Every Christmas Eve my family goes to see a movie. This year
we went to the new Judd Apatow flick, “This Is 40.” The movie was being
advertised as the sequel to “Knocked Up” and the previews make it look
hilarious. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann return as the exact same roles as a
married couple where he’s a washed up record exec and she’s just more than a
little OCD. Their two daughters look adorable but border on psychotic (would
anyone like to play murder?). In reality, Mann is married to Apatow and the two
daughters in the movie are actually their daughters. I read in a recent
interview that half of the extra raunchy scenes (i.e. the self-colon check)
were actually Mann’s idea. The daughters are not allowed to swear at home, so
in this movie they must have had a field day. In the movie, Mann and Rudd’s
characters turn 40 the same week, while facing marital, parental and financial
problems. Mann and Rudd spend the whole movie yelling and swearing at each
other, which outside of a couple witty jabs and a stoned scene, is actually
pretty intense. Their daughters are destined to be deranged as well (even
though one has an understandable passion for “Lost”). I spent the entire two
hours wondering why this couple wasn't already divorced. Also, it seemed like
their financial issues could have been easily resolved by not only selling the gigantic
house, but also by stopping throwing lavish parties and downgrading from a
Lexus and BMW. Cameos by Jason Segel and Charlyne Yi (the stoned Asian roommate Jodi), reprising
their same roles from “Knocked Up” bring some much needed relief. Megan Fox
flexes her comedic muscles and is a surprising delight. Other rays of light in
this film are appearances by Chris O'Dowd (“Bridesmaids”) and Lena Durham
(“Girls”). I’m not married so maybe I’m shouldn't be the one to judge this film
but coming out of that, I was left with a feeling of never wanted to get
married or have children.
This Christmas my little 24 year old brother was put in
charge of picking the movie we went to see on Christmas Day. Being a 24
year-old male, he did not opt for Les Miserables but instead for Django
Unchained, the newest film by Quentin Tarantino. I’m actually a pretty big
Taratino fan. I see him more as a stylized violence than senseless. The “Kill
Bill” movies were beautiful. Movies like “Pulp Fiction” and “ Reservoir Dogs” are
well-deserved classic with some of the sharpest dialog and character
development outside of a Coen brother’s movie. However, this movie disappointed
me. The plot centers around a slave Django (Jaime Foxx) who is freed by a deranged
dentist turned bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz). Django agrees to help Waltz in
the bounty hunting business because outside of having the chance to shoot white
people, he’ll receive a part of the bounty and Waltz will help him track down
and free his wife. It turns out his wife is being held at a Southern plantation
named Candyland, run by Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Waltz and Foxx come up
with a scheme getting them into Candyland without seeming like they’re there to
free his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). There’s a lot of violence, which
is no surprise but it’s a lot of close range bullets resulting in brain matter
splatter. I’m not a squeamish person but I had to turn away at certain points.
The bloodbath just seems to go on and on to the point where it’s extremely
overdone. What saves this movie is the superb acting by Waltz, returning in a
role similar to his maniacally calm character in “Inglorious Bastards.”
DiCaprio also is deliciously disgusting as a heartless slave owned. The
soundtrack added some needed lightness (imagine a plantation shoot out set to
2Pac). Tarantino gave himself a cameo with an atrocious Australian accent. I
thought this movie was okay, but not his best by far. I’d say wait for video
but it would lose a lot of the oomph not on the big screen. Many critics have
deemed this as one of the best movies of the year and to this I ask: what are
you smoking?
