Summer Movies - June 09

It's gradually transitioning into consistent warm weather here in the Northeast...which means it'll soon be the best time to sit in dark, enclosed theaters for hours! It's already May if you can believe it so I'm going to break down the next few months, starting with June, with my humble opinion of the summer blockbusters...

What to see:

- The Hangover (Release: June 5) - You know how sometimes you see a trailer for a comedy and then you see the entire movie and realize that the best part is in the trailer? Well I'm fairly certain that the best part of this movie is in the trailer - see for yourselves below (hint: it's at the end). However, I have faith in this comedy because there are a few hilarious guys in the cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. And it's directed by Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School)





- Dead Snow (Release: June 12) - Kids go on a ski vacation and end up in a battle with Nazi zombies. Give me one reason why you wouldn't want to see this. It's actually a Norwegian comedy-horror movie that obviously has no serious intentions, was shown at Sundance, and it'll be released here in the US next month.

- Food, Inc. (Limited Release: June 12) - A trend has slowly moved across our country that shouldn't be a trend and thus this movie. And that trend is people are starting to pay more attention to what food they buy and eat. Many people go food shopping without putting much thought into it when in reality, what you buy can have serious implications. A good quote in this trailer is, "When we move an item across a scanner, we're voting...for local, or not...organic, or not..." You might get a bit more out of this documentary than Dead Snow, but I'm open to debate on that.

- Year One (Release: June 19) - Everyone seems pretty excited about this one and though I tend to be a bit pessimistic approaching movie releases, I'm really pulling for my man Jack Black here. The one thing that concerns me is that this is rated PG-13. However, Nacho Libre was rated PG and that was a masterpiece.

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Release: June 24) - Now I'm not going to claim this as the movie to see this summer or anything...but I'm still going to see it. I found the first one entertaining and not just because Megan Fox was in it. Also, I was able to circle the set of this movie last year in Bethlehem, PA (I got Optimus Prime's autograph). Michael Bay's only really good for explosions and action, which I'm 100% OK with.

Will probably be disappointing:

- Land of the Lost (Release: June 5) - I'm on edge about this one. We all know that Will Ferrell is a bit too liberal in his choice of comedies. I'd probably completely dismiss it if Danny McBride (Hot Rod, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder) wasn't in the cast. I also am not sure of its rating; if it's PG, forget about it, though I'm thinking it'll be PG-13. When I first saw the trailer for it, I thought what pothead came up with this plot? And then I realized I wasn't alive in the 70's for its inception as a TV series. The other thing that throws me off is the director, Brad Silberling, who's directorial filmography, for the most part, can ironically be described by one of the movies he did: "A Series of Unfortunate Events." [Ay-o!] I also give him extra negative points for directing Nic Cage (City of Angels).

- The Taking of Pelham 123 (Release: June 12) - I hope that I'm wrong on this one, especially in light of the year that John Travolta has had, but I don't have a good feeling about this one. First of all, have you heard of it? Probably not...bad sign considering it's released in about a month. Second of all, I'm definitely not going to completely dismiss the work of director Tony Scott, but that's mostly just because he directed Top Gun and True Romance. Other than that, most of his work has been average action with big-name actors - Days of Thunder, The Fan, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Domino. Because of that, and because the trailer didn't move me in the least bit, I'm not relying on the superstar cast of this movie: John Travolta, Denzel, John Turturro, Gandolfini. But that's just me.

Movies NOT to see:

- Imagine That (Release: June 12) - Eddie Murphy: why did you have to start doing lame movies? I didn't even read the plot on this one...all I saw was that it stars Eddie Murphy and it's rated PG, and we all know where that's going.

- Tennessee (Release: Who Cares?) - If I really need to tell you that a Mariah Carey movie is going to be bad, I exile you from reading this blog.

Obviously I haven't covered EVERY movie that will be released in June, so feel free to comment on anything you're looking forward to (or not looking forward to)! Stay tuned for upcoming posts on July and August releases.

T-Mobile Public Ads

It's comforting and entertaining to see genuine reactions from regular people, which is why hidden camera ads and ads based on guerilla marketing have grown in popularity. T-mobile has launched a couple of creative, inspiring advertisements with the tagline, "Life's for sharing," based on public displays in the UK.

These campaigns were created by the worldwide advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi who follows the motto, "Nothing is Impossible." A quick look through their site shows that this worldwide agency is very creative and their work will definitely grab your attention.

Here's the first video that featured a group of choreographed dancers, performing suddenly in a Liverpool station:



The video, captured by hidden cameras around the station, was cut down and featured on prime time on a UK TV station, as was this second video from London at Trafalgar Square just last week. This video only features one song, though apparently multiple songs were sung that day:

Top 10 Stoner Characters

So today is April 20th, 4/20, a day that has followed from the counterculture term that started merely as a time of the day to light up by some high school kids in California. This term has gained widespread recognition, so I thought it was only appropriate to post a list of what I find to be the top 10 stoner characters from movies. It's hard to portray a stoner in any way other than hilarious, so this list was pretty simple...and I'm not including Cheech nor Chong in this list because that'd be too easy...

10. Shorty (Marlon Wayans) from Scary Movie

Unfortunately, the sequels to this movie have gone down the typical progressively worse direction that comedy sequels tend to follow, but the original Scary Movie was pretty hilarious. I might have to rate him second best to "Officer Doofy," but nonetheless Shorty was definitely one of the best characters of the movie due to his utter stupidity, ridiculous voice and expressions.

9. Ed (Nick Frost) from Shaun of the Dead

Yeahh, boyeeee! A great movie and a great character, Ed is more of just a lazy bum in this role rather than a clearcut stoner, but it's pretty clear that he's a guy who indulges in the ganj. He also seems to be somewhat of a dealer though his response a couple times throughout the movie is that he's got nothing.

8. Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) from Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Although I think that this movie is a little overrated, I do have to admit that the fact that a guy who played both Jeff Spicoli and Harvey Milk in his acting career is pretty awesome. Pretty much all of the good parts of this movie involve Sean Penn as the long-haired, squinting surfer-stoner. Here's a little tribute video:



7. Floyd (Brad Pitt) from True Romance

Another big name actor playing a stoner, which might play a little into why I also have this on the list, but I could also say with confidence that this is the funniest role that Brad Pitt has ever played. Here's one of his scenes:




6. Lance (Jack Black) from Orange County

Jack Black as a stoner is just a delight. He plays an overall druggie in this movie, contributing to the dysfunctional family that Sean resents until he realizes they inspire his writing. This scene is when Lance decides he's going to do something with his life:



5. Saul (James Franco) from Pineapple Express

Saul is the lovable pot dealer in this movie who is only dealing so that he can get enough money to get his grandma into a nice retirement home. I need to watch this movie again because he had so many funny lines, such as this one, when Dale (Seth Rogen) and him are in the woods, hiding out from the bad guys who are after them:

Dale: ...how could he find us?
Saul: Um...heat-sinking missiles...bloodhounds...and foxes..barracudas
Dale: I'm just...I'm kind of flabbergasted when you say things like that...

And another one from around the same scene:

Saul: Man, why'd we have to go to the woods?
Dale: Well, you didn't come up with any ideas!
Saul: Yeah, I came up with two! Nowhere and Quizno's!

4. Dante (Peter Dante) from Grandma's Boy

I'll preface this by saying that this movie is so underrated. Coming from Happy Madison productions, this movie features all of the guys that you'd recognize from the other Adam Sandler movies, except they're in main roles because Adam Sandler isn't in it. Here's the premise: a 35 year old video game tester, Alex, has a roommate who spends the rent money on hookers, forcing Alex to move in with his Grandma and 2 friends. Alex has a dealer, Dante, who is a completely whacked out stoner, who befriends an African tribesman who hooks him up with a lion as a pet to guard his weed stash. By now, you can probably figure out why the Academy passed up on this one. Obviously the lion didn't work out (he ends up teaching a chimp karate instead)...here's what happened (warning: foul verbiage):



3. Slater (Rory Cochrane) from Dazed and Confused

This is arguably my favorite movie of all time: a story surrounding the last day of a Texas high school, which obviously needs a stoner character: Slater. Here's Slater's theory behind George Washington:



2. Brian (Jim Breuer) from Half Baked

I could include the entire cast of this movie in this list. A group of 4 friends loses one, the kindergarten teacher, to jail, after he accidentally fed a diabetic police horse munchies food and killed him. The other 3 bond together and start dealing to get him out. Here's a good scene with Brian:



1. The Dude (Jeff Bridges) from The Big Lebowski

The Dude is the Yoda of stoners.

You're probably familiar with the "F'in Short Version" series of videos where people take a movie and strip it down solely to the times when the F-bomb is mentioned. The Big Lebowski was a popular one...but have you seen the Dude Version?

Three Sheets Was Saved!

You may remember I posted about an excellent show, Three Sheets, that was taken off the air because its home, the MOJO Network, was eliminated. Zane Lamprey, the boozin' host of the show called out to his many fans for help, asking them to email networks and join him in some Pub Crawls to fight for a new home for the show.

Well I just checked his website and it sounds like all of it paid off! Hooray! A few weeks ago, Zane posted that a network will be broadcasting the old episodes of Three Sheets and most likely shooting a new season of the show. However, Zane mentioned that said network wants to make the announcement so we'll have to stay tuned; the good news, however, is that this new network is apparently accessed by 65 million homes as opposed to MOJO, which only had 10 million viewers. So chances are I, and you, will see it. Zane also mentioned that the support has landed him some other projects which he will get into later...

Top 10 Funniest Film Cameos (Part 2)

5. Bob Saget - Half Baked

For much of the late 80's and early 90's, most people knew Bob Saget from Full House and America's Funniest Videos as a huge dork. Little did we all know that the joke was on us because over the years, we all realized that Mr. Tanner was as filthy as filthy gets. His dirty humor has been exposed more over the years with comedy specials and such, but for many, there was one shining moment when we all realized that Bob Saget is nothing like the father figure to DJ, Stephanie and Michelle. And that moment came in Half Baked. The scene takes place at a rehab center, where Dave Chappelle gets heckled for the fact that he's there for marijuana. Bob Saget comes in with a couple shocking lines.

4. Charlie Sheen - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

First of all, did you know Charlie Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estevez? This movie is obviously a classic and I'm sure you are all familiar with the cameo made by Charlie Sheen in this one. It takes place at the police station when Ferris' mother is at the police station because of Ferris' sister. She sits next to a burnt-out looking Charlie Sheen, who proceeds to inquire about why she's there (Drugs?), what her deal with her brother is (Did you blow him away or something?) and after a couple scene changes, we find the two making out. Can you believe that Charlie Sheen made this cameo in the same year that Platoon was released?

3. Jack Black - Anchorman

There were a good number of cameos in this movie (Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson), but none were as good as the one made by the one and only Jack Black. This man does not get enough credit for how funny he is. And don't get the wrong idea...I love dogs. In about 70 seconds, Jack Black manages to put out a good handful of memorable quotes as well as probably the most shocking moment of the movie when he punts Ron Burgundy's dog into the river.

2. Anthony Keidis and Flea - Multiple Movies

I had to group these together because these guys not only are members of one of the best bands out there, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but they also are known for some pretty hilarious cameos in a few movies, both individually and collectively.

Starting with Anthony, you may remember he had a small role in the epic Point Break as a member of "The Surf Gang." Keanu was riding on the wrong waves and was met by Anthony and the other BAMF's at the shower for an ass-kicking. As you may remember, Keanu was an undercover cop with Gary Busey and they think this gang is responsible for the robberies, so they go in for the bust, end up shooting Anthony Keidis' foot, and find out they had the wrong suspects.

Moving on to the duo of Anthony and Flea, and connecting them to #4 on this list, Charlie Sheen, you may remember them from a movie called The Chase. The premise of this comedy-thriller is that Charlie Sheen takes a rich girl hostage for a car chase...that's pretty much it. Anthony and Flea play Will and Dale, a couple not-so-bright citizens who felt it was their duty to stop the car chase in their monster truck, but obviously fail in doing so.

And finally, the best cameo of the three belongs to Flea alone for his role as "Nihilist #2, Kieffer" in one of the best movies of all time, The Big Lebowski. He appears in a couple scenes, this one being the main one. By the way, I'd like to thank Kathryn for offering a bunch of old audio casette tapes back a while ago, one of which was just like the tape that the Dude is listening to in this scene, Songs of the Whale.



1. All Cameos in Happy Gilmore

These cameos individually could stand out on their own, but I figured it most appropriate to group them together since they're all in the same movie. Cameos are becoming a signature move for most comedies, especially with the Happy Madison and Judd Apatow groups since there are so many actors associated with each group. Often times, a cameo can become one of the best parts of the movie. In Happy Gilmore, there were multiple cameos that became the best parts of the movie.

I'll start with Kevin Nealon, the "psycho," who tries to give Happy (Adam Sandler) some holistic golfing advice. Interestingly, I noticed his name is "Gary Potter" in the movie, a year before the first Harry Potter book came out. I think J.K. Rowling was harnessing in some good energy.



Next, probably the best known cameo of the movie is with my hero, Bob Barker. This scene with Bob is also probably one of the funniest fight scenes.



Lastly, the best cameo of the movie is interestingly an uncredited role played by Ben Stiller. The handlebar mustache is a key ingredient in what makes the scenes with "Hal," the nursing home orderly, some of the best scenes of the movie. Unfortunately I couldn't find a quality video of my favorite scene so here's the audio:



What I did find was another good scene in quality video. Interestingly, once I sought out for videos of the Happy Gilmore cameos, Hulu had 10 clips, 3 of which contained these cameos. I think that's a testament to the fact that they're sitting at #1 on this list.



Please feel free to comment with your favorite cameos that I may have missed!