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-.

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.

Sisters fighting? Check.  Impending wedding? Check. Lots of drama? Check, check, and check! Margot at the Wedding has all three and more, but do they really add up to a movie worth watching? Well…I can tell you what I thought and let you decide from there.

Margot (Nicole Kidman, The Golden Compass) has not talked to her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Road to Perdition) in years, but decides to go to her wedding anyway.  After all, her sister is her best friend.  She brings along her teenage son Claude (Zane Paris in his debut role) for company.  What follows is a crazy week where the past is revisited, the present is rethought, and everyone’s true personalities show through.  

Directed and written by Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) Margot at the Wedding is another movie about a dysfunctional family.  I expected a lot out of this movie, as I loved Bambach’s first feature film and thought this would be on the same lines.  I was disappointed.  I thought that The Squid and The Whale was a perfect mix of dark comedy, family drama, and a coming of age story.  I think Baumbach tried to do the same thing with Margot at the Wedding, and failed.   Most of the comedy fell short, although there are some funny moments, like Margot getting stuck in a tree, although most of it gets muddled in between everything else that is going on.  I also had a problem with the editing of this movie.  There are many jump cuts that just seem unnecessary.  The audience sees one character, and then all the sudden jump cut to that same character only in a slightly different position.  Apparently this was done deliberately, but I have no idea what the reason was for it. The script was at best mediocre at best, but that didn’t stop Baumbach from getting first rate actors.

The one good thing I can say about this movie was that the acting was fantastic!  I normally don’t care for Kidman.  The last movie I can say I actually enjoyed her in was To Die For (which she was superb in, and I would highly recommend watching).  In this movie Kidman plays Margot fearlessly, not caring what people think of her brutal truthfulness and I really liked that.  Leigh, as always, is excellent as Pauline.  Normally Leigh seems to play someone more like the Margot character, but here she is a little more reserved with an occasional outburst.  Paris is a joy to watch as he almost steals scenes away from the veteran actresses with his fresh face, and confused adolescence.  Jack Black (Be Kind Rewind) also shows up as Pauline’s husband to be.  He does have some comedic moments, but Black shows he can play the dramatic just as well.  (Although when he cries it does look kind of weird…) 

After I saw this movie I was at a loss on what to say.  Usually I know right away if I liked a movie or not, but I really had to ponder this one.  Yeah, I really enjoyed watching the actors tackle their roles with zest, but half the time I didn’t care what was going on or about the characters themselves.  But after much thought, I’ve decided this movie was just average and nothing extraordinary so it gets a C from me and I’ll still watch the next movie Baumbach makes. 

“It’s confirmed?” followed “Today” interviewer Natalie Morales.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve confirmed that already,” Jolie said. “Well, Jack’s just confirmed it actually.”

“Is that true?” Black said jokingly.

“Yeah, you did,” Jolie replied.

“Sorry,” Black said.

“She said: ‘What do you know about Jack? It’s hard to get revenge because he’s so out there. He has no secrets!’”