This trial…the whole world…it’s all…show business.

The Hollywood Musical – for years it was one of the most lucrative genres for studios to make, but alas those days are no more. You can thank Rob Marshall’s Chicago for the fact that there has been an attempt to revive the old splendor.  The story of Roxie Hart has appeared in the media multiple times. There was a 1926 stage play, a 1927 Cecil B. DeMille silent movie, a 1942 talkie starring Ginger Rogers, the 1975 Bob Fosse musical and subsequent revivals followed by this most recent film version. Despite the 82 years between the original play and today, human behavior has not changed and the stinging indictments of our society hold just as much weight.

The original play was a fictionalized version of the crime of Beulah Annan, from Owensboro, Kentucky. She met her second husband, Albert Annan, in Louisville and after getting married they moved to Chicago. The facts of the actual case are pretty accurately reflected in the movie including the multiple motives given by Beulah/Roxie for shooting her lover in the back.

Rob Marshall, like Bob Fosse, is a choreographer and he stages numbers in an original, exciting way that still pays homage to Fosse’s. He uses a wonderful device to get audiences to accept the musical numbers. They are all shot as fantasies that the stage-struck Roxie uses to cope with her circumstances. Marshall skillfully weaves in and out of glamorous fantasy and shabbier reality. His staging of the first number “All That Jazz” easily ranks in the top musical moments of all time. We’re so bowled over by Catherine Zeta-Jones’s exuberance as she sings, “No, I’m no one ‘s wife, but I love my life and all that jazz,” that we nearly forget that she raced on to the stage after literally washing her sister’s blood off her hands.

It’s no fluke that Zeta-Jones won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Velma Kelly. She steals the movie in every scene in which she appears. Queen Latifah has a small, but memorable, part as Matron Mama Morton. John C. Reilly is fabulous as Roxie’s abused husband, Amos. He rips the audience’s guts out with his rendition of “Mr. Cellophane,” but he does it without being overly-sentimental. Richard Gere plays the smooth talking lawyer, Billy Flynn. He does a fine job, but his voice is not as strong as the previously mentioned actors. Still, he throws himself into the part with enthusiasm and really triumphs in the courtroom scenes. Renee Zellweger plays Roxie Hart, the lead. Her Roxie is pouty and manipulative but that works for the character. It’s not easy to be the lead in a musical, and while I was never as dazzled by her performance as I was by Zeta-Jones she did manage to hold her own.

Chicago is a story that dares to entertain us while sneering at us at the same time. It puts on spectacle after spectacle while pointing out the dangers of living in a world where people enjoy “the old razzle dazzle” more than they do the honest truth. In a world where boring is considered an unpardonable sin, Chicago points out the emptiness behind entertainment. It’s an interesting dichotomy. We enjoy Roxie and company, but we walk away feeling a bit hollow and cheated like Amos.

I recently re-watched this film in Blu-ray, and while parts of it looked as magnificent as you’d think…not all of it did. There were scenes that looked a little flat and even a couple that seemed just a touch blurry. Still, the highlights outweigh the nit-picks. If you’re a fan of the film, it’s worth watching in high definition.

So, what is your opinion on musicals? Love them, hate them? What’s your opinion of the follow-ups to Chicago, like Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, and the recent Mama Mia?

Director: Adam McKay

Writer(s): Will Ferrell (screenplay)(story), Adam McKay (screenplay)(story), John C. Reilly (story)

Release Date: July 25 2008

Genre: Comedy

Plot: Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) is a thirty-nine-year-old who has never left home and lives with his divorced mother, Nancy Huff (Mary Steenburgen). Dale Doback (John C. Reilly) is a forty-year-old who also has never left home and lives with his widower father, Dr. Robert Doback (Richard Jenkins). Both of them are unemployed and have been living off the goodness of their parents their whole lives. Nancy meets Robert; they fall in love, marry, and move into Robert's home. The two sons are forced to live together in the same room as step brothers. Brennan and Dale initially hate each other, but find out that they are not too different. They are like 12-year-olds trapped in adult bodies who haven't grown up and live in their own little worlds. They become best friends, and then their parents decide to kick them out, because they are getting a divorce. They set up job interviews, but to no avail. Their lives are about to change, and they must grow up. (credit to Douglas Young via imdb.com)

Awards: 1 win and 1 nomination

Cast: Will Ferrell, John c. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn

MPAA: Rated R for crude and sexual content, and pervasive language

Box Office: $90,695,938

Will Ferrell is a great comedian. Paired up with crazy man John C. Reilly, and you're just asking for funny trouble. The movie was beyond funny. The stupid things these 40-something year old men do in this movie are just gut busting hilarious. Things that no normally funny person would even think and actually do. But this is what is expected from these two. They've been doing it for years, and they did not disappoint me.

The beginning of the movie, is a classic scene. It shows the every day lives of these horrendous old men still living with their parents and getting everything, and then some, that they want. Slopping, grotesque eaters, and just all around idiots. But their eyes are opened when their parents remarry to each other. And the pouting begins.

These two characters are so similar to each other that, of course, they butt heads. The slight problem with this is that... there is no defining differences. They both think the same, act the same and are just... doubles. They're both idiots. lol

But the movie isn't completely dead because of that. Add in an older, more successful brother (Adam Scott) on Brennan Huff's side (Will Ferrell) and a crazily horny housewife (Kathryn Hahn) and you get some interesting friction and some laughs.

The acting was good. It didn't require the balls-busting hard work most movies need, but it was good enough to not see a lot of faults. The screenplay was fine and the story was OK. It was just a bunch of nonsense. Lol And that is what made it so darn funny.

There were some goofs. But not really noticeable unless you are seriously analyzing it on the opening night. I had to see it again (twice) to see that the Ice sculpture that ruptured with Will's frightening high note was once again whole again in a not so later scene. And after researching some more information, you can find some more goofs.

I really enjoyed this movie. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't great. But it was a lot of fun and it brightens your day.

B

Of course there was some problems, but it was still an awesomely funny movie.

MYV382

Allis R.

Efeito Zero (Zero Effect, 1998)
Assim como a estréia de papai em Body Heat garantiu sua obra prima a qual nunca foi ameaçada pelos filmes posteriores, o mesmo aconteceu com Jake e seu Efeito Zero na estréia como diretor, produtor e roteirista. Uma dessas pequenas pérolas que só o sangue novo do fim dos anos 90 sabia produzir, Efeito Zero é um objeto de culto para meia dúzia de pessoas e fonte maior dos labirintos indagatórios do porquê diabos Jake foi tão pouco aproveitado nos últimos 10 anos.
Por coincidência ou não, Efeito Zero também é um neo-noir, um neo-noir com humor extremamente sofisticado e subversor do gênero, apostando na excentricidade de seu detetive protagonista interpretado por Bill Pullman (num papel que só rivaliza em sua carreira com o de A Estrada Perdida), numa mistura de Nero Wolfe com Sherlock Holmes, inclusive não ficaria espantada se me dissessem que as nuances gerais do seriado Monk tivessem sua cota de furto extraídas de Efeito Zero, não me espantaria nem que House, suas investigações e aversão a pacientes tivesse Zero como seu ponto... zero. E sim, trocadilhos infames são mais fortes que a minha vontade.

Um Elenco do Barulho (The TV Set, 2006)
É uma espécie de Rede de Intrigas contemporâneo do mundo dos seriados, dolorosamente autobiográfico, Jake aponta o dedo na cara de sua própria experiência com seriados de TV e deixa algumas pistas sobre tantos outros, ou será mera coincidência o ator principal do show atender pelo nome de Zach e cujo roteiro nos remete imediatamente ao primeiro longa de Zach Braff?
A alma gêmea intelectual de Jake está presente de corpo e alma na caracterização que Duchovny fez de Judd Apatow, este que é o mais respeitado roteirista cômico americano da atualidade. Também não há como deixar de lembrar da própria Faye Dunaway em Network toda vez que Sigourney Weaver entra arrasando em cena, mesmo porque dona Weaver entende do assunto já que seu pai foi presidente da NBC durante anos.
Um amargo grande pequeno filme que precisa mesmo ser descoberto, principalmente pelos fãs de Efeito Zero, este que foi revitalizado como Piloto de uma possível série de TV em 2002, mas que não foi aprovado pela mesma NBC de sempre. Ah, a mesma NBC de Monk... Bastardos.

A Vida é Dura - A História de Dewey Cox (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, 2007)
A primeira coisa a ser citada quanto a este filme é John C. Reily. Reily é um dos melhores atores de sua geração, quase ninguém o conhece pelo nome, mas todo mundo sempre vai recordar de algum papel que interpretou, possivelmente um dos seus losers natos. E quantas pessoas de 43 anos podem ser suficientemente convincentes ao interpretarem um garoto de 14 anos? Eu sei, nenhuma. Nem ele.
Recorrendo a inestinguível parceria com Judd Apatow, Kasdan pode não ter atinjido a excelência de The Set TV ou Efeito Zero, mas para os padrões da mediocridade cômica que o cinema tem vivido nos últimos anos ganha alguns pontos, onde todo e qualquer clichê sobre cinebiografias de rockstars são levados ao cume do absurdo, está tudo lá: Walk The Line, The Doors, Quase Famosos, Elvis, Don't Look Back, Submarino Amarelo, A Fera do Rock, Ray, Tina, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, ou seja, quase o paraíso para os amantes do bom e velho Rock and Roll. Embora as cenas não funcionem em conjunto tanto quanto isoladamente, ainda é uma boa pedida, especialmente se levar em conta as participações antológicas de Jack White como Elvis Presley, o sensacional discurso final de Eddie Vedder (Iggy Pop é Matusalém?), Jack Black como Paul McCartney (!!!), Justin Long como George Harrison, Paul Rudd como John Lennon e Jason Schwartzman como Ringo Starr. Ó céus, como amo o Jason Schwartzman.

Nota 1: Sejamos francos, Jake escreve melhor longe do Judd Apatow, aliás, Jake Kasdan é o típico cineasta que trabalha melhor sozinho, tanto em The Set TV quanto em Efeito Zero ele teve controle como roteirista solo, diretor e produtor, de longe seus melhores filmes. Apatow é um excelente amigo-muso-inspirador, mas como colega de trabalho ele extingue as melhores características de Jake.

Nota 2: Curiosidade Californicatiana, a Lolita sociopata de Californication, Madeline Zima, é uma das "Slut Wars" em The TV Set, assim como a Dani California cita as tais "Slut Wars" num episódio do seriado. Slut Wars seria algo como um Big Brother com moças de biquini, o que não difere muito do original, é claro.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER - Must be 17+

ABOUT THE DVD

Paper or plastic?  It may seem like a difficult decision, but in the upcoming release of the comedy THE PROMOTION, two rival employees will make it clear which choice is the best choice. Starring Academy Award^® nominee* John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) and Seann William Scott (Mr. Woodcock, American Pie franchise), this hysterical story will debut on DVD September 2^nd from Genius Products and The Weinstein Company. 

THE PROMOTION highlights the dog-eat-dog world of middle management at a local grocery store in Chicago.  As a new addition to the neighborhood, two men are jumping on the opportunity to gain a coveted managerial position at the store. As assistant managers, Doug (Scott) and Richard (Reilly), both think they are the most deserving but each are more than aware that only one man will earn the new title. 

THE PROMOTION also stars Emmy^® nominees Jenna Fischer (Blades of Glory, “The Office”) and Lili Taylor (The Notorious Bettie Page, “State of Mind,” “Six Feet Under”) as the twosome’s wives, and also features a cameo by Jason Bateman (Juno, Hancock).  An official selection of the 2008 SXSW Film Festival that also marks the feature film directorial debut of writer Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weatherman), who also penned the film.

THE PROMOTION DVD will include 6 deleted scenes and a “making-of” featurette.

This is a funny ass movie. I went to see it this weekend and we was laughing all thru the movie. This is truly a r-rated movie. From Brawls scenes with little kids to balls dragging on drum sets. Will Ferrell and John Reilly did their thing
Watch this UNRATED trailer for Step Brothers

It's certainly good to see Will Ferrell finally get away from his string of sports comedies, a cycle which began with the goofy (and wickedly funny) Nascar satire Talladega Nights, but had pretty much worn thin by the time of last year's Semi-Pro. In Step Brothers, Ferrell re-teams with frequent on-screen collaborator John C. Reilly, a veteran character actor who, thanks mainly to Ferrell and producer Judd Apatow, has begun to get his due as a comedic star in his own right. Both actors have an uncanny ability to play developmentally stunted manchildren, and in that sense, Step Brothers is an inspired premise, with Reilly and Ferrell playing 40-somethings who can't seem to leave the comfort and security of their parents' houses. When their single parents meet and move in together, the pair must learn to finally get a life.

As this summer's comedic star vehicles go, Step Brothers far outshines the likes of The Love Guru, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, and Meet Dave. But still, in spite of a lot of good laughs, it left me a little cold. It's different from the most recent crop of Ferrell films, but on a number of fundamental levels, it's much the same. It leaves behind a common formula, opting to focus equally on its two stars, rather than presenting Ferrell as some sort of troupe leader. But the tone remains the same. For Reilly, whose early career was marked by incredible versatility, may now be pigeonholing himself as a Ferrell sidekick (or a Ferrell surrogate). Ferrell himself has shown some range (though usually in bad films, like Stranger Than Fiction, Melinda and Melinda, and The Producers), but as he ages, he'll need to consider what tack he wants to take with his personal projects.

Don't get me wrong here; I'm a huge fan of a well-made stupid comedy, and Ferrell has long been one of my favorite performers. I just fear for his future a little. This summer, I've lamented the fates of the likes of Mike Myers and, especially, Eddie Murphy. It's not hard to imagine, ten years from now, looking at Will Ferrell's career arc and seeing something similar.

But that's all a future concern. For now, both Ferrell and Reilly have enough laughs still in the tank to make Step Brothers work. The get a little help from the always awesome Richard Jenkins (as Reilly's dad) and a well delivered straight woman performance from Mary Steenburgen (as Ferrell's mom). Adam Scott (a familiar bit player from other Apatow projects) has some of the film's best gags as Ferrell's successful and obnoxious younger brother.

Step Brothers is also aided by the direction of Adam McKay, a veteran of several Will Ferrell projects, who knows how to play to his star's sensibility. The overall look of the film is understated, but the filmmaker's intention shines through; despite few bells and whistles, it's clear McKay has a handle on his story. You can draw a pretty strong line between the way McKay approaches directing a film and the way his boss Apatow does. Apatow himself doesn't so much direct, as he just shoots. It's refreshing to see someone like McKay, who's able to handle the genre.

Next up for Step Brothers' major players? Ferrell is starring in a film adaptation of Land of the Lost, a pretty dubious proposition given the history of beloved TV shows going to the big screen years after the fact (see Get Smart). Reilly is slated to appear as a vampire in Cirque du Freak, helmed by American Pie director Paul Weitz, which, if Weitz's recent history is any indication (American Dreamz, In Good Company) probably isn't terribly promising. McKay, sadly, has nothing in the pipeline, undoubtedly awaiting the call for Ferrell's next vanity project.

For now, those projects still work. Ferrell just needs to start considering his options.

Programming Note: The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The new (about eight years too late) X-Files film (I Want to Believe) was released the same weekend as Step Brothers. But it didn't stay in release for long. I missed it completely. Since I hadn't seen the first X-Files film, I could claim I Want to Believe under my "unseen sequel exemption," but I won't. I had intended to see it, but it turned out to be even more of a catastrophic failure than I thought it would be. I'm awaiting its inevitable release at Athens' $1 theater, where it will join the likes of College Road Trip, which has been running there for months. Look for a Summer Movie Suicide Mission addendum some time in September.

Film: Step Brothers
Director: Adam McKay
Stars: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Adam Scott

Viewing Situation: Weekday evening, half crowd; standard projection
Rotten Tomatoes Average: 51%
My Grade (Out of 10): 6

Next Up: Pineapple Express

Rating: A

“Step Brothers” is a Will Ferrell movie, starring Will Ferrell. It has Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in it. I’m telling you this is a Will Ferrell movie because if you’ve seen one Will Ferrell movie, you’ve seen them all, and thus you ought to know by now whether or not you like Will Ferrell movies, and thus you already know whether or not you’re going to like this movie. I don’t think there’s anything I could write to make a Will Ferrell fan hate this movie, not is there anything I can write to make a Will Ferrell hater enjoy it. Now I’ ve written “Will Ferrell” nine times, just to make sure nobody who likes Will Ferrell (ten) misses the point. So there you go.

That said, there are a few other things that might be said about this movie. They may not fall into traditional “movie review” format, but, as I have already shown, a movie like this does not benefit or suffer from a traditional movie review.

1. “Step Brothers” functions as a parody of Judd Apatow movies, most notably “Knocked Up.” But that movie is a parody of twentysomething men who act like adolescents. So this is a parody of a parody. And that phenomenally, catastrophically doesn’t work. And the people who made “Step Brothers” are the same people who made “Knocked Up,” and they seem to know it doesn’t work. Seth Rogen actually appears about halfway through the movie, to spell out why it doesn’t work. Reilly and Ferrell show up for a job interview at a sporting goods store wearing tuxedoes. Rogen thinks the tuxedoes are supposed to be funny, ironic, sarcastic; a commentary on life or jobs, or something. Then John C. Reilly farts. For a really long time. And Rogen thinks maybe the tuxedoes aren’t funny and sarcastic, maybe they’re just stupid and naive. So he tells the “boys” to get lost. Not just out of his store, but out of his entire movie universe, where one can be an overgrown adolescent and still intelligent, sarcastic, and ironic. Because all these boys can do is…fart.

2. John C. Reilly used to have a soul. He used to show up in movies like “The Anniversary Party,” “Gangs of New York,” “Chicago,” and “The Hours,” and regularly steal his scenes – not by overacting, but by underacting. Then he met Will Ferrell. Now he plays an overgrown, idiot man-child in movies like “Talladega Nights,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” and now this one. Now he plays every scene to the rafters. I’m sure he’s making more money than ever. John C. Reilly, I dub thee Faust. Prove me wrong, I beg you.

3. Probably the funniest, most interesting part of “Step Brothers” is Ferrell’s brother, played by Adam Scott. (Certainly the funniest scene involves his perfect Family of Four™ singing a cappella in the car.) Scott’s performance is sharp and polished, like Reilly’s autographed samurai sword, and I kept wishing he’d show up in more scenes. Scott is much more successful than his older brother; he’s a VP of a helicopter company and rolling in dough. But it becomes apparent that Derek isn’t really any more grown up than Ferrell; he’s just found a socially acceptable, financially lucrative way to act like an adolescent.

4. Which raises a deeper issue. If Ferrell and Reilly can’t grow up, and Scott can’t grow up, and their father Richard Jenkins just spends all his time dreaming about sailing around the world, then where are the grownups? Is “Step Brothers” trying to make a statement about men in our society, or about the way our society treats men and what it expects from them? Do modern males have two choices: either give up and embrace a lifeless, joyless existence, or find a socially acceptable, financially lucrative way to continue to act like a child? Is that why I write movie reviews? I may be stretching to say that “Step Brothers” actually asks these questions –it’s more interested in collapsing bunk beds and licking dog poo – but perhaps you’ll ask them yourself, as I did, when you get bored of the fart jokes.

Recommended

• if you like Will Ferrell movies.
• If you ever thought it might be funny to watch a bunk bed collapse on top of a grown man.
• If fart jokes make you laugh—every time.
  

Not Recommended

• if you don’t like Will Ferrell movies.
• If you’re fed up with your 30 year old underachieving son living in your basement and insisting on “following his dream.”

I really was looking forward to Step Brothers based solely on the fact that John C. Reilly and Will Ferell had teamed up again. I loved Talledega Nights and think its one of Ferell's best comedies. For the most part, I was not let down. It may not be as great as Anchorman, but it packs enough laughs to be a huge improvement over Semi-Pro. The R rating lets them talk freely and the the dialogue brings out some truly bizarre situations. It is all mainly absurd, and there are a few laugh out loud moments. It doesn't always work and the last portion of the story isn't as good as it could have been, but Reilly and Ferell make the movie work. They should star in another comedy together somewhere down the line.

High Points: Reilly and Ferell are comedic gold with great chemistry.

Low Points: The absurd dialogue hits about 50/50, last quarter of the story isn't that great

Bottom Line: Ferell fans will be pleased, as it is much better than Semi-Pro. However, it does not compare to his best work in films like Anchorman or Talledega Nights.

James Franco should star in more comedies. Period. He plays the role of the happy go lucky stoner/drug dealer Saul to perfection. It is the best work he has done since his Freaks and Geeks days. Seth Rogen is great, but the big coming out party is led by Danny McBride, who plays Red. You will see him in many comedies over the next year years (he also plays a part in Tropic Thunder). The dialogue is great, and the movie blends the right amount of action with story that creates a great pace. You will laugh during this film whether it be from the dialogue, physical humor, or Franco's expressions. Great stuff.

High Points: Franco is hysterical, quality dialogue, and people will now know who Danny McBride is. Great physical humor.

Low Points: Danny McBride is so funny, you wish he had more screen time!

Bottom Line:  One of the best comedies from the Apatow troupe that does all the right things in making this action buddy story hard not to love. Take your pick between this and Tropic Thunder for funniest film of the year.

I was excited to see this one, but did not expect this movie to be that damn funny. It is frickin' HYSTERICAL and is my pick for funniest film of the year. Excellent performances all around from a huge cast, but particularly Robert Downey Jr. and that special actor who pops up in the film as a movie executive. I was literally crying I was laughing so hard during quite a few scenes. This is a great premise which really delivers and opens up with style with some really funny fake trailers. Ben Stiller is funny and this is easily, easily, easily, his best work since Something About Mary. I loved Tropic Thunder and no matter what sense of hunor you have, there will be something for you to laugh at with this movie.

High Points: Robert Downey Jr and the "cameo's" insanely great performance, the dance, the phone conversation, the fake trailers, simple Jack, everything in this movie is hilarious.

Low Points: None.

FYI: I love this movie.

Bottom Line: This is Ben Stiller's best comedy since Something About Mary. Great perfomances help make this a must-see. Take your pick between this and Pineapple Express for funniest film of the year, I personally give the edge to this one.

The latest from the legendary Apatow comedy dynamite team isn't their best, but thankfully, it's not their worst either. It doesn't contain the emotional depth or love-conquers-all message that the others do, and it usually condones and makes fun of immature people rather than stressing the importance of growing up (Knocked Up, the 40-Year Old Virgin, Superbad). However, that's okay. If you're willing to look at Step Brothers as little more than a series of skits about these two bumbling immature adults, you'll probably have a good time.

John C. Reilly is Dale Doback and Will Ferrell is Brennan Huff, two forty-year old shlumps who never left the house and who spend their days munching on junk food at home and getting beat up by school children because they're such big wusses. Their divorced parents meet and marry, and a storm of chaotic sibling rivalry ensues, soon replaced by brotherly love and a decision to become hard-working adults.

The comedy in Step Brothers is not what's lacking. Reilly and Ferrell are perfect for each of their parts - some lines that would never work when uttered through the mouth of another actor seem like comedy gold when Ferrell gets a hold of it. "I'm burying you alive," in a scene wherein he dumps dirt upon a live Dale in a hole in the ground. The sheer ridiculous immaturity of these two adults is so completely unbelievable that there's no point in trying to find a moral or logic to the script - instead you should just go along for the ride and you'll probably find yourself having a great time. The lack of a coherent through-story and character arc for each of the brothers could be due to what Adam McKay has spent the last couple years doing - running the "Funny or Die" website that he started with Will Ferrell - a site similar to youtube, except where the sole determination of whether a video is good is whether or not it's funny. Each of the episodes wherein we see sibling rivalry or bonding would not look out of place as a five minute video on "Funny or Die."

Because of this style of comedy, it's difficult to care too much about the characters. Stuff happens to them throughout the movie, but it's never so much a logical sequence of events as it is random splattering plot points popping up here and there. A short, sweet, moral is tacked on the end, but it doesn't flow what came before - McKay wants us to laugh at and almost celebrate this duo's stupidity for a good hour - and then he asks us to turn a mature and judgmental eye on them because they need to do some growing up. This message is even further garbled by scene at the end that smashes all previous logic that existed in the story to bits. (Although the sheer ludicrosity of that scene is refreshing and actually works, considering the unsure tone of the movie.)

As Apatow films have gone along, they have kind of evolved into some other kind of beast where there's a fine line between making fun of yourself and your own immaturity and condoning it. Step Brothers doesn't toe that line - it crashes and burns headlong into the condoning side and tries unsuccessfully to cross back over fifteen minutes before the credits roll. In terms of the usual emotional heart and soul Apatow affairs contain, Step Brothers is a dud. But in terms sheer laugh ratio, it's a winner. Up to you which one you're in the mood for.

Magnolia is incredibly dense, incredibly deep and on an incredibly wide scale.  Clocking in at just over 3 hours long, this movie screams epic.  It interweaves nine separate storylines, all taking place in the San Fernando Valley.  PTA said he wanted to make "the epic, the all-time great San Fernando Valley movie", and I can't help but think that he succeeded.  In fact, there's so much to this movie that I'm going to have to resort to bullet points, and I don't know how far that will take us:

• I just read the Wikipedia article for this, and it really gives you a sense of the depth of this movie, what with all the storylines and the thematic elements and such.
• John C. Reilly is a chameleon.  He can be as silly or as serious as he wants, he can be in fucking Step Brothers or he can be in an incredible string of Oscar bait movies like Boogie Nights (also PTA), Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, and The Aviator.  I just want him to come back to serious roles again, so he can be remembered for not just being Will Ferrell's sidekick.  Then again, an Oscar nominee who makes viral comedy videos is amazing.  Oh, well.  By the way, he's incredible here as police officer Jim Kurring.  That was my original point.  He seems to be one of three purely good souls that are main characters here.  The other two are about to follow, but I just want to say that if you want to remake any movie that had Karl Malden in it, please please please cast John C. Reilly.  They seem like they'd be perfect for each other's roles.
• The second good guy is Philip Seymour Hoffman as Phil Parma, and word has finally gotten out that this could be the best actor in Hollywood.  He hadn't yet come into his own here, and I personally liked his work from Boogie Nights better, but he does the "I know how serious this moment is" cry very well, and a lot.
• The final good guy is child actor Jeremy Blackman as quizboy Stanley Spector.  He's solidly in Haley Joel Osment territory here, with big eyes that are very serious and a way of carrying himself that gives away how intelligent he is, or his character at least.  His character is possibly the most interesting.
• I really wish Tom Cruise wasn't a fucking douchebag Scientologist.  The douchebag part is more important, because everyone still loved Isaac Hayes, even after he quit South Park over his beliefs.  RIP Chef.  I wish Tom Cruise wasn't a douchebag because he's a great actor, really really creepy and awesome here as Frank T.J. Mackey, a guy who teaches other guys how to, you guessed it (actually, I really hope you didn't guess it), turn women into their sexual playthings.  He gets a great reveal.
• I get to talk about Jason Robards again! He's so amazing here as "Big" Earl Partridge, probably my second favorite performance, and he gives vitality to a character on his deathbed throughout the whole movie, while adding the authenticity to that very deathbed.  He's one of those actors that's always himself as the role, like George Clooney or Cary Grant, but he makes it work better than anyone I've seen.
• My favorite performance goes to William H. Macy as former quizboy Donnie Smith, a man who was warped by the childhood that Stanley Spector is on his way to having - his dad took all his prize money, and as he says, "I really do have love to give! I just don't know where to put it."  He's so great and twitchy, I just love his character even though he has such little inherent pathos.
• 728 words and only talking about the actors so far.  Jeez.  Okay, so the writing is so good it's beyond comprehension.  The way that unrelated stories come together without you even realizing it - I mean, it's not your classic come-together story in that all the stories converge on one point, it's that every story influences another story in the movie, whether at the beginning, middle or end, and these connections are what the preamble of the movie talk about, how interlocking circumstance is really what makes the world go round, and if enough circumstances come together, real shit goes down.  And it goes down.  In addition, the dialogue has that great combination of being real and being cinematic and dramatic that now seems to be PTA's trademark.
• Let me backtrack for a second.  Paul Thomas Anderson is an incredible young filmmaker.  His three biggies have been, in succession, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood.  All of them are long, deeply interesting, engaging films that make you think, and hard.  He is on my shortlist of filmmakers to watch as I grow older.
• He was the writer-director on all three of those films, and his directing here is also incredible, if a little Kubrickian in its mercilessness.  Its long closeups on the pained expressions of Cruise, Robards, Philip Baker Hall as game show host Jimmy Gator (also great here), and others are probably the trademark of this film.
• Thematically, apart from the chance encounters thing that I talked about earlier, a lot of this is how familial relationships shape our interactions with the rest of the world, with Robards influencing Cruise, Stanley's dad fucking him up, and others.  It's a really tough theme, but PTA handles it well.
• PTA's director of photography for all of his movies, Robert Elswit, was great if not "oh my god look at that camerawork" great here.  Elswit did win the Oscar for TWBB, though I thought that Roger Deakins deserved it for the second best movie of last year, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.  Still, Elswit rules - he also did work for Michael Clayton, and surprisingly, Good Night and Good Luck, and anyone who's seen that movie can tell you how much he did for that movie.

SPOILERS

• If this film is remembered for one thing, it will be the frogs.  Oh my god, the frogs.  Why they fell from the sky, no one tells you when you're watching the movie, except for Stanley when he says, "This happens" at his moment of childhood serenity that happens for most kids at the end of movies of depth (see the two good M. Night movies, Star Wars Ep. I, literally any teen movie that has a protagonist).  See the wikipedia article for its significance, I'm still not entirely sure about it, but what I do know is that it's done so artfully and epically that I don't need to know what it means.  It seems like it fit at the time when a beloved TV icon was about to kill himself after revealing that he may have molested his daughter, when the greatest misogynist the world has ever known cries at his father's deathbed for abandoning his mother, and when a quizboy-turned-thief has a change of heart for the wrong reasons.
• I didn't know that kids say remarkably profound monologues when they pee their pants.  I want to see if that happens a lot.
• The whole issue with Donnie Smith and the braces made me want to cry in the best way, because it's such pure heartache and unadulterated, adolescent love in the craziest way that I have no idea how else to react.

Okay, nearly 1400 words is enough.  Hope you got through it all and don't hate me for it.  I know you won't, Kriti, I'm talking to everyone else.

You know Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. You know their shtick. They play adult idiots. They've done it in every movie they've starred in in the past few years. They started strong with Anchorman and slowly declined with Talladega Nights, Walk Hard, Blades Of Glory, Semi-Pro, and now Step Brothers. In this, their most recent, they play two immature guys in their late 30s living with their single parents, their parents hook up, and they all move in together. Hilarity ensues. Or at least, that's what they want you to think.

Step Brothers is a decent enough comedy. It's shallow brain candy. It's certainly not in the league of Anchorman or The 40 Year Old Virgin, it's more on par with Blades Of Glory, which I liked. And I like Step Brothers. It has it's moments of hilarity but the sad part is, most of those parts are found in the trailer for the movie. There are a still few other scenes that are pretty funny, but it all feels kind of played out. I'd like to see these guys do something funny as a different character. They've done the idiot thing, I think it's time to try something else.

But (and this is a big but) if you're looking for some summer popcorn flick that doesn't involve a superhero and big explosions, then Step Brothers might be right up your alley. Just don't go in expecting something new and exciting.

Dale Doback: Barbara Walters, Oprah, your wife. You gotta fuck one, kill one, and marry one, go! 

Dale Doback: [as they are called back into the office for their first interview] We're here to fuck shit up! 

Brennan Huff: Robert better not get in my face... 'cause I'll drop that motherfucker! 

Brennan Huff: I'm going to take a pillowcase and fill it full of bars of soap and beat the shit out of you! 

Derek: So, what do we do now? 
Brennan Huff: Can we hug? 
Derek: Yeah, you'd like that, you faggot!... I'm sorry, I'm new to this. 

Brennan Huff: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I will kick you repeatedly in the balls! 

Dale Doback: [after hearing Brennan sing] You have the voice of an angel. I mean, it's like Fergie meets Jesus. 

Brennan Huff: I have a belly full of white dog crap, and now you lay this shit on me? 

Brennan Huff: This house is a fucking prison! 
Dale Doback: On Planet Bullshit! 
Brennan Huff: In the galaxy of This Sucks Camel Dicks! 

Brennan Huff: [to Dale] You're a big, fat, curly-headed fuck! 

Brennan Huff: Shut your mouth. Sh-sh-shut your mouth. 

Brennan Huff: Eat shit Derek! 

Brennan Huff: [in his therapist's fantasy] I've come five hundred miles to deliver my seed. 

 

Dale Doback: [both waking up from dreams on top of each other] Oh no, I'm late for school. 

Brennan Huff: I'll kiss you on the lips, Kenny Rodgers. 

Brennan Huff: I tea-bagged your drum set! 

Brennan Huff: This wedding is horse shit! 

Brennan Huff: You are making an ass out of yourself, you geriatric fuck! 

Dr. Robert Doback: Rock the fuck out of those drums, Dale. 

Dale Doback: Can we turn our beds into bunkbeds? 
Brennan Huff: It will give us so much extra space in our room to do activities! 
Dr. Robert Doback: Your adults, you can do what you want. 
Dale Doback: This is the funnest night ever! 

Alice, Derek, Dr. Robert Doback: Fucking Catalina Wine-Mixer! 

Alice: Stay gold, Ponyboy. 

Derek: Brennan has a man-gina. 

Brennan Huff: You better not close your eyes, because as soon as you do, I'm gonna punch you square in the face! 

Dr. Robert Doback: One day my father just said, "Goddamn it, you're seventeen, stop being a fucking dinosaur and get a job!" 

Dale Doback: I manage a baseball team. 
Nancy Huff: Oh, little league? 
Dale Doback: Fantasy league. 

Randy: Pow! 

Brennan Huff: I'm so scared right now. I'm just gonna to do what's sensible, I'm gonna file for unemployment. Then I'm gonna try to get a job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, because they got an excellent corporate structure and they... *they* give *you* the tools to be your own boss.

Dale Doback: [while Brennan is singing] Boats and hos. 

Brennan Huff: Holy Fucking Santa Claus Shit! 

Brennan Huff: [mowing lawn, dressed as Nazi] Hey Derek, spreken ze dick? 

So with my Sony Mini-DV camcorder and two strips of velcro, here's my review:

[blip.tv ?posts_id=1166730&dest=-1]

Step Brothers
Directed By: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell / John C. Reilly / Mary Steenburgen / Richard Jenkins
Rating:

After Talladega Nights (2006), which was a pretty good comedy, director Adam McKay once again teams up with actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilley for another comedy.

The premise? Two adult 'man-childs' who have to learn to get along when they become step brothers. It's as simple as that.

Step Brothers is definitely a comedy, but as I mentioned in the video, it also succeeds fairly well at being serious, mainly towards the end of the film. There have been other films that have tried this jump in mood, like Click, but it was too much of a drastic switch in my opinion. With Step Brothers the transition between these two moods works and blends together well.

Reilley and Ferrell do a good job acting like idiot kids, from the way they carry themselves physically to the way that they deliver their inane dialogue.

It was great seeing Mary Steenburgen again. I wil always remember her as Clara Clayton from Back to the Future III. And while I love Richard Jenkins (watch The Visitor if you get the chance!) it was...unsettling (?) to see him as a swearing figure. Maybe it was just a shock from watching The Visitor recently. :)

The theater experience was quite good as well. It was a Saturday afternoon matinee, so there weren't many of the textmessaginggigglingtalking teens there. I was surprised to discover that the 50+ crowd dominated this time around. Interesting.

(BTW, if anyone has any car-vlogging tips let me know)

-----

In others news, I have chosen to watch Cutthroat Island as my entry for the blog-a-thon. I've listened to the music, which I loved, and have seen it in the WalMart $5 bin repeatedly.

EDIT: I'm not doing the live-blog after all.

The plot, like most Ferrell flicks, is simple and allows for a large variety of situations to occur during the course of the movie. We start out by seeing Nancy Huff (Mary Steenburgen) and Robert Doback (Richard Jenkins) getting dressed in their business attire to go to a conference where they meet, "fall in love" and while tearing each others clothes off each begins to tell one-liners about their lives. The culmination of the scene comes when Robert says "I have a 40 year old son who still lives at home." At first Robert thinks he has screwed up before Nancy says she has a 39 year old son at home and they continue with even more force in tearing each others clothes off.

Just like in real life we jump straight to the wedding reception where both Brennan "Nighthawk" Huff (Ferrell) and Dale "Dragon" Doback (Reilly) each create their own childish disruption of the beautiful ceremony and storm out. To this point we are to believe that the two 40 year old unemployed sons have not met despite their parents relationship and marriage. They do not meet until Brennan and Nancy move into the Doback's residence.

The two 40 year-olds, acting as 11 year-olds, hate each other immediately and plot each others destruction. Various pranks are played on each other until a huge fight takes place in the front yard with Nancy and Robert being forced to come home to break it up. The fight ends with a simultaneous knockout using a baseball bat and tennis racket.

At this point the line is drawn and the parents (though Nancy seems constantly reluctant) demand that the boys get jobs and move out so that Nancy and Robert can sell the house and retire on Robert's yacht. Brennan's brother, Derek (Adam Scott) comes in as the "perfect son" with a "perfect wife" and two "perfect children." We find out that Derek caused a traumatic experience in Brennan's life as a small child in a talent show which has caused Brennan to never sing in public again.

Eventually the antics of the boys cause Robert's yacht to crash while filming a music video called "Boats and Hoes" for their band "Prestige Worldwide" and puts so much strain on the relationship that Nancy and Robert announce their divorce.

Both boys give up on their favorite "childish" things and get real jobs with Brennan's ultimate goal to reunite their parents. He organizes the "Catalina Wine Mixer" and makes sure everything would be perfect for them to get together.

The final scene forces Brennan and Dale to revisit their "childish" ways and unite and perform a song. With Dale on drums and adding background vocals to "Boats and Hoes" Brennan pops a tape in and sings "Por Ti Volare" very well. The song brings everyone together again and we have a wonderfully happy ending. The song is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. Seeing Will Ferrell sing that song (in Spanish) not missing a note can bring a tear to your eye. But every 10 seconds or so they remind you of the situation by bringing in the "Boats and Hoes" line.

Its an over the top ending to a side splitting movie. I can't remember how many times I laughed at the small one liners thrown in here and there. It is classic Will Ferrell with a superb supporting character from John C. Reilly. I believe that the writing from Will, John and Adam is absurdly witty and smart. The characters are so dumb and the dialogue seems so immature that you may miss the (to me) ingenious wittiness that is in every scene.

Personally I would recommend that everyone who enjoyed Talledega Nights or Anchorman see this movie...NOW!

I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Funniest scene in the movie is the music video they made for their song "Boats and Hoes" I have embedded it below from YouTube. Please note this song is EXTREMELY NSFW (Not Safe For Work).

"Boats and Hoes"
Prestige Worldwide

Inquiring about “Step Brothers,” Will Ferrell’s latest comedic belly whop into the adolescent muck and mire, someone asked, “Isn’t that about two fortyish guys acting like they’re fourteen?” To which I replied, “No, actually, it’s about two fortyish guys acting like they’re seven.”

It is the junk food of film…a Twinkie of empty-headed calories offering no truly good reason to indulge, other than that its absurdity is deliciously funny. Knowing that filmgoers cannot live on weighty and/or pretentious fare alone, its R-rated naughtiness beckons from the Cineplex. But it might as well be a doorway in the bad part of town.

Which means, as with the bulk of Adam Sandler movies, you see it wearing a Groucho mask or practice an apology lest someone from the Nobel committee espies you exiting the Bijou. There are no awards here, but it is a marvel that director Adam McKay keeps the premise afloat until at least the three-quarter point, when its clichés begin to show.

Credit for the estimable job of suspending our disbelief goes to Mary Steenburgen and journeyman Richard Jenkins (“The Visitor”). As older newlyweds Nancy and Robert---each with a grown son who never left home---who meld this unlikely stepfamily, their unblinking effort to create domestic tranquility is the stuff of skilled straight men.

Naturally, John C. Reilly’s Dale Doback and Will Ferrell’s Brennan Huff not only bring their issues to the arrangement, but create some new ones as well. His digs invaded, Dale is understandably territorial. But when he warningly points to the room where reside his precious drums, we know the verboten skins represent a running gag in the making.

As if it weren’t enough that they never left the nest, each in turn has a quirk or tragedy that is offered, take it or leave it style, to explain their indolence. Recently laid off, “not fired” from PetSmart, Brennan claims a trauma in his youth keeps him from performing in public. Otherwise, he’s “one of the best singers in the world.”

Dale’s lack of motivation isn’t quite so clear. Explains Dr. Doback to his new bride, “One day he drops out of college and tells me he wants to go into the family business.” Never mind that he isn’t a doctor.

The reality is, both Brennan and Dale have full-time occupations they work at quite well. In fact, when it comes to the practice of arrested development, they are specialists. Which is essentially the appeal of this well-worked looniness.

On a conscious level, chiding and berating the stunted growth under scrutiny, we derive laughter. However, there is other stuff at work here. Via fables long pre-dating J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan,” what adult in this Earthly pageant has not at one time or another melancholily pined for the care and protection of a Mommy and Daddy?

Of course, not many of us put that fantasy into play with the verve and relish exhibited by our title characters. It’s the hyperbole that makes it so crazy. The deadpan acceptance by an enabling step mom and dad adds to the outlandishness. And after the parents have finally had it up to here, the tough love they institute opens a silly new jar of pickles.

The change in attitude is prompted courtesy of Brennan’s younger, exponentially more successful brother, Derek (Adam Scott). A smirky, lower case tycoon, he informs Robert and Nancy that he can sell their house for more than enough cash to put them on that endless yacht trip around the world. Brennan and Dale don’t figure in the retirement plan.

Yikes! That means the boys---who by this juncture have bonded into such a synergistic petulance so as to make Derek’s offer all the more attractive--- will have to find work.

While that may be tough noogies for the protagonists, Ferrell and Reilly have a hallowed template to inspire them. Just when weren’t Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello looking to get on someone’s payroll?
This isn’t to say the job hunt montage equals in drollery the efforts of those antecedents. Still, when they show up in matching tuxedos to interview for a position cleaning bathrooms, they do the shtick proud. It’s part and partial of the subtext. Enfolded in the feature-length paean to immaturity are the nutty notes of subversiveness and rebellion.

Indeed, for most of us the days of irresponsibility must, alas, give way to alarm clocks and tiresome bosses. If and how our overgrown boys belatedly face that music is the question. Sure, it’s sheer madness. But for those seeking an uplifting change of pace.

After “The Dark Knight” and “The X Files,” “Step Brothers” is a stride in that direction.

“Step Brothers,” rated R, is a Columbia Pictures release directed by Adam McKay and stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Richard Jenkins. Running time: 95 minutes

This film often hits the right notes in regard to adolescent rivalry and the difficult period of adjustment such rivals must pass through. It is sometimes zany after the fashion of the Marx Brothers, sometimes manic after the fashion of the Three Stooges, cruder than the worst "stand-up" comedian, and immensely aided by the longsuffering parents, ably played by Richard Jenkins ("Dr. Robert Doback") and Mary Steenburgen ("Nancy Huff"). The "square offs" between Ferrell and Reilly near the outset of the movie were remarkably well conceived. Still, for a lot of folks "getting long in the tooth," this film had a number of scenes that went over the top, and spills are never good. As for myself, I've always liked slapstick comedy, which--besides making "dirty-mouth"--is the primary form of humor offered. There is a sort of comedy of adolescent manners also involved, which can be amusing to watch, as it is done well.

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly approach their roles with suitable whining, mini-tantrums, bitter name-calling, and "dirty deeds," so that one might suppose they'd never get along. Then, a word--an expression--a citation of some hero figure, and suddenly it dawned on one or both that they had the same view on something. Then more common viewpoints were found. The inevitable occurs and they realise that they have a lot of the same views, tastes and habits. They exult at the equality of their maleness. They become pals.

However, this process is so wearing on the newly wed couple, Dr. Doback and Nancy Huff Doback, that they decide to split up. The last straw was the final and best means of "rearing" the two boys, as Robert Doback was now in the no-nonsense, tough-love stage, while wife Nancy seems bogged down in neo-Dr. Spockism.

Most people will get a laugh out of portions of this film, but some may wonder if the verbal stink (and some scenes) overwhelmed the fun.

The film opens with the Huffs at home one morning. Mom is getting ready to attend a conference, featuring and honoring Dr. Robert Doback for services rendered. Brennan Huff is preparing a microwave delicacy, Cheetos melted over Nachos (or other chip), which ultimately creates a sort of pizza.

The Big Capsule: A middle-aged doctor, Robert Doback, who is being honored for medical services rendered, at the podium tries to express himself in a little speech that gets tangled up as he spots the pretty Nancy Huff, wearing a dress with revealing decolete. She notices his interest and seems to respond favorably. Before you can say, "Your place or mine," they are set to get married. Each tells his own child that there will be a marriage and that the child will have either a new Daddy or Mommy, as the case may be. What makes this situation unique is that Dale Doback is 40 years old and Brennan Huff is 39 years old (or vice-versa). Also, Brennan has a very successful brother named Derek. This allows a separate rivalry to play out. Needless to say, both Dale and Brennan suffer from a condition which might be dubbed: "Adolescent Paralysis," characterized by an intractably frozen state of boyhood. In a sexual sense they are at an early teenager stage, although later in the flick, Dale graduates, thanks to his sister-in-law, "Alice." Neither boy welcomes the news. Dale proves rather imaginative in his objections, as he floats the scenario past his father of the new bride seeing Dale naked and going into uncontrollable sexual excitation. All objections are brushed aside, and, after a wedding & reception, the two families join at the home of the Dobacks. There is a well-conceived front yard encounter between the two boys. They freeze like dogs some ten paces from each other, staring directly at one another. Finally, Dale states that he is known as "Dragon." After a pause, Brennan avers that he is known as "Night Hawk." In this bit of tense "first meeting" the moviegoer can infer the potential for reproachment. They are told that they will have to share a bedroom--not a popular decision. Dale shows Brennan the room, taking time along the way to point out a room where his drums were set up and to warn Brennan never to touch his drums. Naturally, this would be the site of desecration and tussling. The first night sees the boys in single beds, thinking up & hurling insults at one another (Dale started it). Although, it's pretty silly so far, it revs up in low comedy & slapsticks. All the parents dream about is taking the doctor's ample yacht on a transoceanic tour of the world. He needs to work a couple of more years for the sake of money, then its time for their romantic dream trip. 'Tis said: "The best laid plans of mice and men oft go agley."  One problem resolves itself when the boys discover their common "favorites," and become pals. Yet, there are other problems the boys must overcome. Neither has a job--nor shows too much interest in one. Robert and Nancy are determined that the boys get a job. The boys dream of starting and controlling a multimedia company, Prestige, producing rock videos and the like. Brennan would sing, and Dale play the drums. There are comic moments during the job hunt, as well as in the depiction of street perils caused to the boys by a gang of tough eleven-year-olds, led by "Chris Gardoski" (Hogan Manus) and a stout redheaded kid (Travis T. Flory). Finally, to keep the status quo, the boys managed to seriously wreck the yacht, thus preventing the world cruise. If there is no world cruise, there is no need for jobs. What about Dad? Absolutely incensed. He's in the mood to "roll up the sleeves" with these overgrown twin "Dennis the Menace" act-a-likes. The doctor's ill-temper draws condemnation from Mom, and the marriage, as with the yacht, is headed for the rocks. There is a separation of the two sets of parents into status quo nuptuals. Now, brother Derek has dropped by a few times, too, usually bringing his wife, "Alice" (Kathryn Hahn), and two kids. Unaccountably (and incredibly), she has taken a passion toward Dale that surprises the "dickens" out of him. Derek's not liked by either Dale or Brennan. Still, he is in the position to give Brennan a shot at a job that might work for him: manage the Catalina Wine Festival, where he would put the people gathered in the mood to buy Derek's quota of boats. Brennan agrees to put it on, and, on that day, gets things going well. As it happens, Dale is working for the catering company employed to wine & dine the crowd. There, both Doctor Doback and Nanct Huff watch over their "little rascals."  They meet and almost immediately get "that old feeling." There is an amusing scene with the band hired to entertain the crowd. This leads to a problem that may jeopardize Derek's sales that day. Their parents urge Brennan to go on stage and sing, and for Dale to go, too, and play the drums. They succeed! Maybe their multimedia dream, Prestige, may not be a "pipe dream" afterall. To reward the boys, Robert and Nancy give them a yacht-remnant treehouse. The parents laugh as the boys go aboard to find their favorite sorts of treasure. They have come to terms with the fact that they have a couple of - somehow or other - "challenged sons." The kids are loving it. All in all, moviegoers who can deal with "dirty-mouth" aspect will probably get a lot of laughs from this flick. Those who can't, or don't choose to, should avoid it. I don't see this flick as suited to children, although the "munchkins" are often as lewd as Dale and Brennan can be. Caveat emptor.

All rights reserved. Gobigfoot, 2008.

not an alien one in that damn thing.  i got excited for a second when one dude kinda looked like an alien, but no.  his head was just all messed up.

that's some of that old bullshit right there.

it was like a bad season ending two hour episode.

i couldn't figure it out, have scully and mulder been living together since the last movie?  why is the plot being plowed through only mulder and scully in the bedroom?  and no, we don't even get to see dana scully get plowed by fox mulder. 

that would have been worth my eight fifty.

but not that soap opera reject bullshit.

i thought for a second they might be trying to set up a spin off series with mulder and new character played by amanda peete.  but then they killed her off.

i felt embarressed i sat through the whole thing.  to make myself feel better i snuck into step brothers.  so it's only like i spend four and a quarter on each.

step brothers is certainly no old school.  or ricky bobby.  or anchorman.  or even that terrible woody allen movie will ferrell did.  but it has it's moments.  and those moments are pretty damn funny.

i'm not even sure they had to script this one.  hey will and john, you guys just go out there and act like a couple spoiled twelve year olds.  some of the stuff they do is funny.  some of the stuff they say is funny.  just like real twelve year olds.

and like a couple of real twelve year olds you are ready to ditch them in like fifteen minutes. ]]> http://sbentertainment.wordpress.com/?p=264 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:52:51 +0000 JD http://sbentertainment.wordpress.com/?p=264 Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly play in their second movie together following Talladega Nights. If you like Will Ferrel movies you'll really like this one due to their normal dumb ass off the wall characters. John C's absolutely historical and to me really makes this movie what it is. The guy has great comedic chemistry with Ferrel and delivers a ton of ridiculous one liners that had me cracking up. The first ten minutes of the movie are pretty off the wall when the plots drug in of these 40 year old men who still live with their parents. However, your quickly reminded of why these old guys can get away with such crazy plots. Will Ferrel also debuts his mad opera skills with his ever so classic rendition of "Boats & Hos", with John C. beatin it off on drums. It's like an orgasm in your ear. That awesome. Enjoy!

It may have slipped unnoticed. It could be that you didn't stop to think what "Heavy Metal" was, or why there was a poster in Dale and Brennan's room with a scantily clad woman riding a pterodactyl-like bird. This minor addition to the set is one of my favorite parts about the entire Step Brothers movie. Seriously, Heavy Metal is awesome.

It is a Canadian animated film, made in 1980. It's a collection of bizarre sci-fi and fantasy stories set to an incredible "heavy metal" soundtrack that features Blue Oyster Cult, Sammy Hagar, Cheap Trick, Grand Funk Railroad, Black Sabbath, Journey, Devo, and a couple other awesome bands. It will seriously blow your mind. If you find the opportunity, watch this movie. It's one of the few DVDs I actually own.

Featured voices in Heavy Metal:  John Candy and Eugene Levy (before either of them were famous)