The official Tumblr of the Cinema Studies Program at the University of Oregon. Check here for updates on news and film related events happening on campus and elsewhere. Feel free to ask questions and submit your own posts.
Posts tagged Comedy.
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Well I saw “Men In Black 3” this afternoon. I may be a bit biased just because I’m a huge fan and have been since I was a beeb, but it was actually pretty great. It’s been a while since I’ve watched a movie that wasn’t afraid to be so cheesy, but cheesy in a very good way. Josh Brolin was fantastic with his Tommy Lee Jones impression, Will Smith is one of the only people in Hollywood that I still think is as cool as I thought he was when I was in 3rd grade, and Jermaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords was hilarious as the main baddie, Boris The Animal. Also nice to see so much animatronics in this day and age of heavy CGI. If you’re a fan of the first two, don’t miss this one, and even if you’re not such a big fan there’s still fun to be had.
FIRST REACTIONS FOR DJANGO UNCHAINED
So a bunch of people at the Cannes Film Festival got a special sneak peak at Quentin Tarantino’s latest “slave western”. Responses have been hitting the Twittersphere and the early glimpses have definitely been getting some love. Here are some samples of reactions from the 7 minutes of screened footage:
Drew McWheeny, Hitfix:
“OMFG, ‘Django Unchained’ looks so good. SO GOOD. #Cannes”
Raffi Asdourian, The Film Stage:
“‘Django Unchained’ looks f’n badass… 7 minute trailer ending with Jamie Foxx shooting his pistol to James Brown ‘Payback’ ‘The D is Silent’”
Twitch:
“‘Django’ gets the most whoops. Plenty of blood, plenty of laughs. Looks like it will be the Cristophe Waltz show. ‘The D is silent.’ #Cannes”
And a few more that go into detail:
Vulture:
“The big surprise? How funny this potentially controversial Western has turned out to be. In particular, Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be having the time of his life dropping N-bombs and smiling rotted teeth as plantation owner Calvin Candie… You’ll get a periwinkle-suited Foxx shooting lumpy blood chunks out of racist hicks (and an innocent snowman in one scene), and you’ll laugh! You’ll get Don Johnson dressed as Colonel Sanders!”
Ain’t It Cool News:
“Much like Inglourious Basterds before it, I painted a different picture in my mind, in this case a sweaty southern gothic story. But once Christoph Waltz shows up in his carriage with a giant tooth bouncing back and forth from the roof trying to negotiate a deal with a slave driver I began to get the tone… All the location work makes the film look huge, Foxx is at the top of his game it appears, Waltz is loveable, funny and dangerous all at once and it just feels like everybody is having a blast.”
Anne Thompson:
“What the footage reveals is that for the moment, while Tarantino has described the film as a “southern,” Weinstein Co. is selling this as a bang-up western, packed with physical comedy and bloody action and hell-bent revenge. And yes, it looks like a classic widescreen Sergio Leone western, even if the setting is New Orleans and Mississippi two years before the Civil War. (The music on the trailer ranged from classic Johnny Cash to James Brown. No Ennio Morricone here. As yet.)”
Sounds good to me! Tarantino still has a lot more footage to shoot, but the initial reaction has me even more excited than before. With a December 25th release date “Django Unchained” is sounding like the perfect present for the holidays.
The sequel to Will Ferrel’s comedy classic “Anchorman” now has its first official poster and title!
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” has rapidly been gathering hype ever since it was announced that the project was in fact moving forward. Initially thought dead in the water by many, director Adam Mckay and the entire cast have shot a teaser trailer that will debut in front of screenings of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Dictator” this weekend. According to the trailer the film should be out sometime in 2013. Mckay had this to say about it.
“Paramount came to us with the idea of the teaser and since we’re writing the script it was a good chance to see the characters and hang out with the actors to inspire writing. All of the actors (Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) slipped right into character and they all looked amazing. Paul has a beard and we’re thinking of keeping it. Kind of an Eddie Rabbit meets Serpico look.”
I CAN’T WAIT!!!!
First trailer for “The Gangster Squad” is out! Ruben Fleischer’s latest film looks seriously badass, and is quite a departure from the comedy fare that he tackled previously with “Zombieland” and “30 Minutes or Less”. It’s got an all-star cast as well, featuring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte and Anthony Mackie. Look for it in theaters later in the year.
Very sad news today. Adam Yauch AKA MCA, one third of the Beastie Boys has died of cancer at the age of 47. Not many know but he was a prominent figure in the independent film industry.
Yauch directed many of the Beasties music videos under the alias Nathaniel Hornblower. On top of this he also ran the film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Pictures, which shepherded movies such as “Wendy & Lucy”, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”, and “Bellflower”. Yauch also directed the critically praised 2008 basketball documentary “Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot”. A true innovator in music and cinema and a part of one of the most influential musical groups of our generation. R.I.P.
“Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” fans rejoice! The 2nd and presumably final draft of “The World’s End”, the last entry in Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright’s “Ice Cream Trilogy” is done!
Pegg himself just tweeted the picture of the script with this little nugget: “I know we took our sweet time but as soon as I get back from outer space, we can finish this thing once and for all”. Presumably he’s talking about wrapping up “Star Trek 2” before starting production on “The World’s End”.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen a full-fledged offering from the trio, though the break gave us some excellent flicks such as “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”, “Star Trek” and “Attack The Block”. Wright has comic book adaptation in the works, hoping to bring Ant-Man to the big screen, but depending on how eager the folks at Marvel are to get that one up and running we could see production for “The World’s End” by late 2012.
FREE screenings of two movies very near and dear to my heart. These are both part of a Spring film series sponsored by the Cinema Studies and English departments at the U of O.
Monday, April 23rd (TONIGHT!). “True Stories” will be shown at 6PM in Proctor 42 in the Knight Library. Phenomenal comedy directed by the Talking Head’s David Byrne about a quirky Texas town populated by a variety of musically inclined characters.
Monday, May 21st will be “Fargo”, and if you don’t know what “Fargo” is….then shame on you. One of the Coen brother’s best films, it follows a slightly spacey but well-intentioned police officer (Frances McDormand) trying to solve a dizzying case of money, violence and murder. If you like dark humor, this is your film.
Alla dis is FREE!
First reviews for “God Bless America” are starting to trickle in. Looks like Bobcat Goldthwait has another winner on his hands! Can’t wait to see this one. I loved “World’s Greatest Dad” and have complete faith that his latest will not disappoint. Hits select theaters May 4th. Read a fantastic review by Brian Orndorf below:
“With “God Bless America,” writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait has manufactured an exhilarating sensation of disgust, funneling a reservoir of frustration into an acidic script that somehow manages to be hilarious while remaining enormously unnerving. It’s a sniper-sure shot of rage striking the heart of American culture, having a blast wiping away the scum of the Earth. It’s a chaotic tear through reality shows, social irritants, and amateur singing contests that’s finessed superbly by the helmer, who commits in full to a lunatic idea. Even for a filmmaker who’s made pictures about bestiality, autoerotic asphyxiation, and alcoholic clowns, “God Bless America” still manages to astonish with its audacious content and ballsy execution. It’s a couch potato battle cry capturing the zeitgeist in a bold, bloody fashion.
Fired from his job, disowned by his young daughter, and diagnosed with a brain tumor, Frank (Joel Murray) has reached bottom, unable to make sense of his life anymore. Surrounded by a toxic culture that rewards idiocy, humiliates the weak, and remains sickeningly celeb-obsessed, Frank has had enough, targeting a snotty, overprivileged teen reality star as his first victim. When his murderous efforts manage to catch the attention of schoolgirl Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), the spunky teen joins the dying man, commencing a killing spree of ugly Americans who reject common decency, profit from fear, and contribute to disgraceful television and movies. Tearing across the country, Frank and Roxy rack up an impressive body count before their deeds catch attention, threatening to end their reign of justice before it has a chance to greet their archenemy, the singing competition series “American Superstars.”
“God Bless America” carries the feeling of personal release. We’re dealing with fictional characters facing disturbing life developments, yet the core of the effort plays much like a hair-pulling rant from Goldthwait himself, using the guise of a violent satire to purge his feelings on the state of the union. And goodness gracious, what a state we’re in. Drowning his sorrows in channel surfing, Frank is inundated with images from cable news outlets and their incendiary hosts, fundamental religious organizations preaching hate, and reality television goons debasing themselves for a flake of fame. The “American Superstars” show alone is a cesspool of moral corruption, joyfully belittling an audition attempt from a mentally challenged man. A former soldier facing the end of his miserable existence, Frank is eager to take some of the riff-raff with him, out to kill those who’ve lost all touch with humanity, starting with a spoiled teenage girl who celebrated her sweet sixteen by throwing a tantrum in front of cameras, disgusted with the choice of luxury car she received as a birthday gift.
The miracle of “God Bless America” is how well it straddles the line between wish-fulfillment and black comedy, with Goldthwait executing the feature in a broad enough manner to prevent full sympathies with the assassins, yet it’s all sharp enough to leave a few lasting marks. The film takes on obvious targets, but it carries an original tone, concentrating on the fantasy of it all as Frank goes from wishing he could kill the dregs of society to actually arming himself, stealing his inconsiderate neighbor’s car, and driving to meet his victims. “God Bless America” doesn’t shy away from the premise, instead jumping into the adrenaline rush of murder, observing Frank and Roxy brainstorm their kill list, sharing their repulsion with a world that celebrates high-fives, strippers-turned-screenwriters, and amateur singers. It’s one thing to observe gusty monologues from characters swimming laps in their own bile, but Goldthwait goes the extra mile, establishing Frank and Roxy as an actual threat capable of blasting away predatory cretins, clearing a new path to common sense one bullet at a time.
Of course, this is not a measured discussion of the world’s woes, but a demonic tilt-a-whirl ride of gags and gaping wounds, holding up a cracked mirror to the face of noxious national taste. It’s amazing to find the picture frequently relevant, aided in great part by Goldthwait’s precise aim and nerve, while Murray and Barr contribute exceptional work as jailbait Bonnie and cancer-stricken Clyde, who becomes something of a father figure to his young, spunky partner. The screenplay addresses the unsavory appearance of the coupling, but it’s never a genuine issue, failing to gum up the works with a tired rehash of “Lolita” obsession. In fact, Nabokov finds himself on the pair’s list of disgust. It’s not lust that binds the killers, but a shared appreciation for just deserts. The purity of that dream carries the film all the way to the end credits, never cheating or fouling the view with hesitation. Goldthwait is committed to his mad plan with a magnificent directorial bravery, rarely viewed in today’s cinematic landscape.
“God Bless America” is provocative, created to unnerve and stimulate thought while it presents substantial laughs. One sequence, where Frank and Roxy dispatch talkers/cell phone abusers inside a movie theater, will likely encourage standing ovations from seasoned filmgoers. It’s a daring fearing, a genuine venture into the unknown, asking viewers to witness a killing spree that’s deplorable yet oddly sensible, with Bobcat Goldthwait pulling the trigger for each and every one of us. It’s an exhilarating, uproarious barnstormer of a picture, masterful with its satiric objective.”
Dumb & Dumber” is actually going to get a legit sequel, with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprising their roles. The only other followup to the original was an awful origin story called “Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd”. The Farrelly Brothers will take up directing duties once again. Peter Farrelly had this to say:
“We’re getting set to shoot ‘Dumb and Dumber 2’ in September. It’s the first sequel we’ve ever done and we’ve got Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels back.”
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I loved “Dumb & Dumber”, and the synergy between Carey and Daniels. On the other hand the Farrelly brothers have really lost their touch recently, and their “3 Stooges” reboot makes me cringe whenever I see a trailer for it. Hopefully they can re-ignite the magic though. Only time will tell.
