A Double Feature In Three Dimensions

Little known fact: any two movies at the theater can be a double feature as long as you sneak into one of them.



Tangled is the story of Rapunzel... sort of. Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) has lived her entire life in a secret tower, and her only friends are her pet chameleon and Mother Gothel, a woman Rapunzel believes is her mother, but is a mean bitch who has kept the girl hidden away because of the healing powers her hair possesses. Her curiosity gets the better of her when she meets Flynn, a robber on the run from the law, together they venture to the kingdom to see the floating lights that appear every year on her birthday.

The movie is very entertaining, especially the chameleon and the palace guard horse that tracks the lead characters like a bloodhound (not a metaphor.)

The songs are completely forgettable, and I am being literal: I cannot remember a single lyric from any one of the songs. They aren't even long enough to be considered real songs, it's like the music guy at Disney realized he'd forgotten to write any songs before the thing went into production and so he jotted the lyrics down on a napkin during a twenty-minute lunch break.

Disney finally proves that it is still in the fucking game when it comes to animation. For many long years, anything Disney did kind of got steam-rolled under the mighty Pixar machine, and while Tangled isn't quite as good as Wall-E or Toy Story, it is miles above some of the direct-to-DVD schlock Disney has been pumping out like toxic sludge. For once the 3D actually enhanced the quality, embedding the watcher in the scenery instead of just presenting it.

The cast was par, as in not sub-par, except Zachery Levi (Chuck), who voiced Flynn, he brought the comedy up to another level. His every line had me giggling, his timing and delivery are priceless.

Tangled gets 3.8 stars.

Up next is Megamind.

Megamind (Will Ferrell, Elf, Anchorman, SNL) is an alien who was sent to Earth as a baby when his planet was blown into chunks. Unfortunately his spaceship lands, not in Kansas, but in a prison, and the inmates raise him to be a villain. He does the usual evil-doer things, has a lair, a Minion (David Cross, Year One, Kung Fu Panda)and his enemy, superhero Megaman (voiced by Brad Pitt, Ocean's 11-13.) When Megamind destroys Megaman, what will he do? How will his life change? When he looks in the mirror will he like the giant blue head that stares back at him?

I love any movie that lets you peek behind the cape and get a look at the real person and their life, whether it is Megamind or Watchmen or... well, I guess it is really only the two, but still, it is incredibly interesting to see how these people tick.

The awkward social mess that Will Ferrell usually lends itself very well to this animated caper. If it had been live action and he had been playing some kind of football star, I am sure I would have been throwing things at the screen, but as an animated super villain with a giant blue head, he had me laughing.

Tina Fey, who plays the love interest Roxanne Ricthi, is freaking hilarious. I cannot say that enough, she is freaking hilarious.

In fact, they are all freaking hilarious: Jonah Jill, David Cross, all of them except Brad Pitt. Maybe his character wasn't meant to be funny, maybe it just wasn't great writing, or maybe it was just bad acting; either way it felt like Brad phoned it in a little with that one.

The animation is good, not great, but better than most of the other animated movies Dreamworks spits out. The 3D didn't really add anything to it, but seeing as how I didn't pay for my ticket, I'll let that slide.

Megamind gets 3.6 stars

The unforgettable Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Boy meets girl, boy wins girl over, boy and girl kiss. It's a story as old as time and with little variation: sure, the boy occasionally stops the girl at the airport just before she gets on an plane to France, but the meet/win/kiss still provides the skeleton of most Hollywood stories. This is where Forgetting Sarah Marshall is different.



Peter (played by Jason Segel from How I Met Your Mother) gets his ass dumped by girlfriend and famous actress Sarah Marshall (Kirsten Bell of Veronica Mars). In an attempt to get on with his life, he takes a trip to Hawaii, but unbeknownst to him, Sarah has also decided to visit the islands with her new rock star boyfriend Aldous Snow (played by Russell Brand, who also plays Aldous Snow in the equally hilarious Get Him To the Greek, which I also reviewed) and they are staying at the same hotel.

Peter, when not weeping like the ghost of a dead widow, seemingly befriends the entire hotel staff, including front desk Rachel (Mila Kunis, That 70's Show) and air-headed surfing instructor Chuck (played by the increasingly popular Paul Rudd, I Love You, Man.)

Not many movies have the guts to tackle the break up, but this movie beat the subject with a funny bone. Even though you are laughing at him the entire time, you connect with Peter. There were many times while watching that I was sort of smiling and wincing at the same time; smiling because it is funny, wincing because we have all had that moment where you think you are ding okay, but then your ex shows up and you go to pieces, or you see them with that new person and even though you know you should look away, you can't, like them making out is some kind of horrible traffic accident.

We get an outside perspective of all the painful steps we have all taken and we laugh.

The story telling is fantastic. As soon as the movie starts, Peter is dumped, and as the story progresses we are shown little scenes, snapshots of their relationship, and we get to see them the way we would remember our own relationship after it ends. First the good memories, the ones we can't get back, like that time you both laid in the grass, played video games, or when they kissed your nose for no reason; but as time goes on and you see your ex making out with Russell Brand, you remember all the shitty times, like when they bought you a terrible shirt that you wore to be nice, or when they just didn't get that thing you love. The flashbacks really help move the story along.

Jason Segel wrote the script, but when your cast list includes such comedy wizards as Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Jack McBrayer, Russell Brand, and Jonah Hill, it's hard to tell what is good writing and what is good acting. The whole thing is just knock-down, drag-out funny.

Also, Mila Kunis? Li'l bit of a badass. At least, her character is: she doesn't stand for your guff and she will come at you like a junkie with a knife if you cross her. She is awesome.


The only bad thing I can say about this movie is that Jason Segel acts like he does in every movie: there is no difference between his performance in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and How I Met Your Mother or I Love You, Man, but he is funny as hell in I Love You, Man and How I Met your Mother is my favorite show, so fuck it.

5 Stars

P.S. There is a rock opera about Dracula done with puppets. If that doesn't intrigue you, than you have no soul.

Get Him To The Greek gets into your blood

Get Him To the Greek is a cross between American Pie and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, and I mean that in a good way.


Have you seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall? NO? Than watch it right now and cry yourself a puddle of shame.

Russell Brand once again plays his cartoonish yet charming rock star character Aldous Snow (I guess technically you don't have to watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall to get the movie -- in fact, it doesn't matter at all, but you should still rent Forgetting Sarah Marshall.) He is doped up on everything from coke to something called Jeffery and hapless record label lackey Aaron Green (played by the funny-as-fuck Jonah Hill) has to get him from London to his career-saving concert in L.A. in the span of 3 days.

The humor is amazingly crass and fantastic, but the plot doesn't lean on that, nor does it rely on wacky road trip shenanigans (although there are a few). The story is all about Aaron and Aldous figuring out who and what they are and their relationships to the people around them. This is what gives the movie its manic energy that makes you feel like downing a bottle of Jack and head for the desert with nothing but a handgun and a fist full of pills.

While Russell Brand and Jonah Hill are hilarious, the guy who really had me busting my guts all over the already sticky movie theater floor was Puff Daddy. That's right, motherfucking P. Diddy plays Sergio, the record company boss that Aaron must appease to keep his job. You may think I may be joking, you may think it impossible, but when you see Sean "P. Diddy" Combs rubbing his hands all over a fur wall, you will know what I am talking about.

Nicholas Stoller (the man who directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall), a directing n00b as it were, does a magnificent job of channeling the humor into the valley of the story. Too often directors let their comedic actors verbally wander around the scene (I'm looking at you, Will Ferrell) and the plot suffers as a result, but The Greek has none of these issues while still having you roll around in a pile of your own mirth.

I dare you to watch this movie and NOT want to drink half a bottle of vodka while listening to The Clash.

I give it 5 stars