1859 - The 40 Year Old Virgin

Today's my day at home to get some office work done so I'm also re-watching some much loved classics.  I rewatched this last year with the commentary but it's been a LONG time since I've watched the actual film - and it's a good reference for something I'm developing.  This is a cast that would be hard to assemble today if you look at the tremendous talent that's in all of the supporting roles.  What I love about this is that it's, technically, a dirty movie but it's done with such a sweetness.  Steve Carrel is just goddamn delightful here.  You buy into him and his situation without a second thought.  It's so interesting to look at how far Apatow has come since this, especially visually.  No offence to him or his team, but it's not a great looking film - it's not overly cinematic - which makes sense since I believe all his directing experience up to this point was in sitcom, and this absolutely looks like it. 
If you haven't seen this it's kind of a classic by this point.  If you're a fan of comedy you owe it to yourself to check it out.

1855 - This Is The End

I chose this over Superman, 'cause to me - this is the real superhero flick.  One of the most meta-comedies every - this film tells the story of a group of actor friends who play themselves locked in a house with the apolocolyse forcing them to stick together and discover the true meaning of friendship is.

It's hard to pinpoint a favourite "character" here as I love pretty much all of them.  And I also don't want to give anything away and spoil all the fun that goes on inside of the flick.  It's not trying to be anything than what it is - a fun satire on hollywood and also big action flicks and it work way better than I expected it too.  I'm not going to give away any of the big fun moments, because that's truly for you to discover.  If you're a fan of anyone in this group it's worth checking out.  First time directors did a pretty good job of balancing he tone and also all of the effects that go through this.  

So while it's by no means my new favourite film, it's a bucket full of laughs and entertaining from beginning to end.  Still in theatres.  Go! 

1795 - This is 40

I'm a big fan of Judd Apatow - I like how much he throws himself into and this little empire and network of people that he's created - it's quite something.  Throw that and Paul Rudd into the mix and I'm a happy camper.  This is by no means a perfect film.  And it's not for everyone - if you like slice-of-life family drama that connects pretty deeply, you'll dig it - but if you like big stakes then I imagine a film about middle class white people not being able to afford their amazing lifestyle isn't going to quite do it for you.  And that's fine too.
The Apatow "method" of improv heavy films has never been quite so obvious as it is here - and I'm not passing judgement or suggesting that it doesn't largely work, but at the same time I find it difficult to justify the running time for this sort of film.  There's no need for a 2hr, 14 minute film about a mid-life crisis comedy.  Good for Judd for getting away with it, but I think that this is a film that could benefit from a good deal of pruning.  As it is I like it, but I probably could have loved it.
If you've liked his previous films, this one is worth checking out - although I feel like it's his less heart-filled film.  At the end I don't know if I felt like Pete and Debbie so much resolved their issues as they just stopped bitching at each other about their current problems.  I sound like I didn't like the film, but I swear I did.  Can't wait for the special features that'll be loaded to the tits on the BluRay.

1758 - Knocked Up (commentary

This film is a huge leap forward for Apatow as a filmmaker.  Not only is it visually miles ahead from his first film, but the storytelling feels tighter (even in this extended version) and the emotions more toned.  You get a real sense that he's in command of his craft here.  The commentary was was entertaining enough with Apatow, Rogen, and Bill Hader along.  They start off promising that it's going to be like a film school in a box, but it's not really.  Still enjoyable enough for fans though!  Made me want to re-watch it with the commentary off!
One more night of unpacking in the shop... one more Apatow film :)

1757 - The 40 Year Old Virgin (commentary)

I've been getting my studio space set up for editing my new film Sex After Kids, so I threw this on in the background with the commentary which includes a ridiculously large amount of people.  It's interesting listening to commentaries with actors because you very quickly get a sense of who are interesting and fun people, and who are very desperately trying to be as interesting and fun as the people whom it comes naturally to.  It's goddamn awkward to listen to sometimes.  As I'm going to be working around the studio for the next few days in the evening there's a good chance I'll check out the commentaries on the other Apatow films as well.
Part of the issue with watching an Apatow film on DVD is that you never get the theatrical cut, you get his bloated version - which isn't a bad thing - but it's tricky to make a comedy really work after it's pushing two hours.  It's interesting to hear them on the commentary talking about how most of the crew had no idea how they were going to possibly string this thing into a film in the end.  A large part of what Judd does is he slaps down two cameras and just has the actors throw a bunch of stuff out and see what happens.  I can see how this could work quite well, but it's also a reason that the visual style of the film is pretty damn ugly.  It looks like a badly shot three-camera-sitcom in some scenes - which I'm not sure if I noticed before. 
The commentary doesn't offer a whole lot of insight into their productions, but it is entertaining if you like this group of people.  If you don't, then steer clear. 

1747 - Girls: season one

I'd seen Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture a while back (still on netflix, I believe) - you can find my thoughts on it by clicking her tag below.  And I was pretty intrigued to see that she'd scored a show with HBO and Apatow working with her.  And then I totally forgot about it until twitter went all ablaze the day after it's debut.
No point in burying the lead - I loved it from the get-go.  The characters were all real and interesting, fucked up, yet loveable.  It's the world of people just trying to figure out who the hell they are and what they hell they're doing - and it's done with such a strong sense of self mockery that you can't help but be absolutely charmed by it.  The show has this bizarre backlash to it, that was almost condemning it for being the level of quality that it is, feeling the need to attack it in other ways like saying that the cast was "too white".  I know it's the hip thing to do, but any time I see a show where there's the token black friend I almost always roll my eyes.  I'm not against ethnic diversity in casting at all.  My rule is always - best person for the job.  But there's a lot of people in this industry that cast roles and enforce racial diversity where it doesn't perhaps fit.  And that's all I'll say on that.
It's hard to describe this series.  It's about a group of twenty-something women who are trying to find their place in the world - pretty low concept idea - but the execution is wonderful.  Dunham is a tour-de-force on screen, but then when you realize that she penned and directed a good bulk of the series as well, you realize just what a tremendous talent she is.  She's not interested in making herself or her cast mates look pretty or likeable.  She makes them interesting and that's more than enough.  This isn't Entourage where the characters go through hell and then some magic offer comes in that puts the characters back on top - this is the real world where the characters go through hell… and then they are stuck in hell for a little bit and have to fight their own way back out.
I'm trying to avoid spoilers so that you can discover this beautiful show on your own, but one thing I will say that was the absolute stand-out of the season for me was the relationship between Adam and Hannah - the way they shifted perspective and gave you insights into these people and then turned that around on us was absolutely masterful. 
The only thing that sucks now is having to wait till season two comes back around.  I want to do a spec of this show for my writing portfolio and so now it's just a matter of coming up with the perfect episode concept.  Other than that I can't wait to check in on these girls when they return.  It'll make my wife happy too (it's her new favourite show - and could be mine as well...).

1673 - Bridesmaids

I caught this when it was in the cinema, but I was happy to find the bluray in a discount bin (WTF?!) at the grocery story.  The bottom really is falling out of the home video market when a film like this ends up going on sale for $10 just a few months after it's release.  Bizarre.
I don't think I need to regurgitate the storyline of this film since it was a pretty massive hit when it came out, and rightfully so.  It's a damn funny film.  It's got a great cast, but the story and the writing is pretty stellar as well, and I think that a lot of that comes from the mentorship of Judd Apatow.  I think I mentioned this in my first little review of this film, but I think that anyone looking to study comedy writing really needs to study this film, in particular the first part of the second half of the film.  Once things start going poorly for Annie they go really poorly.  The film carefully sets up her life and then absolutely crushes it in one massive sweep - that is how to deal with a character in a comedy - you punish the shit out of them, and all the while you keep the audience smiling.  I think that has a lot to do with why this film is such a success - sure it's funny and a tad raunchy, but as with most Apatow projects, the story is pretty damn solid.  He understands that your first job as a writer is to punish your characters as much as you can - put them through a shit-storm.
I look forward to watching the special features on the disc - the line-o-rama features on Apatow's discs are a really great insight into how they work the comedy and come up with some fantastic alternate material.  (helps to cast really funny, smart people :) ).
So if you still haven't see this, and you aren't a stick in the mud, do yourself a favor and get on it!

1642 - Undeclared: complete series

I missed both this and Freaks and Geeks during it's original run.  It's a shame that neither of these were given a fair shake, although who knows how their success would have shaped the futures of their respective casts.  Perhaps if Freaks had of gone several seasons we never would have gotten this series.  Let's not think about that.
As far as network college comedies go this is probably one of the better (if not best) I've seen.  These actually feel like people that are in college, what they deal with, how they talk to one another.  How it's slightly awkward.  Really enjoyed that about it.  Not a bad character in the bunch, and I loved how they managed to get pretty much the entire cast of Freaks in somehow (where the hell was Franco?!). 
The cast is great, I'm a fan of all of them, and it's nice to see them all doing pretty damn well for themselves.  If you missed this great show during it's (too short) run you can find it on DVD now.  Seventeen episodes, and the box set is loaded with commentaries and other goodies.

I Found This Funny

Although Apatow's name is slathered all over the cover, I think it's mostly just clever marketing - I'm not sure how one "edits" a collection... outside of selection... regardless the proceeds for this book go to a good 'cause and not his wallet, so it's all well and good! 
I have a love and hate relationship with short fiction.  When it's good it's absolutely phenomenal, but I'm also a person who likes to be told a story, and there are many a short fiction writer who just likes to play around with tangential material in short fiction, and I find myself skimming that stuff.  This collection was a little from column A and a little from column B in that regard.  I won't go into details on them, but below are the ones that really stood out for me in the collection:

Judd Apatow - How I Got Kicked Out of High School: a Freaks and Geeks Diary

Raymond Carver - Elephant

Dave Eggers - Your Mother and I

Paul Feig - And Now a Word from the Booth

Jonathon Franzen - Two Ponies

Ian Frazier - Coyote v. Acme

Jack Handey - My First Day in Hell

Simon Rich - Six Selected Pieces

Rodney Rothman - Vivian

Paul Simms - For Immediate Release

Robert Smigel - & Conan O'Brien - Lockwell: a TV Pilot

Jon Stewart - Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Sitcom

The collection is a nice mix bag of different styles as well.  In addition to the above there are some pretty fantastic cartoons in there as well.

If you like to laugh, or read intelligent funny writing, I'm sure that there's something in here for you.

1592 - Bridesmaids

This is a film that I wanted to see the instant that I saw the trailer.  I've always liked Kristen Wiig, and to see her finally get a chance to shine, in combination with everyone else and just a wonderful premise was just too thrilling an idea to pass up.  And then the rave reviews came in, and kept coming.
When the film started up I was a little worried.  I think that the tone took a little while longer than I expected for me to get on board, it was more casual than I expected - but as soon as I was on board, I was hooked.  The story is full of funny, smart stuff.  Once the downward spiral hits it becomes delicious fun.  Seriously for those studying the craft of storytelling, watch this film and just pay close attention to the second half and how continually the main character is punished, to the point where you think "it can't get worse than that."  And then it does, and get worse again, and again.  More films need to take a lesson in that (myself included).
For any guys out there who are still avoiding the because they think it's a chick-flick - it's not.  Perhaps women will get a little more out of it, but let's be clear - this is a funny, funny film that just happens to be filled with women.
At a time where I don't buy nearly as many films as I used to, I can't wait to add this to my collection.
Bridesmaids  Bridesmaids (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy in Blu-ray Packaging]

1375 - Get Him to the Greek

I was a really big fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I was tracking this film as soon as it was announced. Russell Brand and Jonah Hill are a special kind of magic on screen together, and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see them reunited again some time in the future. This film made me laugh out loud and that's not something that happens all that often. Maybe I was just in the mood for something fun, and I definitely got it.

I have no idea who writes the songs for this film, but I need to look it up (and probably buy the album) there is a brilliance to the euphemisms in here. One of the most amazing parts of this film, and something that I really wasn't expecting was Aaron's relationship with Daphne, played by the really lovely and amazing Elizabeth Moss. I saw my own relationship inside of that one and I instantly grounded to their relationship. So maybe that helped me love the film that much more.

If you like Sarah Marshall, I think you're going to dig this. It's just plain fun.

1358 - Knocked Up

So it's been a little while since my last post. I've been doing a lot of writing and I've even decided to catch up on my sleep - what a weird concept - but according to my wife I was sleep deprived (don't tell her I said so, but I think she's right). I want to bed last night at 7:30pm. And it was awesome.

So, again, despite the fact that I've got a STACK of films I haven't seen before, again I felt the need to watch something in reference to a project I'm working through - I'm working on a script right now that bares a few similarities to this film and so I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't hitting the same notes too hard. It was lovely to revisit - it's chalk full of people that I really really adore. I read somewhere that, post-film, Heigl considered it a sexist film. It's a shame 'cause I think she's pretty fantastic in it. I would say that the film is probably targeted more to guys - but I mean, come on! What a feat is that considering the content is about a guy getting a girl pregnant. And Apatow made guys want to see that!

Really glad I revisited again - a really nice little flick.

1296 - Funny People

So I suppose today was my double-feature of director's third outings. I missed this in the theatre. Haven't been keeping as current with the little guy around now. Thank goodness films come to DVD so quickly. It's interesting to see Apatow's directing career and how it differs from his career as a producer and writer.
There's some great stuff in here, so great jokes, and some wonderful insightful little bits about the human spirit. Based loosely on Gatsby this film has much warmth to it. It's long but I didn't feel it as badly as I probably should have. The pace was there. The performances entertaining. I have to admit I have a bit of a crush on Leslie Mann. Rogen and Sandler both at the top of their game.

1222 - I Love You, Man

I really really enjoyed this. First off I'm a huge fan of Paul Rudd, and I dig Jason Segal a lot as an actor and writer, can't wait to see what he does with the new Muppet film. This film is full of really fun and great, solid writing. Great characters all the way from the leads to the minor supporting roles. Jamie Pressly and Jon Favreau play a fantastic couple. I can't say enough good about this one and I look forward to seeing it again. Solid solid solid.

1096 - Pineapple Express

I just want to start off by saying that no one wanted to like this film more than I did. I love the shit out of the trailer and I'm a fan of almost-all-things-Apatow. You knew they had to make a stinker eventually. That stinker has a name, and the name is Pineapple Express. Is it funny? Of course, there's some really great parts to it. Could have it been a lot funnier? Shit yes. And I don't normally do this, but I'm blaming the director on this. Having never seen anything of David Gordon Green's other pieces I have to be honest in saying that to begin with, it just feels and looks flat. The camera work is lazy and just doesn't feel exciting in any way shape or form. In terms of the action sequences, it feels like a student film director shot them. Besides that the actors seem to have far too much reign. There's just some really horrible things that can only come from the product of bad improvising and probably editing while high. I can only hope some of the "let's keep that" decisions weren't done sober.

Seth and Franco are really great, let's not rock on them, the material itself, I believe is fine. I think with a director better suited to the material this film could have worked, but I just think Green was over his head and became part of a well oiled machine and had no idea how to run it. The film fails because of it's execution. It's a shame. I'm by no means going to turn away from the Apatow camp, however I won't be able to recommend this like I wanted to :(.

1090 - Knocked Up

I've been wanting to watch this film again for awhile now, but my Dad had it. When I'm writing something new I pick some reference films and this is one for something I'm in the midst of at the moment. This film isn't perfect, but it's still a lot of fun. My only big problem with this film is that I don't buy it when she tells him that she loves him. Maybe I'm not supposed to, and maybe that's the point, but it's never quite clear. I buy at the end that she's turned to him and that mostly works. I think I just wanted a slight bit more chemistry between them.

I love Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in this film. I think that there's more truth in their relationship than in the rest of the film (not that there isn't some great bits when it comes to the pregnancy), but what I love about the B story in this film is that it's what Alison and Ben could turn into. Leslie Mann's sad scene is really fantastic. I like her.

I'm big on the Apatow camp and I look forward to many more things from them. I need to revisit '40 Year Old Virgin' at some point.

1086 - Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I was not expecting to laugh that much, nor that loud. Hands down the most unexpected film experience in a long time. I really really liked it. The cast was fantastic. All those people you see in the picture above are stellar. Forget the fact that those two woman are both beautiful, but they're going to steal your hearts. They're sexy and funny all at the same time. I couldn't get over the chemistry between all involved, you really do believe that these people have relationships, and are kindred spirits in some examples.

There's so many great moments and scenes in this film that I would just go on and on, and you might as well just see the film. Man oh man. I can't believe I'm gushing this much. Good movie. Very excited that these are the people in charge of the next Muppet film.