Movie Review: You People

You People (2023) 

Directed by Kenya Barris 

Written by Jonah Hill, Kenya Barris

Starring Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Lauren London, Nia Long, David Duchovny 

Release Date January 27th, 2023 

Published January 28th, 2023 

You People is an insufferable bore featuring caricatures of white and black people who talk as if they were programmed by Boomer Facebook memes. Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill are supposed to be better than that but by the evidence of You People, they've taken the lowest hanging fruit of awkward racial humor and blended it all together and reheated it over and over and over again and then called it a movie. The characters may have a point to make about the ways white and black people fail to communicate effectively with each other but it's hard to find that point in the midst of noisy, insufferable characters intended only to inflict themselves on each other rather than talk like human beings.  

You People stars Jonah Hill as Ezra Cohen and Lauren London as Amira Mohammad. These two 30-something kids meet-cute when Ezra mistakes Amira for his Uber Driver. She happens to be lost on her way to a new job and he's able to navigate her there. Along the way, he gets her phone number and the two start a sweet romance. He works in finance but dreams of being a podcaster and she's costume designer working on various different movie and television projects. They have terrific chemistry. Only one thing stands in there way, a terrible script, no wait, I mean their parents. 

Julia Louis Dreyfuss and David Duchovny are Shelly and Arnold Cohen and Eddie Murphy and Nia Long are Akbar and Fatima Mohammad. If you haven't guessed, the Cohen's are Jewish and the Mohammad's are Muslim, how will they ever get along? Sarcasm. Sarcasm. Sarcasm. Surprise, they don't get along and when Ezra decides to ask Amira to marry him things only get worse as Shelly stumbles into ruining their relationship over her woke enthusiasm, and Akbar actively works to undermine the relationship by catching Ezra doing something wrong, whatever that might be. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media linked here 

Movie Review: Cyrus

Cyrus (2010) 

Directed by Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Written by Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener

Release Date June 18th, 2010 

Published July 4th, 2010 

John (John C. Reilly) is the consummate modern lonely guy in Cyrus. We meet him when his ex-wife, and unfortunately, his only friend, Jamie (Catherine Keener), catches him furiously pleasuring himself to internet pornography. This may not be the first time this has happened as instead of running away forever, Jamie stays to tell John she is getting married.

Jamie then forces John to attend a party the following night with her and her new soon to be hubby (Matt Walsh). With their encouragement John grows increasingly drunk and pathetic until finally he is caught peeing in the bushes outside the party. Thankfully, this latest humiliation is saved by Molly (Marisa Tomei) who, instead of being horrified by John's drunken behavior, somehow finds it charming. She saves him again a few moments later from a serious party foul and even has the guts to sleep with the guy.

Is Molly some kind human Lottery ticket ready to pay off with unending patience, warmth and understanding? It sure seems that way until the all too smitten John meets Molly's 22 year old son Cyrus who still lives at home and, as John quickly discovers, shares an entirely unwholesome intimacy with his mommy. No, there is no sex involved but when he seems to join her in the shower while John waits in the bedroom, the discomfort is of a creepy sexual fashion.

”Cyrus” is a comedy that thrives on discomfort for the characters and the audience. Our sympathy for John has a healthy layer of pity. Our feelings for Cyrus are more fearful than pitying, the way one regards a man on a bus mumbling under his breath. Cyrus may look harmless but his particular affectations are more than a little terrifying as is the way far too many people have grown used to it and are better able and willing to overlook it. 

From the character perspective you cannot help but find “Cyrus” effective, you feel everything these characters project in a painfully awkward fashion. The directors, Mark and Jay Duplass (Baghead, The Puffy Chair) attempt to mimic the awkwardness of their characters in their film style to far less effect. The style is, I'm told, mumblecore and in this incarnation it is a lazy mishmash of digital handheld photography and a script left mostly blank; supposedly for improvisation but more likely out of a general, hope for the best, negligence.

Thus my personal conundrum; do I like “Cyrus” or not? I'm not sure. I'm no fan of the film style but these characters, as assembled by this top notch cast, are undeniably effective even at their most repellent. John C. Reilly's pathetic sad sack develops astonishing romantic chemistry with Marisa Tomei's warmhearted savior.

And then there is Jonah Hil as Cyrus, a role that is as repellent as it is intended. You know Hill is effective when his Cyrus actually renders Tomei's mommy character unattractive, a feet of Herculean creepiness. This is easily Hill's most challenging role to date and he rises to the challenge allowing Cyrus to be something more than merely frightening, like some low budget horror creep with mommy issues, but a more complexly off-putting type. 

Now, before you accuse me of wanting every movie to look and feel the same, let me state that I have no issue with Mumblecore as a whole. Rather, I just have yet to see this style be effective on screen beyond being merely different. There is something highly pretentious in this low budget movement, as if it were trying to shame us all for enjoying movies with bigger budgets and better known filmmakers.

A great cast in a not so great movie, “Cyrus” is oddest disappointment of 2010.

Movie Review How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) 

Directed by Dean Deblois, Chris Sanders

Written by Will Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrara, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill 

Release Date March 26th, 2010

Published March 26th, 2010

In any other year “How to Train Your Dragon” would be seen as the best animated film of the year. It has terrific characters, big laughs, a great big heart, fabulous animation and a killer behind the scenes story. In any other year that didn't feature a masterpiece the magnitude of “Toy Story 3,” “How to Train Your Dragon” would be an Animated Oscar shoo-in this is not, however, any other year.

“Toy Story 3” lifts the bar far higher than most animated films, indeed the folks at Pixar no matter what feature they release, original or sequel, just tend to do that. Let's not let that take away from the fabulous achievement that is How to Train Your Dragon, we will just have to find another way to honor it.

Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is an inventive young man, thoughtful and ingenious. These however, are not the traits of a Viking. In the shadow of his mighty father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), Hiccup is a pipsqueak who needs to be protected from a fight rather than in the battle. This does not prevent Hiccup from dreaming of being a brave Viking, even developing clever devices that might help him overcome his slight stature with technology.

Hiccup's plan actually works, sort of. When the evil dragons fly to the village on one of their regular sheep raids, Hiccup rushes to a hilltop with one of his devices and uses it to bring down a mighty Night Fury dragon. Unfortunately, no one believes him. Ducking into the woods the following day, hoping to find evidence of his kill, Hiccup finds only an injured young dragon as harmless as a house pet.

After a few days of observing and working to get closer, Hiccup manages to develop communication with the dragon. This rapport develops into friendship and soon, a grand friendship that even includes dragon rides. Hiccup names the dragon Toothless for his lack of fiery breath and gentle soul.

Naturally, everyone in the village finds out about Toothless and most are skeptical, dragons are the enemy and have been for decades. Can Hiccup convince them that Toothless is really friendly? How will Hiccup’s dad take the news that his son is playing with a dragon? Will Hiccup be able to convince the gorgeous Astrid (America Ferrara) that Toothless is not just a pet but an ally?

These are the plot questions and each gets a succinct and satisfying answer. What is great about “How to Train Your Dragon” are the character touches that liven up scene after scene. The humor and heart of “How to Train Your Dragon” comes from these wonderfully vivid characters whose winning personalities make each scene a delight.

Jay Baruchel is perfectly cast as the voice of Hiccup. His real physical presence is a match for the animated Hiccup and likely lends to the way his voice seems just right for Hiccup. The same can be said of Gerard Butler whose brogue has always sounded Viking-esque, even in non-Viking roles. The guy sounds tough in romantic comedies.

The backstory of “How to Train Your Dragon” is downright mind-blowing.

From script to screen production on “How to Train Your Dragon” is said to have taken just over a year. The average computer animated feature, even from the pros at Pixar, takes twice that long. The gang behind “How to Train Your Dragon” did it in half the time and didn't sacrifice quality or character in the process.

Directors Dean DeBois and Chris Sanders moved heaven and earth to make this film under budget and on an extraordinary time crunch and never compromised. Working with writer Cressida Powell, on whose kids book the film is based and screenwriter William Davies, they found heart, soul and humor in their characters and brought it to the screen in record time.

With the help of Oscar winning Cinematographer Roger Deakins and a mind-blazingly talented animation team, DeBois and Sanders craft awesome visuals for both 2D and 3D presentation. This is even more staggering than the exceptional character work as this is the part that should have slowed the production. Instead, they found Deakins and with him the vision for whirling, twirling, fiery dragon battles that are the centerpiece of the final act.

In ..1973 a.. horse named Sham shattered the records at each of the three Triple Crown horse races. Why don't we know this? Sham finished second each time to Secretariat. In the race for best animated feature “How to Train Your Dragon” is Sham and “Toy Story 3” is Secretariat. Both are unbelievably great but only one will win. As I said before, we need some other way to honor “How to Train Your Dragon.” I suggest financial reward. Buy, don't rent, “How to Train Your Dragon” on DVD.

Movie Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008 

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Written by Jason Segal

Starring Jason Segal, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Jack McBrayer

Release Date April 18th, 2008

Published April 17th, 2008

The golden touch of writer/director/producer Judd Apatow had become King Midas in reverse on his last two efforts. the brutal spoof Walk Hard and the forgettable Drillbit Taylor. Thankfully, the golden touch is back in the new romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Starring Apatow's long time friend, part of the apatow repertory players from TV and the movies, Jason Segal, Forgetting Sarah Marshall returns to the Apatow gang's comfort zone of awkward, R-Rated romance and mines it for humor of great discomfort, humanity, truth and penis jokes.

Peter Bretter (Segal) has been in love with Sarah Marshall for five years since they met on the set of her hit show Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime. Peter performs all of the music on the show. All seemed warm and cozy until Sarah decided to break up with him. Devastated, Peter drifts into a series of random sexual encounters before his brother Dave (Bill Hader) convinces him to get away for awhile.

Deciding on a Hawaiian getaway, Peter is stunned to find Sarah Marshall already on the island when he arrives and she's attached at the lips to her new rock star boyfriend, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). On the bright side, a beautiful young hotel worker named Rachel (Mila Kunis) takes pity on him and decides to help him get his mind off his ex.

Jason Segal not only stars here, he wrote the smart, offbeat screenplay for Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the care he takes to avoid typical romantic comedy moments bring depth and brains to a film that could have been just another collection of broad gags. Segal crafts terrific characters, creates believable conflicts and wrings big laughs from moments that most anyone will be able to relate to.

Among the many things I loved about this terrific comedy romance is how director Nicholas Stoller and  Jason Segal balance Peter's flaws with Sarah's and avoids making her into a villain. The same can be said of Brand's airhead rocker who, though his quite shallow, proves to be something slightly more than just a walking gag.

Mila Kunis shines in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Bringing a dash of crazy, foul mouthed hussy to an idealized version of a dreamgirl, Kunis shows bravery and chops hanging with the Apatow crew's brand of sweet offensiveness. From her girl's gone wild moment to her foul mouthed tirades, she surprises at every turn, and proves to be more than the equal of her male counterparts.

On top of the strong central story Segal, director Nicolas Stoller and producer Apatow also find room for terrific supporting players like Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd and Jack McBrayer. Best of all however, in the briefest of roles, in William Baldwin. In a pitch perfect send up of David Caruso's CSI Miami cop, Baldwin is a hilarious scene stealer. Really, just about everything works in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. If you can get past multiple scenes of male nudity, you will have a great time with this terrific little movie.

Movie Review: Accepted

Accepted (2006) 

Directed by Steve Pink 

Written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Mark Perez 

Starring Justin Long, Blake Lively, Anthony Heald, Jonah Hill, Lewis Black, Columbus Short 

Release Date August 18th, 2006 

Published August 19th, 2006 

The college comedy is a genre all it's own. It has conventions and clichés and stock characters. The latest example of the genre, Accepted starring Justin Long, breaks no new ground in the college comedy genre. It's a slight, forgettable little comedy that has a more than a few redeeming qualities but not much to recommend it.

Justin Long stars in Accepted as Bartleby Gaines an underachieving slacker whose inattention to his schoolwork has left him without a college acceptance letter. Every school he applied to has rejected him. Even Ohio State! His safety school. With his parents breathing down his neck Bartleby launches one of those only in the movies kind of schemes, he starts his own college.

With the help of his computer nerd best friend Sherman (Jonah Hill), who got into the hometown school Harmon College, Bartleby founds the South Harmon Institute of Technology, if you don't get the joke of that name don't worry the film will explain it again and again and again. At first it's just a very convincing website and acceptance letter but when mom and dad insist on driving Bartleby to school he makes the drastic choice to use his tuition check to rent a building.

Bartleby is not alone in his rejection and acceptance of this wacky scheme. Joining Bartleby at South Harmon is his pal Hands (Columbus Short) who lost his football scholarship after an injury and Rory (Maria Thayer) a Ivy league wannabe who only applied to Yale and swore off other college's after being rejected. Pooling their collective tuitions they rent and renovate an old psychiatric hospital and manage to fool their parents into thinking South Harmon is for real.

Unfortunately they also convince a bunch of other rejects who show up at South Harmon expecting their freshman year. Can Bartleby and friends keep up the ruse of South Harmon or will they be headed to jail on fraud charges. If you don't know already then you probably haven't seen very many movies.

Predictability is not the biggest problem with Accepted. It's biggest problem is Director Steve Pink and writers Bill Collage and Adam Cooper who fail to put their own unique spin on the requirements of the college comedy genre. While director Pink does a good job of keeping up an energetic pace and his cast crafts some lovable characters, there is not one college comedy cliche that Accepted manages to avoid.

The bad guys are the crusty dean from the rival college played with extra crust by Anthony Heald. The dean is joined, in typical Animal House fashion, by a group of overprivileged white frat boys lead by Arian dreamboat Travis Van Winkle. No points for guessing that Travis's character, Hoyt Ambrose, has a hot but very sweet girlfriend who also has eyes for Bartleby. The lovely Blake Lively is Monica who you can bet won't be with Hoyt much longer than the plot deems necessary.

Wait, you won't believe it, there is a bigtime party in the movie too, that happens to be on the same night as major bash thrown by the evil frat guys. No points again for guessing that the bad guys are crashing our heroes party with vague threats and evil intent. These scenes have been repeated more times than I or you can count and there is nothing even remotely original about them in Accepted.

I have said in countless reviews of similar genre pictures that the key to genre filmmaking is not originality but rather taking the established conventions of genre and simply doing them better or at the very least slightly different than they have been done before. Accepted simply repeats the conventions with different actors. These are some very good actors but we've heard all of the jokes before.

The film becomes almost saccharine near the end when a full of himself Bartleby gives one of those rousing the troops speeches that becomes an earnest defense of his wacky scheme. This almost works because we like Justin Long as Bartleby but the speech is simply another of the many clichés that Accepted doesn't just repeat it relies upon.

Accepted has a secret weapon in comedian Lewis Black. Brought in as a burnout ex-educator to be South Harmon's Dean, Black brings his sardonic, downer persona to Accepted and gives the film it's one shot of originality. Doling out his opinions on the education system, taxes and bureaucracy, like he was delivering one of his brilliant stand up routines, Black teaches the kids of South Harmon more about the real world than anything they could learn at a real college even if it is delivered with severe cynicism.

Justin Long is an appealing young actor who has been turning heads in supporting roles since his breakout turn on TV's Ed. He came to mainstream attention as the youngest member of Vince Vaughn's Dodgeball team and turned in a radically different cameo as a gay art gallery employee in Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston's The Break Up earlier this summer.

Now, in his first starring role in a mainstream comedy, Long shows a great deal of charisma and charm but the role is to familiar to be as funny as it could be. There is simply nothing that Long can do to break the mold of the classic, fast talking, quick witted campus legend. It's the mold put in place by past college comedy leads like Ryan Reynolds in Van Wilder or Jeremy Piven in the cult classic P.C.U. It's a template with it's roots in classic Bugs Bunny cartoons where our hero is always imperiled but also always one step ahead of that peril thanks to his quick wits.

Originality is not a prerequisite in a college comedy genre. There are some unavoidable conventions of the genre that filmmakers simply cannot avoid. What the better filmmakers do is try and twist those conventions with their own unique vision. Unfortunately director Steve Pink lacked the vision to bring any new twists to Accepted which wastes a terrifically likable cast on a retread of every cliché in the book.

Movie Review Knocked Up

Knocked Up (2007) 

Directed by Judd Apatow

Written by Judd Apatow 

Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jason Segal 

Release Date June 1st, 2007 

Published May 30th, 2007 

Television's loss has become the film world's gain. Just think, had either of Judd Apatow's television ventures, Freaks & Geeks or Undeclared become the hit they deserved to be, we might have had to wait for The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Thankfully, and yet sadly, both shows were mistreated by hasty network execs seeking quick hit programming, and thus Apatow was pushed to create two of the best comedies of this decade.

The 40 Year Old Virgin is a masterwork in the comedy of discomfort. For all of its lowbrow elements, Virgin thrived on delivering characters with great heart as well as great humor. Judd Apatow's new film Knocked Up shares Virgin's heart and humor but also manages to go a little deeper in analyzing its characters and their flaws. That said, for fans of the off-color humor, there are plenty of dick jokes, vomit jokes, and a birthing scene like nothing you have seen outside of a medical documentary.

Seth Rogan stars in Knocked Up as Ben, a true loser. He lives in a run down house with several of his loser friends. He smokes pot all day and is waiting while his stoner pals try and launch a website dedicated to nude scenes of Hollywood movies. He lives off the profits of a personal injury lawsuit he won several years earlier.

How Ben (Seth Rogan) managed to hook up with a woman like Allison (Katherine Heigl) is entirely about the alcohol. Without a little help from Jose Cuervo there was no way Allison and Ben would end up in bed together. Allison is a gorgeous, highly ambitious, entertainment reporter who, while celebrating her promotion at E! Entertainment television, meets Ben and somehow ends up in bed with him.

The meeting of Ben and Allison should have been for just one alcohol fueled night. However, thanks to condom troubles, Allison ends up pregnant and now she and Ben are tied for good. She has to try and find a way to make things work for the sake of her baby and he must find some way to grow up and become a father.

Written and directed by Judd Apatow, Knocked Up is a foul mouthed yet thoughtful examination of real life issues, parenthood and marriage, and the fears that many people share about growing up and becoming a real adult. The Peter Pan syndrome of many child adults has been a trend in comedies of this decade. Where Knocked Up is different from films like Grandma's Boy, Benchwarmers or Failure To Launch is that Knocked Up is smarter, funnier and features a far more talented group of performers.  

The most important difference however is creator Judd Apatow whose witty insightful writing, leavened by copious amounts of lowbrow jokes, creates characters and situations that are funnier and more believable than those in supposedly similar films. As he did on his terrific, but sadly short lived TV shows, Apatow shows in Knocked Up a level of understanding and good heartedness that often feels crass in lesser talented hands.

His comic timing, the way he mixes the lowbrow humor with the insightful character stuff is a near perfect mixture. Teaming with Seth Rogan, his longtime friend and producing partner, Apatow creates a quick, witty shorthand that never plays like two friends and an inside joke. The shorthand they have together is apparent but they keep all of the humor open and accessible.

If I have any complaint about Knocked Up it comes from a not so surprising lack of depth in the Allison character. It has long been a difficult road for male writers attempting to write fully fleshed out female characters and even a writer as talented as Judd Apatow can't avoid the pitfalls. While Katherine Heigl brings a wonderful inner life to Allison, Apatow fails to flesh out a back story and motivation for her prior to hooking up with Ben.

Why does she live in her sister's guest house? Where are her friends? We meet all of Ben's stoner buddies, but not one of Allison's friends. What about other men? Certainly a woman as beautiful as Allison has had other boyfriends or would attract other men even as she is trying things with Ben. We never learn anything about Allison other than how she reacts to Ben and to becoming a parent with him.

One reason Allison gets the short end of the stick is that this is really Ben's journey told from Ben's perspective and what an interesting perspective that is. Seth Rogan makes Ben so charming and funny that you only question how a schlub like him could win over a goddess like Allison for maybe... half the movie's runtime. But, once we are comfortable with Ben you can't help but be won over. His quick wit, his willingness to make himself the subject of the joke and his relaxed easy going charisma make him a real winner even as his lifestyle and some of his actions betray a loser.

This is the fifth time Rogan has worked with his good friend Judd Apatow, he was on both of Apatow's TV series, had a small role in Anchorman, where Apatow was an executive producer, and co-starred and earned a producer's credit on The 40 Year Old Virgin. The breezy way in which these two work together likely comes from a long honed shorthand.

Paul Rudd is the secret weapon of Knocked Up. Once seen as just another handsome actor, Rudd has in the past 3 years established himself as a tremendously funny supporting player. In Anchorman as Will Ferrell's go to guy and in The 40 Year Old Virgin Rudd showed a terrific flair for self-deprecating humor, a willingness to make jokes about him and a pitch perfect ear  for the one liner.

In Knocked Up Rudd crafts a very human and very funny character that is both self deprecating and confident. His Pete is at first the least complicated character in the film and you feel you know where his secondary storyline is heading. Thankfully, Apatow and Rudd have a number of surprises in store and Pete is much more interesting than he initially appears.

Throughout the middle portion of Knocked Up, as we are getting close with Ben and Allison, we get some very interesting and insightful moments with Pete and his wife, Allison's sister, Debbie played by Leslie Mann. The marriage of Pete and Debbie is counterpoint to Ben and Allison's burgeoning romance and the two relationships are a commentary on one another in a very unique way.

Finally, in a tiny, almost insignificant role, Saturday Night Live star Kristin Wiig is a terrific scene stealer. Playing one of Allison's bosses at the E! Network, Wiig plays a variation on one of her SNL characters, one who feels she must top any story with one of her own. The subtle brilliance of Wiig's performance is almost so low key you could miss it. Pay attention when she is on, you are guaranteed some big laughs.

Yes, Knocked Up is often foul and features a good deal of low humor. However, mixed within the lowest common denominator stuff is a true heart and a great head. The film is warmer and truer than most of the films Hollywood releases in any year, not just comedies. Knocked Up is a terrifically funny movie packed with talented performers and a creator who is a star on the rise for many years to come. As good as both The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up are, I feel Judd Apatow will only get more interesting as he matures. His best work may be yet to come. 

Movie Review How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World (2019) 

Directed by Dean Deblois

Written by Dean Deblois 

Starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrara, F. Murray Abraham, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill 

Release Date February 22nd, 2019

Published February 21st, 2019 

How to Train Your Dragon 3 is perhaps the best of the three How to Train Your Dragon movies. None of the How to Train Your Dragon movies have been bad but the first two, for me, have only been passably entertaining. How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World rounds the series into something with a good deal more depth. Indeed, depth is what the first two movies lacked as they put forward perfunctory stories about learning to believe in yourself. 

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World is the first of the franchise to carry the confidence of a movie where characters have tamed and rode dragons into battle. The hero's journey has finally stopped being a slightly bland, mostly amusing coming of age story and has become the story of a fully fledged character finally becoming who he should be. Again, there is nothing wrong with the first two, but I prefer seeing a new story with these characters as opposed to familiar tropes dressed up with dragons. 

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World opens with our heroes, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon pal, Toothless, now in the role of dragon defenders. When dragons are kidnapped to be killed or made to serve the forces of evil, Hiccup, Toothless and their friends from the Viking village of Berk, swoop in with fiery swords and free the peaceful dragons and take them home to safety. 

Unfortunately, Berk has become quite overcrowded since our last visit. The place is teeming with dragons and the sheer volume of dragons on hand has not gone unnoticed. A group of bad guys now know where Berk is and they want to steal the dragons in order to create a dragon army. The baddies can’t do it on their own however, so they seek the help of the legendary dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly (F Murray Abraham). In exchange for capturing the dragons of Berk, Grimmel asks only that he be able to kill Toothless. Grimmel has made his reputation on killing Night Furies.

But how will he ever get close to Berk with all of those Vikings and Dragons? Grimmel has a plan. He’s captured a Light Fury, a white, female counterpart to Toothless and also seemingly the last of her kind. Grimmel will use the Light Fury to lead Toothless into a trap. His plan is solid as Toothless falls in love at first sight with the Light Fury and in a delightful scene, attempts to romance her on the beach with a mating dance. The wordless pantomime of the dragons in this scene is genuine, sweet and funny. 

Director Dean Deblois in his third time as a director, he directed the previous How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo and Stitch prior to this movie, continues to demonstrate his light and deft touch. Deblois is smart about not letting his stories get cluttered with too many bits of business. He may have a lot of colorful characters and voice actors to make use of but he’s very economical about it and never allows a bit to overstay its welcome or bog down the central story. 

The voice cast of How to Train Your Dragon remains top notch with Jay Baruchel as a sturdy lead voice, America Ferrera as the charming romantic idea, Cate Blanchett as the voice of gravitas and seriousness and Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz Plasse and Kristen Wiig providing solid comic relief. Add to this group, the sonorous tones of Academy Award winner F Murray Abraham as Grimmel and you have an exceptionally talented and charismatic group of voices. 

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World is exceptionally well animated with some legitimately breathtaking sights that really stand out in IMAX 3D. The visuals are equalled brilliantly by the Scottish inflected music score by John Powell to create a more vital and mature palette for what is the last of this film trilogy. Much credit to Dean Deblois and Dreamworks in recognizing that there is no need to beat this premise into the ground. This is the final film in a trilogy and they allow it to go out on a note of satisfying and moving finality.

Movie Review Superbad

Superbad (2007) 

Directed by Greg Mattola

Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Starring Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen

Release Date August 17th, 2007

Published August 16th, 2007

There are moments of the teen comedy Superbad that remind me so much of my own teen years that I would have been red faced embarrassed if I weren't laughing so hard. This latest brilliant comedy from under the shingle of Judd Apatow is the movie that Porky's and American Pie wished they could have been. Smart, funny, and balls out filthy, Superbad has a heart as big as its love of penis drawings.

Written by the team of Seth Rogan, star of Knocked Up, and his childhood friend Evan Goldberg, Superbad is so true and authentic that guys between the ages of 18 and 34 will be in hysterics at just the familiarity of the characters and the situations.

Superbad tells the story of one night in the lives of two best friends. Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) have been friends for over 10 years, something you get quickly from the shorthand of their conversation that seems as if it began a decade before the movie began. This is their last night of High School and the boys have been invited to their first High School party.

The party is being thrown by Seth's longtime crush Jules (Emma Stone). By promising to get alcohol for the party Seth hopes he can entice Jules into a drunken, last night of High School tryst. Also attending the party is  Evan's longtime crush Becca (Martha MacIsaac), she is into Evan but he is clueless how to handle that. He too hopes that a little alcohol will grease the wheels, though his intentions with Becca are slightly less puerile.

To get the booze the boys must rely on Evan's friend Fogell who has promised a fake I.D. Unfortunately, when Fogell produces the I.D his name change threatens to blow the cover. Fogell decided to call himself "McLovin", no last name, just McLovin. Nevertheless, McLovin is the boy's only hope to get the drinks and thereby, get the girls.

On my surface level description Superbad sounds like nothing more than American Pie Redux or maybe Porky's 15. In reality however, Superbad, under the skilled direction of Greg Mottola, is much smarter than the American Pie movies and even more outlandish than Porky's. Superbad is the rare teen comedy that delivers strong characters with the extra strength of low brow humor.

Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg wrote the script for Superbad based on their experiences as teenagers. The two have been friends since junior high and that friendly shorthand lends the film authenticity that most other teen comedies can only imitate. Despite having to compound a high school lifetime of experiences into one night, Superbad never feels overstuffed. Director Mottola along with Rogan and Goldberg escape this trouble by simply ignoring it.

The bedrock of Superbad is the loving friendship of Seth and Evan. This is really a platonic male love story about two guys overcoming social pressures to confess that they love each other. Men in this culture are not allowed to admit their feelings for one another, not without a joking reference to Brokeback Mountain or some anti-gay slur to break the awkwardness.

Superbad throws off the social shackles and allows Evan and Seth to be honest with each other, with the aid of a little booze. They are headed to different colleges in the fall and they are going to miss each other more than even the girls whose hearts they hope to win. Now, before you start to think that Superbad is some touchy-feely, male bonding comedy, trust me, there are plenty of dick jokes. In fact, there is almost a dick subplot. I don't want to get too detailed, just keep an ear out for Seth's reasons for not liking Evan's crush Becca.

A great group of actors mixed with tremendous behind the scenes talent, Superbad is among the best films of 2007. Yes, some will be put off by the truly low brow humor but trust me, they will be missing the point. The lowbrow stuff comes from a good hearted place within these terrific characters. It's all in good fun and only occasionally is it gratuitous. In a year where we have seen The Simpsons Movie and Knocked Up it is Superbad that takes the crown as the funniest movie of the year.

Movie Review Mid 90s

Mid-90s (2018) 

Directed by Jonah Hill 

Written by Jonah Hill 

Starring Sonny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, 

Release Date October 18th, 2018

Published October 17th, 2018 

No one would have predicted that the foul-mouthed teenager from Superbad and Knocked Up would grow into a two time Academy Award nominee and a genuine auteur. And yet, here we are with actor-writer-director Jonah Hill whose roles in Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street forced us to take notice of his acting talent and now Mid 90’s where we learn that he is a true and noble artist behind the scenes as well. 

Mid 90’s stars young Sonny Suljic as Stevie, a 13 year old boy making his first steps toward defining himself as a person. Stevie is shy and doesn’t have many friends. He idolizes his brother, Ian (Academy Award nominee Lucas Hedges), despite Ian’s more than brotherly bullying and violence. Early on, we see Stevie sneak into his brother’s bedroom so he can try on his brother’s life, looking through his clothes and hats and especially his collection of hip hop records. 

Ian doesn’t make it easy on his little brother, their 5 year age gap may as well be 10 or 20 years given how distant Ian is toward his little brother. Unable to connect at home, Stevie heads to the streets of Los Angeles where he falls in with a group of skateboarders. First, there is Ruben (Gio Galicia) who invites Stevie into the sphere of this tight clique as he seeks a small sidekick. Then there is Ray (Na-Kel Smith), a budding professional skateboarder, F---S--- (Olan Prenatt), a rich kid who rebels through skateboarding, drugs and alcohol and Fourth Grade (Ryder McLaughlin) a wannabe filmmaker. 

Stevie’s first experience with deep friendship becomes a little dangerous as he begins smoking, drinking and other experimental behaviors. It’s nothing that a lot of us didn’t get into at 13 but as presented here, with writer-director Jonah Hill’s raw honesty, it has the power of a cautionary tale without coming off as a scolding buzzkill. Hill’s work is wonderfully non-judgmental and observant and if you’re uncomfortable, you’re supposed to be. 

Many assume that a movie called Mid 90’s is intended as a nostalgia piece but what Jonah Hill has actually created is a thoughtful and quite funny observation of youth and identity. Stevie is on the search for his own identity for the first time. He is making the first tentative steps toward defining himself outside of his family, his mother (Katherine Waterston), and his older brother. His choices aren’t the best but they are his and they give him the opportunity to find himself. 

This search for identity is all in subtext but it is nevertheless the crux of this story being told in the Mid 90’s. There is a wonderfully small scene in the film between Katherine Waterston and Sonny Suljic that captures the separation of parent and child, in terms of identity, not physical location, that I found remarkably powerful. It’s a simple exchange where mom says to Stevie “It’s Blockbuster night, what should we watch?” Stevie rejects his mother and their tradition so he can go out on his skateboard and for a moment you can see hurt ripple across Katherine Waterston’s face. 

The hurt in this scene does not come from Stevie being insensitive, he’s not, but he’s unaware of how his mother sees this moment, how she’s just witnessed the first step in her son defining himself apart from her and her expectations and plans for him. She likely doesn’t realize the significance of the moment completely but that moment of minor rejection is palpable and Katherine Waterston plays the moment beautifully. 

The other standout scene, in a movie that brims with top notch moments, comes late in the movie and I will leave you to discover it. It’s a moment between Stevie and his older brother that is charged with emotion. As someone who grew up with a much older brother who was out of High School before I got to High School, I felt this moment so deeply and so personally that I was completely overwhelmed. You may have to have an older sibling to understand why this moment is so powerful but if you remain aware of the signifiers, you may just feel the effect as much as I did. 

If you idolized an older sibling the moments between Ian and Sonny will hit you like a ton of bricks. I had forgotten about my longing as a child to be friends with my older brother. Like Stevie, I used to sneak into my brother’s room and would pay the price in brotherly violence. I wanted to hold his guitar and feel for a moment what it was like to be him. He didn’t know it, but he was my idol but part of growing up was coming to see him as human and Mid 90’s nails that similar moment for Stevie, a moment where his brother becomes human and not the embodiment of youthful ideals. 

In his very first directorial effort, Jonah Hill has delivered a genuine masterpiece of style and character. Mid 90’s is funny, heartrending, thoughtful and observant. The characters are vital and lively and the story flows from scene to scene beautifully. The sun-baked cinematography and the laid back tone come together brilliantly to underline the ongoing tension of the story of Stevie coming of age and finding out who he is. 

I adore Mid 90’s. This is one of the best movies of 2018

Movie Review Megamind

Megamind (2010) 

Directed by Tom McGrath

Written by Alan Schoolcraft, Brent Simons

Starring Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, David Cross

Release Date November 5th, 2010 

Published November 4th, 2010

2010 is the year of the bad guy in animation. In “Despicable Me” a mad genius named Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, became a good guy when he was faced with three lovely little orphans who warmed his villainous heart. Now comes “Megamind,” voiced by Will Ferrell, an evil genius who has grown used to being beaten by his nemesis Metro Man but finds himself unfulfilled once it seems he’s actually won.

Megamind (Ferrell) escaped a dying planet and was sent to earth destined for…. Something, he didn’t catch that part of his parents’ farewell speech. On the way to earth Megamind is bumped off course by another escapee from a dying planet, a handsome, dynamic little boy known as Metro Man (Brad Pitt). Metro Man arrives on earth landing under the Christmas tree of a wealthy family, Megamind crash lands in the yard of a prison where he grows up tutored in the ways of villainy.

Metro Man and Megamind went to school together and while Metro was the big man on campus with his charm, good looks and super powers, Megamind and his big blue head and prison-issue jumpsuit became an outcast. Getting picked last and picked on leads Megamind to embrace his bad guy side and with the help of his childhood companion, Minion (David Cross), Megamind determines to become a Super Villain.

The battles between Metro Man and Megamind, often centering on Megamind’s kidnapping of local reporter Renee Richard (Tina Fey), are epics of destruction that always end the same way with Megamind beaten, captured and imprisoned. However, when Megamind crashes the dedication of the Metro Man museum, takes Renee hostage, and sets up his evil death ray, he actually manages to defeat and seemingly murder Metro Man.

With the city now under his command and no one to stand in his way; Megamind should be ecstatic. Instead, he’s bored. Only Renee gives him a hard time but he doesn’t mind, in fact he discovers that he really likes her and maybe that is why he’s always taken her hostage. They get a chance to explore this when an evil even more destructive than Megamind arrives in Metro City and forces Megamind to go from bad guy to good guy.

There is a heady ideal at the heart of “Megamind.” Can evil exist without good or can good exist without evil? The creators of “Megamind” come down whole-heartedly on the side of both being necessary in order to exist. It’s a big topic for a kiddy flick but not one that “Megamind” lingers on more than it has to.

“Megamind” is first and foremost about jokes and the creators could not have assembled a cast more adept at delivering their punch lines. Will Ferrell has the uncanny ability to project a pratfall with words. His voice characters stumble and bumble in the fashion of his live action characters and that is strong testament to the comic brilliance of Ferrell’s persona and “Megamind” bumbles with the best of them.

Tina Fey’s genius is sarcastic apathy; her voice communicates brilliant comic exhaustion. In one of “Megamind’s” best scenes, Renee Richards boringly recounts the number of times Megamind has kidnapped her and the predictable ways in which he plans to torture and kill her: “Shark tank? Seen it. (Chainsaws) Seen it. (Lasers) Seen it.” Each line delivered with a tart, sarcastic assuredness that drives Megamind nuts.

Brad Pitt, David Cross and Jonah Hill round out the cast of “Megamind” and bring wit, energy and surprising warmth to their highly unusual characters. Pitt’s Metro Man is a rather obvious send up of Superman but you have to love the energetic pandering and insatiable ego that Pitt brings to the character. David Cross is known for being a caustic stage comic but his Minion is a loving companion to Megamind and Cross’s warmth sells Megamind’s change from villain to hero. Jonah Hill meanwhile goes for something close to what Will Ferrell brings to Megamind, a sense of the typical Jonah Hill character we know but with a touch more anger, his Hal the cameraman is funny because Jonah Hill is funny.

There isn’t much to “Megamind” that you haven’t seen before yet it succeeds. This terrific voice cast takes some familiar characters and predictable situations and turns up the charm and energy to keep us interested and laughing; even at jokes we likely could have predicted in the parking lot on the way into the theater. Voice acting is a unique talent and not everyone has it. Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt and David Cross have that talent and “Megamind” is funny because they are funny.

Movie Review: The Sitter

The Sitter (2011) 

Directed by David Gordon Green 

Written by Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka 

Starring Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Max Records, A.J Graynor, J.B Smoove 

Release Date December 9th, 2011 

Published December 10th, 2011 

Jonah Hill's comic appeal isn't much different from that of Will Ferrell; both are an acquired taste. Just as not everyone enjoys Ferrell's outlandish schtick not everyone enjoys Jonah Hill's foul-mouthed, raging-Id routine. For those who do enjoy them however, their films are a treat. Count me in as a fan of Jonah Hill and thusly someone who really loved "The Sitter."

Meet the Sitter

Noah (Hill) is a shiftless layabout with both daddy and mommy issues. That said he's not an altogether bad guy. When his put upon, far too indulgent mother (Julie Hecht) is about to lose out on chance at a night on the town Noah begrudgingly agrees to babysit for the family friends who are setting his mom up on a date.

Meet the Kids

This is, of course, a fateful choice; Noah is in for the night of all nights. First, we meet the kids. The oldest is Slater (Max Records) who's obsessed with his anxiety medication. Slater's little sister Blithe (Landry Bender) is quite a handful; she wants to be a celebrity and acts as if she may be a lost Kardashian child. And then there is Slater and Blithe's adopted brother Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez) who's talent for destruction is a catalyst for much unexpected action in "The Sitter."

But first, it's Noah who gets the ball of bad choices rolling. Noah has been spending time with Marisa (Ari Graynor) a horrible girl who uses Noah for, shall we say, sexual favors. And tends not to return the love. When she calls Noah and promises sex in exchange for cocaine, Noah's libido overrides his good judgment and the story of "The Sitter" kicks in.

'Adventures in Babysitting'

There are a number of parallels between "The Sitter" and the 80's teen classic "Adventures in Babysitting" including a lost and damaged minivan and an escape from a black nightclub that culminates with our hero winning respect and a helpful group of new friends.

The similarities end there however as "The Sitter," directed by "Pineapple Express" auteur David Gordon Green, is a gloriously filthy movie that well earns its R-Rating. The opening moments of "The Sitter" feature oral sex and things only get better from there in terms of the exceptional lowbrow humor that is Jonah Hill's forte from "Superbad" to "Knocked Up" through "Funny People" and elsewhere.

For Fans Only

You have to be a big fan of Jonah Hill to get past the many plot contrivances and conveniences but if are a fan, there is a lot to enjoy here. Hill is a funny, sympathetic and charismatic comic whose comic sensibilities really connect with those of us who enjoy him. For those that don't enjoy Jonah Hill; there is any number of other movies out there for you; "The Sitter" is for fans only.

Movie Review Funny People

Funny People (2009)

Directed by Judd Apatow 

Written by Judd Apatow 

Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman 

Release Date July 31st, 2009

Published July 30th, 2009 

Comics have their own idiom, a way of speaking that is more often than not aggressive and abnormal. Words are their weapons and they wield them with particular expertise. Listen to comedian Patton Oswalt, a shambling, unkempt often alcohol infused comic whose word use is as precise and exacting as your average marksmen is with a high caliber rifle. The brain of the comic is different always, searching at all times for the absurd in the average, that detail that they can see that the average person misses. That brain gets a thorough and exacting examination in Funny People, Judd Apatow's adroit, mature comedy of penis jokes and honest to goodness pathos.

Adam Sandler is the star of Funny People playing a variation on his real life superstar career. His George Simmons is one of the biggest stars in the world thanks to movies like Mer-Man where he plays, you guessed it, a half man half fish and Re-Do where Sandler's soft ball like skull is placed on the body of a baby by cheesy CGI. You can sense the shame he feels over these movies, made only to line his pockets, and purchase cars he never drives and a large, Xanadu-esque mansion that he doesn't need, and one can't help but wonder if the shame applies in real life to dreck like Little Nicky or Billy Madison. Probably not, but I can dream.

The shame can be seen in George when he see's himself worshipped in the eyes of his new assistant Ira (Seth Rogan). Hired to help write jokes so George can go back to where he feels most at home, the comedy stage, Ira becomes George's only real friend, even if he won't admit it. It's a forced friendship with young Ira carrying most of the burden especially after George reveals he has a rare blood disease and may soon be dead. That's a lot for Ira to carry but he does carry it and soon Ira begins to develop his own talents and find his own comic persona through the mirror of George's age and and hard won wisdom.

Outside of his wealth and privilege, George's life is empty and impending death has only magnified the void. He now longs for all the stuff he took for granted as a younger man, things family and children. Ira helps George reconnect with his parents and sister and even a few of his comic 'friends' who are more like fellow former hostages of some unknown captor. They aren't friends, they just share the same trauma it seems and that bonds them.

The one person George really hopes to reconnect with however, is Laura, the only woman he ever really loved. Laura is now married and living in San Francisco. She comes to George after he reveals his illness and the reunion is emotional in the way one might talk to someone who dying, an exaggerated pseudo-truth that takes conversational reality to a heightened emotional realm. Yes, Laura loved him once and, in his dying state, she forgives him his indiscretions of the past but is he really the love of her life? That could just be comfort food for the dying.

Well, George will find out if Laura is for real. The last 45 minutes of Funny People is dedicated to George surviving his illness and deciding to chase the life he thinks he always wanted. What happens then is for you to discover but thanks to the exceptionally smart and true writing and direction of Judd Apatow you are in for something funny and unexpected. For those trained by The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up to expect a lot of foul humor, your training comes in handy. Apatow's verbiage is as scatological and unapologetically foul as ever. The difference is the level of sophistication in the way these words are used. Comics use foul language in such a secondary, comfortable manner that it's less natural when they don't use them.

Adam Sandler has shown in the past that beneath the juvenile mask is an immensely talented actor. He simply cannot often enough restrain his id and allow that talent some time in the sun. In Funny People the mask is off and the talent shines like never before. His George is a stunningly bitter, brusque and off-putting guy who makes no apologies for being repugnant. He is fully conscious of his disgust for himself and in finding death he turns that disgust toward whatever human target is close by. As in his shame for his movies, George loathes the people who love them as much as she loathes himself for making them love him. He lives the old Groucho Marx maxim "I would never be a part of a club that would have me as a member".

Sandler's performance in Funny People is so raw and remarkable that you must wonder how true it all is to the real life of Adam Sandler. Thankfully, in real life Sandler appears to be happily married with children and close friends. It's very likely however, that Sandler knows a George Simmons and shares a deep sympathy with him. Sandler comes at this role with such ferocity and authentic self-loathing and contempt for the world that it just feels real. Then there is the blurring of the lines when George/Adam criticizes his terrible movie roles and that blurring of the lines becomes an uncanny valley between real life and the funny fiction of Funny People. 

As for Seth Rogen, I loved how Rogen's Ira represents all the hope and joy that has seemingly slipped away from jaded George and the way that Ira's youth and enthusiasm enlivens the mentor-student relationship of Geore and Ira. Rogen plays Ira as his usual foul-mouthed man-child, the persona he has perfected in his short but fast rising career. However, Rogen and Apatow take great care to make Ira the heart of the story and use the character as a mirror to highlight the best and worst of George while deepening both characters through their growth together as friends and colleagues. It's a dynamite dynamic and the chemistry between Rogen and Sandler is outstanding. 

With Adam Sandler delivering a career best performance and Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow showing newfound maturity and complexity, Funny People becomes one of the best movies you will see all year. Funny People is also another maddening symbol of how incredibly talented Adam Sandler can be when he wants to be. It makes me dislike Sandler more when he makes terrible comedies because I have seen a movie like this and I can see how talented he is. It's frustrating to watch him make some of the worst movies in the world when he's capable of making movies like this.