What do The 40-year-old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad all have in common?
They are all slapstick comedies starring Seth Rogen and, for the most part, they are all really funny and entertaining movies. But, as many moviegoers understand, not every application of this formula works to success.
In this particular situation, Rogen’s latest film endeavor, Observe and Report, fails to meet the high expectations of his previous movies. The basic plot follows the life of the head of Mall Security, played by Rogen, as he tries to woo the dumb blonde Brandi, played by Anna Faris.
In the midst of all this, there’s a man running around the mall parking lot flashing people. It goes primarily unprosecuted for some time, until Brandi becomes a victim. From that point, all bets are off as Rogen makes a commitment to take down the pervert and win Brandi’s heart.
Based on that, it doesn’t sound like that bad of a movie. Though, for some reason, it quickly falls into that pit of characteristic expletive-laden humor. Granted, it is a pretty funny movie, but for the large majority of the time, it seems like the humor is garnered from laughing at the characters, rather than with them.
For instance, there are quite a few standoffs between characters in the movie where they simply stand toe to toe and curse each other out for a couple minutes. Hilarious? Definitely. Worthwhile? Certainly not. But, it’s moments like these that are defining the comedy movies these days, so if that’s what the audience wants to see, then give them what they want.
In the end, how does the movie fare as a whole? It’s certainly a film intended only for a young college crowd, but after all, it is a Seth Rogen film, who else but college kids would go see it? Don’t get me wrong, Observe and Report is not a bad movie, it’s just not a great movie either. It is definitely really funny, but getting a laugh is the only point of watching this film. Without a doubt, this is definitely not a movie you can watch over and over again, it would get old quick. Really quick.
Score: 7/10
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With a turbocharged shot of Nitrous Oxide to the injection valve, The Fast and the Furious franchise is back with an all-new film simply entitled Fast and Furious. Billed as the true sequel to the lightning fast original, this movie falls into place as more of a prequel to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. “It’s a game about flowers? Really? How does that even work?” With Burnout Paradise, EA Games and Criterion bring the fan-favorite Burnout franchise to next-generation consoles. But, how does the game stack up? Does it finish cleanly in first place or lie in a crumpled heap in last place? With that tagline, Resident Evil 5 sets the player on a whirlwind adventure through the heart of Africa in an attempt to destroy what’s left of Umbrella Corporation’s monstrous creations. It goes without saying that Bruce Springsteen is easily one of my favorite artists. This past October, I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of seeing him perform live on the Ben Franklin Parkway for an Obama rally. During his acoustic performance, I grew to love the music and the artist more than ever before. So, when his newest album was released, the bar was set high and I was interested to see whether or not the icon could live up to expectations. So, as most people know in my residence hall, I have a ton of movies. Keyword there is ton. Where most people have books on their shelves, I don't. Instead, I have at least 120 movies and a 5.1 home theater system. Keep in mind that I am a college student and some think I have no justifiable reason to have these items in a room the size of Paris Hilton's closet. Well, I do. I love entertainment and I love movies. So, that's one of many things that will pop up on this page. Reviews...of many types of media. Movies, music, books, anything goes. Now, bear in mind that you don't have to like what I say about certain things. That's the beauty of the First Amendment, you can challenge me or agree with me. Just click that comments button at the top of the post and let me know what you think. |
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