Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Question: What Are Your Favorite Movies Featuring Anachronistic Characters?
Posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 by David Chen
This past week saw the release of Harold Ramis’ Year One, with an all-star cast featuring Michael Cera, Jack Black, David Cross, Paul Rudd, etc. While the film had a few laughs, overall, we thought it was poorly put together and not really worthy of Ramis’ glory days. The script is half-baked, most of the humor is juvenile, and many scenes from the film seem truncated, with probably a lot of material left on the cutting room floor.
One thing that the film constantly mines for laughs is the fact that Jack Black and Michael Cera act very much like fish-out-of-water in the Biblical setting. The interplay between them and the other characters, who behave very much like they are part of the correct time period, helps to generate a lot of the awkward situations (and hopefully, hilarity!). On this week’s episode of The Totally Rad Show, /Film friend Dan Trachtenberg made a comparison to Shanghai Noon, in which Owen Wilson’s cowboy character acts like he’s…Owen Wilson from America, circa the 1990s.
/Filmcast Ep. 56 - Year One (GUEST: Matt Singer from IFC News)
Posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss how terrible the Antichrist videogame will be, explain why Christopher Nolan directing the third Batman film would be a no-win situation, and wonder if there’s anything to get excited about in an 5th Indiana Jones film. Special guest Matt Singer joins us from IFC News and the IFC News podcast.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next Monday at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page as we review Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
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Movie Review: Year One Is A Lifeless, Laughless Throwback
Posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
In the wickedly underrated David Wain comedy Wet Hot American Summer, there is a sequence where Michael Showalter, in character as a stand-up comic geezer, entertains a bunch of kids at camp with awful jokes about the Stone Age. The joke isn’t his routine, but that the kids are laughing at these terrible, stale caveman gags. Thinking along those lines, I’d be happier (though unconvinced) if Harold Ramis argued that his new movie Year One was a full-length meta comedy about terrible jokes, though I know it’s just a bad, ramshackle movie that assumes its audience is comprised primarily of children. Read More »
/Filmcast Ep. 46 - Observe and Report (GUESTS: Katey Rich from Cinemablend and Whitney Matheson from USA Today)
Posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss the ideal business situation for 3-D glasses at theaters, get excited about Duncan Jones’ Moon, deconstruct the awfulness of Marley & Me, and reflect on the brilliance of Jody Hill. Special guests Katey Rich from Cinemablend and Whitney Matheson from USA Today’s Popcandy blog join us.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next MONDAY night at Slashfilm’s live page at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review Crank 2.
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Yesterday we reported that the producer Judd Apatow and director/co-writer Harold Ramis had lost their appeal hearing for the biblical comedy Year One, which had been slapped with an R-Rating by the MPAA. I doubted at the time that Columbia Pictures would release the $75+ million comedy with an R-Rating, especially considering the fairly weak online buzz the film has garnered since the debut of the movie’s superbowl commercial.
The filmmakers re-cut the film, resubmitted to the MPAA, and the new cut was given a PG-13 rating “for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.” I’m sure the R-Rated cut, or an expanded unrated cut, will eventually end up on DVD/Blu-ray.
I have no inside information about the screenings, but many times with the MPAA, it all comes down to a specific shot/line, or even a few frames of film (as it did with Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri). So I doubt the R-Rated cut and the PG-13 cut are THAT much different. It’s likely the difference of a few seconds of film.
source: THR
/Filmcast Ep. 45 - Fast and Furious (GUEST: Jen Yamato from Rotten Tomatoes)
Posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley take a ride in Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, praise the Damages season finale, are shocked to discover that the new Dragonball movie “isn’t terrible,” reflect on the implications of the Wolverine workprint leak, and discuss the new Terminator Salvation, Year One, and Star Trek MPAA ratings. Special guest Jennifer Yamato joins us from Rottentomatoes.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next MONDAY night at Slashfilm’s live page at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review Observe and Report.
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The Judd Apatow-produced biblical comedy Year One has been slapped with an R-Rating by the MPAA Classification and Rating Appeals Board for “some sexual content and language.”According to THR , Apatow and director/co-writer Harold Ramis appeared before the appeals board to argue for a PG-13 rating, but were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts. At this point, Sony is forced to accept the rating, but still has the option of re-editing the film for resubmission.
The movie has an estimated budget of $75 million (those big sets and location shoots don’t come cheap) The online buzz for the film has been fairly weak (the superbowl television spot ranked one of the lowest in polls), and an R-Rating could be detrimental to the film’s box office prospects.
Video Blog: Summer Movie Preview Part 2 - June 2009
Posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Steve from Collider is a good friend of mine. At least a few times a week we talk about upcoming movies, TV shows, what gossip each of us have heard, and anything else we might find exciting. Since a number of our conversations cover things you also might find interesting, we’ve decided to start recording certain conversations as video blogs. Past video blogs have included The Future of the Batman Film Franchise, The Box Office Prospects of Watchmen and thoughts on the first 46 Minutes of Pixar’s Up.
We were recently talking about some of the movies coming out this summer and realized we should do some video blogs about the 2009 Summer Movie season. We were a little too ambitious, and thought we could squeeze two months worth of films into one blog, but as usually happens, we ran out of time. So the first part of our Summer movie preview was posted on Sunday (you can watch it here). In part 2, we take a look at the movies of June 2009: Land of the Lost, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Moon, Year One, The Hangover, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Please leave your thoughts on the movies of June 2009 in the comments below.
Columbia Pictures has released the full theatrical movie trailer for Year One. The film stars Jack Black and Michael Cera, as a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers who are banished from their primitive village, and set off on an epic journey through the ancient world. Directed by National Lampoon’s Vacation and Groundhog Day helmer Harold Ramis, and written by Office scribes Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg (you know, the guys working on the new Ghostbusters script).
I feel like I should be into this a lot more than I am. The movie is being unofficially billed as “this generation’s Life of Brian”, but I’m not impressed with that I’ve seen thus far. I’m a fan of most of the comic cast, a big fan of the director’s earlier work, and the concept has a lot of potential, but I’m not finding many of the jokes particularly funny or clever. It seems like they chose to go for more of a traditional comedy than play with the abundance of possible biblical jokes. Watch the new trailer after the jump and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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You can now watch the Year One Super Bowl television advertisement in 3D. No, Year One wasn’t part of the 3D block of Super Bowl ads, and no, Columbia Pictures did not decide to re-render the trailer in 3-D. /Film Reader Demi Adejuyigbe decided to convert the advertisement into 3D himself. Here is the email from Demi to explain:
Hey Mr. Sciretta, I’m a big /Film fan!
I had no part in making Year One, but I saw the Super Bowl commercial yesterday, and I figured- wouldn’t it be cool (and headache-inducing) if all of the trailers were in 3D? So I’m starting to do just that, the first of the trailers being Year One because it was easiest to finish. Why? The sake of novelty of course. They only work with the free disposable glasses from the Super Bowl, even though it would be much easier to make it work with your standard red/blue stereoscopic 3D glasses. Nothing actually pops out at you, but it does have a 3D sense to it. Sure, the 3D’s not perfect, and it doesn’t work as well in places, but it’s the best I can do, as the convergence rates for the yellow/blue layers change with every frame. Enjoy! (Note; It was in HD, but when I converted it to suit Vimeo’s uploading requirements, that kind of just went out the window.)
Not having a paid of 3D glasses on hand myself (I couldn’t find them anywhere), I enlisted Alex Billington from FirstShowing to verify that the 3D actually works and he says it barely does (I’m not sure what that means). Watch the Year One trailer in 3D after the jump.
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I really want the Judd Apatow-produced biblical comedy Year One to be this generation’s Life of Brian, but it seems to be too low brow to achieve any level of cleverness. Overall, I’m just very disappointed with that I’ve seen thus far. I just didn’t find it funny.
I haven’t started watching The Office, but I’ve always heard unbelievable praise from everyone I talk to. Office scribes Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg penned this film, and are also working on the new Ghostbusters script. I’m usually an optimist when it comes to sequels, but after seeing this and the extended Year One clip, I must admit, I’m a little bit worried. Hopefully the movie is a lot better than the little footage we’ve seen thus far. ishzendejas on Twitter saw a preview screening of Year One, and says “it has potential but needs some serious editing tightening up.” Check out the Super Bowl television spot after the jump.
Read More »
Columbia Pictures has released a sneak preview of the upcoming Judd Apatow-produced biblical comedy Year One. The film stars Jack Black and Michael Cera, as a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers who are banished from their primitive village, and set off on an epic journey through the ancient world. Directed by National Lampoon’s Vacation and Groundhog Day helmer Harold Ramis, and written by Office scribes Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg (you know, the guys working on the new Ghostbusters script).
The Super Bowl sneak preview clip shows Black and Cera’s characters trying to hunt for food, when they run into a bunch of farmers named Cain and Abel (David Cross and Paul Rudd). Watch the clip after the jump.
