94 - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Connection To THE OTHER GUYS - Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

Sequels that come out along time after the original, there's always a fear isn't there - if you are a fan of the original, the positives of that film have spent years building up in your mind. I think comedy in-particular might just have the hardest time, the upcoming sequel to Dumb & Dumber as been long-waited and the original is much loved and it's been 20 years (which feels unbelievable I remember going to the cinema twice to see it). Anchorman 2 didn't take quite as long though with 9 years, but it's fair to say it's popularity built up over the next few years after it, so yeah it's got a lot to live up to.

To be honest, the best way to perhaps describe it is as a slightly inferior copy of the original, though the story is different, the elements of the original are certainly there - a rival newscaster, even Veronica and Ron's relationship is somewhat reset to the antagonist elements of the first, there's also the newscaster fight (which is bigger with so many surprise cameos, none of them I will list to not give away the surprises) and thankfully Brick is still... well as Brick as you want him to be.

So I did enjoy it... an important element for me at least of a comedy film is that it needs to be funny and it's funny, and it's probably the callbacks to the first movie that perhaps yield the funniest moments - James Marsden echoing Vince Vaughn from the first movie - funny. Brick being Brick - funny... this time he has a love interest in Kristen Wiig... the newscaster war - funny, among other things, but it feels there is slightly less plot going on here then the first time around and it's a film that doesn't have the same quotability factor (I Love Lamp, whales vagina etc.) but maybe time will tell on that front.

I think the returning characters valubility stayed the same for me - Brick is still the MVP, while others just get to be in his shadow but still have their moments. Of new characters not mentioned Meagan Good is a decent new foil/love interest for Burgundy while Harrison Ford honestly doesn't make that much impact.

Overall, yeah a sequel of diminishing returns but there is still enough funny in here to make it worth a watch, if you didn't like the first one don't bother with this but if you did you'll be suitably entertained.

93 - The Other Guys

Connection To LOVELACE - Bobby Cannavale.

By now (fictional readers of this blog) you can see I'm back on a role, I wasn't lying when I said outside forces took me away from a blog that I enjoy doing, and I'm not quite back onto doing obscure titles like I did before, but they'll be starting back with time, I hope to include some more world cinema which I've touched on briefly so far, but bear with me when I do the backlog and starting getting into a different variety of films.

While film haves mocked the buddy cop genre better in the past (and since actually) this is still an enjoyable romp, the lead pair "the other guys" - Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg have decent chemistry I mean it's not Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street but it is pretty darn good, there's a fun smaller roles for Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson convincing as the superstar cops. I think I did feel like I got more value out of the smaller roles thinking about it Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. are entertaining as rival cops as is Michael Keaton as the police chief.

While the story line is not entirely uninteresting, in all honesty it's not that exciting, it's likely just an excuse to get the guys from scene to scene - which there is really no iconic scenes of to mention, there's funny scenes yeah but they'll be nothing that stays in my mind in the years to come.

Overall enjoyable, just don't expect a film that will revolutionize how you see the comedy genre but to repeat myself it's a film of good chemistry all around.

91 - Mean Girls

Connection To HOT TUB TIME MACHINE - Lizzy Caplan.

MEAN GIRLS IS A MODERN CLASSIC - Yes capitalized for emphasis - I bloody love this movie. It's also a movie I can feel sort of proud that I discovered the goodness of it first - I was loving it before other people had ever heard of it - at least in the circles I've traveled with.

And Lindsay Lohan... Lindsay, Lindsay Lohan I wish you could have stayed like this - so cute, not stick thing - and not become the tabloid car-wreck you have become, you might pull yourself out of it, I hope so - films like this proved you had IT, seems like a lot of the female cast have got healthier careers then you though at the moment.

Mean Girls was perhaps the best teen comedy to come along in a while when it was released in 2004, the best since 1995's Clueless certainly, I preferred it to American Pie and it's sequels or an whole rash of teen comedies or varying quality but Mean Girls, was well just SO FETCH (had too).

I remember Mean Girls being love at first sight for me - the film was clever, funny and I could just tell it was going to be instantly quotable - to the point I could annoy friends (you go Glen Coco...) and though my school was never like this (with queen bees and the like) but the characters where easy to get behind.

It's hard to know who shines brightest in this film - Amanda Seyfried's airhead Karen? Daniel Franzese too gay to function Damien? Lizzy Caplan as Janis? Amy Poehler as Regina's Mom (who is not that far off in age from Rachel McAdams in real ife)? Are just among those who shine, I would argue Jonathan Bennett as Aaron as the de-facto love interest make very little dent compared to many of the other characters.

Special props should go to Tina Fey who co-stars and who wrote, I didn't really know too much about before seeing this as I had not seen SNL for a few years at this point but she instantly made an impact on me and enjoyed seeing her work since.

Overall, a film that gets even more beloved with time, and a film I saw highly recommend, if you haven't watched it out of prejudice against teen movies give it a chance you won't be disappointed.

90 - Hot Tub Time Machine

Connection To ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO - Craig Robinson

I'm a sucker for time travels movies - whether there going backwards or forwards - I like The Butterfly Effect, despite some wonky acting from Ashton Kutcher - but for some reason the first time I watched Hot Tub Time Machine it did nothing for me.

Which is weird because another thing I'm a sucker for his the 80's - which is the exact time period they go back to. So I ended up watching this again, just out of everything's packed away and there is nothing else on the television, and I wouldn't go as far to say my opinion changed to love, but I ended up liking it.

The film literally sees our main characters go through time via a hot tub to the 80's which is when the ski-resort there are at now was booming - John Cusack, Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry even look like there 80's self to other people, the fourth member of the group played by Clark Duke who's Cusack's nephew in this gets to look like himself having not been born then.

To be honest it does shock me even after upgrading to like that this film is getting a sequel, it feels like the films story was told and there is no need for a further adventure in my opinion.

The main 4 do make a good team and there's some faces familiar to 80's movies fans (William Zabka, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase - yeah I'm aware these had careers before and after that decade). Lizzy Caplan as the love interest for Cusack doesn't particularly have that much to do.

Overall, not my favourite time travel movie at all, there's bits that are at least funny and more stuff clicked for me the second time I saw. Watch like I did if there is nothing else on.

89 - Zack and Miri Make A Porno

Connection To SUPERBAD - Seth Rogen

Do I think it was intentional that Kevin Smith or Miramax wouldn't think it would be the worst thing in the world if people confused it for having some sort of involvement from Judd Apatow?

I think so in my humble opinion, though we have some of Smith's regulars such as Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson and his wife Jennifer Schwalbach, we have slightly more with connections to Apatow - Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson and Gerry Bednob (who plays the same character he normally does for Apatow). So yeah that's why I think so.

And to be fair the stuff Apatow as normally done and the stuff Smith as normally do, they've never been a million miles away from each other, both can go gross but show heart at the same time, I just think Apatow (including his producing credits) as got a better oeuvre - I did used to hold Smith in higher esteem but I've think with time I've moved on from him slightly.

Rogen and Banks play platonic best friends since high school, who share an apartment and struggling to pay bills whilst working at coffee shop, some younglings take video of Banks in the back changing and reveals she's wearing granny panties this makes her a minor internet celeb, the pair attend their high school reunion where they get talking to Bobby Long (Brandon Routh) who Banks had a massive crush on, but it's revealed he is gay and they get talking with his boyfriend - played by Justin Long, who talks to them about the gay porn he stars in, the pair decide to cast and star in their own porn movie including friends and people they audition.

If you buy into the premise I think you'll enjoy the film more - predictably Zack and Miri are paired up in their sex scene which ends up being more tender then what porn scenes are usually like which predictably stirs the feelings that ends up causing the rift in their relationship.

I did groan (giggity) that they initially chose Star Wars as the film to do a porn parody of, mostly because that is the most predictable way they could have gone, but they end up having to rewrite it and doing it (giggity again) in the coffee shop after hours... shades of Smith's debut Clerks there.

The supporting cast is cool and as the film goes on you do get a sense of a family unit (giggity) building around them, the cast includes some porno stars past and present alongside the Smith and Apatow clan.

Overall, it's far from limp but it's honestly nothing that Apatow is doing (usually better), there's funny stuff and it's engaging so to me it is worth your time.

88 - Superbad

Connection To NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST - Michael Cera.

So yeah... I spent much longer away from this blog then I planned too... the truth is I got into rhythms with some TV shows thanks to streaming sites - Orange Is The New Black Season 2 and the first 4 (of 5) of Community - which is a show I'd know I'd love if I got a chance to see it, and yeah I did...

I can't see myself keeping the same speed I did back in April, dips could... probably will happen again, I'm a bit up and down when it comes to writing, I lose faith very quickly - which is often why you see bits of self deprecation all over the place.

I have decided to implement a new rule - well not really implement but rather make an amendment... well to my only rule and that is about the same connection being allowed to be used more then once... I have decided to change that - though I will endeavour to mix it up when it comes to connections, if I get into a role based around a franchise or even a director or actor, I don't want to force myself playing around trying to find a tenuous connection.

This beginning was a bit long-winded without even talking about the film I'm going to cover here, I decided to ease myself back in with a film that I've seen more - and I know that I enjoy - one of the first films that it was clear the Apatow Crew (is that what you call them) are going to be around (I know The 40 Year Old Virgin beat is by 2 years) but I think this and Knocked Up where clear that these guys - often  unconventional leading men - where capable of opening movies.

Superbad on paper seems like a teen plot that's been done a million times - teenagers in quest of something and getting themselves in one situation - sometimes dangerous - after another and the lads in the quest of buying alcohol is their MacGuffin,

What works is we split the time between Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill), named after the two wrote it when there was actual teenagers (which is impressive) - Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen - and the misadventures of Christopher Mintz-Plasse who decided the best name for his fake I.D. was McLovin and he ends up on an adventure with 2 cops (Rogen and Bill Hader).

I think this film help made me a fan of Bill Hader, who now as a proud position on the list of my favourite all time SNL cast members (which includes Phil Hartman and Amy Poehler on that list), and also interested me (and the world) to the goddess that is Emma Stone (making her movie debut) making you believe that yeah a kid like Jonah Hill could stand a chance with her.

So yeah films don't always have to be the most original premise wise it's what you do with it that counts, Superbad works cause the premise is so thin that you can just spend the film enjoying the characters and the scenes.

Overall, endlessly watchable, I've seen it at least 4 or 5 times at a guess and I still laugh at much of it, so yeah I'm going with highly recommended.

87 - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Connection To THE HOUSE BUNNY - Kat Dennings

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is the sort of film where there is a clear divide in what I liked about it and what I didn't.

My main criticism of the movie is it feels like it's trying just to hard to be cool and hip, the bands that get named even Nick's band are supposed to show you how cool these people are, and I think it's certainly a negative of the movie that brings it down a notch or two.

To be fair, though there is enough positives in this - Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah (Kat Dennings) at least have a relationship in which you can sort of care if they get together, there's also decent support from Ari Graynor who finds herself in misadventure after misadventure mostly in thanks to her constant intoxicated state.

I don't think it's the most memorable movie, I can say liked it but only remember certain bits of it - Graynor retrieving gum from a toilet is one stand out scene - so I would probably file it under not the worst way to kill a couple of hours but I'm going to struggle in conversation later besides a few words.

Overall, a short write up befitting of a film that's quick to put out of the memory so quickly, enough to recommend about it that you should sit and watch but I'll be very surprised if you'd be calling this your favourite film after watching it.