There are certain comedy sub-genres that have either become parodies of themselves or just lost in Instant Netflix obscurity. Genres like the college comedy, the buddy cop comedy, and most importantly, the road comedy are among these. Something about protagonists finding themselves through an adventurous road trip has a certain amount of majesty to it.

Thankfully, comedy gurus David Wain and Ken Marino, best known as prime members of The State, have not forgotten the wonder of the road comedy, as the first trailer for Wanderlust has hit the web. The film stars Paul Rudd and (unfortunately) Jennifer Aniston as two workaholics living in New York City that decide to embark on a journey across the country to find themselves, and some pretty zany characters along the way.

If the writing style of Wain and Marino (the same minds that brought you Role Models) isn’t enough to get you into this flick, the massive cast of cameos should help. You can look forward to seeing actors like Justin Theroux, Malin Akerman, Alan Alda, Kathryn Hahn, Melissa Joan Hart, Ray Liotta, Reba McEntire, and Kerri Kenney-Silver in the film, just to name a few.

So before you pass judgment, check out the new trailer after the jump! Wanderlust is set to hit theaters on March 24th, 2012.

Continue Reading →

If The New York Times were to break the story that the NEA has been generously funding an ongoing study of manhood and brotherhood among everyday schmoes in contemporary culture, that sure would explain a lot. Surely few phenomena have been as comprehensively documented of late as the dilemma of nondescript modern men (usually lifelong buddies) forced by extreme circumstances beyond their control (roofies, bad bosses) into the type of reckless behavior (murder, breaking-and-entering, walking into a bar in the bad part of town) they would never normally contemplate.

Almost always the upshot involves:

• •  illegal drug usage (usually unintentional)
• •  first-ever encounters with law enforcement (cue bickering recrimination scene in the back seat of a squad car)
• •  uneasy encounters with The Other (usually hip, powerful, sometimes grotesque black men against whom the protagonists’ manhoods are implicitly contrasted and found vastly wanting. In the case of Hangover The Other is represented by both Mike Tyson and Ken Jeong as an Asian Mafioso. Here, it’s a very funny Jamie Foxx.)
• •  flashes of homosexual anxiety
• •  all countered by elaborate vulgarity, gross-out humor and scatological references, as well as
• •  forced interaction with that other Other: frighteningly gorgeous and overtly sexual women who positively demand to be serviced.

Continue Reading →

Todd Phillips may have control of the box office this June with Hangover Part 2, but this July definitely has Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses written all over it.

With a ginormous cast including Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, and Jamie Foxx, you can expect lots of great things from this upcoming raunchy comedy. Here’s the synopsis:

For Nick, Kurt and Dale, the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con, the three friends devise a convoluted and seemingly foolproof plan to rid themselves of their respective employers…permanently. There’s only one problem: even the best laid plans are only as foolproof as the brains behind them.

Like Office Space meets The Perfect Crime, you can expect some great moments with this outrageous cast. Check out the full trailer after the jump, and catch Horrible Bosses in theaters on July 8th.

Continue Reading →

The film’s title, Just Go with It, may appear to be a description of the plot, but it could just as easily be applied as a message to the audience. If you plan on going to see this movie, don’t think about it too much and “just go with it”.  The film is the most recent product of “Happy Madison,” Sandler’s production company, whose reputation  is so abysmal that none of its 23 features have received a “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes. I highly doubt that this film will alter that statistic. However, it is certainly not the foulest of the bunch.

While I can’t remember the opening shots of the movie, the first visuals that I do recall is that of a giant, poorly applied prosthetic nose. I bring this up, not because it is particularly funny or that it served any purpose to the plot, but because it is this kind of ridiculousness that drives a lot of the humor in the film. Adam Sandler plays Danny Maccabee and the nose was attached to him. In a flashback scene, he leaves his own wedding, brokenhearted, after learning about his fiancée’s unabashed infidelities.

He winds up in a bar with a faux wedding ring around his finger and learns something that changes his life. Apparently, being married helps men pick up chicks. He loses the nose, becomes a plastic surgeon and a libertine of sorts, all with the help of his wedding ring. The women he catches don’t appear to have a shred of intelligence, but they do all seem to be hot and this serves Danny’s relationship aspirations for roughly the next twenty years.

Continue Reading →

Come on, we all know the drill with romantic comedies.  Two star-crossed lovers are completely oblivious to the fact that they are perfect for one another, then one or both has an epiphany in the last 15 minutes of the film, usually resulting in a sprint to an airport/train station/cab or other mode of transport to confess their true feelings.  Cue happy ending.

There’s just not that much to it, and the genre has been done to death.  The only thing separating romantic-comedies from one another is the story that articulates how the couple eventually ends up together. Sometimes that journey is dull and joyless, but The Switch was actually a sweet movie that made me want to share the journey with the characters. It was a notch above most romantic comedies, particularly this year’s offerings.

Jennifer Aniston plays Kassie, a New York professional who has suddenly realized that she has a biological clock that is not so much ticking as it is screaming at her to have a baby, stat. Her best friend Wally (who names their kid Wally, for chrissakes?), played by Jason Bateman, warily listens to Kassie effuse about how wonderful it will be to be a single parent, and tries to snap her back to reality.

God forbid someone tell Kassie something she doesn’t want to hear. Kassie dismisses his concern as lack of support, and promptly tells him that she is putting their friendship in a time out (get it, she is already thinking in Mommy terms!)

Continue Reading →

Well, there wasn’t much of a box office battle this weekend as Clash of the Titans easily slayed the competition with a total weekend haul of $61.4 Million. Some weekend totals are reflecting Thursday night earnings as well, which brings the total closer to $64 Million.

Despite the fact that most critics were horrified by the look of the post-production 3D of the movie, and practically begged audiences to see the 2D instead, it seems that roughly half of the weekend revenue was from 3D screenings (LA Times.) The 3D money train marches on, at least for another weekend.

It is of interest to note that the movie did drop almost 20% from Friday to Saturday, which can be a direct result of bad word of mouth.

Tyler Perry pulled out yet another surprise as Why Did I Get Married Tooearned $30 Million. Perry has an an unconventional marketing strategy-he never pre-screens his movies for critics. His movies always enjoy an opening day unfettered by any reviews, positive or negative.

Continue Reading →

Several prognosticators predicted that the one-two punch of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler co-starring in a romantic comedy would equal box office gold. Well, until the reviews started trickling in. When the dust settled, The Bounty Hunter had amassed a truly rotten score of 9% favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch.

Despite that, the film made $2 1Million, good enough to place it in third place for the weekend. With a production budget of around $40 Million, it is way to early to call this a flop. $21 Million is a respectable opening weekend take.

The Red Queen and company from Alice in Wonderland continue to surprise everyone.Now in its third weekend in release, Alice is still bringing in some pretty big numbers. It dropped 45% over last weekend, for $34.5 Million, bringing its three week cumulative total to a fantastic $265 Million.

So what box-office star beat out Aniston for the number two spot? Would you believe nobody?  A cast of relative unknowns starred in Diary of  Wimpy Kid, which you probably have never heard of unless you happen to have elementary school-aged children.

It is a hot book franchise for those who run in the pre-tween circles, and apparently that was enough to buoy its box-office take.  Diary narrowly edged out The Bounty Hunter with $21.8 Million, but with a much more modest budget of $14 Million, it is already profitable.  There are plenty of books (4 already out, with plans for a fifth this year) to pillage for a franchise, too.

Continue Reading →

Love Happens is a steaming  pile of mediocrity. It is so bland, that it took me ten minutes to think of a second sentence to write about it. Despite having star power that most romantic comedies can only dream of, the story falls flat on its face.

Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) plays Burke, a widower. He has parlayed his grief into a career as a self-help guru who helps people survive the grieving process.  He is sincerely interested in helping the people who attend his seminars, and seems genuinely touched by their stories. Seems like the perfect chap to set a gal’s heart a-flutter.

Jennifer Aniston is Eloise, a quirky florist. Hollywood dictates that all quirky ladies wear hats, and this movie is no exception. Rule of thumb:  hats = zany free spirit. She has just ended a bad relationship (lipstick on a wine glass helpfully confirms that her boyfriend was misbehaving) and she provides floral arrangements for the hotel where Burke is holding his latest seminar. He catches a gander of her across the hotel foyer, and is immediately intrigued (by her hat, no doubt). When he approaches her to introduce himself, she feigns deafness. Why go to the trouble of telling someone to buzz off when you can pantomime a disability?

Continue Reading →