Step Brothers

TJ Says...This is the new "no holds barred" Will Ferrell comedy. They went for the R rating and they succeeded. Before I went in, I had heard from another movie goer that this is nothing more than a "rental". After the first 5 minutes, I was thinking, this is already worth seeing it in the theaters, what was that guy talking about?

This movie was really really funny. Several scenes were re-lived on the way home with the guys I went with. That is the sign of a good comedy. I thought Will and John Reilly did a great job of acting like kids in 40 year old bodies. And the best part was that all the funny was not in the previews, there were several funny parts not seen yet.

A few knocks: it was a little drawn out, which is tough to do in 93 minutes, but they did it. Also, Judd Apatow must live in some world where people say the F Bomb every other word, because this movie was littered with a LOT of over cussing for no particular reason. And you can tell that Mrs. Ted Danson didn't believe it, as she was trying to supress laughter as she was dropping non-sensical MF, F, F, F. I'm sure Pineapple Express will have more of the same.

TJ's Review....This is a good comedy, I really enjoyed it and it's definately worth seeing in the movies. Just watch out for the overcusser.

Chad's Review...TJ is a jerk. He heard this movie was a rental thru me. I was standing in line and this redneck in front of me turns around and says, "Don't see Step-Brothers, ma-yun. It's a rental at beh-yest." Then I told TJ about it. Then after the credits were rolling I turned to TJ and said, "I'm going to find that redneck and punch him in the nuts."

Now that we have that settled. I laughed uncontrolably at times during this movie. In two particular scenes I couldn't quit laughing and when I'd think about what they just did I'd just cover my mouth to not start laughing again. They did such a great job of playing two idiots in this movie. And what a great team. Both guys were equally hilarious.

Usually when two people fight it's not that funny unless you think uncomfortable is funny (looking in TJ's direction) but they where so good at being mean it was great. Then when they started getting along it was awesome so it just got better.

But jeez. Anything Apatow is attached to is so stinking filthy-mouthed. I sound like my grandmother when I say that but seriously. F bombs and the use of the P-word for female genitalia blow up left and right. That makes me cringe. But that couldn't ruin this movie for me. It survived him trying to ruin it.

Chad's review...if you don't go see this we can't be friends anymore. See if you can pick out the two things I laughed so hard at I cried.

The Dark Knight

TJ Says...There was a lot of buildup for this movie. I'm pretty sure that any movie released between January and June 2008 had the exact same trailer for Batman showing. It got to be a huge whip. So I wasn't too excited. Then I starting hearing the reviews and the Heath Ledger greatness and, so my expectations we're raised...

To prep, I took in some of the old school batmans on TNT this week...the ones with Val and George. Those two movies were TERRIBLE. This new batman was not terrible. In fact it was really really good. The opening hiest scene was great, the villians were all good, and Christian Bale is a good Batman.

I thought the story was captivating, and Ledger did a great job as the Joker. There was plenty of unrealistic action and I really liked all the villans.

Things I didn't like...it seemed to drag on a little...but even more annoying, Christian Bale's voice as batman...BOO. I sounded like he had smoked 3 packs a day for 25 years. I mean...just cough to clear your throat dude.

TJ's Review. This is just a great overall movie. Not as good as Wanted, but definately worth seeing. And I may pay $11 more to see it on IMAX.

Chad Says...Batman's voice...that's funny. I thought the same thing but wouldn't have said anything b/c i forgot about it so when TJ brings it up it makes me laugh.

This was a really fantastic movie. Yes it was too long but normally when I see movies that are too long there are things I can point directly to that should be taken out. I think if you took anything out of this movie you're just dumb. So get past the fact that you'll be in the theater for a long time but rejoice in the fact that you're not seeing Gorillas in the Mist during that time. Oh also, Katie Holmes is replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal (hey Maggie and Jake - think about a new spelling for your last name) which was a blarringly annoying thing to me. Make her a different character. Seriously. That was dumb.

Now that's all the negatives about this movie. It was really, really good. The best movie I've seen all summer by far. Heath Ledger...wow. The Joker was so creepy and dark and brilliant. I look forward to seeing Ledger's future work...oh. But seriously. The last Batman movie, my favorite thing was Christian Bale as Batman. He's so overshadowed in this movie by Ledger it's not even funny. He'll win an Oscar for this role. Mark it down then come back here and be all, Chad was so right. Thanks.

Chad's Review...Yeah I'm definitely spending more money to see this in IMAX.

Factory

TJ Says...This is a new comedy on Spike. I saw a preview for the show and it was ok, until one guy was using a band saw, and not paying attention, cut something and blood flew everywhere. It made me laugh hard. So then I see it on TV late one friday, I'm in.

It's about 4 factory workers that are generically quirky. There's no laugh track (which is a bonus), and basically we just follow the hi-jinks of the 4 workers. The first episode I saw made me laugh hard about 5 times. I almost cry laughed 2-3 times. There's the odd outsider factory worker, that wants to be part of the group, but the group doesn't like him. That makes for comic genius.

TJ's Review...The show was a little slow at times, but made up for it in funny. I've added this to my DVR and will be watching all the new episodes as they come out. I recommend it.

Chad Says...Excuse me while I geek out for a second. But one of the dudes in the show - Dave Pasquesi is a Chicago improvisor. I once saw him do a 2 man fully improvised show with TJ Jagedowski (who is the passenger in the Sonic commercials that are a hoot) and it was completely amazing. [pushes up glasses, snorts then goes back to typing on keyboard]

This show is really funny. 4 deadbeat dudes all with great characters and each of them shine from episode to episode. Complete sophmoric humor done really really well. It's basically them playing grab-ass each week on the job at a precision tool factory - the absolute worst place to act that way. It all adds up to some very funny stuff.

Chad's Review...Granted I may be overrating this show b/c I love one dude in it but I REFUSE to miss this show each week.

Flashpoint

TJ Says...This is a new CBS Summer show about a sniper police team. 2 reasons why I wanted to watch this show. The first, it's about snipers. Cool. The second, it's got the dad from Veronica Mars on it, and I like that dude.

So the first 15-20 mins of the show sucked me in with police action, sniper action, some Russian dude taking a hostage. I'm interested. Then the obvious sniper kill. Then for the rest of the show it was man dealing with sniper death. BOOOOOOORING. First, shouldn't he be prepared for this already? I mean, he's not playing patty cake. What'd he think was going to happen?

Seriously, this show sounds a lot cooler than the first episode actually was.

TJ's Review...I'm going to watch it one more time, just based on the premis, but it better not be as boring as it was, or I AM OUT!

Chad says: Yeah seriously, how do you screw up a show about snipers? Well CBS figured it out - have them investigate a sniper after he follows orders and shoots someone. Yeesh. You open with that episode? Come on dudes.

I watched the second episode and it was better. Turns out the show isn't about snipers, it's about a hostage negotiation team that happens to have LOTS of snipers on the team. The second episode was just talking down some dude that was holding people hostage in a hospital.

So as it turns out it's less Tom Beringer Sniper and more Kevin Spacey, The Negotiator minus Spacey or Samuel L. Jackson (which with SLJ is a good thing these days). At any rate I'm watching it in a case-by-case basis right now.

Chad's Review: it hasn't lost me yet but only b/c Wipeout isn't on the same night.

Hancock

TJ Says...I didn't really know what to expect with this movie. On the one hand, it's a superhero movie, which I AM IN for. Also, I'm in for Will Smith, Jason Bateman and Charlize. On the other hand, NONE of the trailers really piqued my interest (other than the jailhouse scene with the shoving the head up the rear of another inmate...should I be concerned that that piqued my interest?).

All that being said, it was just kind of blah. There were funny moments, and I think Jason Bateman is GREAT, and funny, but that's all it was, moments (I do like the Arrested Development reunion of Charlize and JB...always pro anything related to AD). The action was very herky-jerky (not to get too technical), it just didn't seem to flow well. The dialogue...eh, pretty bad.

I think JB was the highlight of the movie...very funny one liners, but the rest was just OK.

TJ's Review: It's good enough to rent, but not before several other movies that may be available.

Chad says: What a shame - I really liked this movie. We've seen so many stinking superhero movies that it's nice when one comes along and breaks the comic book mold (also see: My Super-Ex Girlfriend, which while funny, wasn't this good).

One thing is for sure - they sure didn't take their time with this movie. They set something up quick and didn't spend a lot of energy with exposition. It only hurt when they needed a big payoff - like the huge twist in this movie.

I had a hard time not liking Will Smith in this movie like it seemed they wanted me to at first. He did a good job trying to make me but his past movies just lead you to like him in everything he does. Jason Bateman is just fun to watch. He plays basically the same guy every time but I love that guy. And yeah, if you haven't seen the TV show Arrested Development - rent every season on DVD. It's hilarious.

I thought this was a cool movie. I liked the fact that it wasn't Ironman or The Hulk or anything else with Marvel's name on it. It gave them the freedom to do whatever the heck they wanted and have the freedom to tell a fun story without you already knowing the basic premise and they did a good job of it in my eyes.

Chad's Review - definitely see it just to inspire you to rent Arrested Development to see some more Jason Bateman action.