This is 40

There are three things every Judd Apatow movie has in common. The first is that they are all very, very funny in a raunchy, balls to the wall sort of way. The second is that they have a surprising amount of honesty and heart. The final thing is that each movie is approximately twenty to thirty minutes too long. Now, my boyfriend says Apatow is like a rock star - they wrote 15 songs for a new album and it doesn't matter if three of them aren't as good and drag the rest of the album down, they are going to include all of them. And while Apatow is definitely the comic voice of a generation and sort of the father of the current comedy scene, he isn't Scorsese or Spielberg so there is really no excuse for how bloated all of his movies feel. He needs an editor to tell him no. He has the ability to create the modern American comedy but, instead, his movies are just good instead of being great.

This is 40 is a sort of sequel to Knocked Up. Five or six years later, we meet back up with Deb and Pete, played by Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd. It is their shared birthday week and both are turning 40. Pete is handling it better, or at least, not lying about his age the way Deb is. There isn't so much a plot as just a bunch of stuff that happens, which is actually more realistic. Its called life. Pete has a failing record company and he thinks signing an old failing Graham Parker will help revive things. He also has to deal with his mooch dad (Albert Brooks) who has high blood pressure, a new wife and toddler triplets. Deb struggles with re-establishing a relationship with her deadbeat dad (John Lithgow) and the possibility of hottie employee Megan Fox who may or may not be seealing from her chic clothing store. Then there are their precocious children, played by Apatow and Mann's real life daughters Maude and Iris. Maude plays teen Sadie, obsessed with Lost and her changing body and crazy mood swings. Iris is 8 year old left out Charlotte, responsible for some of the best one liners. There is also an appearance by Jason Segel as his Knocked Up character.

There is a lot going on in this movie and, at over two hours, its east to see where they could have trimmed a minute here and a minute there. The super funny script and the great performances sort of make up for it though. Albert Brooks is so great as Pete's mooch dad, but Mann steals the show. She is funny and sweet and brings a levity to the raunchy comedy. Deb and Pete were easily the best thing about Knocked Up, so I'm really glad Apatow decided to give us another look into their lives. They deserve to be the stars of their own movie. Apatow most certainly has a gift for making characters feel real and lived in and for portraying even ridiculous scenes honestly. I just really wish he would learn to edit his movies down just a tad. But, I guess when you are ruling the box office, you can do whatever you want.

Also, LOVE the Ryan Adams cameo at the end.

Grade: B

Bad Teacher

The problem with Bad Teacher is that it's not nearly as funny as it thinks it is. There are some good laughs, sure, but for every minute of laughter, there are ten minutes of boring, badly written, trite nonsense. That doesn't really add up in the end. The actors are definitely the saving factor here because the script really isn't good. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Thank God for Jason Segel!

Bad Teacher follows Cameron Diaz as Elizabeth Halsey, a first year teacher who makes a big to-do at the end of the year celebration about leaving to get married. However, moments later, she gets dumped by her super rich fiancee because he realized what a gold digging bitch she really is. Flash forward to the beginning of the next school year, when Elizabeth returns to her true calling as a teacher. No, not really. She's pretty much the worst teacher ever, as you have already garnered from the trailer. She doesn't learn her students names. She drinks and smokes weed on the job. She thinks teaching is equivalent to showing Dangerous Minds in class. But she is determined to save enough money so she can get a boob job and meet a rich man. Then she meets Justin Timberlake's brand new teacher. Seems he is the heir of a watchmaking fortune and Elizabeth hones in on him, even though he is the biggest douchebag in all of teaching. Throw in Lucy Punch as a perky rival teacher and Jason Segal as the hilarious gym teacher with the hots for Elizabeth and you've got yourself a semi-raunchy predictable comedy.

Like I said, the writing is bad, but the actors do their best with what they've been given. Diaz is very good at playing unlikeable. Her character is sort of a walking disaster and she does a lot of very terrible things, but you still somehow manage to find yourself cheering for her. I have been praising Timberlake's talents as an actor for a very long time. And while I wasn't as impressed with him in The Social Network as everyone else was, I think he was damn near perfect in Alpha Dog a few years back. His character here is so under developed and badly written, that it's not entirely his fault that his performance is sort of lackluster and one-note. Lucy Punch all but steals the show as the perky, perfect rival to Elizabeth. She is absolute perfection and a bonefied scene stealer. Then there is Jason Segel, who I love so much, as the sweet and funny gym teacher who is a little bit naughty and completely endearing. I wish Jason Segel could be in every movie, honestly. Throw in a few small roles by Molly Shannon (completely pointless) and Eric Stonestreet completely and utterly unrecognizable as Cameron from Modern Family) and you've got yourself a completely average in every way comedy.

In conclusion, Bad Teacher is not something you are going to remember for a long time. Heck, I'll probably forget about it by the end of the summer. That's not to say it's without merits completely. There are very funny parts of the film. Still, it's predictable and average in every way.

Grade: C

[In case anyone actually reads this, I'll be away from the blog for three weeks. I'll be back sometime after July 22.]

Mini Reviews...

I Love You, Man - Often very, very funny and only sometimes grating, I Love You, Man is definitely a fun movie. The plot doesn't exactly make a lot of sense - Paul Rudd is a newly engaged man who has no guy friends so he goes on the hunt for a best friend / best man (eventhough he has a brother who could easily fill the job). He goes on a series of hilarious man dates and eventually meets Sidney, played by the hilarious Jason Segel (who, I'm gonna go out on a limb here, is the funniest man alive). This movie would be a total bust if it wasn't for Rudd and Segel.
Grade: B-

Duplicity - Julia Roberts and Clive Owen have some amazing chemistry, that's for sure. Director Tony Gilroy follows up Michael Clayton with Duplicity which is about a hundred times more fun that his previous effort. However, the movie may be too smart for it's own good and it has probably too many twists and turns. But, damn, if it isn't fun.
Grade: C+

Knowing - You know what? I absolutely loved Knowing... up until about the last twenty minutes when it just turned ridiculous. Up until then, however, Nicolas Cage's latest effort to remind us that he used to be a good actor (and isn't anymore) was engaging enough and entertaining enough and it wasn't nearly as stupid as I'd imagined it would be. The last twenty minutes is just flat out ridiculous though. Although, the "+" is for the fact that they actually stuck to their guns.
Grade: D+

Adventureland - The only person that might give Jason Segel a run for his money on the "funniest man alive" thing is Martin Starr. How I love Martin Starr!!! Without Martin Starr Adventureland would be a cute coming of age tale. With Martin Starr it becomes a hilariously witty and sardonic comedy.
Grade: B

Fast & Furious - Something that's been bothering me - Why isn't Jordana Brewster a bigger star? She's hot enough. She isn't a terrible actress. She's done all the right kinds of movies (teen horror, iconic slasher series, huge action movie). Then I discovered that she's only 28 which means she should be getting all of Megan Fox's roles because she's hotter than Megan Fox, for sure, and she's not any less talented than Fox. They are both at the same level of "hot girl who can kinda act" (as opposed to Jessica Alba who is at the "hot girl who can't act her way out of a paper bag" level). Anyway, the long awaited sequel is fun. The action is great. It's not going to save the world or anything but it's entertaining.
Grade: C

Timecrimes - Probably the best movie I've seen in a very long time. It's a crazy time travel film. Foreign. Subtitles. But so, so, so brilliant with lots of "OMG" moments. I highly recommend everyone Netflix this movie RIGHT NOW!
Grade: A-

I know I've been neglecting this blog but I vow to stop! Movies lately have been so boring. I have nothing really exciting to say. Television, on the other hand, is great right now. I am currently addicted to Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad, which are the two best shows on TV. Period.
I'm also addicted to Twitter.