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Reviews
The Other Guys (2010)
I groaned, I squirmed, I snorted
I thought Talledega Nights was OK and Step Brothers was hilarious. I thought Adam McKay knew what funny was. I'm not so sure anymore. A lot of respectable actors signed up for this dud. Why? Did it seem funnier on the page?
In the spirit of 80's action flicks, "the Other Guys" asks the question "How many one-liners can we pack into a two hour movie?" When you loosely weave a story around that objective, as "the Other Guys" demonstrates, the answer is: A LOT. Particularly when they don't need to be witty, clever, or ironic one-liners... in fact, when they don't need to meet any criteria at all.
I gave it three stars...one star for seldomly making me snort (by which I mean a partially-formed laugh that exited from my nose), one star for a chance to look at Eva Mendes, and one star as a thanks for expanding my list of people that indicate red flags for any comedy they happen to be associated with in the near future.
The Room (2003)
This one's for the ladies...
I simply couldn't keep my comments in my pocket any longer. "The Room" is an expertly crafted "black" comedy by an idiosyncratic filmmaker, but it's also much more than that.
Producer/writer/director/star Tommy Wiseau somehow managed to achieve the impossible with "The Room". Besides delivering a knee-slapping chucklefest for discriminating purveyors of alternative-style humor like myself (and my future wife, who watched it with me), this cinematic gem is also a thinly veiled love letter from Mr. Wiseau to all the ladies of the world.
This is most evident by all the time "Johnny" dedicates to keeping "Lisa" satisfied in "The Room". The prowess he displays in the bedroom is staggering. My future wife played it off, but she noticed. I mean, how could I blame her?
Just take that trademark slow-but-steady thrust Johnny delivers to Lisa's abdominal region on numerous occasions. Or how his arm stays flexed when he's spooning with her, even when he's sound asleep. Johnny hasn't even gotten started before he sets pulses racing by giving female viewers an ample opportunity to steal a glimpse of his beautiful buttocks.
I had to change me underwears four times the night we viewed this film, so it's alright by me that a guy who made me laugh THAT much captured my future wife's imagination while I was away washing up. But keep in mind...I just like to watch.
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Hilarious!!!
The plot of "The Bad Lieutenant", if it actually qualifies as one, goes something like this: A nun is raped in the sanctuary of her church by a couple of bad dudes. Harvey Keitel takes the case but is mystified when he discovers the penguin won't be pressing charges because she forgives the little rascals. The movie culminates with Keitel shuffling off into the sunset stammering to himself as he tries to understand the victim's logic. That's it, but none of that is really important. The premise merely serves as a vehicle for Harvey Keitel's character to display his ravenous appetite for drugs and kinky sex.
Don't be misled by my terrible rating. This film effortlessly achieves "so bad it's good" status, and thus is well worth watching. From the rape sequence in the church (involving the unusually attractive nun and set to Led Zepplin's "Kashmir" in music video fashion), to the aggressively committed Keitel (to what is anyone's guess) flapping his outstretched arms and squealing for the camera in the nude, "The Bad Lieutenant" is a random, pretentious affair that confuses camp with real art. The more over the top it gets, the more seriously the film seems to take itself...a surefire formula for unintentional comedy! Hilarious!!!