Handful of Old Movies Get a Look in My Queue

I've been catching up on some old movies lately. Some classic, some a little less than classic.

Funny Farm: This is a relatively terrible Chevy Chase flick from 1988, the downside of a time when he was arguably the funniest movie-comedian in America. Gene Siskel once called it Chase's funniest film, a serious stretch for one that has a few laughs but is pretty badly dated by now. I had never seen it. Must have been going to too many Boston and AC/DC concerts that year.
**1/2 out of ***** stars

Dazed and Confused: After my favorite movie of 2014, Boyhood, I had to go back and watch Richard Linklater's other great Texas epic. This one was named Quentin Tarantino's 10th favorite film of all time for good reason. Beyond star-cameos galore, this view of high-school life in Austin captures the ethos of an entire generation of kids growing up in the 1970s and 1980s.
***** out of ***** stars

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: I somehow never saw this, although I recognized the numerous catchphrases that still hold strong today ("I know you are but what am I?"). It's pretty funny and even educational stuff, and, as my 7-year-old said, "Pee-Wee makes funny faces."
**** out of ***** stars

The Man With Two Brains: Steve Martin comes nowhere close to The Jerk or Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid in this completely wacky script. Playing a neurosurgeon with an unpronounceable name (in the grand tradition of Chase's Fletch), Martin is nevertheless still funny and this one is still worth watching.
***1/2 out of ***** stars

An Affair to Remember: Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr star in this exceedingly romantic film, which suffers just a bit because Grant's typical comedic touches are largely missing. Instead, he is very George Clooney, meaning suave and very handsome, as he becomes friends on a passenger ship with Kerr between Europe and New York before slowly falling in love even amidst some traumatic setbacks.
***1/2 out of ***** stars

The Object of My Affection: The acting talents of Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd are pretty raw in this 1998 film. But it's entertaining enough and is pretty important in bringing societal acceptability of gay relationships to a more mass audience.
*** out of ***** stars

Anchorman 2 Sucker Punches Ratings-Inspired Cable News Coverage

I’m glad I skipped Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues when it was released several months ago. Letting the overwhelming hype and crass over-commercialization die down gave me more reasonable expectations.

Of course I heard that it received very mixed reviews, and several people have flat-out told me not to watch it. But in the end, I’m a sucker for Ron Burgundy and his brand of wacked-out humor.

The biggest problem I have with the movie is its slow start. The worse choice by the filmmakers was to make it so unfunny for so long. I counted to the 17-minute mark before laughing, which happens when Paul Rudd enters as a cat photographer.

Rudd actually doesn’t garner many laughs after that. Steve Carell plays, for me, the most consistently funny role as Brick the off-the-wall weatherman. His relationship with similarly nuts Kristen Wiig is endearing, his “pre-funeral” is kind of creative, and his laughing fit in the RV as the gang gets reacquainted on their way to big new cable-TV jobs in New York is equally laugh-out-loud for the viewer.

The worst parts of the movie are when it drifts into Spoils of Babylon-like family drama. It’s no coincidence that those first 17 minutes are heavy with Christina Applegate, who has no chemistry with Will Ferrell as his newscaster wife. Every star in the universe appears in the climatic news-personality fight scene, which again doesn’t work that well.

However, most of the main characters are likeable enough to spend a couple hours of your life with. The social commentary on the rise of ratings-at-all-costs media is insightful. And the 70s yacht-rock soundtrack (from Christopher Cross to John Waite to Kenny Loggins and much more) makes Anchorman 2 a slice of media pleasure.

*** out of ***** stars

Wanderlust Wanders Out of Lust

Just that fact that a Judd Apatow comedy starring Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston came out a year ago and I didn't see it until now is scary.

I don't miss Rudd movies. Or Apatow. And Aniston is difficult not to love.

But my instincts were right. Wanderlust simply isn't very good. Sure, it's fun at times. And the sight of watching Rudd (and Aniston) trying to join a hippie cult is irresistible in small doses.

Highlights include Alan Alda as a four-decader in Georgia's hippie commune Elysium. He constantly recites the list of names of his fellow founders. Rudd and Aniston end up there after things in New York and Atlanta don't work out. Rudd's scene speaking to himself in the mirror to pump himself up for the free-love lifestyle is classic. Two supporting actors (Rudd's potential love interest, played by Malin Akerman, and his jerk brother, a high-strung and racist Ken Marino) are about as hilarious as they are on the excellent Comedy Central show Children's Hospital.

But too much of the humor and plot wander. The movie doesn't really go anywhere, and the near-impossible task of not really caring about Rudd and Aniston is almost entirely accomplished.

**1/2 out of ***** stars

No Judd Apatow Fatigue with This is 40

At some point, Judd Apatow fatigue has GOT to set in. His list (see below) of producer, director, and writer credits arguably make him among the very top comedy minds ... not just of this era, but of all time.

The fatigue hasn't set in yet with This is 40 (and it's not likely to in 2013, with Anchorman 2 on the way and almost guaranteed to be a smash).

Picking up where they left off in 2007's Knocked Up, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's characters continue as the happily married couple with typical mid-life issues.

His production of Graham Parker's album isn't going so well and her clothes shop has its own struggles. There are moments when This is 40 could be funnier, and it's certainly a little too long, but this is highly watchable entertainment.

Rudd and Parker are both impossible not to love. (Parker, whose 1982 song "Temporary Beauty," unfortunately not included in the soundtrack, is one of my all-time favorites. It's an MTV classic that is better than anything Elvis Costello ever did.)

With a slew of cameos, the best ones are Melissa McCarthy, Megan Fox, AlbertBrooks, John Lithgow, and Jason Segel.

***1/2 out of ***** stars

(The following list of Apatow's movies doesn't even count TV shows he's been involved with such as Freaks and Geeks, The Ben Stiller Show, and Girls.)

Year	Film
		Director	Producer	Writer	Actor
1992	Crossing the Bridge	No	Yes	No	No
1995	Heavyweights	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
1996	Celtic Pride	No	Yes	Yes	No
	The Cable Guy	No	Yes	Yes	No
2004	Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy	No	Yes	No	Yes
	Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie	No	Yes	No	Yes
2005	Kicking & Screaming	No	Yes	No	No
	The 40-Year-Old Virgin	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Fun with Dick and Jane	No	Yes	Yes	No
2006	The TV Set	No	Yes	No	No
	Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby	No	Yes	No	No
2007	Knocked Up	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Superbad	No	Yes	No	No
	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	No	Yes	Yes	No
2008	Drillbit Taylor	No	Yes	No	No
	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	No	Yes	No	No
	You Don't Mess with the Zohan	No	No	Yes	No
	Step Brothers	No	Yes	No	No
	Pineapple Express	No	Yes	No	No
2009	Year One	No	Yes	No	No
	Funny People	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2010	Get Him to the Greek	No	Yes	No	No
2011	Bridesmaids	No	Yes	No	No
	Zookeeper	No	No	No	Yes
2012	Wanderlust	No	Yes	No	No
	The Five-Year Engagement	No	Yes	No	No
	Mansome[62]	No	No	No	Yes
	This Is 40	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2013	Can a Song Save Your Life?[63]	No	Yes	No	No
	Anchorman 2[64]	No	Yes	No	No