Stand-Up Comedy is So Depressing

Well, the good thing about Judd Apatow's Funny People is that it probably won't be the most depressing movie ever made about stand-up comedians. No, that crown is being fought over by both the Tom Hanks/Sally Field movie Punchline and the Jerry Seinfeld doc Comedian. Still, Apatow knows how the stand-up comedy subgenre works and so seems to have filled his new dramedy with a plot point involving terminal illness and a lot of dialogue about death. Watch the trailer below:

Last Week Before the Oscars

Here are some recent posts from SpoutBlog, since I can't always find the time to link to them each in separate posts here:

Oscar Predictions: Surprises

Lists: 10 Sexiest Non-Sex Scenes

Blog Roundups: Last Minute Oscars Nonsense; Oscars and the Future of Nudity

Spoiling the Oscars

What's a hoax, what's leaked on purpose, who cares? I'll still be watching the Oscars Sunday, but I'm really not excited at all.

Here's today's roundup:

Oscars Spoilers. Today in Film Bloggery 02/18/09

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip Review

All I have to say about the film is in the post on SpoutBlog, so read it there:

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip Review

General Audience: Me and a Bunch of Kids

After previously writing about the disappointment of seeing Synecdoche, New York with an auditorium full of babies, this week's Moviegoer column concentrates on when it is appropriate to surround yourself with children. I saw Keaton's The General with a bunch of Brooklyn brats, and it may not have been the best time for them. But I still enjoyed the experience.

Here's the link:

Christopher Campbell's The Moviegoer - Generally for Kids

Review Embargoes Are Dumb

I don't entirely get the point of review embargoes. If anything they're more beneficial to mainstream press than they are to the movies being embargoed. But whatever, I don't even care if Watchmen is good or bad, since I don't love the book and I'm not one of those eager fans -- who also are probably too excited to be disappointed in anything anyway.

Here is yesterday's SpoutBlog post on the Watchmen embargo breaking and subsequent backlash:

Watchmen Review Brings On Backlash. Today in Film Bloggery 02/17/09

Paul Blart Record Breaking Overlooked

Today's Film Bloggery at SpoutBlog mostly had to concentrate on reactions to the Friday the 13th record-breaking, but I think the Paul Blart: Mall Cop one is interesting, too. Seriously, no other January opener has ever cracked $100 million. Suck it, Cloverfield monster.

By the way, to clarify more than just that the Star Wars special edition doesn't count, neither do Gran Torino or Black Hawk Down, both of which only went wide in January.

Here's the link to the roundup:

Friday the 13th and Paul Blart Also Set Records. Today in Film Bloggery 02/16/09

Misheard in Manhattan

I've only seen Woody Allen's Manhattan a few times before watching it again this past weekend, but all those times I seriously thought (or assumed) the 17-year-old character "Tracy" (Mariel Hemingway) is a freshman in college (likely NYU or Columbia). But this time I actually heard her tell Diane Keaton's character that she goes to high school. Maybe I selectively failed to hear that "high" part, instead mishearing it simply as "school."

I don't necessarily like the film any less now, and I can't say I think Woody Allen's character is necessarily any creepier, but I do really wonder how a high school student was allowed to sleep over at her 40-something boyfriend's apartment. Or was it one of those classic "I'm sleeping at a friend's house" things? Either way, I'd love to have gotten a glimpse of Tracy's home life.

I Finally Paid a Visit to The Visitor

I don't have a lot to say about The Visitor at the moment, but here are a few notes anyway:

• It would obviously make a great double feature with Ramin Bahrani's new film Goodbye Solo, but only because it's another film about a sad old man and a happy-go-lucky immigrant.
• Though Richard Jenkins is great, as always, I am surprised he got the Oscar nomination. He's better here than Eastwood in Gran Torino, but I'd still have wished for Josh Brolin in W. instead. I kinda prefer to appreciate Jenkins as the character actor who's more intense and more enjoyable in last year's Step Brothers.
• The scene that really sums the film, or the subject of immigration at least, up nicely is the scene on the Staten Island Ferry, when Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira) points out the triangle of immigration, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the empty space where the World Trade Center used to be.
  

I Had to See Serbis in the Theater

As a fan of movie theaters as much as I am a fan of movies, I just had to see Serbis in the theater even though I'd never heard of it until it opened last Friday. Sure, I'm not familiar with the business of porno theaters in the Philippines, but it still satisfied that cinemaphilia that was similarly fulfilled when I saw Goodbye, Dragon Inn in my Asian cinema class last year. Actually there are a lot of things about Serbis that are like Dragon Inn, from the decrepitness of the theater to the gay trysts going on inside. But it's more about the erosion of a family than of the building, and unlike Dragon Inn, it doesn't deal much with reflexivity nor does it focus on or celebrate the glory days of cinema and moviegoing.

As always, I did take special delight in Serbis' few scenes of subtle repetition, including a goat-chasing sequence that mirrors an earlier police chase through an auditorium and a second voyeur scene involving the youngest family member, Jonas. Also, I like the two-sided meaning of the title, which means "Service."

Kung Fu Panda Surprises With Style and Grace

I still place it third (last) as my choice for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars this year (it would be fourth if Waltz with Bashir was included, too), but Kung Fu Panda isn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. There aren't actually as many knocks to the groin as you'd think, and as much as I feared, Jack Black doesn't even come close to the Robin Williams-type hammery I anticipated. The DreamWorks Animation film has much more style and more of an artistic design than either of its Disney-produced competitors. And the color in the movie is beautiful.

Still, I remain surprised that it triumphed so tremendously at this year's Annie Awards. Though it's a great looking film by DreamWorks standards, it's script is pretty mediocre, even compared to the mostly routine (yet well told) story of Bolt. If it does win the Oscar, it will probably be because of the seemed politics of Wall-E.

Christian Bale and I Are Done Professionally

It's very strange how much this Christian Bale tirade thing has become a pop culture phenomenon. First there was the very well done dance mix, and now there's already a t-shirt. It's actually kind of clever, taking one of the most appropriately appropriated lines from the tantrum, "you and me, we're fucking done professionally!" But it's taking the story too far. Were there t-shirts related to Russell Crowe's phone-throwing incident? Oh, I guess there were.

Why Did I Watch Vantage Point?

I guess the only viable reason I have for watching Vantage Point, even after all my friends said it was terrible, is that it is available on Netflix Watch Instantly, it has a short running time, and I wanted to watch something easy.

But it's even worse than I expected. There's never been a movie with more implausible elements in it. I literally said "that wouldn't happen" during every scene -- maybe every shot -- of the film. The worst offenses, though, had to be the Secret Service men shooting into crowds and the terrorist mastermind foiling his own plan by swerving to avoid a little girl who he was already okay with blowing up. Also, wouldn't the Secret Service decommission an agent who already gave his life for the President? I think Dennis Quaid's character would have been retired and living on an island somewhere.