I'm just glad to see Super getting some love. Of his top 10, only The Artist and Midnight in Paris might make mine. Though Drive and Super definitely would. At first thought, my top 10 would almost certainly include Spoiler Melancholia, Super, Hugo, Tree of Life, Drive, Take Shelter, and Shame. I've seen Bridesmaids making a number of top 10 lists. I like it but I don't get the love for it.
I don't know this guy, and haven't seen any of these movies, but the guy has a film degree from NYU. I guess he knows what he's talking about more so than most of the message board hangers on.
See, I'd read most of the links you post, but Rachel Maddow has a nationally syndicated show. So her opinion means much more than some message board douche.
Guess I'm wrong in considering 50/50 a better than average but not great movie. PAY NO HEED TO MY OPINIONS. It was like The Hangover. Definitely more amusing than the typical comedy film, but not the savior of movie comedies it's made out to be. I still rank Anchorman (and many other comedy films from the past several years) above The Hangover. (I chose Anchorman because it's probably the most popular of the ones I consider truly terrific comedies.)
I am guessing I missed something by virtue of having not heard the show. I'm going to guess that his list was different from hers or something? Rachael Maddow is a lawyer by training, though. This guy is a real movie critic. And let's face it, neither the law nor movie reviewing are exact sciences.
I'd say comedy films are the hardest to really rate, because comedy in general is so subjective. The reason Bridesmaids is getting the notoriety it is has far more to do with it being written by a woman than anything. It's a shame, because it's actually a pretty darn good movie that is being elevated to something Kristen Wiig never intended. She just wanted to make a funny movie. I remember reading an interview with her where she expressed some frustration with that. In a way, the over the top celebration could be perceived as sexist. "Holy shit! I actually liked that movie, and it really made me laugh! How the fuck could it have been written by a broad?!?" The Hangover got put over as the best thing ever because it was the culmination of the "Look at men - men so stupid" movement in comedy that started in the 90's with what - Home Improvement, I guess.
Your opinion is invalid. Thus decreeth Don. I wouldn't say the men so stupid movement started in the 1990s, men have always been kind of stupid in broad comedy. I mean, The Three Stooges weren't Mensa members. Kramden was an idiot. The smartest men in comedies (who aren't the villains/punchlines) have tended to be the con artist, cad types. I'd actually say that Helms and Cooper were probably smarter than the average comedy leads. I think The Hangover hit because it was baudy without being overly offensive. And yes, it was funny enough. My opinion is invalid. This thread will now explode.
I thought Helms portrayed the cuckhold who tore his own tooth out and married a stripper? Seemed like kind of a dumbass to me. Cooper did actually break out of the stereotype a little bit, and had the best line of the movie. My perception of the Hangover's success coming from the whole "Men Behaving Stupidly/Badly" angle comes from the forced "Don't do _____ - like those guys in the Hangover" responses I got from almost everyone that found out I took my best friend to Vegas for his Bachelor party. My opinion is valid to me, and as far as movies and that type of shit goes - that's all I need. Sure, I may watch a movie on someone else's recommendation, but I won't like one just because someone else said to. I suppose that's kind of how Don rolls most of the time, but I'm capable of forming my own opinions.
All I heard gbaby say was new PTA movie and new Wes Anderson movie. Nothing else sounded interesting.
But most of that stuff happened while forcibly intoxicated and he overcame his cuckoldery in the end. That's the thing with The Hangover, with the exception of Zack, they were all essentially everymen put in an extraordinary situation. Same with Horrible Bosses and Bridesmaids (though to a less extraordinary extent). If you think about the best comedies, you might have one or two everyman, but aren't they generally to the side? (Another difference that I've been debating and I'm not sure how valid it is, involves how the best comedies usually maintains or ups the craziness right through the end while most comedies tend to slow down around the halfway point and become more about the plot than the jokes.) So which annoyed you more- being called the Wolfpack or getting told "whatever happens in..." Socialist.
I think I would have almost tolerated either of those, but no - I got "Don't kidnap Mike Tyson's tiger - Like those guys in the Hangover" and "Don't kidnap a Chinese guy - Like those guys in the Hangover" but the most common one was the simple "So, are you gonna be like those guys in the Hangover?" We can ATD on Helms. I thought he was the least believable and worst part of the movie. As soon as I saw him with the Tyson tattoo I knew I hated Hangover 2 and skipped it. I think I see where you're going with the slow down thing. Probably a lot of that is out of necessity, such as in most Romantic or even "sort of" romantic comedies like Bruce Almighty or Wedding Crashers, where they have to put in some sort of resolution to the romantic part that slows the funny down. Some can do it well and avoid that, and I guess that's what makes them better comedies. 40 Year Old Virgin comes to mind as far as one that pretty much kept the funny up in spite of the romantic plot.
Well it's not like I'm a fan of Helms. I hate him too. But that's mostly because of The Office. I don't think a show has ever turned me against an actor more than The Office did me against Helms. I hated Bruce Almighty. What a squandered idea. And I have no problem with them slowing down for the end, but not slowing down for an entire act. I also wasn't that big a fan of Wedding Crashers. Maybe "slowing down" is the wrong word, but it seems like they simply stop with jokes. Though romantic comedies are probably the biggest offenders of this. And I think the reason that 40YOV avoided this was because, at least to me, the primary relationship was Steve Carrel/Rudd/Rogen/Malfoy with the romantic storyline secondary.
With the exception of "Warrior", this list is very "beta male". Warrior looked terrible, the trailer made it look like a hacky, low budget, straight-to-video action movie. What about documentaries? Does he not consider docs to be movies? Or is there a separate list for them? If you guys are looking for a great documentary to watch get "Senna". It was released in 2010 and chronicles the life and death of Formula 1 racing legend Aryton Senna. Absolutely amazing film. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424432/
Drive was a horrific piece of dog shit. A stunt car driver, a race car driver, a driver for the mob, works in a garage rebuilding cars, and there wasn't a single fucking car chase scene longer then 2 minutes and it consisted of one left turn on a road in the country. He didn't bang the girl. He chose a impala as his get away car because it wouldnt be noticed and it was spotted in two minutes. Long empty scenes of people looking at each other. This movie fucking sucked. Ryan Gosling owes me $10! $5 for Drive and $5 for The Notebook. Dick....!