Tropic Thunder Review

Saw a screening of Tropic Thunder tonight and I must say going into this movie I was very excited. I had seen the trailer back in March and knew it had a ton of potential and was just praying that they wouldn't drop the ball like a lot of recent Stiller comedies. Fortunately, Ben Stiller proved that he might be a better director than an actor (The Cable Guy, Zoolander) as Tropic Thunder was absolutely fantastic and right now stands as my top comedy of 2008 (haven't seen Pineapple Express as of this writing).

The movie is about 3 very insecure actors, Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman your typical action hero who is in need of a hit pretty badly as his franchise films are starting to die out. Jack Black plays Jeff Portney a cross between Eddie Murphy and Jeff Conaway from Celebrity Rehab. Robert Downey Jr. steals the show as Kirk Lazarus a serious actor who has 5 academy awards and gets lost in every role as he is a method actor. All 3 men are hired to be on a war epic to end all war epic's but the director is a rookie and production isn't going according to plan. This leads to the idea of putting the guys into a remote area of the jungle and to film it guerilla style to get a reality tv style view of the action. As you can guess this doesn't go according to plan and the actors are forced to hold their own against Vietnamese drug dealers.

All of the actors are great in this movie. Stiller plays Speedman as a more intelligent Derek Zoolander type of character who is just dying to be taken more seriously for his work. Jack Black is a little misplaced and under used in the movie as he doesnt seem to have as much going on plot wise as everyone else but still has some very funny parts. Robert Downey Jr. is to this film as Heath Ledger was to The Dark Knight. His performance as an african american sergeant is top notch and he really makes you forget that youre watching a white guy acting as a black guy on the screen. Brandon T. Jackson plays Alpa Chino who is your typical rapper turned actor character and brings some great comedy throughout the film and even shows a more complex side to his alpha male character mid way through, and new comer Jay Barauchel has a stand out performance as Kevin who is kind of the nerdy computer tech guy and the heart of the crew. I can see him getting a lot more work after people see him in this movie. There are also pretty big roles for Tom Cruise (in full make up as studio exec Les) and Matthew McConaughey who plays Speedman's agent and channels his best Ari from Entourage. There are even cameo's from Toby Mcguire, Lance Bass, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and a litany of other stars.

This movie has all of the ingredients of a good action comedy as the fight scenes are done very well and there are nonstop jokes from beginning to end. One of the highlights of the film are the trailers played before the movie which feature all of the actors in their hit roles. Tropic Thunder is a must see for any fan of comedy or even action movies in general. There are so many subtle view points about the state of big budget hollywood films these days and just how insecure and shallow actors and film makers can really be. Stiller knocks another one out of the park as a director, writer, producer, and actor with the supporting cast helping to make Tropic Thunder an instant classic.

9/10

The Rock

from TMZ... that's a pic that could make a man question some things about himself. I don't know if any amount of working out could get me to look like that. Must be a good life.

Step Brothers

Step Brothers is another collaboration between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. The difference with this movie and Talladega Nights is that this time Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up) is producing and Ferrell co-wrote the movie with Adam McKay (SNL, FunnyorDie.com) who also gets directing credit. I did not really even want to see this movie based on the original trailers as it seemed to be another in whats becoming the long line of Will Ferrell groaners. After hearing good word of mouth and being dragged to the movie on a boring Sunday, I must say this is truly a very funny movie.

Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly) are two 40 year old, unemployed losers who are still living at home with their parents (Mary Steenbergen, Richard Jenkins). At a medical conference the parents meet up, hook up, and end up getting married. Thus making the guys... Step Brothers. While the plot certainly isn't the highpoint of this movie, the improvisation between Ferrell and Reilly steals the show. It's hard to believe there was really a script with dialogue pre-written as both comedians do an amazing job playing off each other and have great chemistry. The jokes are very R rated and immature but fit very well with the flow of the movie. Dale and Brennan don't get along at first but find a common enemy in Brennan's younger, and much more successful brother Derek. Derek is the polar opposite of Dale and Brennan as he has a wife, 2 kids, 500k a year salary, and a range rover. One of the funniest scenes in the movie is when the family is singing an acapella version of Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine."

Derek convinces the parents to sell their house so that they can retire and set sail around the world on their yacht, this of course would mean Dale and Brennan would have to enter the real world and get their own job and place. They go on a series of interviews which are highly entertaining and even feature a cameo from Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Superbad). As you can guess things don't go according to plan and hilarity ensues. The movie has so many great moments that weren't put into the trailer, probably because of the adult nature of the humor. The film also narrowly avoids the trap that most comedies in this genre fall into where the main character realizes the mistakes he has been making and spends 30 minutes of the film trying to right the wrong. There is a section of the movie like that where the brothers both go out on their own and are successful as adults in the real world and must reunite to bring the parents back together. Fortunately the scenes are well done and the movie doesn't have any real points where its dragging on.

Overall, Step Brothers is a win for Ferrell as his stock was on a slow decline after Semi Pro. The movie will not hold up as funniest movie of the summer as Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express will be most likely battling for that title, but Step Brothers is a great comedy with some good acting and definitely worth checking out at your local matinee.

8/10

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Usually when I hear about a new Keanu Reeve's movie that doesnt rhyme with The Schmatrix it is met with a groan or a cringe. But after watching the trailer for "The Day The Earth Stood Still" I must say that I am a bit intrigued.

Batman rumors

Some new rumors circulating about the third Batman film. UK's Daily Telegraph is saying that an "unnamed source" from Warner Bros wants Johnny Depp to play The Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin. I think the Hoffman casting would be perfect, not sure how I feel about Depp as The Riddler. Personally, I was a big fan of Jim Carrey's portrayal in Batman Forever and almost feel like it shouldn't be touched. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out but right now I would take these rumors with a grain of salt. Check out IGN's story on this here.

Follow up on Artest

So apparently Ron Artest is ALREADY in hot water with a team mate. Yao Ming made the following comments about Artest, "Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands."

Then Artest responds with:
"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto, that's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about.

"If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there," Artest added, according to the report. "Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."

Wow good job asshole, way to set back black athletes about 50 years. So you're saying that Yao has to understand that you are ghetto and not willing to change your ways? That its some sort of understanding in black culture to resort to violence at the drop of a hat? Guess what Artest, if someone is disrespecting you there are other ways to deal with it then flailing your fists around in the stands and putting innocent fans in the line of danger. He has absolutely no remorse for his actions and makes a mockery of the sport. If I was a black nba player I would be livid at people like Artest who is playing into all of the negative stereotypes and creating even more racial tensions. I can't wait til the season starts and the Rockets regret this trade as I'm sure this is only the beginning of a long line of ignorant actions.

Artest and Favre

Notorious NBA bad boy Ron Artest finally gets his wish, he was traded to the Houston Rockets from the Sacramento Kings yesterday. He didn't get exactly what he wanted as he was vocal about going to the Knicks or Lakers but either way he's happy to be off the Kings. My thoughts? Good riddance. The Kings made out pretty well as they get newly drafted Rockets rookie Donte Greene, Kings alumnus Bobby Jackson, and a first-round pick in 2009. They don't need an overrated, injury prone, arrest prone, black cloud in the locker room. Artest is a great player if he can stay healthy and out of trouble as he showed by helping to turn around the Kings franchise, but the guy is a negative influence to everyone around him and spent 25 games or so last season on the bench leading to a subpar season. It'll be interesting to see how he does with the Rockets and playing with McGrady and Yao Ming but I am thanking the stars that Odom is staying put in LA and that they didnt give in to this egomaniacal maniac who is on a path of career self destruction, mark my words.



Speaking of self destruction there's the whole Favre/Packers controversy going on. Apparently Bret Favre figured out how to work a fax machine in his mississippi ranch and has officially filed a letter of reinstatement with the NFL. Now I must say even though I haven't seen this type of flip flopping in sports in a long time, the Packers would be RETARDED to trade Favre away. The Packers had a good season last year getting far in the playoffs and to think that Aaron Rodgers is going to be able to imitate that type of success is ludicrous. Atleast keep Favre as a backup and make him sweat out a few games from the bench but to hand over one of the top QB's out there and maybe in the history of the game to a team like the Jets or Bucaneers is absurd. The Packers are in a volatile division this season and with Favre back at the helm they could be guaranteed a shot to the playoffs. With Rodgers I think they'd be lucky to win over 500.