50/50

Based on writer Will Reiser's true life account of developing cancer, 50/50 stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a late twenty something who is diagnosed with the illness and who's life changes heavily afterwards. He is joined on the journey by his friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), his mother (Anjelica Huston), and a grief counselor, Katherine, played by Anna Kendrick.

50/50 is genuinely funny, and, honestly, is one of Rogen's least annoying roles in the past couple of years. Gordon-Levitt is effortless, as usual, and Kendrick is endearing as a young counselor who develops a crush on her patient. Honestly, I can't really think of any complaints that I have about this film.

Funny People

Everybody's looking for the end of Judd Apatow. Ever since The 40 Year Old Virgin came out (and people rediscovered the genius of Freaks and Geeks), Apatow has been somewhat of a golden boy in Hollywood. The only problem is the law of diminishing returns in Tinseltown, meaning, the more stuff you slap your name on, the higher the possibility is that the stuff your slapping your name is going to be crap. In a way, that's one of the things that Funny People is about, but its also an attempt, by Apatow, to marry his brand of humor with more mature storytelling.

Adam Sandler plays George Simmons, a famous comedic actor who is dying from an unnamed "blood disease". He's taken a lot of things for granted in his life, and he decides that in his final days, he wants to take as much advantage of life as he can. When he makes a surprise visit to a comedy club to do some stand up, he meets Ira Wright, played by Seth Rogen, a struggling comedian who gets some laughs for making fun of George's rusty attempts at stand up. George hires Ira to write jokes for him, and the two bond with each other as Ira helps George prepare for his last days. Everything begins to fall apart, though, when George finds out that the experimental drug treatment he has been taking is actually working.

Sandler is a decent actor, pretty much always (its his choice of roles that tends to keep him down), and I really liked Rogen in this film because it felt like he was finally not playing the same old douche bag that he does in every Apatow movie that he's been in (which is most of them). The direction is pretty good, but if I had one complaint about this movie, its just that the story is just not up to par. The first half of the film is pretty good, but then, when George learns he's going to live, every part of the film becomes this uber-predictable jumble of who cares? I feel that if Apatow would have taken a bigger chance and either killed of George, or took him to a place that wasn't so obvious, maybe he would have had his perfect "mature" movie, but, unfortunately, he didn't. Funny People's biggest fault, for me, at least, is the fact that it is funny but it is also terribly predictable.

Zack and Miri Make A Porno

Okay... So, the title is making a lot of people say - "That's not the kind of movie I want to see/want my kids to see". Makes sense, and if you read the Kevin Smith interview over on Cinematical, you'll find out that that is exactly why he fought to keep "Make A Porno" in the title, instead of just shortening it to Zack and Miri. Smith's logic (and it makes sense when you see the film) is that people who don't know what the film is about, and go in expecting some standard indie rom-com might get pretty pissed off when they realize the back drop of these two friends falling in love is them making an adult film. Makes sense.

The film centers around the titular characters, Zack and Miri. Zack and Miri are old high school friends, who, ten years later, still live in the same Pennsylvania town they grew up in, have crappy jobs, and barely have lives. When they go broke, have their water and power shut off, and, in effect, have nothing more to live for, they come up with the idea of making a porno film to make the money to get them out of debt (why they can't just get second jobs, I have no idea...). The idea is, since they are such great platonic friends, having sex with each other on camera to save their livelihoods shouldn't be a problem. So Zack and Miri go about pulling together cast and crew to shoot this film, and in the process learn about themselves and develop a surrogate family within this misfit band of pornographers.

Zack and Miri is classic Kevin Smith. Hilarious, a little dirty, all wrapped up with a lot of heart. The film is funny, and Zack and Miri's journey from friends to being in a relationship, while at times can be cliche, is still packed with a lot of heart. Seth Rogen packs an incredible punch as a comedic leading man, and Elizabeth Banks (who, for some reason, I've never particularly liked), brings Miri to life as the lovable, if somewhat apathetic, slightly above average girl (she's cute, but not super hot, but she would totally do guy stuff with you). The supporting cast, which, of course, includes Jason Mewes, is hilarious, with the best part being Office actor Craig Robinson.

Here's the point - Zack and Miri Make A Porno can be a little graphic at times. After all, the back drop of the movie is about making a porno, but the real story is about finding love in the least likely of places - the person you gave up associating love with a long time ago. If you're cool with Kevin Smith's stuff, go see it. If you don't like his humor, don't go see it. I thought it was hilarious, and I think he has shown that he can make a great film that is outside of the "Askewniverse" (if you don't know what that it is, look it up).

Mean Magazine Videos

I came across these, recently, because the Rogen/Banks one was on Cinematical. Their all kind of weird and interesting.

Seth Rogen & Elizabeth Banks In "This Is Not Sex" Directed By Tony Kaye from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Summer Bishil Battles the Forces of Darkness from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Mean Presents Bill Hader as The Bad Lieutenant from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Mean Magazine Presents Kate Beckinsale in Rollergirl from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Sir Ben Kingsley STOMPS into the shoes of Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Mean Magazine Presents Anna Faris in Ocean of Tears from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Mean Magazine Presents Dennis Hopper from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Mean Magazine Presents James McAvoy in The Dream from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.


Mean Magazine Presents Emma Stone from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.

David Gordon Greene - Asserting his independence from independents

David Gordon Greene has made quite a name for himself over the past eight years, or so, since the 2000 release of his debut feature George Washington. Greene had heaps of praise laid on him for the lyrical poeticism of the film, many even going so far as to refer to him as the successor to Terrence Mallick. With his follow up, All The Real Girls, Greene explored some of the same lyrical poetics, and a similar visual style, though he used the backdrop of young love as his story, instead of the ennui of small town youngsters, trapped in a world they will never emerge from.

Both films were amazing feats, done on incredibly small budgets, with amazing acting, and the gorgeous cinematography of Greene's NCSA classmate Tim Orr. His next film, however, would try to incorporate some of his style into a more mainstream thriller. Undertow is the story of two brothers, on the run from their psychotic uncle after he kills their father. Undertow is definitely a departure from the glacial, yet beautiful, worlds of his previous two films. It is raw, and it is dirty to the point where it almost feels like artifice. I remember when Undertow came out, a lot of critics and fans were crying "Sellout".

His follow up to Undertow, a film called Snow Angels, I have not seen,unfortunately, so I can't comment on it. I do know, however, that it has gotten fair to bad reviews, and seems like the sort of film that will probably end up being buried by the studio on DVD.

His next film, coming out in a few weeks, is the Seth Rogen (Knocked Up/Superbad) penned comedy-thriller Pineapple Express. I say thriller loosely, as their is action involved in the film, but it definitely comes off more as a comedy than anything. It is the story of two pot smokers, one of which witnesses an execution style murder, while trying to get high. The two friends go on the lamb, when the killer finds out who they are, and sends some goons to hunt them down and kill them. 

And most of you that have seen Greene's work are saying, "Really?". Really. I love the trailer for Pineapple Express, and I have to say that if Seth Rogen co-wrote Superbad, and co-wrote Pineapple with his same writing partner, I think we are in for one hilarious ride. But why David Gordon Greene? He does seem like an awkward fit for a stoner comedy.

If you're looking for the back story, I don't have it. I have no idea why Greene took the directors position, but I can only assume that it was because after George Washington and All The Real Girls, which were incredibly similiar in style, that Greene has been looking for some way to break away from the expectations that film critics and audience members are putting on him. And why shouldn't he? A director is not unlike an actor, in that he (or she) wants to try out as many different avenues of their craft as is humanly possible. No one wants to get stuck doing the same kind of films every time (well, John Carpenter doesn't seem to have a problem with sticking to a single genre, but...). Even George Romero, the man who essentially invented the modern day zombie film, refused to cash in on his success with Night of the Living Dead for years, because he was afraid of being typecast as "The Zombie Guy". Of course, that's probably not the best example, seeing as how he did eventually get typecast that way (I mean, c'mon... who has even seen There's Always Vanilla, or heard of Knightriders or The Crazies?).

Personally, I'm looking forward to Pineapple Express. I'm looking forward to Greene spreading his wings, and seeing what he can do outside of his first three films. I have loved all of the films he's made, and look forward to seeing him try new things and (hopefully) succeed. I think he is an incredibly talented director who has a real gift at, not only working with actors, but creating a visual experience with his crew to put up on the screen.