‘Get Him to the Greek’ is Not Even Sarah Marshall Lite September 26, 2010

Oh, the spin-off. A few good movies and a few good TV shows have spawned by spinning off from the original material. But let’s face it: Usually the spin-off sucks. ‘Get Him to the Greek‘ doesn’t suck, but it is nowhere near as fun, fresh, or entertaining as ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall.’ As I often say with spin-offs and sequels, “You would be better off just watching the original again.”

I will admit that Aldous Snow was the funniest character in ‘FSM,’ so naturally a spin-off about him would make sense. Sadly, though, even with the same character, with a new writer the material isn’t a guaranteed success. Nicholas Stoller is close to the source material, having directed ‘FSM,’ but the director is not the writer. Jason Segel wrote the first film and it was a hit. He didn’t write the spin-off and it’s not a hit.

I will also admit that I do not find Jonah Hill funny. Ever. He has the same syndrome as Michael Cera, his co-star in ‘Superbad,’ that he is always playing the same character. It gets tiring, especially here when him and Aldous run the same joke for 109 minutes. Moderaretly related, it saddens me that I share the same birthday as Jonah Hill.

There are a handful of good moments that could optimally have been edited into bonus footage of the original movie. Mainly they include Elisabeth Moss (Peggy from ‘Mad Men’). She is endearing and funny in her stock role, mostly, I think, because viewers will be used to seeing her in the great show ‘Man Men,’ where she is much more conservative.

The only other memorable moment comes when Jonah Hill’s character encounters Tom Felton (Malfoy from ‘Harry Potter’) playing himself in a club. Laughs are had, but let me illustrate a point: I claimed “Jonah Hill’s character” because I cannot even remember his character’s name. That is how unmemorable this whole ordeal is.

So finally I must conclude that if you were looking to kill about 2 hours there are much better ways to do it, but if you absolutely must watch this movie, you will survive. I did. But I cringed at some shameless jokes along the way.

Great Movie Scenes of the Decade January 2, 2010

Year-end lists are tough, so naturally decade-end lists are tougher. Instead of a list of my top films for the decade, I’ve compiled notes on 50 51 of my favorite movie scenes from 2000-2009. Please keep in mind a few things:

A) Most of these movies have many great scenes. I simply picked ones that are either my personal favorite or ones I feel encompass the film as a whole in the best way a mere one scene can.
B) I mean the scene in which these events take place, not just the small moment I write about. The leading up to (through foreshadowing), right before, and right after are to be considered as well.
C) These are not my top 50 films of the decade. Do not take this list as such. If I made such a list, I’m sure somewhere between 50-80% of the list would be the same, but that’s a topic for some other time.
D) These are in no particular order, other than the first, which may very well be my favorite.

If you have seen these films, I hope you will enjoy remembering these moments as much as I do. If you have not, I urge you to take the time to do so. There is much to be felt.

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Graysmith looking Arthur Leigh Allen in the eye at the end of ‘Zodiac’

When Jack gives “directions” to some tourists to the “Louvre” in ‘2 Days in Paris’

Battle of Carthage recreation in the Coliseum in ‘Gladiator’

Jake Sully flying through the Floating Mountains on Pandora in ‘Avatar’

Cady meeting the Plastics in ‘Mean Girls’

Climax of ‘Oldboy’ in Woo-jin’s penthouse

The gathering of the crew in ‘Ocean’s 11’

WALL-E playing in space with EVE using the fire extinguisher in ‘WALL-E’