In this edition of “For You Renting Pleasure” we’re going with two representations of love that couldn’t be further from each other in both tone and effectiveness. [Read more...]
For Your Renting Pleasure
03/06/2013 by Leave a Comment
Review: Paul
03/18/2011 by Leave a Comment
Paul is a love letter to Spielberg and Lucas of the 70’s and 80’s with more references than you can shake a stick at in what is basically a giant geek road comedy that will work for film nerds and regular folk alike.
Greg Mottola takes Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s script (they also star) and almost perfectly captures the tone and film they are going for. So much so that I don’t know how much better it could have been done if Frost and Pegg’s bud Edgar Wright had done it; that is high praise for Mottola. The film follows a pair of Brit’s, Graeme and Clive, who come to comic-con before setting off on a great American UFO road trip in their RV. When they witness a crash on the road, the pair goes to check it out only to discover an alien, Paul, who is on the run from authorities. Graeme, Clive passed out, reluctantly agrees to hit the road with Paul and the trio head off to try and get Paul back to his people.
Review: Little Fockers
12/22/2010 by Leave a Comment
Little Fockers greatly improves over the abysmal second act of this trilogy, but while I was consistently chuckling along the way, the film lacks any innovation with little we haven’t seen before in the genre; or series.
Greg and Pam Focker have had a set of twins and they are close to celebrating their latest birthday which means the Focker/Byrnes families are about to be reunited. To Greg’s surprise, Jack, his ex-CIA father-in-law, is interested in promoting Greg to the level of GodFocker; which means he will be the heir to the Byrnes family throne of sorts. As the two bond over their strengthen partnership Jack’s always sneaking suspicions begin to re-arise as he catches wind of Greg’s new friend Andi. Andi is a hot pharma rep that is recruiting Greg to speak on behalf of her companies erectile dysfunction pill for heart patients. Sure enough and game of cat and mouse ensues and Greg is left fending off Jack, a returning Kevin, and maybe even Andi.
The film isn’t really filmed with all the many surprises but the script steadily keeps the laughs coming even if we see them coming from a mile away. Whether its a gross out gag, Owen Wilson spouting pseudo philosophizing, or Dustin Hoffman being Dustin Hoffman there are a variety of laughs to be had, just nothing all that original. Though, I don’t think I have seen a gag like the one they pull off surrounding a longer than four hour erection.
