Judd Apatow is quickly becoming one of my favorite filmmakers. The 40 Year Old Virgin is in my little opinion, the best comedy film of the last 5 years. It wasn’t just hilarious, but it was also a smart film. Touching on real experiences and issues all while dealing with them in an almost satirical way. Other films have attempted to mix the two… but usually fail.

So here comes Apatow’s next film “Knocked Up“. He brings along much of the cast of 40 Year Old Virgin (and why not? The chemistry was fantastic) including giving Seth Rogen his first feature leading role. The synopsis of the film goes like this: “Slobby Ben and up and coming career girl Alison meet at a bar, and end up having a one night stand. Eight weeks later, Ben is shocked when Alison meets him and reveals that she is pregnant. Despite having little in common, the two decide that they have to at least try to make some kind of relationship work for the baby’s sake.”

THE GOOD

Seth Rogen essentially plays his exact same character from The 40 year Old Virgin, but that actually works here. It was the right way to play this guy. I wasn’t really sure how well Rogen could do with the spotlight on him… and quite frankly I think Paul Rudd deserved a full feature lead role before Rogan did… but I thought Rogan handled himself quite well. He did what any comic lead needs to do if a film like this is going to work: Make the audience get endeared to you. And he did it. Through all the flaws of the character, Rogen made you love and cheer for him. I was impressed.

Paul Rudd is always gold. It’s almost boring to say it now because I usually have to say it after every film I see him in. The comedic chemistry that Rudd and Rogen have is amazing. I was always expecting one of them to say “you know how I know that you’re gay”. Rudd’s character is the guy most of us who are over 25 are. I loved how he was able to switch gears from hamming it up with Rogen, and then bring some real life issues that guys like us face and wrestle with.

The film is a different kind of comedy than the Will Ferrell stuff. Ferrell’s comedy films (which I enjoy) are more pure slapstick. You know what I mean… the “Honk honk” clown comedy. And that’s great. Apatow’s films are different. Knocked Up is a funny film, but it’s also a SMART film. Yes it has its fair use of ridiculous comedy in it… but much of it is more sophisticated and thoughtful than a Ferrell flick. With Knocked Up, I thought it was done wonderfully.

THE BAD

Speaking of comedic chemistry, where Knocked Up excelled with it between Rogen and Rudd…. it fell totally flat with the rest of the supporting cast… specifically with Rogan’s stoner house buddies. In 40 Year Old Virgin it worked to toal perfection… you had 4 VERY different guys, and yet the chemistry was amazing…. in Knocked Up, the group of buddies just didn’t fit or flow nearly as well. It was more awkward than anything else.

At just over 2 hours, Knocked Up was too long for the movie it was. To me, it felt like it hit the “satisfying” point at about 100 minutes. The result is that Knocked Up felt dragged out a number of times and killed the momentum it was building. The worst thing for a comedy is to at any point feel like it’s being dragged out… that happened with Knocked Up.

This one is just a personal preference. Considering the title of the film and the premise… I would have really liked to have seen more focus on how Rogen dealt with the news of the girl being pregnant. As it stands… in the film she tells him she’s pregnant, he freaks out for a few seconds… and then he gets past it and just starts to deal with the reality of preparing for a coming baby. I think that was a missed opportunity for the film… but it’s not a huge issue.

OVERALL

Knocked Up is a funny, smart and warm comedy that I appreciated quite a bit. No, not as good or funny as 40 Year Old Virgin… but still a worthy follow up for Judd Apatow. A bit too long, some characters that didn’t work and a couple of missed opportunities are more than made up for with solid performances by Rogen and Rudd, endearing characters, funny moments and interesting story.

On a scale of 1-10 I give Knocked up a 7.5

I will not lie to you folks. Going into Pirates 3, I was expecting it to suck. I had a strong dislike for Pirates 2 and was not really expecting much from this one either. I have been wrong before, so I tried my best to remain a neutral observer.

Let me focus first on the things I enjoyed about this film. First off this film has jaw dropping, fantastic special effects. I could not believe how awesome everything looked. The crustacean crew looked awesome and no effect stood out to me as “fake.” This is important for me to stay “immersed” in the film and I have to nod my hat to the people that did the effects, they were superb and easily the best part of the film.

The sets were also fantastic and the costuming was delightful. Something that was surprisingly good was the cameo by Keith Richards. Richards did a fantastic job as the father of Capt. Jack. I thought that this would come off as pure unfiltered cheese, but it was a great cameo and was probably the highlight of the film for me.

Now onto the things I disliked about the film. This movie is long, way too long and yet somehow managed to be bloated. It is so crammed full of shit for a 3 hour film, it is astounding. There is so much time spent on various alliances, double crosses, and deal negotiations that you lose track of who is on whose side, and sadly you don’t care.

For an action/adventure film there is not a lot of action and/or adventure. There is lots of gums flapping, lots of boats chasing boats and lots of people sulking about their failing relationships. For a film with so much in it, I was terribly, terribly bored.

By the end battle I was apathetic, lots was happening and yet I didn’t care. Things tied up for some characters; for others you are left thinking “where did they go?” The series that once focused on Jack Sparrow instead seemed to change gears and focus on everyone else, and the movie suffered for it. This movie is the best looking, unenjoyable film I have ever seen. This summer’s blockbusters continue to let me down like a Mormon prom date.

On a scale of No, Go or Routh - I give it a No.

Here’s the premise:

It’s about Jenna, a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the Deep South. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness

Although this sounds a little depressing this movie is as easy to take as a warm slice of apple pie a la mode. The characters are hilarious, the acting is as varied in colors as the many pies that Jenna bakes (her pies make my mouth water, Marshmallow Mermaid pie was my favorite).

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Waitress, looked a bit boring from the trailers but within fifteen minutes I was hooked. The dialogue is great; very sharp and sarcastic. Kerri Russell is definitely showing her chops, she has never really caught my interest, she wasn’t bad on Felicity, but she never really wowed me, this changes things. She does dark, subtle comedy brilliantly and the chemistry between her and Fillion is fantastic. Russell also hold her own with Andy Griffith. Now I was worried hearing he was in this movie, because he is DAMNED old. But the guy is frigging hysterical and if anything has gotten better as he’s aged. Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) also does a bang up job as the straight talking slutty waitress.

My favorite character though would have to be the one played by the late Adrienne Shelly, it is absolutely tragic that she died before this was released because (with the exception of Griffith) she is the funniest character in this film, very lovable and awkward.

With all the good stuff going for it Waitress is not perfect, it is slightly predictable at times, things can come off as a bit hokey as well. I would recommend this to a slightly older crowd, don’t think 17 year old girls or guys are going to enjoy it as much as people who have had a small slice of this life. Overall this is a very watchable flick and with all of the quality humor folded into the romance and drama there is a good chance that men will enjoy Waitress too. For a no go or routh it’s a go. On a scale of 1-10 it’s a solid 8.5.

Well… I thought it might actually.

Here’s the idea behind the movie:

“An adrenalin-charged action thriller, “The Condemned” tells the story of Joe Conrad (Stone Cold Steve Austin), who is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is “purchased” by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor.”

I’ve been saying for a few weeks now that if this movie could just deliver some good ass kicking action, some witty tough guy one liners and throw in a couple of laughs… then it just might have a chance at being a decent time at the movies. Does it succeed?

THE GOOD

Stone Cold Steve Austin looks terrific. His physical presence in the movie is a plus. Just the sight of him screams “bad ass”.

The first 15 minutes did exactly what the movie needed to do. For the first 15 minutes… I’ll comment on the rest of it later.

Vinnie Jones in anything is gold.

Rick Hoffman as the Television Producer “Goldman” was amazing! He was single handedly the single best character/part of The Condemned. I got a little excited every time I saw him on screen, because you knew something funny was going to come out of his mouth.

THE BAD

Oh my dear lord in heaven where do I begin? Steve Austin looked great… but the moment he opens his mouth you’re instantly reminded that he’s not an actor. Wow… i don’t know if his lines could have been delivered any worse than they were. I swore I thought George Lucas was directing him or something. This movie would have been about 15% better just by having The Rock in the lead. What I heard was that Autin was originally supposed to be the bad guy in the movie… that would have been a much better idea… especially if it was a bad guy that never opened his mouth. Too bad, Austin did pretty ok in “The Longest Yard”, but that was a role that didn’t really require anything from him. He can’t carry a film as its lead, and they shouldn’t have tried.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THE GIRLFRIEND BACK HOME?!?!?! For those of you who haven’t seen it (which is most of you), Austin has a girlfriend back home they keep cutting to. SHE SERVED NO FRICKING PURPOSE to the movie whatsoever. All she did was take up valuable screen time that could have / should have been used for ass kicking. I’m not kidding… there was no point to her. Same goes with the US law enforcement officers in the movie. They served no function at all. It was annoying as hell.

Look, I watch WrestleMania every year… so I guess you could say I’m at least a mild wrestling fan. But I’m sorry, what the fuck is the WWE doing moralizing in a movie about how bad it is to glorify violence??? Was that supposed to be some kind of joke?

The first 15 minutes of the film really got my hopes up. Good action, tough guy one liners, some funny stuff… everything this movie needed to do to work. And then after 15 or 20 minutes the just threw it all away. Usless characters, endless moralizing, bad acting… it’s almost as if the movie makers put their foot on the gas and built up some great steam… only to take their foot totally off expecting the momentum of the first 15 minutes to carry the movie the rest of the way. It didn’t… it just died.

SHAKY F’ING CAMERA. What little action was in the movie was instantly ruined and turned to shit by a deadly case of Shaky Camera Syndrome. You know what I’m talking about… when a bad director thinks that shaking the camera all to hell makes action feel more real… when all it really does is make us all motion sick and makes us not be able to tell what the hell is going on… and all we’re left with is sounds of grunts and swirling images. SO BLOODY ANNOYING!

OVER ALL

Unlike most people, I thought The Condemned had a chance if it just stayed simple, and did what they apparently could do best. But they didn’t. They tried to do something far beyond their talent level and it came across as a messy bad joke. Horrible horrilble movie. Too bad, cause if tey did it right and just kept it simple, it could have been fun.

Over all I give “The Condemned” a 2.5 out of 10.

The basic idea for The Invisible goes something like this:

“THE INVISIBLE is a supernatural thriller about a writer who finds himself trapped between the world of the living and the dead-completely invisible to the living. Nick (JUSTIN CHATWIN) has a bright future until he is brutally attacked and left for dead. Now in limbo, his only chance to live again is to figure out the mystery of what happened to him and why, before his time runs out. But how do you solve a murder, when the victim is you?”

THE GOOD

The first thing that jumped out to me about this film was how good Justin Chatwin did as the lead character “Nick”. I’ve seen Chatwin in a couple of other things… smaller roles… he’s never impressed me really. But kudos go out to him here. His character wasn’t the easiest to play. I saw some good complexity in him, and Justin conveyed it all very well. Nothing really ever went over the top, nor did he ever come off as forced. There was a subtle strength to him that came off really well. I’m suddenly interested in seeing him do more. Good for him.

While the criticism of the film being a little bit of a “Ghost” rip off is valid… it should be mentioned that there is one MAJOR departure. (Warning, some people may consider this next part a LITTLE bit of a spoiler, but I don’t really consider it to be… be warned). The whole idea that the only person that can help Nick, is the person who “killed” Nick in the first place (The female lead in the film Margarita Levieva who plays “Annie”). It forces the film to avoid being just black and white. The Annie character is the “bad guy” yes… but she’s more than that. She’s a confused kid who has had a horrible life. She’s lost, angry, bitter and yet at the same time vulnerable, frightened, lost… and as Nick says to her early in the movie: “You are so broken”. Broken. A girl who has found a way to feel some sense of security and identity, it’s just not the right way, and it casts her into a world she shouldn’t be, and doesn’t really want to be a part of. But it is a way that eventually leads her to “Murdering” Nick. A FANTASTIC play on things.

THE BAD

After the strong performances of the leads, and the novelty of the great concept twist (That the killer is actually the only one now who can help the hero) wears off… there really isn’t anything left of the film. They marketing talks about Nick needing to “Solve the mystery of his own death”… and yet there wasn’t any mystery. Both you (the audience) and him almost instantly know how he ends up “dead”. There is no mystery at all. The film is just a process of us watching Nick try to get someone to discover where his body is. That can be fine, but there simply wasn’t enough story or dramatic elements to make that work. Yes we liked the characters, but you quickly get bored with the film (well, I did anyway) due to it’s lack of depth. Nothing interesting happens.

The ending is still something I’m scratching my head over. i can’t go into much without giving significant things away… so to be cryptic, all I’ll say is that near the end, one of the characters becomes totally useless and unnecessary any further. But for some reason Goyer felt the need to make it as if they were now more important than ever! It ultimately leads us to some events in the ending that are TOTALLY inconsistent with things that happen in the rest of the film.

The kid. Oh my sweet heavens. Look, if you MUST have a child actor in your film (and I stress MUST) then you, as a director, better have the skills to get something out of the kid… something that can at least come close to working on screen and not just be laughable. You can’t blame the child… because they’re a child… the responsibility rests with the director. Goyer failed terribly here.

OVER ALL

A solid concept for a film with a decent script and good performances (other than the child) that gets mired down in its lack of anything substantial beyond the main concept, lack of dramatic tension and a failure to keep us interested by the way the story is told. Goyer should stick to writing, although to be fair, it was an improvement over the job he did on Blade Trinity.

Over all I give “The Invisible” a 5.5 out of 10.