Category Archives: Comedy

by - 2 Comments

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a comedy which I really liked (I gave it a 9 and have seen it several times). In that movie Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) was the extremely annoying new boyfriend that Sarah was dating, a rocker who just said what he thought. Get Him to the Greek is a Forgetting Sarah Marshall spinoff, focussing on Aldous Snow.
Aaron Green (Jonah Hill, who’s playing a different character as he did in Forgetting Sarah Marshall deed) works at a record company. The sales of Aldous Snow’s music are exteremely low and Aaron suggests to organise a concert by Snow in L.A.’s Greek theater to repeat a succesfull show he had there exactly ten years before to stimulate sales.
His boss, Sergio Roma (a very funny Sean Combs), thinks it’s a great idea and orders Aaron to fly to England to get Aldous Snow and make sure that he travels to L.A. (without any problems) to do the show. Aaron has no idea what he has gotten himself into. Continue reading →

by - 1 Comment

The Invention of Lying (2009)

Could you imagine a world in which everyone told the truth? Not only in situations where you asked someone a question, but all the time. So at the beginning of the date the other person immediately tells you what his/her plans are and what they think you. So no compliments to make you feel good, just what is going through the mind of that person.
This is the world of The Invention of Lying. It’s a funny starting point which does results in some good jokes in the first half of the movie. When Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) loses his writing job for a television network and gets into financial trouble he decides to make something up. This results in the world’s first lie. Because no one actually knows the concept of lying he sees a world full of opportunity. Continue reading →

by - 3 Comments

Paper Man (2009)

Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels) is a writer who is about to start with his second book. Expectations are high, but he’s suffering from severe writers block. His wife Clair (Lisa Kudrow, who always seem to play the exact same character) has hired a cabin for him so he will be able to work there alone, away from everyday life. You’ll find out quickly that Richard is not alone at all as his imaginary friend, Captain Excellent (played by Ryan Reynolds), who has been with him since he was a boy is also there. It’s not the only thing that’s strange about Richard Dunn. Continue reading →

by - 0 comments

$5 a Day (2008)

Ritchie Flynn Parker (Alessandro Nivola)is living a normal life. He does health inspections for a living and seem like there’s nothing strange going on in his life. It’s been years since he had contact with his father, but when his girlfriend tells him that his father will be dying soon he decides to go visit him. His father(Christopher Walken) is an experienced conman who has managed to live of his skills for years. When Ritchie meets him he is not sure whether his father is really dying. They hit the road to finish some business. During this journey Ritchie learns a lot about his father and himself. Continue reading →

by - 1 Comment

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

It’s not often that movies based on someone’s life are funny. I Love you Philip Morris is one example I can think of, but so is Charlie Wilson’s War, despite the serious subject of the tension that was brewing in Afghanistan between the local people and the invading Russian army.

Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a politician from Texas who lives a very luxurious life while he has his seat in the American Congress. He likes his women, booze and drugs and really has fun with it all. When he sees the situation in Afghanistan on TV something changes. He decides to do something about it and finds out that America is hardly spending any money on getting the Russians out of Afghanistan.

He’s helped by Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) who, although she’s not a politician, does know the right people to get things done. There is also help from CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who really doesn’t care what the people within the CIA think of him. Together they try to make some money available for Afghanistan. Continue reading →

by - 4 Comments

Boy (2010)

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I usually don’t hear or read a lot about movies from New Zealand. Of course WETA and Peter Jackson are the most famous export “items” from this country, but I can’t remember any movies I’ve seen that were filmed there with local actors. Until I saw Boy.
Boy is main characters in this movie, a kid who loves Michael Jackson, who just released his album Thriller. As the movie is set during the eighties, it’s something which is used to great effect. So they are not only talking about Michael Jackson, but other well-known eighties subjects, like E.T., are also mentioned. Boy has a lot of imagination and at school he tells a lot of big stories about the things his father did and how great he is. He does not tell the class that in reality his father is stuck in jail.
As you do when you are young (and also when you are older) Boy tries to be cool to his friends and tries to impress the girl he has a crush on (including a Michael Jackson dance routine).
Because his grandmother isn’t home (his mother passed away when he was younger), it is up to him to take care of the rest of the kids. This includes his little brother Rocky, who thinks he has superpowers. I really loved the way these special powers are shown, which is very imaginative (and results in some laughs). Continue reading →

by - 3 Comments

The Proposal (2009)

Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is a very succesful Canadian businesswoman working in Amerika. She rules her department as a dictator. Everyone is afraid of her and she has almost no personal contact with other people. Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) is her assistant and is forced to deliver perfection because if he doesn’t he will lose his job.
When her boss tells Margaret that she is losing her work permit for the US, which would force her to go back to Canada, she already sees the career she worked so hard for disappear. That is until she tells her boss that she can stay in the US as she’s marrying Andrew (who is just as surprised as everyone else about this news). Andrew doesn’t see any other solution than to play along with this. When an INS agent shows up to check on their relationship they are forced to act as if they are a couple. Continue reading →

by - 4 Comments

Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) are two friends who are both dreaming of starting their own worm shop. They try to raise enough money with their work to make their dream a reality. When one of Lloyds female customers “forgets” her briefcase he sees an opportunity to see her, Mary Swanson, again. He really likes her and convinces Harry to join him on a journey to Aspen. They are both extremely stupid which results in extremely funny situations. Continue reading →

by - 0 comments

Blind Fury (1989)

This poster summarises exactly what you can expect when watching this movie, an action movie with some humour. It’s the kind of action movie that is not being made anymore. Rutger Hauer is Nick Parker (which is a great name for an action hero).
At the beginning of the movie we see Parker walking around aimlessly having lost his sight. He is rescued by some locals (no idea why they would do this) and they for some reason decide to learn him to use a sword and defend himself. It’s a simple but effective setup for the rest of the movie. Continue reading →

by - 4 Comments

Four Lions (2010)

The reality of suicide bombing is something the world has gotten very familiar with unfortunately. Of course everyone has seen some images related to these bombings. Not a lot of movies are made about the subject (the only one I know about it is Paradise now). If you would have to make a movie about it yourself, you’d probably show the story of what motivates the bomber to do such a thing so you are able to maybe understand it better (for example a specific background that results in a nothing to lose attitude) You probably wouldn’t think of making a comedy about the subject, but that’s exactly what Four Lions is. The result is a really funny comedy. Continue reading →