20 April 2008

Hanging out

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Crit

Judd Apatow is just a producer here, but his fingerprints are all over it: guy humiliation, mostly merited, redeemed by moral and emotional rebirth and a really hot babe (Mila Kunis, not the vanilla Kristen Bell in the title role). It's the cinematic equivalent of eating a whole bag of Cheetos at a sitting: most of the time you're having a ball, occasionally you give some thought to more responsible caloric intakes you might be pursuing, and afterward you think, "OK, well, I did that again." But don't get me wrong: I love Cheetos, and the nutritional information on the back of the bag does, after all, say "Serving size: the whole damn bag." Plus, the movie doesn't leave your fingers all orange, though whether that's a plus or a minus is perhaps debatable.

Trailers

Forgot to do these yesterday, so first, those:

  • My Blueberry Nights--Reviews haven't been promising, but hey, Norah Jones, eh? I'll go if it comes downtown--excuse me: if it comes to the nabes.

  • Standard Operating Procedure--Oh, hell yes, maybe even if it weren't Errol Morris. See the New Yorker excerpt of Morris's book on Abu Ghraib, cowritten with Philip Gourevitch, for a preview.

  • American Teen--Hard to tell from the trailer whether it's a documentary, a parody, or a heartfelt drama. IMDb says the first, but I'm not altogether sure I believe it. Anyway, I'm 3, pending further information.

And then today:

  • Pineapple Express--With Freaks & Geeks costar Jason Segel waiting on deck as the star in the feature attraction, we got a rare red-screen, R-rated trailer (yeah, we hear the F-word from Nora Dunn, but I think maybe it was the likening of the bouquet of the titular variety of cannabis to the aroma of God's vagina that tipped the scales) for the reunion of F&G's Seth Rogen and James Franco. Could be as stupid as a heavy-duty consumer of the product, but then again, I laughed as if I were that consumer, so my mind is open.
  • Wanted--Way lame title for an actioner in which Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman make a reluctant hero out of James McAvoy. Terence Stamp's in it too--anybody wanna bet he plays a good guy?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

songs by jason segel are terrific. i'd buy the vampire soundtrack

cheeseblab said...

Speaking of songs, thanks for the reminder: end-credits musical highlight is "Nothing Compares 2 U" . . . in Hawaiian.

Anonymous said...

"just a producer"? JUST a producer? Time for you to watch Wag the Dog again.