Summer is the season of box office hits, but here (with credit to The Hollywood Reporter for the numbers) is a look at 10 movies that didn't come close to qualifying for that title.
Mars Needs Moms
Wow. How could so few people turn out for a movie based on a book by Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed? Robert Zemeckis' movie isn't just the biggest bomb of this year, but after pulling in about $39 million worldwide and costing at least $150 million to make, it's easily one of the biggest box office disasters of all time, and thankfully will hopefully keep Zemeckis from laying his remake hands on the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine."
Your Highness
I pretty thoroughly enjoy a well-made raunchy comedy ("Bad Teacher," still in theaters, is a good example), but "Your Highness" certainly wasn't one of them. The stoner comedy that cost about $50 million to produce created very little buzz at all, taking in only $21.6 million domestically and a mere $3 million overseas.
Arthur
Only you can stop the '80s remake machine, and moviegoers certainly did their part with this dud starring Russell Brand, who I usually like quite a bit. The "comedy" took in $33 domestically and another $12.7 million overseas, giving it at least a slightly larger haul than its production budget of about $40 million.
Prom
Was there really a Disney movie this year that only took in $10 million at the domestic box office? If you didn't know it was something called "Prom," you're clearly far from alone. In relative terms, I suppose it's hard to really call this one a "bomb," since it only cost $8 million to make, but I guess in this case you get what you pay for.
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
The folks behind this potential kids movie tentpole were clearly hoping Judy Moody would follow this one up with perhaps a Not Forlorn Fall and then maybe a Not Woeful Winter (as some kids must know, the actual titles of these are probably much more clever than mine), but with the $20 million movie only taking in $13.4 million so far, Judy's movie calendar may have already run out.
Green Lantern
Have we finally reached the breaking point with super hero overload? There will be another test coming July 22 when "Captain America: The First Avenger" hits theaters, but with "Green Lantern," all signs point to yes, with the movie costing at least $200 million to produce and expected to rake in no more than $260 million or so worldwide. Not a disaster, though, and in fact, there's already plans for a sequel, so what do I know?
Priest
Finally, a vampire movie that no one wanted to see. The action movie starring Paul Bettany as a holy man who hunts down bloodsuckers cost about $60 million to produce, and took in a mere $29.1 million domestically, but caught up a bit overseas by taking in another $46 million.
Sucker Punch
Along with being a box office bomb, Zack Snyder's truly bizarre fantasy-revenge mess holds the double distinction of being both one of the movies I was most looking forward to for this year and also the single worst one I've seen so far in 2011, by a pretty wide margin. The flick, which cost about $82 million, took in just $36.3 million domestic and $53.4 million overseas, and to add insult to injury, didn't even open at No. 1, losing out to "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" (and having seen them both, I can confirm that the Wimpy Kid turned in a much better movie.)
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
The original "Hoodwinked!" was the very definition of a sleeper, taking in more than $100 million worldwide with little fanfare, but this sequel turned out to be pretty much the complete opposite, with a production budget of about $30 million and a domestic box office take of just $10 million or so, supplemented by a scant $3.6 million overseas.
The Beaver
No, this movie about a crazy Mel Gibson wasn't a documentary, and nor was it seen by just about anyone in the world. Costing $20 million to make, it made no box office impression at all, taking in less than $1 million domestic before disappearing. I'm no economics master, but I'm pretty sure that adds up to a disaster.
And I'll leave you with simply a brief preview of tonight's sure-to-be very funny episode of "Louie." Packaged with the extremely funny "Wilfred," FX has a great pair of comedies at a time when there is very little else on, so give them a chance if you haven't yet. Peace out.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Bombs Away: 10 2011 box office duds
Saturday, April 02, 2011
An extended look at "Water for Elephants"
Actually, before we get into any of that, a couple of tidbits about TV, starting with a question: When's the last time you actually tuned in for a live broadcast of "Saturday Night Live."
For me, I couldn't even tell you for sure, because it's been well more than 10 years. I can, however, guarantee you that I will be tuning in one week from today, when they've managed to land the perfect host: Dame Helen Mirren, presumably to pimp the "Arthur" remake starring Russell Brand and somehow Luis Guzman too that comes out that week. Yeah, I'll watch both of those.
And HBO has just announced that the summer's funniest stretch begins at 10 p.m. July 10 when Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" returns for (I think) its eighth season. Last season's "Seinfeld" reunion of sorts was more than a bit of a dud, but with the show hitting New York this season and Ricky Gervais set to appear in some form, I'm betting on a return to very, very funny.
OK, on to the main event. Although I'm certainly going to see Duncan Jones' "Source Code" today and really looking forward to it, and thoroughly enjoyed the slyly witty "Cedar Rapids," my money is on "Water for Elephants" as the first great movie of 2011. I quickly devoured the novel by Sara Gruen, a rather epic romantic triangle tale that unfolds at a traveling circus. And the casting of this, with Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and, looking great in these clips, Christoph Waltz as the circus' big man around the tent, looks just about perfect. And though he makes no appearance in these seven minutes or so courtesy of Collider.com, keep an eye out for definite Reel Fanatic fave Hal Holbrook too. Enjoy these seven scenes from the movie, and stick around afterward for something truly very funny from "Parks and Recreation."
Friday, February 11, 2011
A Friday clip cache, starring X-Men, Arthur and Pixar
I have no idea who all the dudes playing the 13 dwarves are, but it just warms my movie heart to see Martin Freeman in the photo above for "The Hobbit," even if he's not in his Bilbo Baggins costume, so there you go.
And before we get to the videos, there are a couple of tidbits of news out there that caught my eye, so bear with me.
Buffy ... well, at least Sarah Michelle Gellar, is coming back to TV this fall in a series that sounds fairly promising, and now it's starting to flesh out its cast. "The Ringer," created by two of the brains behind "Supernatural," stars Gellar as a woman on the run from the mob (or the law, or something, I'm not really sure yet) who takes the identity of her twin sister, only to find out sis is in some trouble too. So, Buffy in two parts, and now we find out that "Lost" vet Nestor Carbonell is joining the CBS drama as the FBI man charged to protect her so she can testify against the mob. Yeah, I'll check out at least a few episodes of that.And in actual movie news about Jennifer Lawrence because, well, I'll watch her in just about anything, she's apparently signed on for Oliver Stone's "Savages," and though it's been years since he's made anything even approaching great, this sounds promising. The movie, based on the book by Don Winslow, is about two friends and pot dealers from Laguna Beach who, as their business thrives, come up against a Mexican drug cartel who kidnaps and holds for ransom their shared girlfriend (Lawrence). Juicy. And though I can't imagine there's any way that Lawrence will prevail in the Best Actress Oscar race for her performance in "Winter's Bone," she or Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine" would get my vote, so here's hoping. (And in case you have trouble taking your eyes off that photo, you can thank my co-worker Mike Stucka for pointing it out ... it's apparently from Rolling Stone).
For her next part on screen, though, Lawrence plays Raven/Mystique in "X Men: First Class," which brings us to the first of today's three clips. With this coming from "Kick-Ass" director Matthew Vaughn, I have high hopes, since that was easily one of my favorite movies of 2010 (and made my top 10). The few photos that have leaked so far have been a little sketchy, but as you'll see from this first trailer, this should be an old-fashioned, but also hopefully great, superhero affair, with some somber thrills. Enjoy, and tune in to find out exactly what Vaughn has managed to do with this on June 3.
OK, I've railed about thoroughly unnecessary remakes as much as anyone, but I can't help it: This, at least from the trailer (which may well, of course, have all the funny bits), looks friggin' hilarious. As you'll see from this first trailer below, Russell Brand jumps into the role of "Arthur," which turns out to be funny enough, but when you add Dame Helen Mirren as his butler/nanny and Luis Guzman (welcome back!) as his driver/sidekick, this looks really promising. Besides, even if you like Russell Brand (which I really do), there's just something soothing about watching him get punched in the face by Mirren, and Guzman's Robin suit is something to behold. Enjoy the trailer, and keep an eye out for this on April 8.
And finally today, since it's Friday, and just in case you didn't hate your own job quite enough, Elena Myzik, one half of the New York Times' most recent incarnation of the Carpetbagger blogging team, recently got to go behind the scenes at the Pixar studios, and it's indeed about as amazing a place as you might imagine. Enjoy this video about her trip, and have a perfectly pleasant weekend. At least part of mine will be taken up reviewing both the most recent Doctor Who christmas special and Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us" on DVD for Collider.com, so things could certainly be worse. Peace out.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
DVD review: "The Extra Man"
Be warned: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's "The Extra Man" is indeed a "character study," but thankfully it's a genuinely odd and often endearing one.
Based on the Jonathan Ames novel of the same name, it stars Kevin Kline as the titular "Extra Man," a bizarre, sexless gigolo of sorts for rich old ladies, and Paul Dano as his protege. Much like Ames' "Bored to Death" on HBO, it's also an ode to the kind of New York eccentrics that are being buried by the city's continued Disneyfication.
Berman and Pulcini, who wrote and directed the fabulous "American Splendor," about the late Harvey Pekar, are at their best when they shine the light on American oddity, which is certainly the case with "The Extra Man."
Fans of "Bored to Death," of which you can certainly count me as one, should be warned, however: The humor is much less broad than with that NYC stoner romp starring Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson. That doesn't mean, however, that the laughs aren't here, there just more delicate and sometimes hard to watch.
Ames always writes a lot of himself into one of his characters, and in this case you have to wonder how many of the issues he shares with Dano's Louis Ives. As the movie opens, he's being fired as a professor at Princeton because his boss discovers him trying on a co-worker's bra in the teacher's lounge.
From there, he sets his sights on New York City, and ends up matched up with Kline after answering an ad seeking a roommate who's a "gentleman." From there on out, the movie is mostly about the relationship of that odd couple and their various adventures squiring old women around town (yes, it often really is as crazy as it sounds.)
Having read on the DVD box that this was "Kevin Kline's best performance since "A Fish Called Wanda'," I was bracing for an over-the-top mess, but for the most part he dives into the part of Henry Harrison and delivers a portrait of a genuine New York eccentric. Dano, for his part, slowly learns to give as good as he gets with Henry's odd life advice, and they play off each other very well.
Ames' tale constantly straddles the line between genuine oddity and contrived quirk, and at least a few times dashes right across it. On the good side is Lewis' visit to a "recession spankologist," something that would be right at home on "Bored to Death" and funny enough that I won't tell you any more about it here.
On the down side, however, is the usually reliable John C. Reilly, who plays Harrison's neighbor with a high-pitched squeal that will grate on you almost as much as his overall performance. And, because of course any movie like this needs a potential love interest for our hero, Katie Holmes makes an appearance too, but never for long enough to be too annoying.
Watching "The Extra Man," I was reminded of two directors: Woody Allen (who turned 75 this week - bully) and Wes Anderson. Allen for the extremely strong sense of place that marks the best of his old New York movies ("Manhattan" being my all-time favorite) and Anderson, of course, for the oddity, at its very best and worst.
The bottom line: "The Extra Man" certainly isn't for everyone (it got a measly 41 percent positive at Rotten Tomatoes), but if you want to spend a little time with some genuine characters in a New York City that's rapidly fading away, you could do a whole lot worse than this mostly fun little flick.
And, of course, I always like to wrap things up with a couple of fun clips.
First up comes a clip from Julie Taymor's "The Tempest," which isn't likely to be on anyone's best of 2010, but along with "The Extra Man," it's sure to be among the craziest of the year, and that's always OK in my book. As you'll see below, this stars Dame Helen Mirren and Djimon Honsou, and also somehow Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper and Alan Cumming. Keep an eye out for this in at least some corners of the world Dec. 10, and enjoy the clip.
Next comes the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's tribute to his friend, the late great monologist Spalding Gray, "And Everything Is Going Fine." It pains me that in the many times I've been to New York City, I never got to see Gray live before he dived off the Staten Island Ferry, but hopefully this IFC documentary will be playing somewhere when I return there in early January. Enjoy.
And with that, I'm off on this rare Friday off to go see Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" in Atlanta, and really looking forward to it. Peace out.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Peter Jackson taking over "The Hobbit?" Plus the first look, sort of, at Fincher's "Social Network"
After a whole lot of complicated studio stuff that's just way beyond my (gratis) pay grade, it does seem like "The Hobbit" can go home again.
Long before Guillermo del Toro took on and was forced to abdicate the mammoth project (two movies? really? why?), think of who would be the only natural person to make this, assuming he was interested. Peter Jackson, of course, and now that might actually be about to happen.Jackson is indeed in negotiations to direct the two movies, with talks centering on a time frame that would let him fast-track these for release in 2012 and 2013, with the shaky financial shape of MGM, which owns the "Hobbit" rights, always a hovering concern.
Beyond the other obvious reasons, Jackson would be a natural fit for this because he had been working on the script all this time with his professional partners, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, along with del Toro. And with Middle Earth being reconstructed from the ground up in his home of New Zealand, it only make sense that Warners/New Line didn't apparently go too hard after any other directors to take this over.
Solid word should emerge in the next few days, so stay tuned ...
And all I have after that today is a couple of videos that caught my eye this morning. After a way beyond wretched start to this summer, things have certainly picked up with the utterly charming "Toy Story 3" (I'm debating over whether to go see it again today or finally see "The A-Team" - and leaning toward the latter), and I'm hoping the good mojo will be continued with "Despicable Me" on July 9 before Christopher Nolan's "Inception" finally drops July 16. It could very well turn out to be a thoroughly generic 3-D mess, but with a voice cast that includes Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Kristen Wiig, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Mindy Kaling, Ken Jeong, Jack McBrayer and even Danny McBride, I'm still cautiously betting on at least slightly twisted and hopefully funny. Here, courtesy of Collider.com, are 10 clips that will take up slightly more than seven minutes of your life if you watch them all. Enjoy.
And, in what would have to be a definite case of saving the best for last, here is the first teaser trailer for David Fincher's "The Social Network," the story of Facebook as written up by one Aaron Sorkin. This is one of the movies I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year (with perhaps only Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" starring James Franco rivaling it for that title.) Being only a teaser, this doesn't have any actual footage from the movie in it, but it's very well done (and if you somehow have never heard of Facebook, well, you're probably better off, though, yes, I'm on it, and this will reveal some crucial plot points.) Enjoy the trailer, watch the U.S.A. take on Ghana today at 2:30 EST in the knockout round of the World Cup, and have a great rest of the weekend. Peace out.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
A good movie this summer? Yes, finally, "Get Him to the Greek"
Actually, before I get into any of that, here's a real what the f#$% moment about another potentially great movie we Yanks will never be able to see, or at least not in any kind of movie theater.
I've been wondering for some time when we would be able to see "Cemetery Junction," the '70s period comedy written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (you know, the "The Office" guys). Well, it seems we now have an answer: Aug. 17, but only on DVD.
How in the world could a working-man's comedy from this duo, about insurance salesmen in England in the '70s, not get even a small theater release? I suppose the rather phenomenal box office failures of "The Invention of Lying" and "Ghost Town" had something to do with it (though the latter is a seriously smart and funny romantic comedy, so rent it already.)
Anyways, enough about that disaster. At least we know when we'll be able to see it in some form. Before we get to a couple of videos, here in the next few days it's about two surprisingly good movies I did manage to see last weekend, "Get Him to the Greek" and "Splice." And they're not just good in comparison to the fact that the rest of this summer has just sucked pretty hard, but standalone, actually good.
Let's start today with "Get Him to the Greek," which really comes down to one question: Can you stand Russell Brand? Jackie K. Cooper, who writes up movies for the newspaper I toil for, can't, and gave the move a three. Rather harsh, but certainly understandable. I'd give it a 7 or even 7.5 (on a scale of 10) for being a fast-paced, almost entirely raunchy and just about right summer comedy.
But it all comes down to Brand and to a somewhat lesser extent Jonah Hill, because unlike Judd Apatow's star-laden but seriously confused "Funny People," which really had no idea what it wanted to be, writer/director Nicholas Stoller (with, according to the credits, "characters created by Jason Segel) makes "Get Him to the Greek" a buddy comedy in the traditional sense, with a few celebrities making cameos (Kristen Bell makes a brief but hilarious return as Sarah Marshall) but never overwhelming or distracting from the story at its core.
And I'm sure anyone reading this by now knows already that that story is about Hill's mission, as a record company intern, to get debauched British rocker Aldous Snow (Brand) to L.A.'s Greek Theater for a show. And it indeed often comes down to the two of them pushing the limits of taste and through them again and again, which would get old a lot quicker than its one hour and 45 minutes or so if they weren't such a natural fit together.
There's a moment near the end that just captures their chemistry perfectly. After their American adventure reaches its nadir in a Las Vegas meltdown featuring Snow's father (Colm Meaney, very funny as usual) and broken up by Hill's boss (P. Diddy, not nearly as funny as hyped to be, but OK). Look for the expressions on their faces, one of sheer joy and the other of utter terror, on their faces as they're running out of the hotel, for me the movie's signature moment (and it's the top of this review.)
In the end, what makes this the best "Camp Apatow" - or whatever you want to call it - movie since "Superbad" (and almost as good as that movie, and if you've been here before you know that's high praise) is it's simple moral, or more accurately the almost complete lack of one. Through his journey (and I hope I'm not spoiling too much here, because you really should go see this), all Aldous really learns is that he really shouldn't be too much of a dick. Really nothing more redeeming than that, and that's exactly where this should have ended up.
OK, you get the idea by now that I really liked this, but I did have some quibbles, and it has almost entirely to do with how the movie treats - or more accurately abuses - women (except for Rose Byrne, who is very funny as Jackie Q, Snow's pop diva ex-girlfriend whose songs delight in the art of single entendre.) After "Freaks and Geeks," Apatow and friends made another one-season show that was in its way almost as good, "Undeclared" (if you've never heard of that, just trust me and rent it.) At its center were Jay Baruchel and Carla Gallo, who has been famous since mostly as the female foil for the crudest of "jokes" in the movies Apatow has produced since.
You may remember her from "Superbad" as the party dancer who, it being a certain time of the month, leaves her mark on Jonah Hill. OK, that was funny. In "Get Him to the Greek," however, you can certainly call her a sport, but she's also the butt of a joke that goes horribly wrong in the aforementioned Las Vegas scene. To tell you anymore would spoil it, but let's just say I don't cringe very often at rude humor, but this was just gross and not at all funny.
And poor Elisabeth Moss really just gets treated even worse. As Hill's earnest live-in girlfriend who is also a very hard-working doctor, she's not just a one-dimensional killjoy, but in the movie's most lethargic and awkward stretch, makes for its worst scene by far when she berates Hill for his rock 'n' roll exploits, and then proposes an encounter that's as ludicrous as it is poorly delivered.
Though women have had fun in Apatow-produced movies before (Emma Stone was great in "Superbad," and Charlyne Yi was a hoot in "Knocked Up"), all too often - as here - they're simply around to rain on the parade. But perhaps I'm just thinking too much about what, after all, is designed to be a thoroughly raunchy and fun summer ride, and is, exactly because boys will still be boys, and thankfully with "Get Him to the Greek," very funny ones at that.
OK, I really have to go work now, but I'll leave you with the funniest clip I could find this morning. The "punch line" doesn't come until the very end, and be warned: Before that you get Mike White and Justin Long acting like a very gay (as supposed to partially gay, I suppose) couple, so if that kind of thing offends you, please don't watch it. In a couple of minutes, however, it makes a very salient point about California's Prop 8, and does it in a way that made me, at least, laugh out loud. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
For Thursday, no laughing matter in baseball, great movie news and a cache of funny clips
I suppose I would actually get a few people to read this if I ever bothered to make it single entries rather than a fairly free-flowing outpouring of whatever enters my mind at 6 in the morning, but than it would stop being fun, so what then would be the point?
But I, like many people, was watching baseball on ESPN last night (actually out of the corner of my eye while watching something else on Netflix, about the most multitasking I can actually do) when Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was absolutely robbed and jobbed out of a perfect game.
That was the lead story on NPR when I woke up this morning, so it's obviously already a lot bigger than baseball, which it should be. For me, however, as angry as it initially made me, it was Galarraga's classy reaction to the obviously blown umpiring call that sticks with me: "No one is perfect."
He's certainly right there, and it is, in my own warped way, while I'll always be opposed to the introduction of replay in baseball (though I'd be willing to bet Galarraga would vote for in an instant.) Baseball is and always be a sport with as many opportunities for error as grace, and that all goes into what makes it the world's second-most beautiful game (second to, only of course, soccer.) It's far preferable that these errors be committed by the players than the umpires charged with regulating the game, but even in extreme cases like this one, think about it for a second.
Do we really want the game to be stopped every time there's a close call on the base path or anywhere in the field? That slippery slope will eventually lead to recalls on balls and strikes, and games that could easily go on for five hours or more. It would simply disrupt the natural flow of the game, which often, yes, does involve the extremely human act of umpiring, and would be a disaster.
OK, enough about baseball in what is supposed to be a movie site, especially since it's a day full of good news about directors I really like.To start, does anyone remember Whit Stillman? He made his debut with what lingers as one of my favorite movies in "Metropolitan," a very dryly witty look at the lives of wealthy young NYC socialites (it's a lot better than I'm making it sound here, and rather amazingly, you can watch in on Hulu.) He followed that up with two movies that were not quite as good but still entertaining, "Barcelona" and "The Last Days of Disco," and then pretty much disappeared, at least until now.
He tried to make a comeback a couple of years ago with an adaptation of Christopher Buckley's satirical novel "Little Green Men," but like many ventures in our brave new world, that fizzled fast. Now, however, it seems like he's actually going to be able to make a movie, and it will be called "Damsels in Distress." Here's a synopsis:
[The picture] centers on a group of college girls who take in a new student and teach her their own misguided ways of helping people. Lily, a new student at Seven Oaks University, winds up filling in with a dynamic and highly individualistic group of girls, addicted to the elegance of the past: Heather, Violet and Rose all volunteer at the campus Suicide Prevention Center, convinced that musical dance, sharp clothes and good hygiene — the Dior perfume “Diorissimo” is their trademark — can all contribute to staving off the inevitable self-destructive impulses that follow hard on the heels of failed college romances. Despite their sophisticated talk and savvy use of perfume, the girls are plagued by Cupid’s arrows and must adjust their psyches to the onset of amour.
That all sounds really funny to me already, and casting is apparently going on now, with eyes set on a five-week July shoot in NYC, so it looks like, yes, we will actually get another movie out of Whit Stillman.In other news, I didn't know that Spike Lee was working on a sequel to his sensational Katrina documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," but it certainly makes sense, especially since those same poor folks could find their land covered in oil any day now. Never being one for half-measures, however, it now seems that Lee is also now filming in Haiti, to draw obvious parallels between what happened there and in N'awlins.
The fate of Haiti is worthy of a Spike Lee documentary on its own, but whatever he comes up with here should be as painful to watch as it should be thoroughly engaging (and frankly, thank God that he keeps doing things like this as the attention of the rest of us understandably turns elsewhere.)And, in a final bit before we get to the, I promise, extremely silly clips, it seems that director Sam Mendes has very, very wisely turned his back on some kind of "Wizard of Oz" prequel, sequel or whatever the hell it might be called "Oz the Great and Powerful" to instead direct a movie based on the Ian McEwan short novel "On Chesil Beach," a minor McEwan work but one of my favorites, and even better, "An Education" star Carey Mulligan will apparently star in it (even with Robert Downey Jr. as the wizard, there's just no way you could have gotten me to watch that "Oz" crap.)
As for "On Chesil Beach," it's about a couple on their honeymoon on the titular beach in the 1960s, and like Mendes' best movies so far, it explores the psychological barriers to and burdens of intimacy. Again, I'm surely not summing that up very well, but trust me, it's great stuff, and Mulligan as one half of the couple at its center will surely be fantastic.
OK, you have my solemn promise that from here on out today, it will be nothing but silly in the clips. First up comes something that needs absolutely no more description from me: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert vs. Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter in a fatal danceoff. Enjoy.
I was already convinced that "Get Him to the Greek" is gonna be exactly my kind of raunchy funny with just enough heart, but just in case anyone else needs some convincing here, courtesy of Funny or Die (I'll take the former with this) are the movie's first five minutes. As were the best parts of Nicholas Stoller's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," it's a pretty spot-on hit on our celebrity culture, and I think that even if you can't stand Russell Brand (which I can, because he's just friggin' funny), this is still gonna be a winner. Enjoy.
Next up comes the second trailer for one I'm not as sure about, Jay Roach's remake of the sublime French farce "Diner de Cons," which is now called "Dinner for Schmucks" and stars Steve Carell and Paul Rudd (and as you'll see from the trailer, Zach Galifianakis too.) This has a high hurdle to jump in being compared to the original flick by Francis Veber, but it at least looks like Carell will be in full geek mode when this comes out July 23. Enjoy.
Well, these last two are probably more silly than funny, but Ben Kingsley trying out for a part in "Transformers 3"? Why not? (Sorry to break it to you, Sir Ben, but I'm afraid you somehow missed out on this to Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whitely - say what you want about Michael Bay, but the man does certainly at least have a type.) Enjoy the clip and compare it to Heidi Montag's apparently earnest "Transformers" audition tape he's spoofing, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Yes, it looks like there really will be a new Muppets movie
There will surely be more important movies in the next two years or so, and almost certainly better ones too, but I just can't help but getting excited beyond all reason at the idea of a new Muppets movie, and after a couple of years of it being an iffy idea, it finally looks like things are solidly moving forward.In an interview with Collider.com, for which I was briefly a contributor, "Get Him to the Greek" writer/director Nicholas Stoller talked about what's up with the Muppets movie he and professional partner Jason Segel have written (and some other things I really couldn't possibly care less about), and for the first time he offered some solid evidence that it's really gonna happen. Here's a taste.
The Muppets, Jason [Segel] and I have been working on for a while and James Bobin is attached to direct it and they actually had a table read on Saturday with all the puppets and that’s going to shoot in September. Just really excited about that. It’s kind of a dream-come-true for all three of us so that’s thrilling.
So, what will the movie be about? Well, all signs are the flick, called "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made" will be a genuinely old-fashioned Muppets affair, with all our old friends getting together to perform a show to save a theater from a now-timely foe, an oil company. This will lead, Stoller promised, to all kinds of crazy cameos a la the old TV show and movies. Here's more from Collider:
It’s one of the original movies like The Muppet Movie, Muppets Take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper. Those kinds of movies. So that was really important that we hit that tone and those have a lot of cameos in them and so Jason and I started asking people and everyone we asked just wants to do it. Like everyone is either, “I grew up with it,” or “I loved it,” or loved them now.
OK, I'm sold. Stoller said the shoot should take no more than eight weeks, working around Segel's "How I Met Your Mother" schedule, since he gets to be the main human star of this thing. And as for "Get Him to the Greek," I've read a few geek reviews by now that describe it as so completely debauch that it will be exactly the kind of R-rated movie I enjoy in the middle of summer, and I thought (except for that puppet show at the end) Russell Brand's Aldous Snow was easily the funniest thing about "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," so bring it on.
OK, after that, all I have is a couple of nuggets about much more high-minded projects. With "Frozen River," writer/director Courtney Hunt delivered easily one of my favorite movies of 2008 and just an astonishing debut flick, so any news of her return is welcome around here.
This morning, via the Playlist, comes word that she's found her next project in a remake of the Froggy Laurent Cantet flick "Ressources Humaines," which I have not seen (but will soon, assuming I can find it.) And while I'd normally sneer at the need to remake European movies for American audiences, I think this could be a welcome exception to the norm (and by the way, if you haven't seen Cantet's "The Class," rent it immediately.)
Cantet's flick centers on a young man who returns to his hometown to manage a local factory, only to find out he's being brought in to be the hatchet man. Hunt's movie will keep the same structure but move the action to America, where this story will certainly resonate now.
Rent "Frozen River" right away if you haven't seen it both for a remarkable performance from Melissa Leo, who's currently starring on David Simon's sublime HBO ensemble New Orleans series "Treme," and just because it's just a thoroughly entertaining little flick about immigration in America.I'll close today with a couple of videos. It's been quite a while (well, since 2006, to be exact) since Alejandro González Iñárritu directed a movie, and though I know plenty of people who hate on his "Babel," I really enjoyed it. And besides, it brought Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi to the world, and what in the world could be wrong with that?
Well, he's back this year at Cannes with "Biutiful," which stars Javier Bardem. Best as I can tell, the movie, which is still in need of a distributor, if you have some scratch burning a hole in your pocket, is about a policeman who runs into a childhood friend who is now involved in drug dealing. Bardem, I think, plays the policeman, and this will hopefully find its way at least kinda near my little corner of the world sometime this year, because you can bet I'll drive a little ways up the road to see it.
Here's a very short production video, again courtesy of the Playlist, to give you just a small taste of what Inarritu has cooking. Enjoy.
And finally, in bad TV news, tonight marks not only the season finales of NBC's Thursday night comedies, but also the last time we'll be able to see them all together (hey, don't kill the messenger.) The real bad news about next season is that "Parks and Recreation," which has developed this year into my favorite of the four, won't be returning until midseason, presumably to accommodate Amy Poehler's new baby. "30 Rock" will also be moving to Friday at 8:30 (I'll watch it at any time, but what the f#@$?) to make room for a hopefully funny new entry, "Outsourced."
Anyways, I'll leave you today with a promo for tonight's "Community" finale, in which Troy finally brings the truth about "jumping the shark." Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Go see "Kick-Ass" already and just have a hell of a lot of fun
Actually, before we get into any of that today, why not start with some truly "Kick-Ass" casting news?
If you were to list my favorite actors, Hal Holbrook would easily find a spot in the top five. He made "Into the Wild," a movie that still just continues to get better and better with age, and he was even better than that as the star of "That Evening Sun," a genuine Southern gothic that should really be coming to DVD very soon, so keep an eye out for it.
Now he's gonna get the chance to be a truly bad MF as a short-term cast member of "Sons of Anarchy," which in its second season last year really became a great TV drama. When season three returns in September, Holbrook will star in the first four episodes as Gemma's (Katey Segal) father. I was gonna watch anyway already, but they've certainly amped up my interest with that news.
And in even crazier news, I really didn't think there was any way you could get me to watch a remake of "Arthur," even though I do find Russell Brand to be very funny, but I think they've now actually pulled that off.How? By casting Dame Helen Mirren in the role made legendary by Sir John Gielgud, therefore changing it from a butler to a nanny, something which Brand could almost certainly use in his real life too. There is, of course, still a very large chance that this could just suck all kinds of balls, but with Helen Mirren in it I can at least guarantee you I'll be there to watch it crash and burn.
OK, before I got sidetracked by that little bit of business, this was supposed to be a defense of "Kick-Ass," though having seen it twice now, I'm still rather amazed that Matthew Vaughn's thoroughly entertaining movie needs one.
And this really isn't in response to Roger Ebert or anyone else who has questioned the morality of so much violence being perpetrated by a 12-year-old (my best guess, I really have no idea how old kids actually are.) I'm willing to dismiss that as the ramblings of a sometimes cranky old man, especially since I'm pretty rapidly becoming one of those too. All I can really say is IT'S A FRIGGIN' R-RATED MOVIE!!!
Instead, it's more about what "Kick-Ass" really is rather than what it isn't, because judging by the week one box office numbers, I have to assume that the majority of people who happen to stumble by here today haven't seen it yet.
Because what Vaughn has really accomplished is to make one of the very few non-animated movies that manage to bring a genuine comic book vibe to the big screen. Terry Zwigoff managed to do it by capturing perfectly the spirit of Daniel Clowes' "Ghost World," and the just criminally underrated "Shoot 'Em Up" - though more like Looney Tunes than comic books - managed to contain all of the fun of comic books too (and if you haven't seen this little comic gem, rent it immediately!)
And in many ways, Vaughn has accomplished the same rare feat with his movie about the comic book "Kick-Ass." Ebert and others were at least part right - it does indeed start with the violence. Perhaps my moral compass is just completely askew, but when I knowingly go into an R-RATED movie with the name "Kick-Ass," I think I've pretty much ceded any right to be offended. And besides, I wasn't. I was entertained.I don't want to give too much away, but the two action set-pieces involving Hit-Girl (young Chloe Moretz, who is just a delight) are easily the two best I've seen this year, and are among the best of the last 10 years or so too. The first starts in darkness, then turns into a trick of lighting and is just expertly shot. And the grand finale, well, all I'll tell you is that it does involve a bazooka and another much cooler weapon that I won't reveal to you here. Let's just say I defy you not to laugh out loud once you hear the strains of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" ring out.
But it's not all about the violence. Just about everything in "Kick-Ass" is fun, funky and very often outrageous, as comic book movies should be. Nicolas Cage is funnier than he's been since, well, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" as Hit-Girl's guardian, Big Daddy, and the near-constant riff on superhero worship manages to sustain itself through the whole thing.
My only qualm with the first movie and fear for the inevitable sequel (but only if the box office numbers somehow pick up, probably) is that that McLovin kid is definitely a one-trick pony. Saying any more than that would only spoil things.
And in week two, there's at least a fighting chance that "Kick-Ass" could somehow win the week, considering the fecal matter - "The Back-Up Plan" and "The Losers" - that's polluting multiplexes this week. If you're having doubts about this and trust me at all (a dangerous proposition, I certainly concede), give "Kick-Ass" a chance in week two. 'Nuff said. Peace out.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
For Tuesday, an international treasure trove of trailers
Actually, there's two bits of TV news out there today that are just too good to pass up. First up, it seems that rather than run for president (one can only hope, right?), Sarah Palin has either signed on or is about to for a reality show about her crazy clan's antics in Alaska. Here's hoping the crazy does indeed come out in full bloom, making her a reality star rather than any kind of leader in the "reality" that is real life.And in news about something I'll probably watch, though am clearly far, far too old to without feeling at least a little dirty, it seems that veryfunnyman Aziz Ansari is in final negotiations to host the next "MTV Movie Awards," slated to air live June 6.
Aziz, live and unfiltered? Yeah, I'll at least tune in for his opening monologue. He's easiest the funniest thing about "Parks and Recreation" and was in the only funny person in Judd Apatow's woefully mistitled "Funny People." And, as you'll see if you stick around until the end today, he'll probably be the funniest person in "Get Him to the Greek" too when that drops this summer.
And now to transition rather quickly into the clips, because they're all pretty epicly good (or in the case of the first one, just odd), it begins with a bit of truly good news. While the aforementioned MTV has its eyes on my very favorite British teen show "Skins" (and bizarrely enough transporting the action of it to Baltimore), there's something happening on that front that should be much better.
If you've never seen "Skins," I can't recommend it highly enough. Though it is indeed sometimes as tawdry as anything you find on the CW (and often much moreso), it's also about three tons better. With a cast that wisely changes every two years to keep things fresh (they just wrapped season four, I believe, so a new cast is on the way), it examines the lives of a group of bored but never boring teenagers in Bristol. And just in case you doubt the worth of all this, the first two seasons not only featured the Slumdog himself, Dev Patel, but also Peter Capaldi, known best lately as the blissfully foul-mouthed political operative Malcolm Tucker in "In the Loop."
And I tell you all that to tell you this: Jack Thorne, who wrote some of the show's best episodes, has been hired to write a big-screen movie that would reunite the casts of the first four seasons (well, those that are still alive, anyway.) I realize this is an awful lot of information about a movie that no one who actually reads this but me would care about, but so what? This should be nothing but fun, and for a taste of just how trippy the show can be, here's a clip featuring Sid, Cassie and others singing Cat Steven's "Wild World." Yes, really. Enjoy.
Skins - Wild World
Uploaded by omiKASE. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
Now, since I promised this would have an international flavor, the next two clips are trailers for French flicks, though thankfully the first one comes with subtitles and, well, the second one really doesn't need any words at all.
First up comes the first full trailer I know of for "Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc Sec," the first movie directed by Luc Besson that I've wanted to see in quite a while. It's set to open in France on April 14, and though I've yet to find any kind of U.S. release date, I think this will be a really big hit that will travel across the pond and to a multiplex near me sometime soon. As you'll see from the trailer, our heroine is a journalist of sorts who's also an adventurer like Indiana Jones used to be at his best, and in the flick she encounters a pterodactyl and all kinds of other fun things. Enjoy.
Next up comes something you can count me as thoroughly jazzed about, a new movie by Sylvain Chomet, with a script (as much as there will be one) by Jacques Tati. You may well remember Chomet as the director of the blissfully bizarre and completely dialogue-free "Triplets of Belleville." I love that flick, so I'm thrilled that he's back to animation (AND IN GLORIOUS 2-D!) with something called "The Illusionist." As best as I can tell, the titular illusionist is a struggling magician who befriends a young girl who is enchanted by his tricks (and no, as seedy as that might sound, there's nothing untoward about any of this at all.) It too only has a French release date so far, the first week of May, but definitely keep your eyes out for it over here (and certainly let me know if you find it!) Enjoy the trailer, which is in Russian, but doesn't have any dialogue anyway.
And finally today, as promised, comes the first redband trailer I know of for "Get Him to the Greek," which will continue the rather ribald adventures of Aldous Snow when it drops June 4. I recently rewatched the movie it springs from, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," again at the Macon Film Festival, and though the movie didn't get any better, it is fun communal viewing (especially when charmingly hosted by Jack McBrayer.) As you'll see from the clip below, and you youngins won't even have to jump through the fake hoop of putting your fake age, it does indeed bring some real funny with Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, and plenty of raunch too. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Are the "Friday Nights Lights" about to go out? Plus, a treasure trove of trailers
Before I get into all that, I suppose congratulations of sorts are due to John Francis Daley, aka Sam Weir of "Freaks and Geeks" fame, because getting a job of any sort in this brave new world is certainly something to celebrate, but couldn't he have done better than this?
It seems that Sam Weir and writing partner Jonathan Goldstein have been hired to "reboot", "reimagine" or whatever the hell they call ruining perfectly fine movies these days "Vacation." This time out, Chevy Chase will return as Clark Griswold, but the main focus will be on son Rusty as he takes his own family on some kind of surely disastrous road trip.
All I can really say to that is a resounding sheesh, but if you're a fan of "Friday Night Lights" (and if not, how in the world?), it's a big day of news, both good and bad. Folks like me who don't get DirecTV will enjoy hearing that the show's fourth season is finally set to return to NBC beginning April 30, and I just can't wait to see what happens with coach Taylor at the new East Dillon High School.
At the same time, however, the always reliably TV-obsessed Michael Ausiello is reporting that the show's runners have been informed that the "Friday Night Lights" will go out for good after shooting wraps on the fifth season in June.
While I'll certainly be sad to see the best drama on television now (yes, really, better than "Mad Men" and anything you might come up with in my book) go, it does give Jason Katims and his fellow creators plenty of time to give this thing a proper ending. I certainly don't expect Connie Britton to remain unemployed for any long stretch of time, and it will be fun to see where she ends up next (and I'll definitely follow.)
And finally, in a final bit of good TV news before we dive into a sea of trailers, veryfunnyman Larry Charles has booked a new gig with CBS for a new pilot. Though perhaps best known for "Borat," Charles has for years done much funnier work with "Seinfeld" and then the even better "Curb Your Enthusiasm." For CBS, he'll team with frequent collaborator Ant Hines to create a show about a dad, played by Paul Kaye, who reenters the life of his now-famous daughter. I'm not sure Charles' truly caustic wit will fit at CBS, but I'll certainly tune in to find out.
OK, from here on out it's all about trailers (and a featurette too), and there are some great ones.
First up comes the first trailer I know of for "Get Him to the Greek," an offering from the Judd Apatow camp which stars Russell Brand in a continuation of his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" character, Aldous Snow (along with the Dracula puppet show, the funniest thing about that flick.) The new movie, set to drop June 4, was created by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, and also stars Jonah Hill, who's charged with getting Brand's beyond debauched rock star to a gig at the titular Greek theater. Silly? Absolutely, but I'm betting on a lot of funny here too. Enjoy.
Next up comes also the first real trailer I know of for "Toy Story 3," which is sure to dominate the weekend when it opens June 18. In the third installment, the toys are (once again!) put in a tight spot and forced to escape, this time from a daycare center full of very eager rugrats. The plots for these just get more and more tired, but in the trailer below the moment when Ken meets Barbie at least shows director Lee Unkrich and crew have some inspired ideas in their bag. Enjoy.
Toy Story 3 Trailer 2 in HD
Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video
Though he looks at least as creepy here as he did as Tim Burton's vision of Willy Wonka (which is, unfortunately, permanently seared on my brain), Johnny Depp appears to be having a lot more fun as the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland," so hopefully we will too when this comes out March 5. The best thing in this featurette is seeing the Mad Hatter take up his sword to join the battle with the forces of the Red Queen, just surreally fun. Enjoy.
And finally, I'm not sure what's craziest: That Nickelodeon's great animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is now a live-action flick set to come out July 2, that both Dev Patel and Asif Mandvi of "The Daily Show" are in it and don't look entirely silly, that it's directed by M. Night Shyamalan or that it simply looks like it could be really great. Decide for yourself. Enjoy, have a great weekend, and please, if you live in Macon, go see either of our Oscar offerings this week, "Crazy Heart" and/or "A Single Man." I've seen them both, and while "Crazy Heart" is worth watching for the great performance of The Dude, Tom Ford's "A Single Man" is simply sensational, with Colin Firth at his best. Peace out.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
A very dirty take on "Almost Famous"?
Before I get into what will be a very short report today, a few random thoughts.
As depressing as it was for me personally to watch Barack Obama get beat down pretty hard last night, I've decided that I can't blame the good people of Pennsylvania. The real culprit: Michael Moore, who gave Barack his kiss-of-death endorsement Monday night here. I love Michael Moore (though not so much his latest, "Sicko"), but I really don't see how that can possibly help.
And, secondly, though I usually get more than a little queasy when I hear of American remakes of European flicks, word surfaced of one this morning that kind of intrigues me. When I sent out a plea to readers to help me restock my Netflix queue, one of the best ideas was Patrice Leconte's "Man on the Train," suggested by always-welcome reader Ashok, if I remember correctly.
The flick, though very entertaining, is also extremely French (duh, but bear with me.) It stars two superb actors, Jean Rochefort and the rocker Johnny Hallyday, in a story about a bank robber and a retired school teacher whose paths converge and start to interchange. In saying it's very French, I mean it's extremely talky - though very witty. In the right American hands I could see this simple story working for the masses.
And while I'm not sure that director Thomas Bezucha of "The Family Stone" fame is who I would have in mind to helm this for Miramax, casting Billy Bob Thornton as the roaming bank robber - which is in the works, apparently - would be just about perfect.
But, anyways, enough about what was just supposed to be a one-sentence-or-so item and on to the real stories, both about rock 'n' roll.
Though I was mildly disappointed with "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," director Nick Stoller has wisely latched on to that flick's funniest star (sorry Mr. Segel) for a new camp Apatow comedy to be called "Get Him to the Greek," which thankfully has nothing to do with fraternity houses.In the flick, Russell Brand, who just chewed up the screen as Alduous Snow in "FSM," will (shock!) play an out-of-control rock star, and Jonah Hill (hopefully much funnier than he was in "FSM") will play a fresh-out-of-college insurance adjuster who has to get the rocker to a gig at L.A.'s Greek Theater. As the headline to this post implies, Stoller describes the flick, which he will write and direct, as a very dirty take on "Almost Famous." In my mind, I'm already there.
Before any of that, Segel and Stoller will thankfully be bringing the world another Muppet movie. Judging from the "Dracula" finale of "FSM" I'd say these guys clearly have a love of doing silly things with puppets, so that - and hopefully "Get Him to the Greek" also - should just be tons of fun.
And finally, though I really am quite late for work already, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Ang Lee has signed on for an odd kind of music biopic that sounds like it could be very interesting.Lee will direct and longtime collaborator James Schamus will pen the flick "Taking Woodstock," based on Elliot Tiber's memoir "Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, Concert, and a Life."
Now, though I am getting fairly old, I wasn't quite born when the real Woodstock happened in 1969, so I'll just have to take Mr. Tiber's word for it that, as he was working at his parents' motel in the Catskills, he played a role in "inadvertently setting in motion" the gargantuan hippie summit. True or not, it certainly sounds like the kind of fish story Mr. Lee could have a lot of fun with. Plus, the casting news, as it trickles out, should just be a blast.
And with that I indeed have to leave, but here's the second trailer for "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." Not exactly the sexiest of potential summer blockbusters, but one I hope will at least be enjoyable. Peace out.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Dear "Sarah Marshall": Have a heart
My heart really wanted to rave about Jason Segel's first starring role on the big screen, and it would have won out if only his flick had a little more heart itself. Without it, the movie too often just falls apart.
But lets start with the good stuff first, because there's almost enough of it to sustain a 90-minute movie (instead of one that, like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," clocks in at just over two hours.)
When the story sticks to its four core stars, it does indeed have plenty of charm. Segel, who you probably know by now exposes his wang-dang-doodle (more on that later) and a lot more in this one, is at his best in awkward situations, and for a guy who spends the first 30 minutes or so crying most of the time, he's very funny here (listen, in particular, for the best use of the "The Muppet Show" theme I've heard in many years.)
And I've made it clear in this space many, many times that I have a weakness for Kristen Bell, so yes I'm admittedly grading on a curve. But, as the titular bitch of the title, she does manage to make Sarah Marshall a well-rounded - if extremely selfish - bimbo (and her rhythmic use of the word "bullshit" near the end is just about perfect comedy.) More importantly, her performance is more than strong enough to make you see why she would be with Segel's slacker for five years before breaking his heart, and therefore get you a lot more invested in the meltdown that follows under the Hawaiian sun.
Mila Kunis, as the requisite other woman who gives the story its rather conventional feel, is certainly sexy enough, but special kudos go to Russell Brand, who makes his Alduous Snow just a first-rate git. I had never heard of the dude before this flick. A quick check of the IMDB shows he was in "Penelope" this year, but I managed to forget all of that flick shortly after it ended. I won't spoil it for you, but his music video (as the leader of the band "Infant Sorrow") is the funniest thing I've seen on screen this year, and just the finest kind of cheese.
So, if the movie has all that going for it, what's the problem? Well, the Judd Apatow equation only works for me when it's got almost as much heart as it does raunch (hence my undying love for "Superbad.") When you just pile on the latter, as "Sarah Marshall" does with its supporting players, you get a second-rate Will Ferrell movie or, worse, something like "My Best Friend's Girl," for which - thanks to projector problems - we had to watch the trailer twice before "Sarah Marshall." If I may digress for just a second, as someone who doesn't watch much standup comedy, I have to ask: Is Dane Cook really funny at all? If so, I've clearly missed it.
In "Sarah Marshall," only the very funny Bill Hader manages to rise above the mediocre material to fare well. Jonah Hill, who was just perfect in "Superbad," only manages to annoy here as a sycophantic waiter, and I just can't understand how they could manage to so thoroughly waste someone as good as Paul Rudd in such a stupid role.But unfortunately, as much as it pains me, I have to heap the most scorn on Macon's own Jack McBrayer. I've liked him quite a bit on the few episodes I've seen of Tina Fey's "30 Rock," but his dumb redneck shtick on the big screen (the variety here is "dumb Christian redneck) is just quickly wearing out its welcome. I know he can do a lot better, but I've yet to see it in movies.
And finally, getting back to Jason Segel's quickly-becoming-infamous hanging of brain at the opening, the bottom line for me is always was it funny, and I can say that in the most squirmworthy way possible yes, it was. It probably works so well because, as Segel told the Associated Press, it actually happened to him almost exactly like that:
"This naked breakup commenced and, honest to God, maybe this is part of the problem, all I kept thinking was, 'This is ... hilarious.' "
It pretty much is, and if you're keeping score, be warned that he does a brief reprise in the third act (but by then, the shock is clearly gone.) And the score for "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"? Well, despite my complaints it's the best big-screen comedy so far this year - which admittedly may not be saying much - and well worth at least a matinee. Peace out.