Critic's Corner "Roundup Review"

The Critic
Ty Hampton

Alrighty, we’re trying out a different format for this week’s Critic’s Corner Review as I need to play some serious catch up. Although I’ve been greatly slacking on my posting lately, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped watching movies (c’mon now).

So here’s a quick rundown on what I’ve seen over the past few months broken down into three sections: Don’t Miss; See It (If You’re in the Mood); or Skip It.

Don’t Miss:
District 9 (sci-fi, 5 out of 5 stars)
-- You won’t recognize a single actor in this film nor director Neil Blomkamp’s work, but you will walk away impressed. After all, the producer Peter Jackson (of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong), knows his way around bigger-than-life movies and this one is no exception.
This is possibly the best sci-fi movie I’ve seen since Star Wars (the original trifecta). It’s innovative, has great special effects that don’t overdo it or come off fake, and has a suspenseful yet moving human arch that genuinely pulls you into the story.

Let the Right One In (drama, 4.5 out of 5 stars)
-- This horror-like drama from Sweden is one of the most eloquent films I’ve seen in recent years, mixing a touching storyline with outbursts of brutal violence that take the audience on an eerie ride throughout.
Director Tomas Alfredson’s cinematography is remniscent of great filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Gus Van Zant.
The gist of it? A lonely outcast 12-year-old boy befriends the new girl next door – who turns out to be a 14-year-old vampire. She defends the boy as the bond for the sake of each other’s survival.
I know there’s a lot of crappy vampire stuff out there these days, but I can not emphasize how much this movie is not “Twilight.” Don’t fret, this vampire tail is the real deal.
However I do recommend watching the movie in Swedish with English subtitles. The dubbed English version is not well done and takes away from it, so just get on your reading glasses because the dialogue is pretty minimalist anyhow.

Couples Retreat (romantic comedy, 4 out of 5 stars)
-- Vince Vaughn and Jason Bateman are a couple of my favorites in the comedy world and their brand of humor leading a great cast made this the most enjoyable romantic comedy I can remember seeing.
Not only did it make me laugh throughout, but this is a comedy that gets it. It hits at the center of what being a couple is about – the good, the bad and the ugly. Finding love, retaining love, learning how to love, and rediscovering love – because after all, love wins all.
I also found it nice to discover a modern comedy that could’ve gone with cringe/dirty humor and didn’t. This one took the high road and sticks out for that reason.

Extract (comedy, 4 out of 5 stars)
-- It’s been a decade since writer/director Mike Judge (creator of “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill”) shelled out the workplace comedy opus “Office Space.” This newest edition isn’t quite that legendary but it still packs some sincere punch.
Judge turned the tables from a movie about an employee with a bunch of idiot, pain-in-the-butt bosses to a movie about a decent guy boss who started a business that is now run by pee-brain underlings.
Jason Bateman plays the lead as a good guy whose life is falling apart all around him. A factory full of incompetent employees, a looming workman’s comp lawsuit, a cheating wife, an annoying neighbor, and a druggy best friend who always gives the wrong advice take the protagonist to the edge and back in this story of life, work, temptation, and finding happiness.

See It:
Bruno (comedy, 3.5 out of 5 stars)
-- Sasha Baron Cohen follows up his controversial comic role as Borat in this riotous parody. Cohen is Bruno, an eccentric Austrian fashion critic searching for fame in Hollywood who is about as light in the loafers as they come.
If you didn’t like “Borat” and aren’t comfortable with watching a movie that deals heavily with homosexuality – then this isn’t for you. However, if that’s not a problem for you, I found that Cohen’s brand of humor was smart, insightful, and the reactions he coerces as this character are the sort of comedy only he can produce with success.

The Proposal (romantic comedy, 3 out of 5 stars)
-- I didn’t expect much out of this one when I rented it, but was actually quite surprised. The combination of Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock actually worked. Add in some witty writing and tons of outrageous moments from people like Betty White, Craig T. Nelson, and Oscar Nunez and you’ve got yourself a really decent romantic comedy.

The Goods (comedy, 3 out of 5 stars)
-- I’m a fan of Will Ferrell, but it’s about time somebody else got to play the crazy eccentric comedy roles. Meet Jeremy Piven in “The Goods”. This is real over-the-top stuff, but Piven is perfect for the role of a used car salesman mercenary for hire who dominates the competition wherever he may roam.
Piven’s great, but a number of comedy underdogs come through to make this an outrageous comedy worth renting including Ed Helms, David Koechner, Kathryn Hahn, Ken Jeong, Rob Riggle, and Craig Robinson.

Haunting in Connecticut (horror, 2.5 out of 5 stars)
-- I needed a creepy horror movie the other day and based on the movie trailer I gave this one a try knowing very little about it. It was the sort of horror movie with a decent enough plot, some scares, but the undeniable ability to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up with suspense.
Some of the acting wasn’t great, but overall I felt this one was better than your average horror film that comes out.

Skip It:
The Informant (dramedy, 2 out of 5 stars)
-- The previews for this one looked intelligent, funny, and like a real different role for Matt Damon. The only true element to that was the last. All the funny parts were in the trailer and they were only that funny when taken out of context and edited into the previews.
I was bored by the storyline, fell asleep in the theater for about 15 minutes (which hasn’t happened to me since I was 12) and overall wished I didn’t pay $8.25 for the ticket. Skip it on DVD unless you’re in a desperate mood.

The Blindside (drama, 2 out of 5 stars)
-- It’s a moving story, no doubt, but I felt like parts of it were overdone. There’s no way a rich mom from the suburbs drives to the ghetto, chews out and threatens a murderous crack dealer to leave her adopted son alone and then walks away fine because “she’s in the same prayer group with the district attorney.” Sorry, real life doesn’t work that way.
Although Big Mike’s story is a moving one, other aspects of this down-home story seemed more like a southern fantasy rather than a biopic about a kid from the other side of the tracks.
“Blindside” makes for a decent feel-good family movie, but doesn’t nearly hold its weight as a serious drama. Sandra Bullock will not be getting any Oscar nods as I’ve heard from some misguided venues.

Trick ‘r Treat (horror, 2 out of 5 stars)
-- I saw the previews for this ghoulish gore-fest and saw names like Anna Pacquin and Brian Cox and assumed it was a major theatre release for Halloween. When I found out it was a straight-to-video release, I was surprised. When I rented it, I was glad I didn’t pay the full ticket price to see it on the big screen.
Still better than most all straight-to-video releases, this Halloween horror epic is less of a new classic as it seemed and more of a highlight reel of cheese horror – where the blood, gore, and campy one-liners are abundant and intentional. Not terrible, but a rental choice at best.

The Ugly Truth (romantic comedy, 1.5 out of 5 stars)
-- I’m not a fan of Gerard Butler and this didn’t help his cause with me. He’s not a talented actor and he surely isn’t funny. The guy plays a tool through the whole movie – a stereotypical pig guy who says terrible things about women yet still gets laid, oh, and then he still gets the girl in the end like some sort of white trash prince. Sorry for the spoiler there, but it’s really obvious from the get-go and this one isn’t worth renting anyways.
Let your girlfriend watch it with her friends, because it’s not a romantic comedy worth sharing for the couples out there who appreciate good film or even a fun movie. There’s an occasional funny moment from a dirty joke, but most of the movie is just brainless and filthy for no real apparent reason. I really don’t see how it’s romantic or a comedy, but whatever you want to call it, this one was a waist of time and $1 from the Redbox.

Apatow takes to new heights with matured film

The Critic
Ty Hampton

“Funny People” -- 4/5 stars

So roughly 8 months ago I heard the names Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, and Seth Rogen mentioned in the same sentence with a new project named “Funny People” and the image that pops into your mind if you’re a dude like me is “funniest movie EVER.” The reality is it’s not, nowhere close. But it’s a mature, true-to-life story that shocked me and has stuck with me since I saw it in theatres a couple weeks back.

“Funny People” is a peculiar mix of Apatow’s typical adolescent male sex jokes, emotional turmoil and trauma, a protagonist who is staring death and mortality in the face on a daily basis, and a behind-the-scenes homage to the art of standup comedy all rolled into one film. That mix precisely, is it’s genius and why I highly recommend this film over any of Apatow’s earlier works.

George Simmons (Sandler) is a comic that has taken from his early roots in standup to the big stage of being a millionaire movie star. Nowadays Simmons does not see much to laugh about in life though, as his doctors have diagnosed him with a late stage terminal illness with less than a year to live.

George takes a cathartic turn back towards the standup stage but finds that he’s lost his touch over the years. Impressed by a set of young comics Ira (Seth Rogen) and Leo (Jonah Hill), George asks them to write some jokes for him.

What ensues is an odd-couple relationship between George and Ira that will go down in the record books as the two actors flirt with legendary chemistry. Then when the doctors tell George that the experimental meds he was on look to be working, and he will survive his illness, the protagonist has a new lease on life and begins to go after the things that mean most to him with a renewed sense of wounded optimism and hope.

The two primary stars in this film sell it at every scene, with Rogen taking a more friendly backseat to his usual crude nature and Sandler playing a flawed, love-to-hate Jack Nicholson-like role. Both are amazing and truly inspiring in this film.

If you watched this movie and felt like it hit home or had an extremely personal touch to it, well that would make perfect sense. Written and directed by Apatow, the creator based a lot of the movie off of he and Sandler’s early days as comics before they both took to Saturday Night Live. Several clips of a young Adam are actually personal videos that Apatow put in the film for an authentic effect.

Plus if there is anything Judd is the master at, it’s telling it like it is. His movies never sugarcoat anything, and usually deal with issues in a completely, unadultered and honest manner.

The supporting cast for this film is also outstanding, as has become the custom with both Sandler and Apatow films. Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Leslie Mann, Aubrey Plaza, Eric Bana, Aziz Ansari made memorable contributions throughout the film and the likes of Eminem and Ray Ramano as cameos made for one of the movie’s funnier moments.

Although movie-goers may not get exactly what they expected when they headed out to see this film, I believe they got so much more and that makes this a stronger film that will hold up through time. This movie will make you laugh, cry, and re-evaluate your friendships and the true priorities in your life all in a 2.5 hour time span. That’s really the only drawback from the film is the length and the fact that the last 20 minutes were probably a bit unnecessary.

If you’re up for that kind of ride though, I highly recommend seeing “Funny People”. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

UPDATE! -- New and improved Critic's Corner Review has arrived!

The Critic's Corner movie review blog has been on a recent hiatus over the past month or so due to my transitioning into a new job.

Now that I'm no longer a full-time reporter of the Lake County Leader and not located in the Polson area anymore, the Critic's Corner reviews will no longer be directly affiliated with Polson Theaters Inc or solely focused on those films being shown in Polson and Ronan.

That was a great time for the Corner, and I thank the Leader and Polson Theaters for their joint cooperation in making that happen.But now we're moving on. This is the new Corner blog site which promises to be better and bolder, with added features such as a weekly rental review of either a new release DVD or an under the radar classic on DVD.

Plus as all the movies I see will now be coming purely out of my own pocket, I will be giving moviegoing readers the full skinny on whether it's worth your money or to skip it, and I won't be sitting through any crappy movies that are forcastibly bad from the get-go just to have a blog review for that evening.Only the best will make the cut and no holds barred whatsoever-- the Corner is getting serious here people, and a lot more fun.

So hold onto your hats ... my first review will be of Judd Apatow's 3rd and most apparently complex film, "Funny People" -- starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen.

Other anticipated upcoming reviews may include: "Extract", "Public Enemies", "The Hurt Locker", "District 9", "The Collector", "Bruno", "Away We Go", and "Let the Right One In."You can even now vote on which you would most like to get the Critic's take on (following "Funny People") for the next Corner review by clicking your selection on the poll at right.

Thanks for your patience, thanks for reading, and happy movie-watching!

The Critic
Ty Hampton