Merry Christmas Everybody!
Taking’ a couple days off to rest my eyes, catch up on movies and play with all the new toys Santa’s getting me! So no reviews for a minute, but I’ll make up for it, I promise. Anywho, enjoy the eggnog, folks, and don’t shoot your eye out!
– Aiden R.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
VERDICT:
9/10 Angel Wings
The best Christmas movie of all-time. Simple as that.
It’s a Wonderful Life is about George Bailey, a hometown hero of Bedford Falls who, after living a long, fruitful life, hits the skids in a big way and contemplates throwing himself off a bridge. But just when he’s about to make the big leap, his guardian angel stops him by going first, George saves him, then in a fit of rage wishes he had never been born. The guardian angel acts on George’s wishes and our good ol’ boy Bailey goes back to Bedford Falls to see what life would have been like for the town and everyone else he knew had he never existed in the first place.
So it’s got a pretty strong Christmas Carol vibe going for it, but when push comes to shove, I’d take this baby over Scrooge and his weirdo spirits any day.
Now, I’d like to say that this is my favorite Christmas movie because the whole thing is amazing from beginning to end, but the truth of the matter is that it all comes down to the last fifteen minutes – which seems to be a recurring trend in a lot of Capra movies. But before I get around to that, this movie still has a some major dealbreakers going for it.
First up is my man Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. Don’t you just love Jimmy Stewart? Rhetorical question, everyone loves Jimmy Stewart. The thing is, George is already a great character to begin with and you like him right from square one, but put Jimmy’s face in front of the camera and he’ll make you like the guy double. Man, Jimmy Stewart could play John Wayne Gacy and I’m pretty sure I’d find him endearing. He’s just fantastic and he brings the good here as always.
Same goes from Henry Travers as George’s guardian angel, Clarence. Can’t say that I recognize him from anything else, but Clarence is the second best character here right behind George.
And maybe I just haven’t seen enough Frank Capra movies, but while this isn’t exactly an impressive movie from a technical standpoint, Capra totally makes up for it in substance. It’s a feel-good movie if there ever was one and the reason it all works is because he makes you care about every last character in the same way that they all care about each other. He makes the story as much about everyone else in George’s life as it is about George himself, and without those connections between the characters and the audience, it wouldn’t work anywhere near as well as it does. Frank Capra rocks, man. No one makes movies like he does any more.
There are a lot of great movies I find myself revisiting around the holidays, but this has been the only one that I ever really look forward to seeing each year. Something about starting it up at midnight and watching it until I’m at the point of passing out always gets me in that festive mood.
It wasn’t until my most recent viewing that I realized the moment that makes this movie for me is when George is back at the bridge about to punch out Bert the cop, tastes the blood on his lip and finally realizes he’s got his life back. That’s when the waterworks start coming, that’s when I start telling everyone around me that I’ve got something in my eye. It really does get me every time and I can’t help but feel that life truly is wonderful after seeing him run through the streets of Bedford Falls yelling “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” to everyone and everything in sight.
Don’t even get me started on the final scene in George’s home and Clarence’s message of “No man is a failure who has friends.” I’m gonna have to send my computer back to the Geek Squad if I keep crying on my keyboard like this.
It’s a Wonderful Life is about the true spirit of Christmas, it’s about not taking the things we hold dear for granted, and it’s about the goodness of the human heart. Man, I just love this movie and Christmas just isn’t the same without it. Might not be as funny as Christmas Vacation or A Christmas Story, but Wonderful Life will always be my pick of the litter. Talk about timeless.
FUN FACT: Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street are named after the Bert and Ernie characters from It’s a Wonderful Life. Remember that one for trivia night.
A Christmas Story (1983)
VERDICT:
8/10 Leg Lamps
Second best Christmas movie of all-time right behind It’s A Wonderful Life. Doesn’t quite break me down to a fit of festive tears, but December 25th wouldn’t be the same without this one around.
A Christmas Story is about the All-American family in the 1940’s trying to survive Christmas and one kid’s quest to see to it that Santa gets him the one thing he wants that will most definitely shoot his eye out – an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle (his words, not mine).
This is one of those movies that I’m not surprised wasn’t very big when it first came out but it wasn’t until way past it left theaters that people started to appreciate how good it was. Something about it just seems so…normal, but that’s also what makes it so great. I’m not sure it would even be much of a hit if it were released today, but whatever, time has been might kind to A Christmas Story.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I like about this movie and what makes it special every year I watch it, and, in a nutshell, I think it’s because we can all relate. The thing is, Christmas is great, but Christmas can also be a borderline pain in the ass sometimes, so can being a kid. Not sure if helps to grow up in America to really get all the jokes and references, but I’m thinking it probably doesn’t. For example…
– Not getting the one thing you want for Christmas and having to parade around the house looking like “pink nightmare” in the bunny suit your grandmother made you because she still thinks you’re 4.
– Not being able to walk down the street because your mom put so many layers on you so you don’t catch a cold.
– Daydreaming about getting straight-A’s only to have to take home an abysmal report card to your parents on Christmas Eve.
– That hideous “trophy” your dad insists on displaying for the whole neighborhood.
– The first time you swore in front of your parents.
– The brick of soap in your mouth (I remember that fondly).
– Getting a surprise snowball to the face from the school bully and doing nothing about it.
– The turkey dinner your mom worked all day on and the subsequent dinner at the Chinese restaurant (my favorite part).
Part of the reason this movie cracks me up is because of all the running gags, but I think most of it is due to the fact that just about everyone reading this review read at least something on that list and thought, “I know exactly what that’s about.” I didn’t grow up in the ’40s, but since I did grow up with a family that did celebrate Christmas once a year, a lot of stuff here still rings true.
I don’t know what happened to any of these actors, though. Every last character is as memorable as the next one, but for some reason it just didn’t pan out for anyone. Well, Peter Billingsley did direct Couples Retreat, so that’s good, but something tells me everyone on set was calling him “Ralphie” the whole time.
A Christmas Story is like a live-action Norman Rockwell painting and that’s why it works so well, same kinda reason All in the Family was so freakin’ funny. It’s great to think back on your favorite Christmas when you finally got the one thing you wanted, but it’s a lot more fun remembering when everything almost went completely wrong. It’s quotable beyond belief, it’s a classic for a reason, and since it’s probably gonna be on TV tonight, enjoy!
Merry Christmas Eve, folks!
Aliens (1986)
VERDICT:
9/10 Queen Bitches
Proves that some sequels really do kick ass and it still stands as one of the best action movies of all time.
Aliens picks up right where Alien (singular) left off with lone survivor Ellen Ripley being woken up from a 57 year-long hypersleep by the same organization that sent her out on a suicide mission in the first place. She tells them about everything that happened in the first movie, they all think she’s crazy, but when they suddenly lose contact with one of their colonies that’s stationed on the same planet Ripley’s crew first discovered that damn alien, the bigwigs quickly eat their words and send our vindicated heroine back out to the said planet to take care of business.
Hadn’t seen this one in a good long while, but being that I’ve still got Avatar on the brain, I made it a point yesterday to go out and buy this sucker as soon as possible. A fine addition to the collection and it’s still as good as ever.
And it only cost me ten bucks. Booyah!
So I don’t know about everyone else, but I think this one’s even better than the original. Why? Oh I’ll tell you why. Six words:
“Get away from her, you BITCH!”
For those who know what I’m talking about, I rest my case. For those who don’t, allow me to explain. See, James Cameron has seen the future, and the future, dear readers, is totally badass. It is far more badass than any future Ridley Scott has ever seen and we are going to be screwed in a most epic of fashions as a result.
Instead of ramble on about why the sequel is so much better, I’m gonna let Jim Cameron take it away and run down his mental bullet points after watching Alien for the first time as he thought of all the ways he was going to make the sequel rock at least twice as hard. Pretty sure this is verbatim.
– “So, Alien. Where do I even begin? Problem number one: fight a single alien for two hours? Screw that, Ridley! How about we throw an extra hundred in there, stat…and take away all the survivors’ ammo while they’re at it! These guys are gonna be effed!”
– “Problemo numero dos: Ellen Ripley run away from the alien horde? Screw that double time! Ripley’s getting the Sarah Connor treatment and she is gonna destroy! Sigourney Weaver eats metal pylons for breakfast (thank you for that one, Castor) and the world damn well better recognize.”
– “You know what’s awesome? Marines. You know what’s even more awesome? Space marines! Gotta make sure we give them some gratuitously large guns, too.”
– “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We are totally gonna tape a flamethrower to a machine gun/grenade launcher at some point. That has to happen.”
– “I had a nightmare about this last night…and I am totally putting it into this movie.”
– “Someone should yell, ‘I’m the king of the world!’ at some point. No? Alright, but I’m saving that one.”
Yeah, I think that about sums it up. All the same, there’s still a couple more things worth mentioning.
There’s some choice performances here by Michael Biehn as the only level-headed space marine of the bunch, Lance Henriksen as the token android (Lance should be in more stuff, very cool dude) and Paul Reiser of all people as the scumbag company rep. Also features one of Bill Paxton‘s more entertaining roles.
The set pieces, the creature designs, and every last painstaking detail that went into creating this horrorshow of a world are also nothing short of unreal. Not sure that it all adds up to be as scary as Alien was back in the day, but good God is it impressive. The alien queen? Utter insanity right there.
Unfortunately, the dialogue’s not all that great, at least when it comes to the marines, but there are some classic one-liners to be found amidst what is mostly a borderline corny script.
But, folks, if you’ve never seen Aliens, you are missing out on one hell of a ride. This thing is epic, this thing is awesome, and this thing is just damn fun. One of those movies that James Cameron was born to make and I was this close to giving it a 10. Who knows, maybe on the next viewing.
Game over, man. Game over.
FUN FACT: The fifteen minute countdown at the end of the movie where Ripley goes down to find Newt actually clocks in at exactly fifteen minutes. That is so freakin’ cool. That’s love, man.
A Christmas Carol (2009)
VERDICT:
4/10 Visual Blunders
Well, it’s official, CG humans are totally creepy.
A Christmas Carol is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a real jerk of a guy who loves his money more than life itself, despises absolutely everyone – especially those who don’t have any money, and totally hates on everything Christmas. So one night, he gets visited by three spirits who show him how he used to be a happy fellow that liked both Christmas and the human race, how he slowly turned into one major Grinch, and how he’s ultimately gonna die unless he gets his act together.
Everyone knows this story, you get the gist.
So what makes Robert Zemeckis’ Christmas Carol different from, say, every other iteration you’ve heard or seen before? Well, the short answer is that it’s now in 3-D. The long answer is…well, that’s kinda the long answer, too.
Man, before it starts sounding like Scrooge himself is behind the keyboard, let me take a minute here to preface this thing before I start bringing everybody down. I know A Christmas Carol as well as the next Joe, and while it is a great story that almost always gets that lump in my throat going as soon as Ebenezer buys Tiny Tim that big fat turkey, it’s never been a “classic” to me. It’s not like A Christmas Story or It’s a Wonderful Life where December 25th just seems off without it. I don’t know what it is, but it’s never been tradition and I’ve never really connected with it in the way that a lot of other people have.
But don’t get me wrong, that’s not the reason I dropped a 4 bomb on this movie. The main reason probably goes back to the whole 3-D thing. With the exception of The Polar Express, I’m not really digging this whole obsession with the third dimension that Zemeckis is currently hooked on. And maybe I was just spoiled after having my head explode during Avatar in 3-D the day before, but I’m still not buying into Zemeckis’ idea of when and why 3-D should be used.
Look, has anyone out there ever watched A Muppet Christmas Carol or ever read Dickens’ original story and thought to themselves, “You know what, this would be freakin’ AWESOME in 3-D!” Gonna take a shot in the dark here and give that one a “No”. And that’s the thing, of all the stories in the history of time that this gimmicky technology might actually work well on, how did A Christmas Carol find itself bumped to top of the list?
But aside from being an unnecessary gimmick, I felt like the 3-D element ended up taking away from the story as a whole. The reason A Christmas Carol is a timeless classic isn’t because of all the untapped visual potential that’s been lying dormant for the past 150 years, it’s because of its universal message that’s remained true and relevant for generations of people across the globe. And even though the story is still here, too much time was spent on making it look pretty instead of keeping the focus on the movie’s heart.
But with the exception of the computer generated humans that are look far too realistic for their own good, everything else does look quite pretty indeed.
And I can’t say that I’ve ever had the dis/pleasure of watching computer generated actors overact, but Jim Carrey gets it done. Wouldn’t have been my pick for Scrooge, but that’s just me. Although having him play the Spirits as well was a pretty cool move. I dug that.
Gary Oldman is also good as Bob Cratchit. Can’t go wrong with Oldman.
So take away what you will from my review as this is just one guy’s opinion. I saw this with two of my friends and my good buddy Fred and I was both the least enthusiastic going into it and the least impressed by it coming out. In the end, it’s still the great story we all know, so that’s good, but it’s just not my favorite adaptation is all.
Sorry to be such a buzzkill, folks. I swear my It’s a Wonderful Life review is gonna be a lot jollier than this one.
And everyone’s favorite Beatle is…
PAUL McCARTNEY!
It was a close one, folks, but there’s no denying that Paul totally kicks ass. Still not my favorite Beatle, but why split hairs, they’re all awesome.
Sorry this one wasn’t movie related, but something about A Hard Day’s Night just got me inspired.
RESULTS:
– John: 8 votes
– Paul: 9 votes
– George: 5 votes (my favorite)
– Ringo: 7 votes
Sorry, Pete Best. I bet you were a fine drummer.
Avatar (2009)
VERDICT:
9/10 Hype Machines
Amazing the things you can do with a quarter of a billion dollars and a green screen.
Avatar takes place in the year 2154. Paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully is sent off to the planet Pandora to serve as ambassador/mole to the native inhabitants – the Na’vi (aka: the blue chick on the right) – by jumping into a machine that allows him to live vicariously through a genetically engineered Na’vi of his very own and pose like he’s one of the locals. So he infiltrates their ranks, learns the way of the Na’vi, he starts to fall for the tribe leader’s daughter, he starts to get why they’re so pissed off at the human race, but the U.S. Military wants him to sell them out for the monetary benefit of mankind in exchange for fresh pair of legs, so he’s kinda torn about the whole thing.
Decisions, decisions in the 22nd Century.
So, yeah, it’s a man vs. nature movie, and while it’s definitely got a Princess Mononoke (awesome) mixed with FernGully vibe going for it, Avatar is nonetheless in a league of its own.
But the real question is, does it live up to the hype?
Well, dear readers…yes. Yes it does. And thank God for that.
This is the first big time blockbuster that James Cameron’s made in a good long while, the last one being good ol’ Titanic back in ’97, and it’s about damn time. Even though the surprisingly lame trailers weren’t really doing this thing any favors in regards to making it into the movie to end all movies that Cameron was totally sure it was going to be, the fact of the matter is that when James Cameron makes a movie, screw the trailers, you get your ass out there and see that movie. He’s not the most humble of directors, but he’s got one hell of a track record and good lord does this guy know how to tell a great story.
Now, James Cameron knows how to do two things very well, arguably better then any director I can think of off the top of my head, these two things being Epic and Awesome. I’m talking Lord of the Rings epic and awesomeness on the scale of Aliens + The Abyss + T2. Not to say that it’s better than LotR or Aliens or T2 (though definitely better than The Abyss), but I sure as hell have never seen anything like Avatar before and it’s been a long time since I’ve found myself watching movies with mouth agape for long stretches at a time.
First off, James Cameron has made Michael Bay his bitch and there is nothing he or his robot army can do about it. The special effects here really are the best I’ve ever seen and until someone finds a way to actually have the audience be transported into the movie Last Action Hero-style, this is the one to beat.
This is also coming from someone who is very much against this whole 3-D revival, but Avatar is the exception to the rule. My problem with 3-D is that it’s a gimmick, it’s about tricking the audience into thinking they’re about to get poked in the eye every five minutes, and that’s just annoying. But Avatar is different because the gimmick is gone.
There are a lot of unique characters in this movie, but the one you can’t take your eyes off of is Pandora itself. Anything I write here isn’t going to do it justice, but let’s just say that if NASA told me Pandora was real, I might just believe them. It’s all in the details, whether it’s the wildlife, the creatures, the foliage, the Na’vi, their culture, the landscapes; everything feels at once familiar and foreign and it’s amazing how well it all works. It takes a lot of things that are commonplace on Earth and makes them bluer, stranger, deadlier and twice as tall as they normally are. Might not sound like a selling point without those stupid glasses on, but like me, you may very well end up being one of the many in the audience muttering, “Wow,” under your breath.
But aside from the technical aspects, the story here is pretty swell, too. It gets a little predictable in the last twenty minutes and it’s not all that hard to see the direction things are going in, but it is a wild trip all the same. The aspirations of this movie are absolutely astounding and, as a result, you’ll probably find yourself getting sucked into Jake Sully’s story pretty quickly.
And the acting’s not bad, but it’s not a dealbreaker either. Sam Worthington (who somehow went from J-list to A-list in record time) plays our hero, Jake Sully; he’s pretty good. Zoe Saldana plays his main Na’vi squeeze, Neytiri; she’s pretty good. Same thing goes for pretty much everyone else, that is except for Sigourney Weaver. Man, Sigourney Weaver is such a badass and is the best actor here by a long shot. This is freakin’ Ripley we’re talking about, she’s not screwing around and she’s the real standout on the acting front here.
The dialogue is pretty good, too, but again, not great. Granted, it’s gotta be pretty tough to write dialogue as awesome as these visuals.
Okay, time to wrap this up. Look, Avatar is an experience. Don’t see it if it’s not in 3-D and for God’s sake don’t wait for it to come out on DVD or Blu-ray; I assure you, you’ll regret it. It’s still not on par with T2 or Aliens, but I don’t think I’m ever going to see a movie like this again. It’s entertaining from beginning to end (which is saying a lot considering it’s two and a half hours long), it’s got a solid, original story, and it’s a downright technical masterpiece that will have you seeing double. It is just so damn good to see a movie like this actually live up to my expectations.
All hail James Cameron, folks. He’s earned it.
About a Boy (2002)
VERDICT:
8/10 Lonely Islands
The single best thing Hugh Grant has ever done for the world.
About a Boy is about a shallow guy who doesn’t have a job, proudly shuts himself off from the outside world at all costs, has no ambition in life and one day has the brilliant idea to start dating single mothers because it puts him on a pedestal of sorts. Along the way he happens to befriend Marcus, the awkward, moppet son of one of the said single mothers, he helps the kid out and tries to make him as cool as possible so everyone else at school will stop picking on him, the kid in turn helps his new mentor stop being such a loner, and considering how screwed up their lives were to begin with, it ends up beautiful little thing they have going on.
For those of you out there who’ve never seen or heard of this movie, I can probably guess what’s going through your head, “It’s a Hugh Grant movie. Hugh Grant is lame.” It was the same conclusion I jumped to and nine times out of ten, that’s a pretty safe leap to make. But surprisingly enough, this one’s different and it’s very un-lame.
Not only is this a semi-Christmas movie, making it somewhat pertinent in that regard, but considering how badly Did You Heard About the Morgans? is getting shit on at the moment, I think our guy Hugh could use all the compliments he can get right now.
Turns out, Hugh Grant can be pretty solid when he puts his mind to it. Granted, it helps that he’s got a really well-written script backing him up, but let’s not steal Hugh’s thunder here, this is foreign territory for the man. His character, Will, is pretty much a total dick for a good portion of the movie and Hugh plays him surprisingly well. Maybe it’s just ’cause of that permanently smug look he has that women love to call “cute”, but it actually suits him quite nicely.
With someone else playing Will, I don’t know if he would have been as likable. Even when he’s a scumbag, it’s hard not to find him endearing in some strange way. It takes a little while, but I really got to like Will and I think a lot that goes back to Hugh. Who knew he could do more than mumble and shift around for two hours while having either this face or this face plastered on his mug at all times? I sure didn’t, I don’t think anyone else did either. It’s a nice change for him.
But aside from Hugh, the other big thing this movie has going for it is the script. It’s based off a novel by Nick Hornby (talkin’ High Fidelity, people) and since Nick Hornby’s a damn fine writer, the end result is quite satisfying. It’s a really character-driven movie, the characters all happen to be great and fleshed out, it deals with some pretty heavy issues without making you want to off yourself, and it’s really damn witty throughout. In a nutshell, it’s a story about people and it’s not corny in the least. Good combo right there.
Almost forgot to mention Nicholas Hoult who’s freakin’ fantastic as Marcus. Really well-written kid that you like right off the bat, and since he’s apparently signed up to be in Clash of the Titans and A Single Man, Nicko must have done something right here.
Toni Collette is also great here as Marcus’ neurotic, over-protecting, super depressed mother. An already good character made better by a great actress.
Rachel Weisz is also here as Will’s love interest, but there’s not enough of her character to really say much other than that. But hey, another good actress never hurts.
Watching this again, I was thinking about giving it a 7 out of 10 because it wasn’t quite as memorable as it was the first time around, then the fantastic Third Act finally came around and I remembered why I dug this so much to begin with. About a Boy probably isn’t what you’re expecting, but believe you me, that’s a good thing. It’s got a lot of heart, it’s the second best thing that’s ever happened to Roberta Fleck’s “Killing Me Softly” since The Fugees, and like I said, it’s the role of Hugh’s career. You can do better, Hugh. You know you can.
Really good soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy, too. Gotta give them more of a listen.
Clerks (1994)
VERDICT:
2/10 Jersey D-Bags
One of the most overrated movies of the ’90s.
Clerks is about a convenience store clerk in New Jersey who gets roped into working a day-long shift when he’s not even supposed to be there. He’s pissed off, he’s having issues with his girlfriend, potheads who hang out by the store harass him all day, yada yada yada, and that’s about it.
I know this is the “Generation X” poster child of sorts – right up there with Reality Bites (not bad) – and I’m aware that I might be blaspheming on some pretty sacred turf for some of you out there, but, man, this movie sucks. Look, I’ve tried to like this thing. I’ve gone ahead and watched this a good three times in the hopes that I might achieve a moment of clarity where everything finally clicks and I wonder to myself in a haze of delight, “You finally get it, Aiden. You finally get Clerks.”
But nope. Still don’t get it.
Here’s a short list summing up why:
– Necrophilia – still not funny.
– A cast of total asshole characters that I couldn’t give a shit about.
– Swearing for the sake of swearing – as annoying as it is in real life.
– It’s just not funny. Gross, definitely. Funny, definitely not.
Maybe it’s me, but I didn’t laugh once during this movie, I don’t think I even smiled, not even at the conversation about whether or not the Death Star carpenters were innocent victims. And there’s nothing wrong with sex jokes every now and again, but it stops being funny when it tries to push the envelope by testing your gag reflex every. single. time. It’s not stuff you can relate to and go “Oh yeah, I totally get that!”, it’s just nasty, like a whole conversation about “snowballing” (Google that at your own discretion). There’s a fine line between edgy and bad taste, and I’m not seeing a whole lot of edgy here.
Nonetheless, I still think Kevin Smith’s pretty solid. Yeah, this one blew, but I’ll happily stand by Dogma and Chasing Amy any day. The guy can write, the guy can be funny, the guy can be edgy, I just don’t know what the hell happened here.
Clerks gets two points for introducing the world to Jay and Silent Bob and that’s about it. Also thought the “Beserker” song was alright. Other than that, it wasn’t my thing. Pretty sure I’m in the minority on this one, but like I said, I tried.
God help me, I tried.
The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
VERDICT:
8/10 World’s Creepiest Posters
Works surprisingly well for a movie that’s essentially one running gag for two hours straight.
The 40 Year-Old Virgin is about a 40 year-old endearing nerd who still hasn’t had sex – he’s come close a couple times, but, no, still hasn’t sealed the deal. Then one day his co-workers find out about this utter crime against humanity and make it their mission to get this guy laid.
Believe it or not, there’s actually a lot more heart here than the synopsis would lead to you believe. Judd Apatow seems to have this formula of “crude + caring = everybody wins” down to a science at this point, but still, it gets pretty damn crude. I know some folks who absolutely hate this movie because of its gross-out factor, and even though it all just had me laughing me ass off, I can appreciate how this might not be everyone’s thing.
But outside of the physical gags and the constant sex jokes, the real selling point here is Carell and Apatow’s script. The writing here is great in a number of aspects, but the thing I always find myself impressed by is that it never gets old. It successfully manages to not just be a movie about dick jokes and awkward sexual/non-sexual encounters because the comic writing is so damn strong and because the main character, Andy (the freak up on that poster), actually wants a relationship and isn’t just trying to pop his cherry. Aside from the waxing scene, I don’t think a whole lot of people leave this movie talking about the cringe-worthy stuff, but rather the fresh and hilarious dialogue coming from the mouths of a really solid cast of newcomers.
And even though a lot of the lines were ad libbed and whatnot – which isn’t a bad thing in the least, as long as it’s done well – all the stuff about donkey shows and Michael McDonald hate and hoodrats are easily my favorite part of this movie as it outshines everything else that’ll make your face turn sour. Every new scene is these guy brewing up conversations that are even crazier than the last, and, yeah, it can be a little rough around the edges, but it’s too good to not appreciate.
The other big thing Apatow has going for him here is his characters. Whether they’re on-screen for two seconds or two hours, they’re all totally memorable and have their own great personalities. Just look at Jonah Hill’s cameo, he’s in here for a blink of an eye playing some kid who just wants to buy a pair of platform shoes with fish in them and even he has a great line or two.
It’s not often that a movie serves as such a significant launching pad for so many careers, but good lord, the proof is in the pudding with this one.
My favorite is still Seth Rogen, but you’ve also got Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Kat Dennings, Leslie Mann, Jane Lynch, and a bit role by Mindy Kaling from The Office, too. I think we all know this gang by now, you can thank Judd Apatow for that one. And even though it’s kinda hard to think of Steve Carell outside of Michael Scott nowadays, the dude has always been hilarious from back in his Daily Show years and it was about damn time he got his due.
And thank God it finally put Apatow on the map. I like to think it’s karma for whoever came up with the brilliant idea to cancel Freaks and Geeks.
Only problem here is the bizarro ending. “Age of Aquarius”? Where the hell did that come from?
Back in ’05, the debate between my friends and I was always between this and Wedding Crashers, and even though I think Wedding Crashers is a damn funny movie, it’s no 40 Year-Old Virgin. I was expecting to laugh as hard as I did when I first saw this, and it still has me laughing today. Great characters, great writing, and just a wicked sense of humor to back it all up.
“Hoodrats”, man. Too good.
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 
