September 30, 2008

Don't Forget about Sarah Marshall or Tony Stark On DVD!

This week we have two, count em, two of the best movies of the year so far. These are so good that for the first time, this article almost had a tie for the PICK OF THE WEEK. It literally took almost all night to decide on which one would ge the nod, but in the end I went with:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
This film is possibly the best to ever come out of the Apatow stable and is the funniest movie of the year, and yet also perhaps the most emotional. I loved it without regret and you should as well.
-Coming up just a bit behind is Iron Man. One of the most fun times at the movies this year was watching Robert Downey Jr. own the role of Tony Stark. If nothing else, pick up the film for his performance.
-Also out this week is Taxi To The Dark Side, a tremendous documentary about abuse in the Middle East, Chapter 27, the flawed story of John Lennon's killer, which has many issues but a good performance by Jared Leto, and the steroid documentary Bigger Stronger Faster, which is fascinating but only ok.
-My vintage pick is in honor of Paul Newman. It is The Hustler, and he just owns the screen opposite Jackie Gleeson. A classic without question.
-What will you be watching this week?

9 comments:

  1. Pfffffffffffffft

    Iron Man was infinitely better than Forgetting Sarah Marshall

    Sorry, but I have never been a fan of any of the Apatow stable, nor will I ever be. Honestly, all of them are pretty much just celebrations of juvenile humor, juvenile behavior, and juvenile characters.

    What happened to smart comedy? I guess the days of Monty Python, Mel Brooks, and the like? Now all we get is Eddie Murphy, Scary Movie knock-offs, or the Apatow stable and their sex comedies. This is honestly why I don't really care for comedy as a genre anymore. Everything is so low-brow and juvenile these days.

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  2. Mel Brooks is hilarious, but smart comedy he's not...same with Python, they were as immature as anyone...either way, lumping Apatow in with Scary Movie is irresponsible...anyway, I agree with Joey that FSM was hilarious, though I might choose Iron Man over it....but that's why this is his column, not mine, so I respect his decision

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  3. neo- both movies are good, i prefer Forgetting Sarah Marshall...also, i'd debate how juvenile apatow flicks are, but anonymous down there seems to have beaten me...that being said, nothing compares to Mel Brooks

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  4. For me, the only modern comedy that really remains funny to me are the Coen brothers. Burn After Reading was hilarious, as are The Big Lebowski, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, etc.

    I just wish someone would explain to me what exactly is the big appeal of the Apatow stable movies. I simply don't think they're funny.

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  5. best I can say is that comedy is subjective...personally I didn't care for The Big Lebowski at all...different strokes for different folks

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  6. Well, all film, and art for that matter, is subjective Joey.

    I just don't get why these films are SO popular.

    Superbad was just a bunch of horny loser teenagers. I honestly got maybe a couple of chuckles out of that, but no real laughs.

    40-Year Old Virgin was probably the funniest of them, but that has more to do with the presence of Steve Carrell than anything.

    Knocked Up was OK at best. This one at least had something of a message about taking responsibility for your actions and choices.

    Forgetting Sarah Marhsall, to me, was simply annoying.

    Pineapple Express was decent, mostly because it was nice to see James Franco in something besides Spiderman.

    That the thing, all of these movies are simply decent or just OK at best. But everyone is always telling me how hilarious they are. Sorry, but the joke is lost on me.

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  7. No comedy makes everyone laugh....in the case of Apatow films, a lot has to do with the 18-25 year old male being able to identify with the central characters....I find his films have a lot in common with Kevin Smith's work, which also appeals in that same way

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  8. I definitely like Kevin Smith more than Judd Apatow. Kevin Smith's love for film and comics and whatnot is just so evident in his films that anyone interested in film can't help but enjoy them.

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  9. I prefer Kevin Smith as well, but obviously I enjoy Judd Apatow as well

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