Ted AKA Family Guy 2.0

Ted
Director: Seth MacFarlene
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth MacFarlene
Box Office Gross: $218,628,680 (USA)
DVD Review

This film was a strange one for me. I wasn't sure where it fit in my movie schedule. Originally released in June 2012, it wasn't quite appealing enough for me to add to the Summer Movie List. But after hearing that the film was really funny, I started to doubt my decision. I wanted to see it, but not badly enough to find a time to go to the theatre to see it. So I added it to the "rental" pile.

I finally managed to watch Ted a few weeks ago. I was not impressed. It was too long and not funny enough to keep me entertained for the 106 minute duration. I just don't get what all the fuss was about.

Mark Wahlberg, who has participated in some successful comedies including The Other Guys and Date Night, teamed up with Seth MacFarlene and veteran MacFarlene collaborator, Mila Kunis, for this raunchy rom-com/buddy flick. Wahlberg portrays John Bennett, a socially awkward child who wishes his newly received teddy bear could talk to him.John's wish comes true and he gains a new friend in his stuffed toy, Ted, who becomes famous for being a "talking stuffed teddy bear". Years pass and John has grown up into a unmotivated man and Ted has not left his side. The two continue to get involved in crazy antics, which hinder John's progression in his career and in his personal life with girlfriend, Lori (Kunis).

Here's the biggest problem with Ted: it's a live action version of Family Guy. MacFarlene has basically recycled the main plot points of his hit television show to create a feature length film. The story is way to drawn out to justify an almost two-hour long film and probably could have fared better as an 80 minute feature.

Both Kunis and Wahlberg are great in their roles and have a decent amount of chemistry. It's a shame they weren't given more to work with. What's even more unfortunate are the plans that are already in the works for a sequel to this bland comedy.

Final Verdict: Skip it. Unless you're a Family Guy fan and you like that type of humour, don't bother with this lackluster comedy. I understand the appeal behind a MacFarlene story, I just don't get the humour. Sure there were a few moments I indulged in a chuckle, but nothing that stuck out in my eyes. A.O. Scott from The New York Times said it best when he called Ted "boring, lazy and wildly unoriginal". Here's hoping the next MacFarlene venture brings something more original to the table.

Rotten Tomatoes

Throwback Thursday: Be Kind, Rewind

Be Kind Rewind

Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Melonie Diaz, and Mia Farrow
Released: 2008
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes

This week's Throwback Thursday was inspired by the word that a Robocop remake is in the works. Be Kind, Rewind is about Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) and his video rental shop. Yes, in the age of DVDs Mr. Fletcher manages to keep VHS alive for the few residents of Passaic, New Jersey who still haven't seen Ghostbusters or Driving Miss Daisy. One week Fletcher leaves the shop in the care of his foster son Mike (Mos Def) who takes the responsibility very seriously. Mike's oddball friend Jerry (Jack Black) gets magnetized in a botched power station sabotage attempt and the next time he visits Be Kind Rewind he erases every single tape in the store. With the slightly dotty Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow) on the watch (and wanting to rent movies) Mike and Jerry decide to cover up the accident by remaking all the movies themselves. And it works, until their "Sweded" movies become so popular they can't keep up with demand!

The first half of this movie is utterly fantastic. I couldn't remember the last time I'd laughed that much at a movie on the first viewing (except maybe Planes, Trains, and Automobiles) when I had - you guessed it - rented this from Blockbuster. I almost wished it was available on VHS just to keep with the theme. Mike and Jerry's remakes of Ghostbusters, Robocop, Driving Miss Daisy, Rush Hour and more are so hilariously amateur that they're more entertaining than the originals. Hence their success with renters! Jack Black shines as Jerry with his ability to make every line seem like a natural conversation and not a script and Mos Def is endearing as the earnest straight-man Mike in this buddy comedy about movies and movie culture.

The second half is not as comedic but writer and director Michel Gondry (The Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) manages to progress from comedy to the feel-good "drama" at the heart of the film.  Be Kind Rewind is the heart of the community and by extension so too are the movies it shares with  the people. I won't spoil the ending but I will share with you some of the laughs of Robocop: Sweded.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower OR We Are Infinite

The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller
Box Office: $17,738,570 (USA)
DVD Review

I wanted to see this film when it was released in theatres. But it had a short and limited release and we couldn't fit it into our movie schedule.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is a novel written by Chbosky, who adapted and directed the film. A rarity for films adapted or based on novels and a risk that was well worth taking by Mr. Mudd Productions - a producing team that includes actor John Malkovich and who were behind the 2007 hit Juno.

The film stars Lerman as Charlie, a nervous and shy teenager who is about to begin his freshman year of high school. He finds it difficult to make friends, only making a connection with his English teacher, Mr. Anderson (Paul Rudd). He is introduced to an extroverted senior, Patrick (Miller), in his shop class, and later befriends both Patrick and his stepsister Sam (Watson). Charlie, along with his two new friends, become close and start to go through the highs and lows of growing up.

The film touches on several hard-hitting topics including: suicide, depression, homophobia, and drug abuse. And the story and topics are brought forth convincingly through strong performances from the film`s young cast. Thought the supporting cast, which includes: Rudd, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, and Joan Cusack, provide a talented balance to the younger cast`s main storyline, it`s the three young stars who shine the brightest in their complex and troubled characters.

Lerman, who is best known for his role as the title character in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief, portrays the character of Charlie with such poise and conviction, you forget at times that he is still only in his early twenties. He is likeable as the main character, but still able to provide depth and emotion to a character who has a certain amount of darkness in him.

Watson quickly sheds her "Hermione Granger" image with a character so uniquely different from the female leads in teen films today. She's fragile, yet strong. Full of angst, yet full of hope. It's great to see a young female actor tap into the emotion of a character that makes her so relatable and likeable to people of all ages, especially teen girls. (Unlike Kristen Stewart who can't seem to produce a genuine emotion, even if her life depended on it).

It was so refreshing to see a coming-of-age film that was different. We are inundated with cookie-cutter teen films and rarely get to see a movie that has profound messages and a sense of redemption and hope for teens and essentially, people in general.

Within the first 15 minutes of the movie, I felt like I was watching a John Hughes' film. Not in a way that Chbosky was trying to emulate Hughes; it was a more respectful, "your views on the teen genre were accurate and real", type of way. There hasn't been a film like this that speaks so fluently to its generation since The Breakfast Club. We can only hope that 20 years from now, teens are still being shown this film and realizing the importance of its message. 

Final Verdict: See it. Don't be turned off by the teen aspect of this film; it is a film that all audiences can enjoy. A great story, an honest approach to it's direction, a talented young cast and a stellar soundtrack create the perfect ingredients for a successful film. One of the best of 2012, it's heartfelt, funny and true and will have you believing that "we are infinite".

Rotten Tomatoes

100 Posts! Yippie ki yay!

Hi Everyone,

This post marks our 100th post here at Don't Sit Next to Us. That's a lot of movies!

We couldn't have done it without you, reader, so thank you for visiting, reading, and commenting. Arlaine and I really enjoy writing about movies and reading your comments.

We'll keep writing and we hope that you'll keep doing what you're doing right now - reading. Tell your friends about us, too. The Movie Geeks always have something new to say about the latest releases and throwbacks. Not to mention our newest occasional feature Fandom Fridays where we talk about something that isn't necessarily movie related (but probably will be).

Once again, thanks to our readers for making this blog a success. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, subscribe to the blog for updates, or enter your email address for alerts when there is a new post.

Sincerely,
Arlaine & Christine
The Movie Geeks

Trailer Tuesday - The Internship

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are back in this summer's comedy The Internship. The pair, who previously starred together in 2005's hit Wedding Crashers, are looking for another comedic hit after a string of lackluster comedy films recently added to each of their resumes.

This time, we see the hilarious duo as Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) as two salesmen who have lost their jobs due to the success of technology. Having what looks like no knowledge of computers or technology in general, the pair talk their way into an internship at Google and find themselves competing for the coveted position against some brilliant college students.

This film looks like an extension of Old School. Instead of faking a fraternity, the main characters are faking their resumes. As long as they can create a decent story with this concept, I won't complain: comedic films are not suppose to be the most thought-provoking stories. They are meant to make you laugh, and if the creators behind The Internship can do that, I will be happy and the film will surely be successful.

It will be hard for Vaughn and Wilson to top the success of Wedding Crashers but I'm interested and excited to see them try.

The film, which was written by Vaughn and directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Date Night), is set to be released on June 7, 2013 - and will be a great light addition to the Summer Movie List. 

For more information on the upcoming film, check out the Wikipedia page or the official movie page.

RoboCop Remake - Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?

Here we go again...

I stumbled upon this article the other day and I couldn't believe it. The sci-fi action classic RoboCop is being remade. Why, Columbia Pictures? WHY??

I did some further research on wikipedia and my nerves subsided - a little. Looks like the cast is pretty decent for this upcoming remake. Gary Oldman, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson will all be involved in the film, which is set to be released in 2014. This cast might just give this remake some serious ammunition. However, we still need to be a little skeptic because if the remake of Total Recall has told us anything, it's that a fantastic cast does not equal a fantastic film. (Check out a review of that crap-fest here).

The original film starred Peter Weller as Alex Murphy/RoboCop who was brutally murdered and then revived by mega-corporation OCP as a superhuman cyborg law enforcer (RoboCop). The film takes place in Detroit in the near future where the city is overrun with crime. The film, which is best categorized as sci-fi/action, received mostly positive reviews and was one of the best films of 1987. Two sequels, several television series, video games, numerous comic book adaptations, and merchandise have been created since the first film was released.


Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "Certified Fresh" rating, with an overall consensus that: "while over the top and gory, RoboCop is also a surprisingly smart sci-fi flick that uses ultra-violence to disguise its satire of American Culture".

We can only hope that the remake will stay true to the original, with timely updates only (like 2011's Footloose did for the original 1984 film).

I don't know why production companies find it necessary to remake all of these films lately, but it's starting to get on my nerves. Like Neve Campbell's character Sidney Prescott said in the latest Scream film, "don't f**k with the original!"

For more information on the upcoming remake, check out the wikipedia page and be sure to stay tuned to Don't Sit Next To Us for updates. 

Fandom Friday - You're the Birthday, You're the Birthday, You're the Birthday, Boy or Girl

Welcome to Fandom Fridays! Occasionally, on a Friday, Don't Sit Next To Us will bring you a unique post on one of our favourite films or franchises or film topic. Since it's my birthday today, I decided the first Fandom Friday will feature my Top 25 80s Movies List. (I love that decade)

Please note: this is a listing of MY all time favourite films from the 80s. They are by no means the BEST films of that generation, simply just the films I have enjoyed since I was a kid. (In no particular order)

The Karate Kid (1, 2, and 3)

The Goonies

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

John Hughes Films (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty In Pink, Weird Science)
Check out a review of Sixteen Candles here.
Check out a review of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles here.

Adventures in Babysitting

Musicals (Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Little Shop of Horrors, Babes in Toyland, The Blues Brothers)
Check out a review of Dirty Dancing here. 

The Princess Bride

Mannequin

National Lampoon Series (Vacation, European Vacation, Christmas Vacation)

Eddie Murphy Films (Coming to America, Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 2, 48 Hours, Trading Places)

Big

The 'burbs
Check out a review of The 'burbs here.

John Candy Films (Summer Rental - work with John Hughes - The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, Armed and Dangerous)

The Wizard

Little Monsters

Tim Burton Films (Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Beetlejuice)
Check out a review of Batman here.

Back to the Future (1 and 2)

Ghostbusters (1 and 2)

Bill and Ted's Excellent Advenutre

The NeverEnding Story

Willow 

Revenge of the Nerds (1 and 2)

Stand By Me

Labyrinth

What are your favourite 80s films?