ben stiller – We Are Movie Geeks

STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST – Review

Here’s a terrific showbiz documentary that’s been sent to streaming just months after another superb one, MY MOM JAYNE (which is still on HBO Max, if it’s still called that). Aside from both this doc’s subjects also being a big part of 20th century pop culture, they also both deal with siblings (both are directors of their docs), who are stars in their own right, discovering their parent(s) through boxes and cases of old recordings, press clippings, and notebooks. Sure, some of the legacy of Jayne Mansfield is fairly funny (such tacky fashions), this new film really explores humor, because it’s about a comedy team. That phrase usually conjures up Laurel & Hardy, the Stooges, those Marx Brothers, but this is one of the rare male/female teamings. While their early 60s contemporaries Nichols & May never settled down, this duo, like Burns & Allen decades before, married and started a family. Here’s the story of how their son Ben discovered that, with STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST. Really, it’s all there…

The son, of course, is actor/director/writer/producer Ben Stiller. His father Jerry passed away in 2020, five years after his mom, Anne Meara. Since the world was in lockdown due to the pandemic, Ben decided to prepare their longtime Riverside apartment in NYC for an eventual sale (and take one last spin around with his camera). Before the place could be “staged” for presentation to buyers, Ben, and sister Amy, dove into the cases and cartons of material their folks had accumulated over nearly 70 years. Jerry and Anne married in 1953, and as they took on acting gigs in early TV and the theater, they decided to go out as a comedy team. And they were successful, first in nightclubs, and then becoming a favorite of Ed Sullivan (he booked them on his show 36 times). Ben and Amy relive those old days as they pour over correspondence (seeing their love letters), listening to countless audio cassettes, and watching grainy 8mm home movies. . Somehow, their folks almost return to vivid life, guiding Ben through a very difficult time (his recent separation from wife Christine Taylor). Along this nostalgic journey, Ben interviews his own family, along with dear friends of his parents, including actor Christopher Walken and playwright John Guare. In putting together this loving cinematic tribute, Ben realizes how similar his own life, personal and professional, to his recently departed mom and pop, Could this be sage parent advice and consul from the “Great Beyond”?

Talk about your “labor of love”! What a splendid, interesting and entertaining film which should help dispel that old notion that “documentaries are homework”. Certainly, Ben does make use of the doc trope of “talking heads” (mainly with his aunt), but he’s found a way to juggle and intercut the archival photos and footage in a fresh, compelling way. The segments from the Sullivan show are crisp, looking as though they aired new last Sunday night, while we also get the grainy VHS (or maybe half inch) video dupes of the duo co-hosting “The Mike Douglas Show” and bringing in little Benji and Amy for a sweet, though “ear-testing” violin duet. The notebook scribblings and the murky (sounds like a basement) audio of Anne and Jerry working out a routine for a TV appearance, gives us a rare peek at the creative process. We hear that Anne was relaxed and confident performing while Jerry was a perfection who fretted and “over-rehearsed”, which Ben recognizes in his own work discipline (yup, a chip off the “old man’s” block). There’s a big contrast in the duo’s early years. Jerry wasn’t encouraged by his folks, while Anne was the adored “princess”, perhaps because hers was a single parent household due to a horrific suicide. It’s also fascinating that when the team split, the marriage got a bit stronger since Anne could,at last, pursue dramatic roles and Jerry could finally be the solo comic he dreamed of (his lauded work on the TV sitcoms “Seinfeld” and “King of Queens” in his 70s is one heck of a rousing career third act). Plus the film does shine a light on Ben’s rise with his own 8mm films and videos (starring Jerry), while he also “takes the heat” during the one-on-one-interviews with his spouse and two kids (daughter Ella is still ticked that he cut her out of one of his features). Pressure and guilt (being away too long) are shared by both generations in the “biz”. This is a “pull-no-punches” journey, though with a touch of sweet nostalgia, that is a must for comedy fans (the “collection” is now part of the Museum of Comedy in New York state) of the current media icon and the team that spawned him. Hopefully they’ll be “rediscovered” and found via STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST.

3.5 out of 4

STILLER & MEARA : NOTHING IS LOST is now streaming exclusively on Apple TV+ and is playing in select theaters

THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) – The Review

THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) is currently streaming on Netflix

Review by Stephen Tronicek

The first character that we’re introduced to in THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED), Noah Baumbach’s new best movie, ever is Danny (Adam Sandler) who feels like a pretty good representation of the film itself. As he drives around the streets of New York City, looking for a parking spot, his college-age daughter in tow, you see kindness in almost all of his actions. A need to please and connect with the young woman about to go off to college. And yet, every once in awhile, he snaps. Maybe it is the inability to actually find a parking spot, maybe it is the festering disconnect that he is having with his separated wife, maybe it is everything, but when push comes to shove Danny Meyerowitz screams f-words at drivers who can’t hear him when he doesn’t get his way.

How all of this ties into the thematic material of this incredible film is that each character is a microcosm of what the film is attempting. As the Meyerowitz’s come together, in a way that seems almost coincidental, and clash with each other about life, love, and family, the film itself keeps the audience from an arm’s length from the truth. For as much of the plot of the film is based in dialogue, none of the dialogue is very direct at all. Much like Baumbach’s other films, the characters here talk a lot, but they dance around the burning core of the film’s emotionality, never really spelling out what is wrong with them until a paramount moment that forces them too.

This makes for some really engaging drama in that the audience is constantly forced to decipher what anybody is actually saying, a balance that Baumbach has stricken before. What keeps all of it from becoming vapid is the both Baumbach’s direction and his editor seem perfectly matched. Part of the reason why the audience has to be engaged in the conversation is that Baumbach shoots his conversations in single shots and double shots, and cuts between them extremely quickly. This type of editing in effect is the film telling us that these people are talking over each other so quickly that even if they attempted to sit down and figure out what was actually wrong with all of them, they’d just end up putting each other down. The film developing the characters to a point of talking to each other is a great arc and the editing expertly evolves with this.

Baumbach’s talent of casting actors is honed to a fine point here, especially with the casting of Adam Sandler. Sandler has produced and starred in some truly horrendous works over the past few years, since his flagship turn in Punch Drunk Love, but he’s so good in The Meyerowitz Stories that you can’t help but identify the film as an interesting case study of his talents as an actor. Sandler is playing a Sandler character, an oafish man, seemingly beat down by life, that has a bit of a funny voice affectation, but every time he seems to get too close to what makes his other characters and films not work (i.e. not realizing that gross-out jokes, while not being necessary without merit do tend to exacerbate your tone and therefore your audience), he’s restrained back down to Earth, making this one of his best performances and also one of the best of the year. Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, and Emma Thompson all show up as other Meyerowitz players and while all three have been criminally underutilized in the past couple of years, each of them also provides some of the best performances of the year, especially Hoffman, who hasn’t been this good in a long time.

The Meyerowitz Stories is about a family developing into a functioning group, and in that way, it seems the perfect companion to Baumbach’s previous more nihilistic work (especially The Squid and the Whale). People come together and finally, after years of ignoring each other, find a way to get along. Much like the Sandler case, one can’t help but view the film by way of evolution in the artist’s oeuvre, a logical step towards optimism that is so joyous and comforting that you can’t help but feel good about life.

5 out of 5

BRAD’S STATUS – Review

With awards season approaching it’s time to get serious at the multiplex, at least for some actors that may be best known for rowdy raunchy comedies. That may be the case for Ben Stiller who’s playing this flick’s title character. Mind you, there’s still some funny stuff in this story, we’re not in heavy, somber tragedy territory at all. It’s just that Ben is playing an “everyman”. a fellow that many of us know, or “down deep” the person staring back at us from the mirror. Oddly, this man is constantly reflecting on his past, his regrets, and choices. These concerns and worries make up the bulk of BRAD’S STATUS.

The title Brad is played by Mr. Stiller. Brad Sloan is sliding toward the big “5-0” and shares a home in Sacramento, CA with his lovely wife Melanie (Jenna Fisher) and their eighteen year-old aspiring musician son Troy (Austin Abrams). He’s about to go on a college “scouting” tour of East Coast schools with his pop (mom has a big work conference to attend). This prompts Brad to recall his old college days at Tufts (a quaint smaller campus) and compare his life to those of his old classmates. Seems every time Brad channel surfs past a TV political show, one of the “talking heads” is old buddy Craig Fisher (Michael Sheen) a former White House staffer, now published pundit. Then there’s Wall Street whiz Jason Hatfield (Luke Wilson) who’s crisscrossing the globe in his private jet. Billy Wearstler (Jemaine Clement) made a bundle on a tech gizmo and has retired to an Hawaiian island (with two much younger ladies). And Nick Pascale (Mike White) is a celebrated Hollywood producer. As for Brad, he’s running a not-for-profit organization (connecting rich donors to charities) and wondering if he can pay for Troy’s college. But soon into the trip Troy drops a bombshell: his academic counselor said he could get into any school he wanted, including, dare we say, Havard. This energizes Brad who is now “laser-focused” on getting his son into the prestigious college. But when the interview is fouled up, can he get things “back on track” via his old campus pals? Or will he get the “brush off’ (guess the newer term is “ghosted”)?

After several years of franchise flicks (NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, MEET THE PARENTS), Stiller reminds us of his considerable dramatic acting “chops”. It’s a thoughtful, quiet performance as he lets eyes (and furrowed brow) do quite a bit of the “heavy lifting” on Brad. The “weight of the world” seems to be on his weary wobbly shoulders as he shuffles through the campus “quads”. Luckily there are the lighter moments and Stiller handles them with subtlety (this from Zoolander?) particularly as he tries to bluff his way past several school officials. Stiller also shows us Brad’s warmth especially in the low-key, “just hangin’ out” at the hotel bits with his son. Abrams is a great partner with Stiller, particularly when he calms down his frenzied father, balancing exasperated embarrassment (the mortified teen) with affection that affirms their deep bond. Though she gets less screen time than him, Fisher is superb as another soothing voice, Brad’s “rock” and Troy’s very proud Mum. It’s a shame that for the bulk of the film she’s regulated to another “wife on the phone”, but thanks to Fisher’s solid work, her presence is always felt. As in the recent HOME AGAIN, Sheen is the hissable villain, though he’s much more complex this time out. Smug and stuffy, as Fisher he haunts Brad like a “ghost of Christmas past”, a reminder of missed chances. Craig does come through in a pinch, but at the dinner reunion with Brad, he reveals his casual cruelty, unaware of the consequences of his actions and words. In between historical figures (Blair, Frost, etc.) Sheen has played many arrogant jerks, but with this script he injects the film with an acidic giddy energy. Wilson and Clement have extended cameos in phone conversations with Stiller, but both deliver the dramatic and comedic “goods”. One supporting actor who’ll soon be on every studios’ “radar” is young Shazi Raja who plays Ananya, a former classmate of Troy’s who is already in the music program at Harvard. A meeting and conversation with her stirs up Brad’s nostalgia for his collegian sense of exploration, perhaps reminding him of lost school crushes. We’re led to think that Brad is smitten, but at a late night cocktail minus Troy, she delivers a scathing “wake up call” in one of the film’s best scenes. Yes, the camera “loves” her, but Raja projects an intelligence and strength that takes the story in a compelling direction.

Mike White may be best known as a writer (SCHOOL OF ROCK, THE GOOD GIRL) and occasional actor (he has no dialogue as Nick Pascale as we see him living in “the lap of luxury” with hubby Xavier), but he shows great skill as a director in this his second feature film ten years after YEAR OF THE DOG. He keeps the story (which he wrote) gliding along at a brisk pace and peppers the flick with some clever fantasy sequences (what if Troy becomes a jerk). Working with the gifted musician Mark Mothersbaugh, White balances Brad’s voiceover with his interior soundtrack that shifts gears as he plunges from euphoria to depression. And White gets great work from several screen vets and a couple of talented newcomers who serve his wise script very well. It’s a thoughtful funny spin on the old “the grass is always greener” adage, showing why “coveting” is mentioned so much in the ten commandments. Despite his restless nights full of worry, BRAD’S STATUS is pretty darned positive. Just like this engaging little film.

4 Out of 5

Ben Stiller Stars In BRAD’S STATUS – Check out The Delightful Trailer

Are you powerful, wealthy, retired or BRAD?

Find out in the brand new trailer for BRAD’ STATUS.

When Brad Sloan (Ben Stiller) accompanies his college bound son to the East Coast, the visit triggers a crisis of confidence in BRAD’S STATUS, writer and director Mike White’s bittersweet comedy.

Brad has a satisfying career and a comfortable life in suburban Sacramento where he lives with his sweet-natured wife, Melanie (Jenna Fischer), and their musical prodigy son, Troy (Austin Abrams), but it’s not quite what he imagined during his college glory days.

Showing Troy around Boston, where Brad went to university, he can’t help comparing his life with those of his four best college friends: a Hollywood bigshot (White), a hedge fund founder (Luke Wilson), a tech entrepreneur (Jemaine Clement), and a political pundit and bestselling author (Michael Sheen).

As he imagines their wealthy, glamorous lives, he wonders if this is all he will ever amount to. But when circumstances force him to reconnect with his former friends, Brad begins to question whether he has really failed or is, in some ways at least, the most successful of them all.

Amazon Studios will release BRAD’S STATUS in theaters September 15th, 2017

bradsstatus.movie

Win Run-Of-Engagement Passes To ZOOLANDER 2 In St. Louis

WAMG is giving away RUN-OF-ENGAGEMENT passes to see ZOOLANDER 2.

Blue Steel. Le Tigre. Magnum… looks powerful enough to halt a Chinese throwing star mid-air and thwart the plans of an evil mastermind’s global takeover. There is only one male model and one male model alone who is capable of conjuring such beauty and power with a pout… Derek Zoolander.

When we last saw male models Derek (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson), they were enjoying the wonders of the “Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too,” and Mugatu (Will Ferrell) was behind bars. An unforeseen catastrophe strikes the Center and forces the duo into seclusion, living off the grid. Fifteen age-defying years later we find a still shamed Derek and Hansel leading isolated, separate lives, shut-out from the rest of the world.

When each receives a special invitation to star in a major world fashion event in the ancient and mysterious city of Rome, they are unable to deny the allure of returning to their former glory and make their way back to civilization. Upon arrival, Derek and Hansel meet the bizarre and eccentric designers that are behind the new fashion empire. The two rapidly realize the fashion world they once knew has drastically changed, thrusting them awkwardly and literally back into the spotlight.

While they struggle to find relevance in this strange new world of blogging, vlogging, and anti-fashion fashion, they are recruited to help stop a calculated and deadly plot that if not stopped, would destroy forever the hopes for fashion to return to its revered and glorious status. Only Derek and Hansel have the power to SAVE FASHION.

For your chance to win passes to see the film in the St. Louis area, enter:

YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. WE WILL CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE A WINNER.

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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

PG-13 for crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language.

ZOOLANDER 2 is playing now in theaters everywhere.

Visit the official site: www.zoolander.com

ZOOLANDER 2 – The Review

If the sheer number of celebrity cameos could make a comedy funny, ZOOLANDER 2 would be hilarious. It is not. In fact, ZOOLANDER 2 is a dull, overloaded slog that it is more likely to evoke snores than laughs.

Even for those who loved the original, ZOOLANDER 2 (also known as “Zoolander No. 2,” in a little Chanel reference that illustrates the film’s level of cliche comedy) does not offer much and tops the list as candidate for this year’s most unneeded sequel. Oh, there are a few chuckles in this follow-up to Ben Stiller’s send-up of dim-witted models and the fashion world, but there are just not enough of them to keep the audience awake through most of this slow-moving, plot-heavy movie. The movie is basically made up of quoted song lyrics, and movie references and cliches, and several plots, all seasoned with a mind-boggling number of celebrity cameos.

ZOOLANDER 2 may have more cameos that any other recent film. These cameos feature not only actors but musicians, pop culture personalities, TV news figures and even actual fashion industry icons. The list ranges from Justin Bieber to Sting to Willie Nelson, from Benedict Cumberbatch to John Malkovich to Susan Sarandon, and from astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson to actual fashion icons Anna Wintour and Tommy Hilfiger (what are the odds a project would feature both Tyson and Wintour?). Actually, the film’s few comic moments are generally linked to these familiar names and faces popping up in some unexpected place. Some of the cameos are mere walk-ons but others are more extended, like Benedict Cumberbatch’s bit as a transgender fashion model named All. The vast array of cameos might entice some to see ZOOLANDER 2 but, remember, you have to sit through a whole dull film to see them.

In ZOOLANDER 2, “ridiculously good-looking” but dim-witted male fashion models Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) set out to get their fashionista mojo back after a decade and a half out of the business. The one-time top models’ style have not changed but the fashion world has moved on without them, as they discover when they show up to work a runway fashion show in Rome for top-designer Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig). Before traveling to Rome, Derek had been in hiding, living like a “hermit crab,” after losing custody of his son, Derek, Jr. (Cyrus Arnold), following the death of his wife, who was killed when the building housing his “Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too” collapsed on her. Once in Rome, Derek and Hansel are contacted by Interpol, who are trying to figure out who is killing pop celebrities. They are assigned to Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz), an agent in the fashion division of Interpol (yep, the fashion police).

Of course, neither Stiller nor Wilson are “ridiculously good-looking,” which is part of the joke as Derek and Hansel lead us on a smirking if remarkably tame fashion-and-pop culture romp while the two has-been models try to bring their 20th century style back into fashion. Like the original, Ben Stiller directed and co-wrote ZOOLANDER 2, which reunites him and Wilson in their dumb-and-dumber fashion model shtick, with Will Farrell also returning as strangely-coiffed villain Mugato. The movie opens with perhaps its best scene, an action-movie chase that ends with Justin Bieber riddled with bullets outside Sting’s house in Rome, and an overwrought death scene that terminates with a dying Bieber sharing one last selfie before he goes. When Zoolander finally finds his son, he is horrified that the boy is fat – the ultimate fashion crime. The boy, who is smart, is equally horrified his father is so dumb.

All this preposterous stuff could have been fun but ZOOLANDER 2 both overloads the movie with too many plots and mishandles the comedy. Some scenes are played too straight or low-key,and the movie lingers too long on bits that are not working while tossing in new comic bits like pies flying through the air in a Keystone silent comedy, bits of humor that get buried before the film can exploit any actual comic potential. Rather than poking fun at the fashion industry, the fashion industry is in on the joke this time around. ZOOLANDER 2 mixes a James Bond-ish thriller with a redemption tale of reconnecting with Zoolander’s estranged son while the two models make a fashion world comeback. The movie also blends in bits of other movie genres and individual films, including a spoof of soul-searching dramas. The mashed-up story keeps adding twists, absurdities and song-and-movie references (as well as the ever-increasing number of cameos) until the whole overloaded mess topples over – like a 7-year-old’s build-it-yourself sundae, so loaded with toppings and whipped cream that it becomes an unappetizing sight.

If Ben Stiller’s aim is to transition to directing, this style of comedy might not be his best choice. Stiller does have talent, as shown in his subtler, more effective comic touch in Noah Baumbach’s “While We’re Young.” He might do better directing something in that sly, smart style of humor rather than this movie’s obvious, overworked vein of comedy. Or maybe go back to TROPIC THUNDER, for the silly side.

ZOOLANDER 2 is a true stinker, the kind of unfunny, nap-inducing comedy likely to be a future Razzie nominee. Even if you liked the first ZOOLANDER, and Ben Stiller’s work generally, film-goers might want to skip this one, unless they just feel the urge to nap in a movie theater.

ZOOLANDER 2 OPENS NATIONWIDE ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12

OVERALL RATING: 1 OUT OF 5 STARS

Get Ahead Of Valentine’s Day 2016 With ZOOLANDER No. 2 Fragrance

Want to Smell Like No. 2?

Sick of those tired fragrances endorsed by washed-up celebrities? Out of ideas for an original Valentine’s Day gift for the significant model in your life? EAU NO!

Get ahead of Valentine’s Day 2016 with Derek Zoolander’s first signature fragrance – No. 2

Soon the whole world will smell like No. 2.

Zoolander No. 2 is the ideal gift for every man who wants to be really, really good-smelling.

Check out Derek Zoolander’s first Vogue cover alongside co-star Penelope Cruz as they re-create iconic fashion shoots with renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz

http://www.vogue.com/13384256/derek-zoolander-penelope-cruz-ben-stiller-february-2016/

Follow Derek as he invites you inside his really, really ridiculously good-looking apartment for Vogue’s “73 Questions”

Watch this on The Scene.

Nothing attracts like the scent of No. 2. In stores this Valentine’s Day.

*Note – not a real product

ZOOLANDER No. 2 is in theaters February 12, 2016.

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New ZOOLANDER 2 Trailer Features Ben Stiller, Justin Bieber, Benedict Cumberbatch, Owen Wilson And Penelope Cruz

Owen Wilson plays Hansel, Ben Stiller plays Derek Zoolander and Penelope Cruz plays Valentina Valencia in the ridiculously funny trailer for ZOOLANDER 2 from Paramount Pictures.

Directed by Stiller, the film also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Justin Bieber, Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell.

High-fashion combined with a hilarious spy plot – oh yeah, count us in!

ZOOLANDER 2 hits theaters February 12, 2016.

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Derek Zoolander and Hansel Featured On New Posters For ZOOLANDER 2

On Monday, Ben Stiller and Justin Bieber struck a pose for ZOOLANDER 2.

@justinbieber #twinsies #? #bluesteel #selfie #purpose

A photo posted by Derek Zoolander (@zoolander) on Nov 9, 2015 at 8:59am PST

Today Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star in two new posters in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming sequel.

In March, Derek Zoolander and Hansel walked the runway at the Valentino Fashion Show during Paris Fashion Week at Espace Ephemere Tuileries in Paris, France.