seem to think kids still love seeing crazy, talking animals doing crazy things or they just wanted to get this film made and out to the masses as quickly as possible.  Much of the film’s humor stems from the animals reenacting human characteristics.  A dog wearing sunglasses.  A monkey chugging grape soda then burping itself across the room.  A pig with a weight issue.  This is the level of humor you will find in this movie.  I’m not so sure you can expect much more from the fourth sequel of a remake of an honest to God Best Picture Oscar nominee.

The movie also seems to think these bland jokes will be livelier once we hear familiar voices behind some of these animals.  Unfortunately, comedians like Pauly Shore, Stephen Root, and Greg Proops just don’t have the same weight they might have had once upon a time.  It is amazing, however, to hear Norm MacDonald’s voice still coming out of Luckey, the dog, after all these films.  It is no surprise, going back the other way, to see, or, rather, not see his name mentioned anywhere in the opening or closing credits.

Kyla Pratt and Tegan Moss are doing their do diligence, but they can only do so much with the characters and dialogue they are provided.  Maya’s moralities aren’t much in danger when you’re dealing with a straight-to-DVD, family movie, and, as such, Pratt doesn’t seem to be putting much of an effort behind her character’s choices.

And, while we’re on the subject of those moral dilemmas, much of the bad that occurs to Maya Dolittle in this film seems like it could have been avoided were her mother doing her paternal duties.

“As long as you’re back by Saturday, things should be fine,” Maya’s mother tells her over a cell phone at one point.  Wow, think that’s going to happen?

The fact that Mama Dolittle isn’t on the next plane to Hollywood the minute, nay, the second her daughter becomes incommunicado is either a huge break from reality or an example that the Dolittle household is more dysfunctional that the average.  Seriously, all the woman seems to do through the majority of the film is pace around the house packing Maya’s suitcases for college and, occasionally, calling her daughter to tell her she needs to come home.

Just when you think the acting couldn’t get any blander, Mr. Jason Bryden appears to spice things up (?).  As the slithery agent who wants to make Maya a star, he give what ends up being one of the worst attempts at acting seen this side of Torgo.  If your ears or your eyes just happen to have too much blood in them, fear not, because Bryden’s line reading and facial contortions will be sure to relieve you of some red cells.

Don’t even bother reading much into seeing Judge Reinhold’s name on the DVD box.  He’s in the film for all of three minutes, has some of the lamest lines, and, I’m sure, got paid more than anyone else on set.  Not bad for someone who fell into obscurity nearly 20 years ago.

In fact, much of the film seems to be living a couple of decades behind itself. This is evident in some of the later moments in the film, when we appear to be warped back to the early ’80s.  They do the slow clap.  10 years after it was being made fun of, they still do it to its full, dramatic effect.  And, while we’re on the subject of things 10 years past their prime, is it still funny to see a pigeon shit on some one’s shoulder?  No?  Didn’t think so.

But, are there any decent elements to ‘Million Dollar Mutts’?  Maybe one or two.  Norm MacDonald’s voice is always a sound for sore ears, and any moments with Luckey get bumped up half a star rating because of it.  Doron Bell plays a gangsta rapper with a rabbit named Mr. Fluffernufferman (voiced by Fred Stoller) who prefers Mozart to Tupac.

These few moments and elements aside, ‘Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts’ is a bland, trivial example of family entertainment.  It is harmless enough, but any entertainment value or thought provocation to be siphoned from the ‘Dr. Dolittle’ franchise left long after the original (’67, not ’98) left theaters.

Overall: 2 out of 5

Lucky Number Seven New ‘Hangover’ Character Posters

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Yahoo! Movies unveiled these new character posters for Todd Phillips’ ‘The Hangover.’   Personally, I want the tiger one and the Tyson one.   Judging from the reactions everyone else at We Are Movie Geeks has given me about this movie, I’m going to have to see this ASAP, or soon, if that’s possible.

‘The Hangover’ comes out on June 5th.

Source: Yahoo! Movies

Review: ‘Gigantic’

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I’m a sucker for indie romantic comedies. There is just something about the combination of unique characters, weird but sweet moments, and raw emotion that peaks my interest. Apparently film festival programmers are the same way. So after seeing the trailer for Gigantic, and 500 Days of Summer right after, I was excited. I have not seen the latter yet but I recently attended a press screening for Gigantic. I really feel that I misjudged the film based on its trailer, although I still really enjoyed the movie.

Gigantic is not a typical indie rom-com. Sure it has unique characters with some bittersweet moments but what is not shown in the trailer is that there is an unexplained homeless assassin hunting down the main character for most of the film. Although not on screen a lot, by utilizing long lenses, the story is sometimes shown to us as if we are spying from what I assume is that third party’s POV. Some of the people I saw the film with seem to have trouble dealing with this element of the story since it mostly goes unexplained for the film. I didn’t mind it. It shows that this movie is not grounded in reality.

The element of this story that is the most grounded is the main character of Brian, played by Paul Dano. Dano plays the character in a soft-spoken but not awkward manner. Brian is not nervous or uneasy when speaking; he is just a quiet and reserved person. He does not show much emotion and is obviously depressed. For most of the film he is trying to adopt a Chinese baby, I believe because he is looking for a normal relationship and he feels he can start one with a child.

Brian is a mattress salesman and at the start of the film Al Lolly, played brilliantly by John Goodman, comes in to purchase a mattress. After learning of the $14,000 price tag, he agrees but tells Brian not to “jew up the price”. He then explains why it is OK for him to use an expression like that. I really enjoyed this character and loved what John Goodman did with the role. He is easily the highlight of the film, at least for me. Shortly after he leaves the store, his daughter Happy, played by Zooey Deschanel, comes to the store to go over the payment. She and Brian connect and start a relationship that seems to be based on sex. Happy has not really grown up since she still has a child-like relationship with her father so she does not seem mature enough to have a real relationship with Brian.

There are some very funny exchanges of dialogue between these characters, with some of the best coming from John Goodman’s Al Lolly. In addition to the writing, I think Matt Aselton did a great job directing, especially since this is his first film. There are some great shots, such as John Goodman lying in the back of the car looking at the buildings as they drive through the city. I also really liked the look of someone spying on the characters that I mentioned earlier.

Overall, this is a fun and strange little film. It is not exactly straightforward but there is also not a lot of meaning behind it. Don’t try to piece it together and figure out what is going on. Just enjoy the movie and accept the absurd. It is interesting to watch and there are some very funny moments. I think John Goodman’s performance alone makes this film a must see.

‘Gigantic’ [R] opens today in Saint Louis at the Tivoli theatre.

[Rating: 3.75 out of 5 overpriced mattresses]

Review: ‘Dance Flick’

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There was a mistake the Wayans family made in naming their new comedy ‘Dance Flick.’   Granted, they started this whole mess by naming their first endeavor into ridiculous comedy ‘Scary Movie.’   That started a cavalcade of ridiculous comedies with horrendously vague titles like ‘Epic Movie,’ ‘Date Movie,’ and ‘Disaster Movie.’   That trifecta of bad to worse to worse-est (‘Meet the Spartans’ falls somewhere in that range, as well) was culminated from the brain stems of Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, and the comedy in those films seems to be siphoned from the mere presence of pop culture references.

The movies Seltzer and Friedberg have put into theaters all over the planet should make even the most casual of cinephiles   angry.   The fact that those films continue to receive funding from major studios should have independent filmmakers all over the world crying out in absurd anger.   However, if there is any, one thing that we can gather from the creation and release of films like ‘Epic Movie’ and ‘Disaster Movie,’ it’s that they make films like ‘Dance Flick’ tolerable.

‘Dance Flick’ is by no means a high form of comedy.   Do all the jokes work?   Not by a long shot.   The ratio of good jokes to bad jokes in ‘Dance Flick’ is about 1:1.   There is as much bad in this movie as there is good, but, honestly, that’s a helluva lot more good than you might expect going in.

The movie paints its pop culture references with a broad brush, not settling on having an Amy Winehouse lookalike run across screen for a few meandering laughs.   The entire premise of the movie is mocking ‘Save the Last Dance,’ the hokey melodrama from eight years ago, but it also pokes fun at ‘Step Up,’ ‘Fame,’ and any number of other, dance-related dramas.

In ‘Dance Flick,’ Shoshana Bush plays Megan, the Julia Stiles counterpart, who goes to live with her deadbeat father in the inner-city after her mother is killed in a car accident.   She begins to attend a new high school where every class seems to be preparing its students for Juilliard.   Megan falls for the street smart, Thomas, played by Damon Wayans, Jr., who begins to show her the ropes of how to represent in the streets.

There are a few moments of humor that rely too heavily on pop culture to drive them.   At one point, a woman is being hit left and right by vehicles, and the license plates on the cars range from ‘LINDSAY’ to ‘HALLE.’   In that last vehicle, a Halle Berry lookalike jumps out in a torn Catwoman outfit.   A small subplot involves a blind character named Ray.   A late scene parodies ‘Twilight.’   But it’s not satisfied with just showing these pop culture references to its audience and expect them to find the humor within them on their own terms.

Luckily, the film actually incorporates jokes that it throws at its audience with reckless abandon.   The movie really plays on the law of averages in terms of the quantity of its jokes.   The mere fact that director Damien Wayans and the screenwriters (every other 2nd generation Wayans in the clan) are making an effort to drive their comedy with actual jokes is merit enough.

This doesn’t mean ‘Dance Flick’ is a great comedy.   It’s not even really a good one.   With comedies like this, it’s hard to rag on the intricacies of plot and logistics.   Not even the classic, ridiculous comedies such as ‘Naked Gun’ and ‘Airplane!’ had completely cohesive narratives.   The creative force behind those films, David Zucker and Jim Abrahams, did, however, know how to utilize the comedy they had.   Nothing even remotely humorous was short-changed in any of those films.   This is a fact the Wayans miss completely with ‘Dance Flick.’

The funniest part of ‘Dance Flick,’ really the only aspect that could be considered a serious stand-out, is Marlon Wayans’ small role as Mr. Moody, the drama teacher.   Mr. Moody is an actor so in love with his craft, he is willing to lose his manhood (twice) for it.   Unfortunately, Mr. Moody and his crazy acting resume are only given one scene that lasts all of six minutes.   It should have been expanded.

Likewise, there are a number of other humorous aspects that the film seems to cheat out of more screen time.   David Alan Grier as Sugar Bear is given a decent amount of screen time, but even at that, it feels he could have been utilized more.   I can’t help but feel there are scenes upon scenes of Chris Elliott as Megan’s leech of a father that were left on the editing room floor.   The same goes for Shawn Wayans as the Baby Daddy of Megan’s newest friend, Charity, played by Essence Atkins.   Most of the comedy that stems from this subplot are telegraphed from a mile away, but they still make you laugh.

The film is just over 80 minutes long, and the last third of it feels completely rushed.   It’s as if the Wayans felt the need to logically finish the story at hand even though all the humor involved throws logic right out the window.   But it’s more than just logically trying to end the film.   Even ridiculous comedies like this benefit from a cohesive structure.   It just feels like after culminating 75 minutes of comedy together, they decided they had to throw the logical ending to the story in to finish it out.

If there is to be a breakout from ‘Dance Flick,’ it is going to be Damon Wayans, Jr., who has an impressive sense of timing and physical manipulation.   He is his father’s son, and even the most lame jokes become somewhat humorous with him driving them.

‘Dance Flick,’ while far from a throwback to the days of Zucker and Abrahams, is a humorous film.   Even those who are sickened by the thought of another film by   Seltzer and Friedberg will find certain elements in ‘Dance Flick’ they can laugh at.   It is not great comedy, and it is a long way from being even a good film.   While not exactly a glowing recommendation, I can say there is just enough decency from ‘Dance Flick’s creators and actors to keep it from being a complete waste of time.

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Zach Braff set to star, direct and rewrite ‘Swingles’

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I am comfortable enough to say that I love Zach Braff, especially when he is directing/starring in movies. He has signed on to Star, Direct and Rewrite the Cameron Diaz starring rom-com ‘Swingles’.

The story centers on a bachelor who is dumped by his wingman and teams up with a sharp-tongued woman he can’t stand in order to meet singles.

Honestly I was hoping with would be something about Swingers that are also Single but that is yet to be announced. Maybe now that he is rewriting it, Mr Braff will take it in that direction – we can only hope.

Source: Variety

Kenny Powers sleeps with your mom on DVD June 30th

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Thats right boys and girls, Kenny Powers will be wreaking havoc on the world when ‘Eastbound and Down’ Season 1 hits DVD shelves on June 30th. The 2 disc set will feature all 6 episodes from the first season with a “load” of bonus features. Here is some info for the press release for this:

Meet Kenny Powers, a washed-up former Major League pitcher with an insufferable ego and a mullet to boot.   Hilarious and profane, Eastbound & DownSM stars Danny McBride (Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) as Powers, whose boorish behavior and fading fastball have led to a spectacular career flame-out.   Out in stores on June 30, 2009, the 2-disc DVD set includes all six episodes from Season One, plus bonus materials including Making Eastbound & Down, deleted scenes, bloopers, audio commentaries, Kenny Powers: Greatest Hits, and two fake car commercials with actor/comedian Will Ferrell (who guest stars as a local car dealership owner and also serves as an executive producer of the show).

Seriously Jody Hill and Danny Mcbride can do no wrong and they prove this again with ‘Eastbound and Down’. If you dont subscribe to HBO, get this dvd and you will very soon.

Aykroyd Claims ‘Ghostbusters 3’ Could Start Shooting This Winter

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Dan Aykroyd is still blaring his ‘Ghostbusters 3’ trumpet.   His latest bit of news on the project is that filming could begin as early as this coming Winter.   Recently sitting down with the LA Times, Aykroyd explained that most of the original films cast would be returning.   This includes Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and, even Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray, who had previous expressed a disinterest in the project.

Aykroyd said in the interview that, despite the film’s necessity to have Murray return, the reasons for the delay were more nuanced than that.

“I don’t put not making the third movie on Billy. We can’t do that. I’ve been very busy. Harold’s been  busy, Ivan’s been busy. And a third script really  didn’t coalesce properly. And Billy, you can’t blame an artist for not wanting to  do the same thing again. He did two of them, for God’s sake. Although I’m the biggest cheerleader  as the originator of the concept but I’ve never begrudged Billy not doing a third movie. I never said he held it up or that he refused. Hey, listen, he’s an artist. You can’t force somebody into it. I’m sorry he never read my third draft because I thought it was pretty good but, look, now we’re at a point that there’s a story that he can accept and that’s going to work, and I think we’re going to be in  production fairly soon. We  could be in production by winter.”

Aykroyd believes production on the film will continue to move forward, but he realizes everything could “blow up” at any second.

The third film would serve as a new generation of ‘Ghostbusters’ of sorts, with a younger crew taking the reins from the original crew.

“I’d like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie. Let’s revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family but let’s pass it on to a new generation.”

The screenplay for the new film has been written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (‘Year One’), and Aykroyd hopes Ivan Reitman will return to fill the director’s chair.

Time will tell if this actually gets of the ground as Aykroyd is hoping.   There has been rumors for years of a third ‘Ghostbusters’ film, and this idea of the old crew passing the torch to a younger crew has always been the central theme of the film.   This could, actually, be moving forward, and it could just be more wishful thinking on Aykroyd’s part.   Either way, we’ll keep you posted as soon as any more word comes down.

Source: LA Times (Hero Complex)

Tribeca Review: ‘Serious Moonlight’

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I was looking forward to this film since Cheryl Hines told me about it at the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Gala I attended back in October. I got a chance to speak briefly with her, and she talked about this passion project that she directed from a script written by Adrienne Shelly before she was killed. The film stars Meg Ryan, as Louise, a crossed lover who goes psycho (actually Misery) and duct tapes her cheating husband, played by Timothy Hutton, to a chair in their home. She refuses to let him go until he agrees to work on their marriage rather than run off with his current girlfriend, played by Kristen Bell.

For me, the star of the film was Justin Long who plays the gardener who decides to Rob the house when he discovers Timothy Hutton duct-taped to a toilet. Yes, I know I said chair before. He is moved to the bathroom after he attempts to escape. Long offers some sympathetic words of wisdom to Hutton while still pulling off the dumb criminal act. Hutton and Ryan are good as the leads, and Kristen Bell is always fun to watch. Louise’s attempts at winning her husband back are often funny and the film has some great moments between the two. The ending is fairly predictable but it is still a pretty fun movie. One thing that is surprising is the coarse language. Aside from a few F-bombs, this could have easily been PG-13 and therefore picked up much quicker and for more money by a studio.

Overall, Cheryl Hines did a pretty good job directing her first feature. The cast is fun to watch and the film is entertaining. It could be a good date night film, especially for older couples.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.AreYouStuckLikeChuck.com

‘MacGruber’ Movie On the Way

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How do you take a 30-second premise and expand it into an hour and a half?   Just ask Lorne Michaels.   His SNL writing staff has been turning 30-second ideas into 10-minute skits for years, and, whenever there is the slightest bit of interest in that skit, it expands into a 90-minute train wreck for movie theaters.   It seems ‘MacGruber’ will be the latest attempt at turning launching one of these skits into the next ‘Wayne’s World.’

While accepting a Peabody award for SNL at Monday’s ceremony, Michaels spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and mentioned something about the possibility of a ‘MacGruber’ film.

“It would have to be in the summer because we are back in production in the fall,” he told THR when asked about the possible production timing. “We’re still in discussions on details.”

MacGruber is a hilarious sketch, but there is very little room for turning this into a feature-lenght film.   Only time will tell if this is a comedic or financial success, but, right now, this idea doesn’t interest me in the least.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

‘Reaper’ Season 3 Request!, plus ‘To Sprong, with Love’

I guess we'll just sit and wait for the CW to call us.
I guess we'll just sit and wait for the CW to call us.

Well with tonight’s episode of Reaper being the second to last episode of the season, things are heating up on the old Work Bench front. Not only with the characters themselves but the show on a whole as it continues the good fight to stave off cancellation. I read in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the show is being considered a “bubble” show which means nothing has been decided for its fate but the outlook is pretty bleak. So right now I urge all true blue Reaper fans to buy the second season when it comes out in June. Yes, it is surprising to see the season go from just ending to DVD sale so hurriedly but that only goes to prove that this might be the last fight Reaper is going to take on. If enough people buy the season than it can only help a third season come about. So make sure you buy that second season in a store where you know your purchase will count towards the shows benefit.

Now I’m not saying this show should go on for season after season to come, but it’s still got one more good season in it where they can wrap everything up all nicely. I mean Sam is already on a quest to get out of his contract and with the info he already knows, plus the fact that his dad is in hell with the best cell phone coverage known to man, I think one more season could really give us the ending we deserve. Plus how can you not love any of the antics Sock gets himself into whether its stripper clowns or, like in this episode, where he becomes the new Work Bench mascot Wrenchie Bench and he completely owns it. I’ve never seen a better corporate mascot in my life and he really pulls off a good mascot mashup grudge match.

Then there’s the ever budding romances of the other characters as Sam and Andi seem poised to yet again get back together but they continue to dangle that string over our heads and pull it back up one more time. In this episode we also get to see Ben protect Nina as she devolves into her more primal demon instincts and goes into a demon heat. Yes it’s mating season for all hell spawn and there’s nothing they want more than some of Nina. Fortunately Ben will be having none of it and has a little mashup grudge match of his own as he suits up, armor and chain mail style, and lets no demon get to his woman.

And if that’s not enough to keep this show around there’s still the main soul ctaching plot point where they have to capture their old biology teacher. He’s played here by Michael McDonald of MadTV dame and he’s decently funny as the assholiest teacher you may have had in your past, but may not actually be the soul they so desire. So tonight make sure to watch you some Reaper for we are approaching the end of the season and more than likely the show itself. Just remember that in the end the fans hold the true fate of a show and if we can rally and get shows like Jericho and Roswell, if anyone remembers saving that one, back on for at least one more season than don’t we owe the Devil’s favorite slackers the same?