As soon as I heard about the movie Tropic Thunder, I was excited to see it. I know I’m not alone, as this movie was getting hyped for months before it’s release date. Not only was the plot line interesting, but it also boasted a star-studded cast and was being directed by Ben Stiller (Reality Bites, Zoolander). I got to go opening weekend to see this movie, and although I didn’t walk out of the theater disappointed I wasn’t thrilled either.

The movie started out promising enough, with faux trailers to the “stars” hit movies. There’s action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller) whose star is on the down slope, Eddie Murphy like comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black, Be Kind Rewind), and over the top method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man). All these stars have come together to make a movie based on a true story of soldiers during the Vietnam War. The stars are whiny though, the director (Steve Coogan, 24 Hour Party People) is overwhelmed, and the whole production is over budget during their first week. The story’s real life inspiration John ‘Four Leaf’ Trayback (Nick Nolte, 48 Hrs.) gives the director the idea to shoot the movie guerilla style by placing cameras around the forest and dropping the actors off in the middle of nowhere with only a map and script and told they must find their way back to the helicopter. Instead of filming the movie, they end up in a real life drug war, which is where most of the jokes come from as they act as if they are still in the movie most of the time.

Downey is really a scene-stealer in this movie. His character has gone though a surgery to dye his skin black, and is never willing to break character as the African American platoon leader. It definitely wouldn’t have worked as well without having Brandon T. Jackson (This Christmas) play the other African American in the platoon who calls him out for his shenanigans – which he does so whenever possible. My personal favorite character was Jay Baruchel (“Undeclared”, Knocked Up) as Kevin Sandusky, the unknown and naïve actor of the group. He’s the only actor of the group that actually went to the boot camp they were all supposed to go to, and he even read the entire script!

From what I’ve heard from other people who have seen this movie, they are shocked by Tom Cruise’s (Vanilla Sky) appearance in the movie. Cruise plays a balding, overweight head of the production company. Mostly all he does is curse and dance throughout the movie. People have been saying this is a great comeback for Cruise, but I disagree. His character was more annoying than the real Cruise! I also found his dancing to be completely unfunny and unnecessary. At the screening I attended there were hardly any laughter at this point, and I even saw some people with very confused looks on their faces (I’m sure my own is included). I much preferred Matthew McConaughey (Sahara) as Speedman’s laid-back agent who fights tooth and nail to get his client TiVO.

Also, another thing I found annoying in this movie was that most of the funnier moments were shown in the trailer. There were still a couple surprise moments of hilarity, but most of them I’d already seen out of context. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this movie, I did, just not as much as I’d expected to. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the movie, but about halfway through my interested started to drop. There were still a couple good moments in the second half, but not as many as I expected. In the end, I’d give Tropic Thunder a B-.

I think ‘stoner’ comedies are funny.  I’ve watched the Cheech and Chong movies numerous times (although I probably shouldn’t have seen them at the age I did), and I love Harold and Kumar…but would I love Dale and Saul, the stoner buddies of Pineapple Express? The answer is a resounding YES! Dale and Saul are one of the funniest comedy teams I’ve seen in awhile. 

Dale (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up) is pretty much a loser.  He is a process server, meaning he doesn’t do much of anything.  Mostly he just drives around smoking weed and listening to the radio.  Occasionally he dresses up in costumes to fool people into admitting who they are so he can serve them a subpoena.  After work he hangs out with his 18-year-old, high school girlfriend, and buys weed from Saul (James Franco, Spiderman).  Although Dale doesn’t like Saul at first, he has to be nice to him to get the good weed – like the new blend called the pineapple express.  After buying his weed from Saul, he goes to serve one more client, taking his new blend with him.  While waiting outside he accidentally witnesses a murder by a policewoman (Rosie Perez, White Men Can’t Jump) and the local drug lord (Gary Cole, Office Space).  Stoned and scared he throws his joint out of the car and races to Saul’s.  Paranoia ensues as the two think they will be found.  Turns out that hit men who have been sent by the drug lord really are following them.  For me, this is when the movie really begins.   The audience follows Dale and Saul on their stoned adventure, and it is some funny stuff! 

First I want to give recognition to Danny McBride (The Foot Fist Way).  He plays the middleman between the drug lord and Saul, and he is hilarious!  He takes a shot like a champ, and keeps it going.  I definitely look forward to seeing him in more movies!  Now on to the rest…I am not a James Franco fan.  Normally when I watch him act…well try to act…I just want to smack him, but I actually enjoyed him as Saul.  The only other time I’ve liked Franco was also when he played a stoner, in “Freaks and Geeks.” So I guess that’s the role that works best for him. I already knew that Franco and Rogen would have great chemistry, and it was in full force here.  Rogen plays the loveable loser with ease, and here it is no different.  Surprisingly though, he also shows himself to be a bit of an action star.  This movie had a lot more action than I expected. There were fights, guns, and blood abound.  I was surprised at how much blood was in the movie, not that it was an excessive amount – I just wasn’t expecting it.  Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg dabbled in action with their last effort Superbad, but they really dive right into this movie.   

I’ve heard from some other people who have seen this movie that they think it’s more of a ‘guy’s movie.’ I don’t agree though.  I think it just depends on the person, of course, but if you’re a comedy fan I think you’ll enjoy the Pineapple Express.  I’m going to give this one a B+ and you know what…I think I’ll give James Franco another chance. 

I like dark comedies.  I love laughing at things that I probably shouldn’t be laughing at, but do anyway.  So when I first saw previews for the movie The Savages, I felt that it was a movie right up my alley, and I was right.  This movie is more family drama, but it does have some dark comedy thrown in at just the right moments to help lighten the drama. 

Basically this movie is about Wendy (Laura Linney, The Squid and the Whale) and Jon Savage (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote) – a brother and sister who learn that their father needs to be put in a nursing home.  They have not spoken to their father, Lenny

(Philip Bosco, Working Girl), in almost twenty years, and have quite a strained relationship with him.  The siblings come together though and do what needs to be done, and learn many things about each other along the way.  Wendy is an aspiring playwright who makes a living temping, while Jon is an aspiring author who makes his living teaching drama at a college level.  Each has their own problems they are trying to deal with – Wendy is sleeping with a married man, and Jon can’t commit to his Polish girlfriend. 

I really enjoyed watching this family’s story unfold.  There were so many things just under the surface that finally boiled over as the movie went on, and it always helped them make a better decision in their life.  Director Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) was good at showing just enough, but not telling the audience everything, as to let them figure out the details.  She was also good at showing the humor of the situations the characters found themselves in. 

One of my favorite scenes involved Wendy and her father as they travel to the East Coast.  Wendy decides that her father doesn’t need to wear suspenders as he looks like “Grandpa Walton” and since he’s almost always in his wheelchair, what’s the point, so she takes them off of him.  Soon enough Lenny is on the plane and needs to go to the bathroom, not able to wait for help, Wendy must take him to the bathroom.  As they’re walking down the aisle, Lenny suddenly stops and just stares at Wendy.  Unsure what has happened, Wendy asks her father what is wrong…cut to Lenny’s ankles, which now have his pants around them.  Next cut to a back view of people looking at Lenny wearing an adult diaper. End scene.  Now that’s funny, it probably shouldn’t be as funny as I found it, but it was!  Of course it was a little sad too, but that goes perfectly with the tone of this movie.  

If the director was good, her actors were great.  All three of the main characters were wonderful in making their roles seem very real.  Bosco was definitely the stand out actor as a man with dementia, I was almost shocked in watching a feature and seeing him be himself and not Lenny.  As expected, Linney and Hoffman give wonderful performances.  They acted just as siblings should act, a bit competitive but supportive too, and of course they fought like siblings do too. I haven’t seen much of their work, but every time I do get a chance to watch them in a movie they do not disappoint.  

The Savages would get a B+ for me.  Towards the middle it did get a bit slow, but quickly caught my interest again and kept a strong hold on it until the end of the movie.  

Remember the VHS tape?  How about having to rewind our tapes before returning them to the store? Yeah, that was a pain, but something I look back fondly on now.  Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) takes audiences back to those bygone days in Be Kind Rewind.

Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover, Lethal Weapon) owns the Be Kind Rewind video rental store, which was also the birthplace to a famous Jazz musician.  Mike (Mos Def, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) is Mr. Fletcher’s employee, friend, and fellow Jazz fan. They seem to have little to no business, as they haven’t changed with the times to include modern technology.  Neither has the building the store is in, and the city is threatening to demolish it.  Mr. Fletcher decides to go on a trip to honor the famous Jazz musician, and also visit new rental stores to get ideas for his own store.  He decides to leave Mike in charge with only one rule, keep his friend Jerry (Jack Black, Margot at the Wedding, Kung Fu Panda) out of the store.

Although Mike means well, he breaks that rule the first day and hilarity ensues.  Jerry accidentally magnetizes all the vide tapes in the store, erasing everything! What is a movie store going to do with no movies!? When Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow, Hannah and Her Sisters) wants to rent Ghostbusters and threatens to tell Mr. Fletcher that he’s doing poorly, Mike figures out what to do.  He and Jerry make the rash decision to remake the movies themselves.  The next thing they know their ‘sweded’ (their term for what their movies are) movies are more popular than the originals and business is booming! But will it be enough to save he store?

This movie was at its best during their remakes.  Watching Black and Def remake classic movies was hilarious!  I especially enjoyed their Ghostbusters remake (“I’ll be Bill Murray and you be everyone else” Mike tells Jerry…and had me laughing for a good five minutes!) Some other remakes seen are Rush Hour 2, The Lion King, Robocop, and some others that are only shown in brief glimpses.  I always wanted to see another remake to see what they could come up with next.

Black and Def show excellent chemistry whether they are playing Mike and Jerry or Miss Daisy and Hoke (Driving Miss Daisy reference anyone?)  The supporting cast is excellent too.  Melonie Diaz (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) comes in to play the girl in most of their movies, but really shines in their version of The Lion King.  Also their friend Wilson (Irv Gooch in his debut role) is hilarious in every role he plays.

Gondry is known for taking chances with his movies and music videos.  He does play around some with the effects in this movie too, and they work well.  I still would have liked to see more though.  I also want to know how he does all of them! I bet the editors work extra hard on his movies! Although I didn’t like this movie as much as some of Gondry’s other efforts I still enjoyed it, and would give it a solid B.