I watched “Stranger Than Fiction,” with Will Ferrell, this evening. I have to say that it was better than any other Will Ferrell movie I have ever seen. Rent it.

I remember my dad, a southside landlord, teaching me the above phrase when I was about 8 years old… and thought that it was a nice segue to show you Will Ferrell’s new video, “The Landlord.” The video is shown on Ferrell’s new “YouTube,” ripoff called, “FunnyOrDie.com.”

I put the video after the jump because, well, the staff at FoD hasn’t learned how to turn off the autostart in their player.

Rated PG-13 for a number of “B”-bombs.

(more…)

Ok, so everone knows about the big blockbusters that are on their way over the next few months… Transformers, Spiderman 3, Ocean’s 13, Live Free Or Die Hard and of course, on May 25th… Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End. But there are quite a few lesser known flicks on the way that I think people should really check out.

Here’s a small list of the little movies that may make a big impression in the weeks and months to come…

Day Watch - This is supposed to be the second in a triology of action/sci-fi movies from mother Russia. The first one, Night Watch, is available at your local rental joint and I highly suggest you check it out. It’s a good story and it looks like the success of the first film has allowed the producers to loosen the raines on the budget a little because the trailer for this one lookes pretty sweet. A good story driven by some even better special effects makes for a great movie, even if you do have to read a few subtitiles.

Waitress - I know, I know… this one looks like a chick flick, but it’s got Nathan Fillion (lead actor of one of the best sci-fi shows of all time, Firefly) and of course the big selling point for me… Kari Russell. Just something about this girl, ever since her movie Eight Days A Week, I’ve been hooked. Not to mention that it looks like a pretty good romantic comedy to boot.

Air Guitar Nation - I was only going to throw this one in for Claude, because trust me, he is going to be the first one of us to go see this movie, but the more and more I check out the trailer, the more I find myself wanting to see it. I mean seriously, a real competition where people play air guitar? You must be joking. Well apparently not, because this thing exists and it looks like people take it pretty seriously.

Knocked Up - When the tv show Greys Anatomy started, I’ll admit, I watched it pretty regularly for the first season. But it wasn’t because I liked the stories or the witty banter between the characters, I watched for one reason and one reason only… Katherine Heigl. She is hands down the only reason girlfriends can get their boyfriends to watch that show (Arrrrgh, I’m so jealous Claude got to serve her drinks one night while he was bartending in Madison). And since I have not kept up with the hospital hijinks, I am pretty excited to see Ms. Heigl back on the big screen. Hmmmm, I wonder what would happen if a totally beautiful woman got a little drunk and had a one night stand with “Joe Ordinary” and then got pregnant. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Sunshine - We all have heard the scientific reports that one day, a long time from now, the sun is going to burn out. This futuristic sci-fi flick tells the story of a space mission that is tasked with the lovely mission of jump starting the sun. I have only seen a teaser trailer for this one, but it looks like a cool concept and a seriously special effects ridden film. I’m in.

Good Luck Chuck - Mr. Dane Cook (love him or hate him, you have to admit he’s pretty friggen funny) is back in what honestly looks like a simple remake of his last movie Employee Of The Month. Joe Ordinary guy is lonely, but has a gift for interacting with people, meets the girl of his dreams but can’t move forward, finally overcomes what ever reason it was and lives happily ever after. Here’s what you need to know that makes this one a little different. For some reason, women seem to think that after the sleep with Cook’s character (Chuck) that they immediately find the man of dreams. This one time joke among friends has grown into a massive urban myth and now Chuck has everyman’s dream. Then he meets someone he really falls for (Jessica Alba - so that’s not too hard to comprehend - duh) and as much as she wants to, he won’t sleep with her out of fear of losing her. Much hilarity and slapstick humor ensues.

A few more movies to keep an eye out for are… Next (Nicholas Cage sci-fi flick), Mr. Brooks (Kevin Costner as a psycho killer), Blind Dating (comedy about a blind guy going on blind dates), Balls Of Fury (not out till Sept, but trust me, this one looks hilarious) and The Invisible (a little who-dun-it ghost story).

All of these movies have trailers that can be seen at www.apple.com/trailers or www.themoviebox.net/trailers.

It looks like it’s going to be a summer for movies

Hey Dog, pretzel bites and a large white soda please.

- Squiz

This will seem like a shallow post… but sometimes being shallow keeps me from getting too deep.

Fuzz’s Top Five:

1. Scarlett Johanson
   I don’t know what it is about her collagen-injected lips, but they are mesmerizing. I don’t really think her acting is that good, either… but she’s my number one.
2. Jessica Alba
   
   
   Uhm… yeah… I don’t really need to say much about Ms. Alba. I mean, she sucks as an actress, but her movies are still worth watching for some reason.
3. Elisha Cuthbert
   Wow… there’s a pattern here. Another bad actress… who for some reason I can’t not watch.
4. Alessandra Ambrosio
   I’ve never really been a big fan of supermodels. I don’t know if it’s because of their attitudes, or because I actually think that a good portion of them are actually kind of manly looking… Alessandra, however, is tops for me.
5. Sarah Chalke
   Yeah… I’m a sucker for a woman in scrubs. Not just the TV show, “Scrubs,” but scrubs in general. I also think part of my “thing” I have for Ms. Chalke is her attitude.

So… there you go… a shallow post to keep things from getting too deep.

Zodiac is a great film. I really enjoyed the movie for the storyline, character developement (or degradation), and the sets were great. I was a little surprised to see many older people at the movie, as they lived through this time…I thought that they would not be interested in re-living this, but I was wrong. Having been alive, but not knowledgable of these events during the years they actually took place really gave me some insight as to the fear that gripped California. Clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, you may want to go easy on the Jumbo Pepsi if you are going to watch it in the theater. Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, and Mark Ruffalo really sold their characters. David Fincher has done it again (although he will never surpass Fight Club, IMO). There are a few brutal scenes of violence with a gun and a knife, be forewarned.

I give the movie 3.5 (out of 4) Squirrels.

We went to see The Number 23 tonight and it was better than I had hoped. I really enjoy Jim Carrey, in comedies and dramas, he delivers IMHO. While the previews make it look like he tries to find coincidences of the occorance of the number 23 in everything from the day the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima to the ingredients on the back of peanut butter, there is an underlying story that is quite intriguing to follow. Don’t be discouraged by the potential of crappy open-ended non-sense, the movie delivers. And while it may not be for everyone, if you enjoy horror/suspense thriller-types, this should suit you fine. It’s for sure a renter if not a Saturday afternoon flick.

If you enjoy Pulp Fiction and/or typography and layout you will like this.

This is not safe for work or the kids, fyi.

I went to Grand Rapids for the weekend (great time, btw). On the way down, I was listening to Steve Dahl on 105.9 in Chicago. I forgot how much I liked Dahl. He’s fun to listen to for no apparent reason.

Anyway, during his conversation he was talking about the movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” He said, “the movie was so damn cliche and predictable.”

Hey! Steve! It was a TRUE STORY. That would be like saying that Titanic sucked because everybody knew that the ship would sink! I mean, it was predictable, but you could have easily predicted that it would have been predictable before you even got in the car to go to the theater. Sheesh!

I support using the word “Christmas” in advertising, etc.  Happy Holidays is fine, but I prefer Christmas and am not offended by it.

It seems the new release of a slasher movie titled “Black Christmas” has some religious zealots in a snit.  They feel that Christmas was outlawed and now being mocked by the timing of the movie.  More specifically because “Silent Night” is played in the movie and there is a nativity scene in the movie.

Isn’t this a depiction of someone celebrating Christmas?  Isn’t that celebration being used in main-stream media?  You can’t say that “Christmas” is being outlawed and then complain when it is used in mainstream culture.  The fact is, that not everyone is going to put a pretty bow on things, just the way you want.

I’ll be celebrating Christmas and I’ll be at the theater to watch this train-wreck of a low-budget remake.  At least it will break up all of the happy feeling kids movies that the theaters are flooded with.

The last few weeks have been pretty bad for comedians. First, Michael Richards, then Rosie O’Donnell, now… Pauly Shore:

So, I was in my Africology class today, and the professor said that Hollywood goes in cycles and picks a common enemy during each one along the way. Blacks, indians, the japanese, and russians have all had their day in the negative spotlight.

Then he asked who the media’s enemy is now. I shouted, “Republicans.” The class roared with laughter.

But I wasn’t kidding.

By the way, the real answer to that question, according to him, was “Arabs.” I don’t think that I have seen Arabs in a negative spotlight in any post 9/11 movies or television shows.

Conservatives or Republicans, though, have more than their fair share of stereotyping shows, movies, and music:

The Daily Show
The West Wing
Syriana
Anything by Michael Moore
Anything by Barbara Streisand
The Dixie Chicks
Saturday Night Live
NPR
Air America
… I could go on and on, but I’d get carpal tunnel.

Feel free to list more in the comments.

Angelina Jolie is starring as the widow of slain journalist, Daniel Pearl, in a new movie called “A Mighty Heart.” The problem is, the woman she is portraying, Mariane Pearl, is African-Cuban-Dutch-Chinese. Jolie is white.

So, what did the studio decide to do? Same thing the studios decided to do back in the day… paint her face black.

From SFGate.com:

The casting of Angelina Jolie as the mixed-race wife of late journalist Daniel Pearl in the new movie “A Mighty Heart” has been heavily criticized by black rights groups.

Make-up artists are believed to have used special cosmetics to darken the star’s skin to match that of Mariane Pearl — but campaigners believe a real-life mixed-race actress should have been given the part.

Blogs on BlackLooks.org read, “I had assumed that the days when white actors took on the roles of black people had long passed away …

“There are mixed-race or black actresses who could have done a damn good job in this role.

“You can’t tell me that Halle Berry or other women of African descent wouldn’t have been a better choice — what is taking place here is an act of arrogance and whitewashing by people who think that because they are super-rich they can be anything they want.”

I agree with the above commentary. Halle Berry would have been a splendid (and twice as hot) choice for the part.

I was looking at the RSS feed from 4BlockWorld.com, and I came across this gem of a website…

NotStarring.com - a website dedicated to telling movie fans which movies their favorite actors turned down or were rejected from. What a brilliant idea for a website!

iBreath - the first-ever iPod breathalyzer. Makes a great gift for college kids, a gag gift for your company Christmas party (”here you go, boss!”), and that alcoholic uncle of yours.

I have to write about it, because I am so stoked!
World renouned culture-jammer / corporate artist insurgent, Shepard Fairey, of Obey Giant had recently released a set of prints in tribute to the Mario Puzo / Francis Ford Coppola screen classic, The Godfather, earlier this summer.

This series was so popular and such a limited run, very few people were able to get their mits on a set. eBay has been alive with bids of over $500 for the set of 4. Luckily, I was checking out obeygiant.com on a whim last week (before I left for work) and I saw they had some “recently found” sets of this series. I snatched one up and await arival so that I can hang them in my office (at home or work, I cannot decide).

These are real gems, check out a larger pic by clicking on the images. And, no, there is no Michael Corleone print. The obeygiant.com camp says of the omission:

Sorry guys, Michael refused our sit down due to some
business conflicts but the rest of the Corleone Family is present.

I really hope this doesn’t ruin the original. I don’t know how you could make a sequel to Old School, but I’ll plop down my $17 to see it.

I have heard a number of women in the last year comment on how hot Patrick Dempsey is in Grey’s Anatomy. For those of you who do think he’s hot, let me remind you that he was the lead character this God-awful movie.

I was checking out YouTube.com and decided to check out the fat kid doing the Star Wars routine with a mop handle (it’s a classic.) Then I came across this little masterpiece from two kids with a) talent, and b) too much time on their hands. (link)

In the last week, I have had 4 “surprise” movie endings ruined for me.

Of course, 2 of them are movies that I have no intentions of seeing, but still, give someone a chance, you know? Don’t be that guy (or girl) who is talking with your friends about a movie and just blurt out what happened at the end of the movie you saw this past weekend.

***SPOILER***

And if you are that person, Bruce Willis is really dead in the 6th sense, and Sam Jackson is a super villian in Unbreakable and the Village is set in modern times but is just a crazy commune of throwback hippies who pretend it’s 1892…and your girlfriend/boyfriend is cheating on you…oops!

Yeah, I’m that mad about it.

Isn’t this 1-Trick-Pony done yet? Does that red-neck, bumper sticker tagline still have legs? And still enough to make into an entire movie???

I just don’t get it. Do people think this guy is (still) funny?

I guess this just shows the state of popular culture and the level of crap that the movie industry is willing to invest in and churn out.

ugh.