They Came Together

They Came Together
June 27, 2014
Lionsgate
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

This is better than Wanderlust, perhaps because director David Wain is again reunited with his Wet Hot American Summer writing partner Michael Showalter.  As it happens, they wrote the script a dozen years before this was released, soon after WHAS, and it is also a spoof, although definitely less rooted in a specific time.  I found it equally funny, but apparently it was even less of a success.  (I wanted to see it in a theater but had to wait for DVD.)  Like WHAS, it has a dark side, but there are moments where rom-com tropes are played very close to usual.  Certainly the casting of Paul Rudd as the "handsome in a nonthreatening sort of way" male lead leads to self-parody, although Amy Poehler always seems much too smart for her character.  The frame device of Bill Hader (among other things, The Voice in Scott Pilgrim) and Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids) as Kyle and Karen, another couple they're having dinner with, helps give the movie structure.  (It was originally designed without this device.)  I also need to mention that the music is dead-on, including the in-movie Norah Jones video, with a confused-looking John Stamos.  I don't know that this movie will age well, but for now it's on a level with WHAS.

Michael Ian Black was McKinley in WHAS and is Trevor here.  Ken Marino was Victor in WHAS, Rudd's brother Rick in Wanderlust, and is Tommy here.  Zandy Hartig was Marcy in Wanderlust and is Katherine here.

Jason Mantzoukas was part of the Gay Couple in Baby Mama and is Bob here.  Alex Hartman was a Princeton Applicant in Admission and is '80s Dancer Party Guest here, while Barbara Vincent was a Birthday Party Guest there and is a Football Player here, and Gameela Wright is a Police Officer here and was Woman in Adoption Agency there.  Zak Orth has been showing up in small roles in my movies since In & Out, and here he plays the Waiter with Pole.  Cobie Smulders did the voice of Wonder Woman in The Lego Movie and plays Tiffany here.

It's like New York is another character.

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies
February 1, 2013
Summit etc.
Comedy, Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2014/01/warm-bodies-novel.html.  The main thing I want to add is that my enjoyment has faded after so many viewings in 2 1/2 years, although it remains better than the book.  I think part of the problem is that as the film goes on, it loses its contrast between R's internal monologue and his inarticulate zombie shell.  The movie becomes more of a standard apocalyptic narrative, although still with moments of humor and sweetness.  And it remains impressive that a zom-rom-com is actually a workable sub-sub-genre.

Dave Franco, who plays Perry, would do the voice for Wally in The Lego Movie.

The Graduate XXX

The Graduate XXX
2011 (exact date unknown)
Cinnamon Productions
Porn, Historical, Comedy, Romance
Download
C-

Needless to say, when I reviewed the book (http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/07/graduate.html), I did not imagine  that three years later I would be giving a porn parody of it the exact same grade.  The flaws are very different, but let me first talk about what I like.  The movie is easily the funniest of the three Anthony Rosano parodies I own, much of the humor coming out of juxtaposition, whether the '60s look with a more modern sensibility, or the way that lines from the original movie appear in a hypersexual context.  (Mrs. Robinson still denies she's seducing Ben even as she gives him a blowjob!)  There's a cheesy montage of Ben and Elaine falling in love, paired with heavy-handedly suggestive visuals and no dialogue, and then later they claim to have exchanged important personal information during "the montage."  Also, the music is great, not just the instrumentals but the Simon & Garfunkel satires.  ("A Hazy Shade of Winter" somehow becomes scolding of Ben for not washing his fingers.)

The three leads are well cast, not just Rosano as nervous Benjamin Bradcock (ha ha) and India Summer as posh Mrs. Robinson (although the movie gets very lampshady when she says she's "twice his age"), but also Raven Alexis as a generally serious Elaine.  Both fathers/husbands (James Bartholet and Herschel Savage), although their hair is grayed up in a distractingly fake way, do well with their roles.  Ron Jeremy, as Mr. Braverman/ Bus Driver, has a funny bit about "plastic novelties."  Rod Fontana (Skinner of Sex Files) has a good scene as the Night Clerk playing deadpanly off of Rosano, but I could've completely done without the return of Evan Stone, here playing a creepy Bouncer.

Which brings me to what I don't like about the movie, which is, as with other porn parodies, unfortunately most of the sex.  (I thought at one point I might wind up a porn addict, but I was apparently buying porn for the wrong reasons.)  The sex here is mostly BDSM, which is definitely not my cup of tea, although at least it's not overly violent here.  I suppose it could be said that it's used to reveal Mrs. Robinson's character, that she's a bitch who secretly wants to be dominated, but then why do we also get Stone bullying the poor stripper?  As for the more vanilla scenes, the threesome earlier on isn't bad, but we don't find out until after the fact that the man is Elaine's cheating boyfriend.  (Lexi Belle, who was Sam's friend in the Who's the Boss parody, is one of the two baby-voiced coeds.)  The Ben and Elaine scene is the only sex I actually liked, especially since it pays off in a surreal moment when her boyfriend shows up and she claims Ben is just an old friend of the family, when it is extremely obvious they've just had sex.

In fact, quite a bit of the movie is surreal, to the point that I was half seriously considering using a "fantasy" tag.  Characters can suddenly arrive at lightning speed, like they've been Scott-Pilgrimized.  And for no reason at all, both sets of parents show up on the bus when Ben & Elaine run away.  They're not angry, they're actually quite cheerful, like this is all some Candid Camera stunt.  It makes plot holes like Mrs. Robinson's consequence-less seduction of Ben's mother after he falls for Elaine perhaps not matter.  Maybe this whole thing is just meant to be a drug trip, since there are scenes of drug use at the frat house (Delta Kappa Smegma, hee hee) of the boyfriend (Parker Cameron Stevenson, ho ho).  Or maybe the source material (both book and movie) never made much sense to begin with.

Easy A

Easy A
September 17, 2010
Screen Gems etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

Like Going the Distance, this is better than it should be, although not as good as that, and no, it does not earn an A (easy or otherwise) from me.  I put it on a level with Juno, which it resembles in some ways, in that the main character is a witty, cynical, but good-hearted teenage girl with awesome parents who support her, even as her sexuality makes her an outcast at school.  In Juno's case, it's because she's pregnant, while here Olive (played by Emma Stone) is both victim and manipulator of rumors about her promiscuity.  The title and much of the plot are inspired by The Scarlet Letter, but this is not based on a book per se.  The movie is at least as much about the effect of social media, from texting to videoblogs, giving a very modern touch to a movie that in some ways could've made back in the mid-'60s, or at least in the '80s that Olive idealizes in a different way than Gen-Yers Erin and Garrett do in Distance.  Like Juno, she looks up to a time she wasn't even alive in.

On the one hand, it seems a bit much to believe that an entire high school (even in a small town) could get spun up about one girl losing her virginity to a college guy.  On the other, it's not like slut-shaming isn't alive and well, in the real and the cyber world.  I like how the movie argues that Olive's sexual experience is nobody's business, although of course this is ironic since we're meant to care about it as the audience.  Olive is a "good girl" in the sense that she's seventeen and never been grounded or sent to the principal's office, until the events of this story.

Her parents aren't as gruff as Juno's, but instead, as played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, they are whimsical and playful, although still attentive and caring.  They're named Dill and Rosemary, and her kid brother is named Chip, so the whole family is "edible."  (I've heard that there's another brother, named Kale, off at college, and it's his nonexistent friend that Olive supposedly loses her "V-card" to.)

The other stand-outs in the cast are Thomas Haden Church as Mr. Griffith (his delivery on "Don't forget, tomorrow is Earth Day" understandably kept breaking Stone up) and Dan Byrd as Brandon, the gay friend whose plot thread is both poignant and funny.  But it's mostly Stone's movie, and she carries it well.  I don't feel like the movie is well structured, and some things, like Lisa Kudrow's betrayal, just seem to happen so that the movie can keep moving.  But overall, entertaining enough.  The "romance" tag by the way comes from her involvement with "Woodchuck Todd," played by Penn Badgley.

Andrew Fleming, writer/director of Threesome, has a bit role as a Doctor.  Yolanda Snowball, who was Mrs. Yeager in The Brady Bunch Movie, is a Receptionist here.

Going the Distance

Going the Distance
September 3, 2010
New Line etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B+

Although not on the level of High Fidelity, this rom-com is much better than it should be.  Like High Fi, it is mainly told from the man's perspective (although less so of course), and perhaps that's why it's cruder and yet more believable.  Not that that made The Wedding Singer or Apatow and the like any more realistic of course.  And although Erin, played by, yes, Drew Barrymore again, is very much a one-of-the-guys kind of girl, to the point that when she's drunk she tells the stranger she's arguing with to commit sex acts with "her penis," she is also definitely a modern woman, one who confides in her blabby friend Harper (Sarah Burns, in a smaller but similar role to I Love You Man's Hailey).  Garrett, played by Barrymore's real on-again-off-again boyfriend Justin Long, responds to the explanation of girl-talk with "I know how it works.  I've seen Moesha."

That is just one of many hilarious lines that sound off the cuff, said the way that witty, pop-culturally savvy people, like Garrett in the music-industry and Erin in newspapers, talk.  Within the first five minutes, I was laughing very hard and thinking about how much I adore this movie.  That it also acknowledges that its main couple are in dying businesses, as things move more and more into the cyber-world, is another strain of realism that I appreciate.  (I said of Never Been Kissed, "This film...does not have a moment in it that is believable even within its own poorly constructed world," and Barrymore's journalist roles is one point of comparison.)  Technology also has its impact on the long-distance (New York to San Francisco) relationship, with Erin and Garrett keeping in touch through not only cell phones but videochatting, but it only adds to the frustration that they feel that they are physically separated.  And have you ever seen another rom-com that has the couple decide not to visit at Christmas because airline tickets are too pricy?

Even the supporting performances, while exaggerated, are believable on some level, rising above stereotypes that we see elsewhere in rom-coms, Barrymore's Music and Lyrics among them.  Christina Applegate has the role of the germ-phobic, nagging but loving older sister, which she does so much more (comedically and dramatically) with than Kristen Johnson in M & L.  (Even the henpecked husband is better here, and in fact Jim Gaffigan had the best line in the trailer, if YouTube comments are any evidence.)   Jason Sudeikis as Box and Charlie Day (who would do the voice of Benny in The Lego Movie) as Dan are over the top at times (Day especially), but even at their most outrageous they give the lines such sincerity that it only adds to the humor.  The main cast's chemistry, not just romantic, is perfect, and it's a treat to hang out with the various combinations of these five people.  But, yes, it's Barrymore and Long's real-life chemistry coming through, that we totally buy, for instance, that he makes her laugh that hard, which makes the movie so special.  We want to see them kiss and we (well, I anyway) cry with them when they cry.

So why not an A- or even higher?  Well, I don't think the movie maintains the high level of the first half to full hour.  Not that it sours but it does lose its giddiness, and not just as it turns more serious.  Even the funny scenes feel less funny.  Still, it remains an underrated genre-buster that stretches and even shatters a few of the rom-com tropes (like the way jealousy is handled), while staying comedic and romantic most of the time.

Matt Servitto was Arty in Enchanted and is Hugh here.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
August 13, 2010
Universal
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Action
DVD
B-

This is based on a graphic novel series I've never read, other than what appears in the movie itself and its DVD extras.  As such, I'm not going to get into a discussion of how well it translates to the screen, but I will note that I like the comic-like elements, such as the sound effects that we can read as well as hear.  There are also elements of video games, especially but not limited to the fight scenes.  And then are bits of less classifiable whimsy, such as some characters' ability to do things very quickly, even if asleep.  It is an interesting stylistic blend.

Unfortunately, the central couple in this anti-rom-com are the two least appealing characters in the movie (well, other than some minor characters we see much less of).  Scott is in a way the typical adorkable Michael Cera character, but he has to do a lot of very un-Cera-like things, including make various women unhappy, although this is admittedly unintentional.  And his dream girl Ramona Flowers has no real personality; she's just as much of a cypher at the end as she is at the beginning.  It's hard to be invested in their relationship, and I'm not even sure if we're supposed to be, but it does get a lot of screen time.  Luckily, the supporting characters are much more vivid and, even when they do unlikable things, entertaining.  My favorites are Wallace, the gay roommate, and Julie, the foul-mouthed friend of an ex.  The title of the movie is somewhat of a misnomer, since Scott battles Ramona's seven evil exes, but there is a sense that everyone, even his friends, is against him.  This viewing, I was rooting for the world, and I completely agreed with Knives Chau when she said that she's too cool for him.

Nelson Franklin was one of Sydney's Buddies in I Love You, Man and has the small but scene-stealing role of Comeau here.  (He's the one who says the comic book is always better than the movie.)  Bill Hader, who is The Voice, would be Kyle in They Came Together.

Who's the Boss? A XXX Parody

Who's the Boss? A XXX Parody
February 14, 2010
New Sensations Video
Porn, Romance, Comedy
Download
C+

To make a long story short, a year ago I rediscovered Who's the Boss? in time for the 30th anniversary.  I'd watched it at the time but it was very interesting to revisit it.  And part of that revisiting ended up being watching this porn parody in the sub-sub-genre of "sitcums."  Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, it's porn with a laugh track.  And with the "audience" squealing over kissing and suggestive lines.  (Luckily, both tracks are silent during the sex scenes.)  The comedy portions are pretty contrived, and the funniest thing about the writing is the writer's name, Crystal D. Lite.  (Which seems fitting, since Bud Wiser produced the actual show.)  The movie is directed by Lee Roy Myers, who appears to be the king of the porn parody.  And, yes, with this source material, the movie is also a rom-com, since we want Tony & Angela to get together, and, oh, yes, they definitely do.

However, as with Sex Files, there are other pairings and groupings.  I generally enjoyed these more than in Files, since there was more set-up for why these people were together and the sex seemed less interminable.  In fact, the Sam & Marcy pairing is actually a bit sweet and sexy.  Yes, "Marcy" with a Y rather than an I.  The movie is not exactly canonical to the show.  The Tony & Angela dynamic is similar to the first season, with him walking in on her in the bathroom, as he did early on in the show.  (Rosano also walks in on Kimberly Kane in Sex Files, although it's less farcical there of course.)  This Angela pulls rank more than the TV version usually did, especially in later seasons.  In fact, there are unresolved class issues here, unresolved even after consummation, not that I expected a serious political treatise of course.

The biggest change is that "the kids" have been aged up by about a decade, so that they're in college and thus able to have girlfriends.  Sam has a boyfriend, too, Jesse, who, unlike his TV counterpart, who was very much the late '80s activist, is sexist enough to think girls don't need to go to college.  He ends up with Mona in the kitchen, even though Sam and Marcy are in the next room.  In fact, the entire movie is set in the house, with a very tiny cast (ten people), none of whom walk in on anything more than mild making out.

The casting in the movie ranges from way off to dead on.  I don't at all care for 43-year-old Payton Leigh as Mona, or the final sex scene, where she has slaves up in her room (proving that she's the boss) and she hardly interacts with them.  She doesn't look or sound a bit like Katherine Helmond, not even a younger, Soap-era Helmond.  And obviously she's much too young to be playing the grandmother of a college student.

Anthony Rosano and India Summer were both 33 at the time this was released, she a few months older than he, so they're not too far off from the ages of first-season Tony Danza and Judith Light, although, again, too young to be the parents of college "kids."  (Rosano and Summer would reunite in The Graduate XXX, as respectively Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, despite their lack of age difference.)   Twenty-three-year-old Alyssa Reece plays Sam and 22-year-old Sonny Hicks is Jonathan and they're reasonably well cast, looking and sounding enough like their TV counterparts to not be distracting like Leigh.

Summer somewhat has the look of Judith Light, although she's wearing an obvious blonde wig.  She's tall and slender with a small chest and long legs.  She doesn't really sound like Light and she does seem overly uptight, except of course when she lets herself go in the sex scene.  Rosano on the other hand is perfectly cast.  (And Danza-ly cast, considering his screen name is Anthony, so he is another Tony playing Tony.  He also was Tony in the porn parody of Taxi that same year.)  He doesn't quite look like Danza but he sounds like him.  Even during the sex scene, he's perfectly in character, yes, with an "ay-oh" here and there.  If everyone were on his level, I would give this movie a much higher rating.  Watch this movie for him, especially with Summer.  They have good chemistry together, in the sexual tension scenes as well as the release of tension scene.  And they're actually adorable in the post-coital goo-goo eyes scene.  Pity that the movie doesn't end right after that.

Lexi Belle, who plays Marcy, would again be a College Student in Graduate XXX.

The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog
December 11, 2009
Disney
Children's, Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Historical
DVD
B-

Partially based on E.D. Baker's The Frog Princess, which I can't remember if I've read, this is a Disney Princess movie with a difference, well, many differences.  It has a relatively modern and real setting, New Orleans in the 1920s.  (The prologue is set the day Wilson is elected President, but I'm guessing this is 1912 rather than '16.)  The "princess" is an African-American waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant.  She does get her prince, but he's not her main goal.  And, yes, both of them are turned into frogs, because of voodoo.

Co-writers/directors Ron Clements and John Musker also did Aladdin and, while this isn't as dazzling, it is a worthy successor as a "not a typical Disney Princess movie."  There's no razzle-dazzle performance on the level of Robin Williams's genie, although the voicework and acting are generally solid.  The two biggest standouts are Keith David as villain Dr. Facilier and Jenifer Lewis as wise-woman Mama Odie, who, in their songs especially, show the dark and light sides of voodoo, and of changing your life.  The use of light and color is sometimes impressive.  And a couple of the characters, particularly Charlotte and Ray, end up having more substance than expected.  I would say the biggest flaw in the movie is pacing, too many stops and starts.  Otherwise, I would probably go with a B, as with Aladdin.

Phil Proctor did additional voices in Aladdin well.  (And, yes, this is the Firesign Theatre Phil Proctor, who co-wrote Americathon.)

Since I've gotten more 21st-century films in recent months, and since there are more films from 2000 to '09 than there were in, for instance, the 1970s, I've decided to split off the 2010s, unlike with my book blog.

The Sex Files: A Dark XXX Parody

The Sex Files: A Dark XXX Parody
Sept. 30, 2009
Digital Sin
Porn, Romance, Horror
Download
D+

My porn collection has doubled to six movies since I reviewed Different Strokes.  This is entirely due to the acting talents of Anthony Rosano, who here plays Mulder.  After watching him in Who's the Boss?: A XXX Parody, I wondered what else he'd done.  I watched some trailers and (non-pornographic) clips, and this and the Graduate parody seemed the best of the lot.  In fact, I quite enjoyed the porn-less version of this movie on YouTube, even though I've seen maybe one episode of The X-Files.  He and Kimberly Kane, who's apparently a dead ringer for Dana Delany, are both quite good (she won an adult film acting award, and he was nominated, for this movie) and also have an appealing chemistry.  The mood of the film is appropriately atmospheric, although it seems that it's more horror-focused than the more sci-fi-oriented source material.

So why the low grade?  Well, unfortunately I didn't care for any of the sex scenes besides Rosano's and Delany's, which manages to be both hot and romantic, coming as it does after a believable confession of love.  With all the other pairings, and group sex, I hadn't the slightest interest in seeing those people together, and I found the sex boring and seemingly endless.  If the movie were just what's on YouTube, plus that love scene, I'd probably go with a B+, but the running time would be more than an hour less than it actually is.

The "parody" in the title by the way is misleading.  Unlike most of the other movies in the parody-porn subgenre (more about that under WtBXXXP), this is not played for laughs, although there are moments of humor, mostly in Mulder and Scully's quips.  I think the "dark" was put in there to suggest this but it makes it sound like it'll be black comedy porn, which it isn't either.

Evan Stone, who's the male Club Goer, would be a Bouncer in The Graduate XXX, while Rod Fontana, who's Skinner, would be the Night Clerk there.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
July 15, 2009
Warner Bros.
Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Drama
DVD
B-

Harry Potter regulars this time include (* for newbies):

1. Afshan Azad as Padma Patil
2. David Bradley as Argus Filch
3. Jim Broadbent as Professor Horace Slughorn*
4. Scarlett Byrne as Pansy Parkinson (new to the role)*
5. Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown (new to the role)*
6. Shefali Chowdhury as Parvati Patil
7. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
8. Louis Cordice as Blaise Zabini*
9. Warwick Davis as Professor Filius Flitwick
10. Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
11. Amber Evans as Twin Girl #1*
12. Ruby Evans as Twin Girl #2*
13. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
14. Michael Gambon as Professor Albus Dumbledore
15. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
16. Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
17. Rod Hunt as Thorfinn Rowle*
18. Ralph Ineson as Amycus Carrow*
19. Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy
20. Isabella Laughland as Leanne*
21. Dave Legeno as Fenrir Greyback*
22. Georgina Leonidas as Katie Bell (new to the role)*
23. Katie Leung as Cho Chang
24. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
25. Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood
26. Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy*
27. William Melling as Nigel
28. Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan
29. James Phelps as Fred Weasley
30. Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
31. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
32. Anna Shaffer as Romilda Vane*
33. Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
34. Timothy Spall as Wormtail
35. Freddie Stroma as Cormac McLaggen*
36. Natalie Tena as Nymphadora Tonks
37. David Thewlis as Remus Lupin
38. Suzanne Toase as Alecto Carrow*
39. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
40. Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
41. Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley
42. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2014/01/harry-potter-and-half-blood-prince.html.  And, yes, I consider the movie to be roughly equivalent in quality to the book, although the flaws are different.  As I noted there, the Horcruxes are mishandled in the movie in the sense that Dumbledore says they could be the most commonplace of objects, when in fact this better describes Portkeys (like the "manky old boot") and it's unlikely that Voldemort would entrust pieces of his soul to worthless objects.

One flaw is that, as in Order of the Phoenix, a romance is left unresolved, in this case that of Ginny and Dean.  (Poor Alfie Enoch is once again underused, even as a point in a triangle.)  We're told that Ginny and Dean argue, but we never actually see them break up, so when Ginny flirts with Harry at Christmastime and later, it's difficult to know how to take it.  I will say though that the girls and women are less out of character here than in the book, and I think this is Emma Watson's best performance so far.  (When she attacks Ron with conjured birds, he's not actually pecked and injured, like in the book, just frightened.)

My other gripe is that while some of the shots are lovely and/or haunting, too many of them are dark, which means losing detail on a television screen.  On the plus side, Yates turns out to have a gift for comedy, especially when characters are acting drunk or stoned, most notably Daniel Radcliffe's "pincers" moment.  And the Ron-on-Love-Potion scenes are everything they ought to be, with Radcliffe a fine straight man to Rupert's loopiness and handsiness.

Paul Davies is again a Death Eater, as he was in Goblet of Fire and would be again in both Deathly Hallows movies.  Tabatha St. Vincent was an extra in Order of the Phoenix as well.  Nathan Clarke is a Gryffindor Student, as he was in Order.  Neil Findlater was a Ministry of Magic Panel Member there and is a Wizard Teacher here.

Ifeoma Oboko would again be a Hogwarts student in Hallows I, although not specifically Gryffindor.  Elliott Francis would again be a Slug Club Member there.  Ninette Finch is an extra here but would be Augusta Longbottom in Hallows 2.  Arthur Bowen, who's Boy at Chestnut Stand, would be more prominent towards the very end of the series, as Albus Severus Potter.

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia!
July 18, 2008
Universal etc.
Musical, Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

This at times feels like a throwback to, no, not ABBA's glory days in the '70s, but rather the early '80s, when the cheesy, nonsensical musical sub-genre reached some sort of pinnacle, or depth, with Grease 2 and Pirate Movie.  In fact, watching this in the theater the first time (I went twice), the flipper-ballet on the jetty felt like a Pirate Movie out-take.  And yet, even when Pierce Brosnan is proving himself the worst singing James Bond since Timothy Dalton in Sextette, the movie has more heart than most modern movies.  Much of this is due to star Meryl Streep, who of course out-acts everyone but nearly out-sings everyone, with the notable exception of Amanda Seyfried as her daughter Sophie.  Seyfried has an incredible voice that Mean Girls gave no hint of.  In a plot with an incredibly fuzzy timeline (I think it's set in '97, but this is debatable), twenty-year-old Sophie wants to finally meet her father, and so she invites the three most likely candidates to her wedding:  Brosnan, Colin Firth (very sweet as the now gay one), and Stellan Skarsgård,  Meanwhile, other guests arrive, including Streep's best friends, one played by a surprisingly slapsticky Julie Walters.  Not every moment in the movie works, but the ABBA covers are great and I can't think of a weak one in the bunch.  Also, the Greek scenery is gorgeous.

Norma Atallah was Debra in Yentl and is Irini here.  Kirsty Mather, who's a Hen here, would be John's Boat Girl in Pirate Radio.

Baby Mama

Baby Mama
April 25, 2008
Universal etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

In some ways, this is sort of the flip-side of Juno, although Amy Poehler is the working-class surrogate mother for the baby that single yuppie Tina Fey hopes to have, rather than an accidentally pregnant teen.  There are more stereotypes here, not just with Poehler's character but also with Romany Malco as Oscar the African-American doorman.  I do feel that the performances and the witty screenplay humanize and expand on these stereotypes, but I can see how some might object.  Similarly, the whole "ticking biological clock" thing can be seen as both '80s dated and anti-feminist, but Fey and the others manage to tweak this.  Similarly, the movie plays with rom-com tropes (most obviously in the "Endless Love" sequence) and applies them to two straight women who become unlikely best friends.  The two leads, friends in real life, play off of each other well, and are ably supported by (among others) Steve Martin as Fey's New-Agey boss, Sigourney Weaver as the 50-something but incredibly fertile manager of the surrogacy agency, the eternal Holland Taylor as Fey's mother, and Greg Kinnear as Fey's love interest, one of the more realistic characters, although not without humor.

Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who plays the Birthing Teacher, was (minus the speech impediment) Stanley's Mother in Holes.  Mark A. Keeton was Sloane's Dinner Companion in Music and Lyrics and is Denim Suit Guy here.  Fred Armisen, the Stroller Saleman here, would be the Pastor in Easy A.

Juno

Juno
December 25, 2007
Fox etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

It would be fair to say of this movie, as of Clerks, that it's unrealistic for so many of the characters to be that witty and pop-culturally savvy.  Also, like Napoleon Dynamite, the film seems to exist in some present-day time warp, in this case a world where teens don't have cell phones or computers.  And yet, there is an inner core of reality and believability, particularly in the performances by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno's tough but loving father and stepmother.  Ellen Page brings just the right balance of cynicism and naivete to the title role, playing a unique but recognizable 16-year-old.  And Michael Cera succeeds with the difficult role of the best friend whom she seduces and becomes pregnant by.  (Admittedly, it is in retrospect a typical Cera part, but at the time it felt fresh.)  Jennifer Garner and Michael Bateman play the Yuppie couple who want to adopt Juno's baby.  The movie does at times get to be a bit much, as with the oh-so indie soundtrack, which is why I can't rate it higher, but overall it's good.

Lucas MacFadden, AKA Cut Chemist, aptly plays the Chemistry Teacher here and was an Ozomatli Band Member in Never Been Kissed.  Brandon Barton, of the Dancing Elk Track Team, would show up as '80s Jock Boy in Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

This is by the way the 300th movie I've reviewed.  I added another D, for two total, but no more D+s.  There are three more C-s and four C's, making 17 and 22 respectively.  C+s have gone from 47 to 59, B-s from 58 to 91.  B's have again more than doubled, this time from 27 to 58.  B+s jumped from 22 to 37.  And A-s went from five to seven, while I actually have two new A's, making three in all.

Enchanted

Enchanted
November 21, 2007
Disney
Fantasy, Musical, Romance
DVD
B

A gentle self-parody by Disney of the whole Princess phenomenon, this is also a tour de force by Amy Adams, who manages to keep her character, sweet and naive Giselle (not actually a princess but "in love with" a prince), intact while still adding complexity.  And when she breaks into song, especially the extravaganza of "That's How You Know," it's hard not to be swept away.  Patrick Dempsey as Robert Philip, the cynical New Yorker whom she falls for, provides some balance in tone, although he, too, is won over.  Interestingly, their initial love interests, James Marsden as Prince Edward and Idina Menzel as Nancy, are not put down to push the main romance forward and in fact find their own Happily Ever After.  (Menzel would go on to be the voice of Elsa in Frozen.)  The other potential couple is Timothy "Wormtail" Spall as Nathaniel and his sexy but evil Queen Narissa, played just right by Susan Sarandon.  Julie Andrews briefly narrates and there are a whole bunch of Disney references throughout the movie.  (My favorite was the Bella Notte restaurant, a subtler Lady and the Tramp joke than in Flushed Away.)  If the movie never quite makes it to "classic" status, it does at least hold up to repeat viewings.  (In the first year of its release, I kept happening to watch it again, including in the unlikely setting of a ferry to the Shetland Islands.)

Harvey Evans was a Chimney Sweep Dancer in Mary Poppins, more than 40 years before he dances here.  Margaret Travolta was Rob's Mom in High Fidelity and does more voicework here as a Radio Therapist.  Amir Raissi was Eli's Egyptian Friend in The Royal Tenenbaums and is a dancer here.  Steven Weisz, who was a Charity Ball Attendee in Two Weeks Notice, is a Stunned Pedestrian here.  Thelma O'Leary was a Concert Attendee in Music and Lyrics and is a Park Attendee here, while Robert Sciglimpaglia was a Class of 1987 Alumnus there and plays a Ball Room Guest here.

"You know this song, too?"

Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics
February 14, 2007
Castle Rock etc.
Comedy, Romance, Musical
DVD
B-

Writer-director Marc Lawrence did Two Weeks Notice and there are some obvious similarities, most particularly the coasting on Hugh Grant's chemistry with his leading lady, in this case the equally rom-com-prone Drew Barrymore.  Also, the film is set in New York and there's a sounding-board sibling, this time an older sister for Drew's character Sophie.  As such, the movie also has parallels with Going the Distance, although that movie would turn rom-com tropes inside out.  This one is more standard, but amiable enough to make me wish it were better.  The best aspect is undoubtedly Grant's character's former stardom in an '80s pop band called Pop!  (With the exclamation point, à la Wham!)  A perfect parody video opens the movie and nothing after that can live up to it.  My advice: put your expectations low and just enjoy this movie for what it is. 

Stephen Detherage was a News Intern in Groundhog Day and is Al the Concert Shirt Vendor here.   Carlos Velazquez was a Musician in School of Rock but is a waiter here, while Kathleen McNenny was Freddy's Mother there and is Gloria here.  Charlotte Maier had played Hugh Grant's ex-wife Helen Wade in Two WN and plays Barbara here, while Adam Grupper was her lawyer before and is Gary here, and Jason Antoon was Norman there and has a more memorable role here as angsty songwriter Greg Antonsky.

Thelma O'Leary plays a Concert Attendee here and would soon be a Park Attendee in Enchanted, while Robert Sciglimpaglia is a Class of 1987 Alumnus here and would play a Ball Room Guest there.  Mark A. Keeton is Sloan's Dinner Companion here and would be Denim Suit Guy in Baby Mama.  Zack Orth was Mike in In & Out and J.J. in Wet Hot American Summer, and is David Newbert (TV Executive #1) here.  (He would also go on to be a Waiter in They Came Together.)

The 40 Year Old Virgin

The 40 Year Old Virgin (no hyphens originally)
August 19, 2005
Universal
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

I went back and forth between a B and a B- on this, because when the movie is good, it's very good, as in the Hair tribute at the end.  And I didn't want to be overly influenced by hindsight, that the Judd Apatow weaknesses which would be more obvious in subsequent films, from Knocked Up to Trainwreck, are evident here, in his first theatrical release.  But the truth is, the crude humor has not aged well, that what was shocking but funny a decade ago is now just gross and at best mildly amusing.  Also, far too much time is spent with the male bonding and the false leads that the title character (played by Steve Carell) faces in his search to no longer be a virgin, and not enough on the genuinely sweet romance between Carell and Catherine Keener.

And I do have to say that the main Apatow weakness is a tendency to contrast "bad behavior" with personally conservative behavior and have the latter win out, but only after we've sat through a lot of swearing, drinking, dope-smoking, homophobia, and women being treated as bitches and ho's.  In this case, the virgin loses his virginity on his wedding night.  (In Knocked Up, an unplanned pregnancy between two incompatible strangers leads to marriage, while in Trainwreck what would've once been called a party girl learns the error of her wicked ways and of course embraces monogamy.)  If you want to make an old-fashioned story, fine, but this isn't the 1920s and I get tired of the morality plays where the audience is shown the worst of wildness and then we get a Hays Code ending, like these are the only two possibilities.  That said, it's not as bad here, and the virgin does end up with a "hot grandma" who brings out the best in him, not exactly the usual Hollywood ending, in the 20th or 21st centuries.

And the male bonding does have chemistry of a different sort (even if the guys, even "sensitive" David, played by Paul Rudd) keep gay-baiting each other.  (And not that this is never funny.  The "spinach dip in a loaf of sourdough bread" line is still golden.)  Carell, Rudd, Romany Malco (who would be Oscar in Baby Mama), and Seth Rogen play off of each other well.  And Jane Lynch, as their boss, also has some great lines, mostly improv apparently.  Overall, the movie is still worth watching but I don't know that I would buy it again, given the choice.

Marilyn Dodds Frank was Alison's Mom in High Fidelity and is Woman Who Bought Television here.  Wayne Federman was an Admissions Guy in Legally Blonde and is a Smart Tech Customer here.  Carla Gallo is Toe-Sucking Girl here and would be Zooey's Friend in I Love You, Man.  Joseph A. Nuñez is Man Buffing Floor here and would be Oscar the Security Guard in Bridesmaids, while Nancy Carell is Health Clinic Counselor here and would be Helen's Tennis Partner there.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
November 19, 2004
Universal/ Miramax
Comedy, Drama, Romance
DVD
C

The faults of Bridget Jones 1-- notably the manipulative soundtrack and directing choices-- are even stronger here in the three-years-later-made but set-the-following-year sequel.  (And Bridget is now born in '72, which makes her a year younger than last time.)  Renée Zellweger as Jones is back, as are her two men, Colin Firth as Mark Darcy and Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver.  And so are a whole bunch of mostly under-used perfomers, among them Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as Bridget's parents; James Callis, Shirley Henderson, and Sally Phillips as Bridget's friends; James Faulkner and Celia Imrie as Geoffrey and Una Alconbury; Neil Pearson as Richard Finch (Bridget's boss at Sit Up, Britain); Donald Douglas as Admiral (formerly just Mr.) Darcy; and Dominic McHale as Bernard.  I was pleased that Phillips as Shazzer (looking quite fetching, especially in a Beatles cap) has more to do this time, but at that, even she disappears for chunks of the movie at a time.

What we're left with is a mix of unfunny slapstick and uneven drama.  Although the film is ostensibly (and Austensibly, this time influenced by Persuasion) about what happens after Happily Ever After, it's never really that convincing that Bridget and Mark are happy together.  So it's hard to care when they have a pregnancy scare or break up.  And when Daniel returns, it seems she may as well get off (and go off) with him instead.  I almost went with a C- on this, but I don't think it's bad, just disappointing.  And at that, it's sort of nice to see everyone again, although I wish they'd been given more to work with.  (I've read but don't own the book this is based on, although at the time of my reading blog I thought I did.)

Ray Donn was a Limo Driver in Bride & Prejudice, is a customer here, and would be a Policeman in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Campbell Graham returns as Hamish and would be a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,  while Sam Beazley is Very Old Man here and would be Everard in Order of the Phoenix, and Jessica Stevenson is Magda here and would be the voice of Mafalda Hopkirk in Phoenix.  Tom Brooke, who plays a Production Assistant, would be Thick Kevin in Pirate Radio.

Bride & Prejudice

Bride & Prejudice
October 8, 2004
Miramax etc.
Romance, Musical, Comedy
DVD
B

This has obvious, surface similarities to Monsoon Wedding (2001) in that both are about large families living in modern-day India, and both films show the influence of Bollywood.  Also, as the titles suggest, weddings are important in both stories, although Wedding covers a shorter span of time, just the days leading up to and including a wedding, while here, in the Jane-Austen-inspired plot, much more attention is paid to how couples get together, and how they are sometimes separated, perhaps temporarily, perhaps not.  Besides the change in settings (not just India, but also London and L.A.), and such touches as email, the major differences from Pride and Prejudice are that Mr. Kohli is much more sympathetic (if still very comical) and the exact nature of Wickham's seductions and attempts is changed.  Other changes, such as the omission of Kitty Bennet, serve to streamline the movie, as the omission of various characters did in Sense & Sensibility (1995).

This came out shortly before the Keira Knightley P & P.  As with Paltrow's Emma vs. Clueless, I prefer the movie that is stylistically less faithful but more truly faithful to the spirit of the original novel.  The themes and the essence of the Austen novel are captured well, but there's also, particularly in the first third of the movie, a lot of what one song calls "color, light, and sound," the same dazzling elements seen in Monsoon, but with much better music.  The definite stand-out is "No Life Without Wife," where the four pajama-clad sisters are playful, romantic, and, well, sisterly, and the song is very catchy to boot.

Aishwarya Rai as Lalita (the Lizzy equivalent) is almost too perfect: witty and clever of course, but also devastatingly beautiful and of course musically talented, including playing the guitar.  She's also both feminist and proudly traditionally Indian.  In contrast, Martin Henderson as Will Darcy (equivalent to guess who) is a little bland.  It's a romance where I don't mind the main couple getting together but I don't feel terribly invested in it.  Luckily, as in the original novel, there are so many interesting side characters that it doesn't ultimately matter.

Something's Gotta Give

Something's Gotta Give
December 12, 2003
Columbia
Romance, Comedy, Drama
DVD
B-

I bought this movie on accident.  I was thinking it was As Good As It Gets, because they both have forgettable, almost meaningless titles and they're both rom-coms with dramatic streaks and Jack Nicholson.  By the time I realized my mistake, I wasn't sure if I had ever seen this movie.  Possibly but not necessarily.

It turns out I had but it hadn't particularly stayed with me.  Not that it's bad but it's so I don't know, genteel (even in the crude moments), with characters dressed in white and beige (and sometimes black) and spending much of their time in a Hamptons beach house out of a design magazine, that I had blocked it out.  Watching it again, I remember thinking I couldn't imagine any circumstance in which I would choose Nicholson over Keanu Reeves.  It's not just a matter of looks and age.  Keanu is absolutely sweet but not stupid in this movie, and in my head-canon he later hooks up with the heroine's sister Zoe, played by the wonderful Frances McDormand, who's off the screen far too much.

The heroine is playwright Emily Barry, played by Diane Keaton in a deservedly praised performance.  She hits so many emotional tones and it doesn't hurt that she was still a knockout at 57.  I could've done without the way Emily pretty much libelously "fictionalizes" her relationship with Nicholson's character, especially since the things that writer/director/producer Nancy Meyers finds funny, like "the dancing Henrys," just aren't.  It makes the whole thing feel like the sort of wish-fulfillment yet life-inspired fiction you get in the smarter chick-lit, like the works of Marion Keyes or Susan Isaacs.  (See my book blog for examples.)

Getting back to the Nicholson-Keaton romance, I think we're just supposed to accept that they're in love and right for each other, despite their differences, including his general preference for younger women and inexperience at "being a boyfriend."  Maybe it's that I've always found Nicholson a bit creepy and insincere that I just couldn't buy not only his appeal but his change of heart.  That said, I wasn't repulsed, just not invested.  And I do find it ironic that for a movie about people in late middle age, this movie is more "modern" than some of its peers, with IMing, cell phones, and of course Viagra.  Oh, and note, as when Keanu was paired with Barbara Hershey as an older woman in Tune in Tomorrow..., the film ends in Paris.

At least he makes her laugh.

But she doesn't look all that miserable with Keanu.

Down with Love

Down with Love
May 16, 2003
Fox
Comedy, Romance, Historical, Musical
DVD
B+

This was a box-office disappointment and there are still people who loathe it, but I find it almost as delightful as I did a dozen years ago.  It is both an over-the-top loving parody of early '60s "sex comedies" and an early 21st-century look at gender roles.  It is a rom-com but it puts surprising spins on the conventions, new and old, as with the moment when it seems like the movie could end but there's another twenty minutes or so.  The dialogue is suggestive and layered in other ways, and there's a lot of physical humor, not just slapstick but things like the stylized ways people walk and smile.

Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor are cast somewhat against both type and archetype.  That is, this is not the usual McGregor role and he's little like Rock Hudson.  Ditto for Zellweger and Doris Day.  The two supporting roles, played by Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce, however, are dead on Paula Prentiss and Tony Randall, although again with little twists and surprises.  (That they're both queer in real life adds yet another layer, as in the Japanese restaurant scene.)  Randall himself, then 83 and a year away from death, has a little gem of a role as the head of the publishing company where the book of the title is ignored and then celebrated.  "Down with Love" is also a song, and music is such an integral part of the movie that I think this deserves the "musical" tag, even if not strictly speaking a musical.

The film is especially notable for the look, as seen in set design and costumes, but also in such touches as a Mad Magazine cover.  It all looks like a slightly hyped-up version of what you would've seen in a 1962 film, from opening credits to closing.  There's also creative (and suggestive) use of split-screen.  If I can't rate the movie higher, it's that it hasn't aged quite as well as I hoped.  I still really enjoy it, but I don't love it as much after multiple viewings.  And it doesn't seem quite so innovative now as it did then.

Just as he had in I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and many other appearances, Will Jordan plays Ed Sullivan.  Sarah Christine Smith was a Go-Go Dancer in Austin Powers #1 and is an Astronette here.  Turtle, who was Cult Member Jeff in Dude, Where's My Car?, plays a Beatnik here.