The Hot Blog: The Spirit: The Surprising Blu-Ray Experience

April 13, 2009

The Spirit: The Surprising Blu-Ray Experience

Like many others, I skipped The Spirit in December. I was interested, but Lionsgate didn’t seem overly interested in screening it for me and it kind of plopped out into the marketplace. The film grossed under $20 million, raised the internal strife at the distributor, and 3.5 months later, arrives on DVD.

When I threw it into the Blu-ray ahead of a pile of other films that gathered on my doorstop (figuratively), it was because I was curious about the look of the film. I figured I’d look at a scene or two and then move on to some other film, returning to The Spirit when I had the time. (The lack of extra scenes didn’t inspire me much either… though the LG live front page for the DVD, which includes location, weather, and time, though the time was incorrect, was intriguing.)

But the movie had me at “hello.”

It is a long, long way from being a perfect film. But it also a whole lot closer to being the work of a true visionary artist than any other piece of film using similar aesthetics and the same kind of tool box. You may or may not like the work, but Frank Miller has a very specific visual style of his own and he is more than capable of delivering on those images he has in his head.

The distinction is subtle, but profound. The best early example of this in the film is the muddy fight between The Spirit and The Octopus. For starters, the mud is never brown… as brown is not a color that interests Miller in this film. As a result, you have the insane and daring choice of having Sam Jackson play The Octopus through much of the scene in blackface. I mean, you couldn’t really find more bulgy white eyeballs than Jackson’s through that sequence… not in a race movie that was all about bulging white eyeballs on black men. But I found the aesthetic fascinating (and amusing) to watch and Miller matched my standard for any choice that has a serious chance of offending a large part of the audience… he had an artistic ambition in making the choice and he rose to it.

Ironically, one of the bad memories some have of The Spirit, back when Will Eisner was doing it, is a character called Ebony White, a sidekick of classically racially incorrect blackface creation. I am not terribly familiar with the character, so it is hard to figure out how he really fit in and why the book wasn’t burned. But it wasn’t.

Anyway, Jackson’s appearance is just one small element of this sequence. Miller delivers big ideas with small details all over the place. They are splashing around in what look to be 4” pools a lot of the time… until he decides to push The Spirit into the muck head first past his flawlessly white-bottomed tennis shoes. But you are looking at what he is doing, not the effect or the method or the tools.

Of course, there is plenty of stuff that doesn’t quite work. Jamie King as “Lorelei Rox,” who plays the same role as Jessica Lange did in Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz… she is a siren calling our hero to his death. Not terrible, but not meaty enough. Miller doesn’t quite find the rhythm for allowing the audience to play along with the ideas of how The Spirit is perceived by women. The cloned thugs are kind of a great gag… but they don’t always get as much out of it as if they had a better actor in the role… say a Steve Zahn or Michel Chiklis.

The biggest flaw is Gabriel Macht, who is not terrible, but just isn’t swinging the giant charm underneath his understated style and dazzling looks. Because that is so much of what makes the movie fly or stumble, coming up a bit short there it a very big problem.

The women look, obviously, sensational. Scarlett Johansson doesn’t get to do much more than model her hats and to be the punchline of a joke about brilliant women. But Paz Vega as sensuality incarnate milks all there is to milk out of that, Sarah Paulson was fine and dewy as Elizabeth Perkins, and Stana Katic gets it just right as a tough sexy cop. But the show is stolen, sometimes literally, by Seychelle Gabrielas young Sand Serif and Eva Mendes as the adult version, who leaves her signature on one crime scene by Xeroxing her – as she calls it – perfect ass. Mendes really has developed a strong skill set as an actress and this film with a first-time director (on his own) really shows that.

But there is enormous promise for Frank Miller as a director based on this. I would have loved to have seen him do Watchmen, as an example. He has real style and understands visual shorthand better – shockingly - than Robert Rodriguez or others who emulate his aesthetic style.

The Blu-ray is, of course, breathtaking, though the extras, as I said above, are a bit underwhelming. In some ways, I consider that a plus, in that it shows that Miller is not the kind of guy to linger in his outtakes. There is a narrated animation of an alternative ending, which is interesting. A couple decent little docs about making the film and about Miller.

But the highlight is the film, looking as good as it will ever look on your home screen. And even better, a movie I am pleasantly surprised by and am glad to have seen.

Posted by dpoland at April 13, 2009 10:23 PM

Comments

You really think The Spirit is better than Sin City?

I'll defend The Spirit against some of the hate. It's better than people say, but it really starts to drag in the second half. There's not enough plot to keep it going as long as it does.

Sin City, however -- they had to extend that for DVD because people wanted more.

But of course you are obviously in the cult of Miller and making excuses for him! ;)

Posted by: LYT at April 13, 2009 11:15 PM

I thought THE SPIRIT would have been some demented masterpiece if it had been a silent film or in a foreign language with subtitles. Alas, the insanely over-the-top performances, wretched line readings and mismatched tone suggest that Miller, visionary though be may be, needs to hire an on-set acting coach or go back to co-directing.

Posted by: dietcock at April 13, 2009 11:41 PM

Agree with dietcock. The Spirit is actually pretty good with the audio commentary. The track with Miller and a producer is surprisingly insightful and fills in bits of missing character development, and you don't have to listen to the over the top line readings by the leads. And, for once, I actually found Scarlett Johanson to be charming and funny (and, personal preferences and all, but I've never found her hotter). But, I still think it's hysterical that the various stars are easily out acted by two fourteen year old kids who play young versions of two lead characters.

Posted by: Scott Mendelson at April 14, 2009 12:30 AM

Holy shit. Every time I think Poland has started to move toward the Douche, he goes and drops a fair, balanced and awesome piece of criticism like this.

YES.

The Spirit is fucking awesome (except for that TOOL Gabriel Macht.) *I* would've been a more charismatic presence than that BLACK HOLE OF CHARISMA, here and anywhere else.

But that aside, Johansson single handedly cured my early-onset ED with her ASTOUNDING HOTNESS in this, especially her GIANT AWESOME EYELASHES. All the other chicks were hot too. I'll assume that Mini-Eva chick is still rather young, but that chick is going to have a MAJOR career ahead of her because she's a good actress and just striking in appearance.

Jackson rules, most of the setpieces are surreal, funny or at least interesting. Extremely underrated and worth checking out; Yeah, Miller pretty obviously attained his "VISUAL STYLE" by biting everything RR was doing on the set of Sin City, and it's not even remotely the "look" of the Spirit of old, but narrative and momentum wise, this just was more cohesive than S.C.

And more on that: Of course I *like* Sin City. How could I not? Hot chicks and big, stupid violence and nihilism.

But, like, WHAT THE FUCK is the *point* of Sin City? There's NO overriding theme or point or subtext to ANY of it. Just three tangentially related stories, each with a vague element of some repulsive LOSER of a guy getting owned by some hot chicks.

But I don't think Rodriguez, Miller or Tarantino remotely play it for the obvious: That Rourke, Willis and Owen are COMPLETE FUCKING PATHETIC LOSERS HUNG UP ON SUPERIOR WOMEN. Instead, RR tries to make these three dipshit sadsacks into some icons of machismo and bad-assness.

Rourke is great in the movie, but his character is a delusional fucking idiot; Owen's just kind of a dumbass; and Willis is a creepy pseudo-savior figure with a Madonna-Whore Complex.

Can't believe I'M saying this, but this is the rare movie that would've benefited from a feminist sensibility or at least someone with a more adult sense of sexuality or gender roles; I really think Miller and RR play the protagonists as on the nose, just straightforward film noir "heroes," instead of the borderline-nutjob doormats they are.

But all that aside, the three "stories" are arbitrary and undefined, the only think remotely linking ANY of it is "cool" imagery and attitude.

Posted by: LexG at April 14, 2009 12:33 AM

"I was interested, but Lionsgate didn’t seem overly interested in screening it for me and it kind of plopped out into the marketplace."

You personally or critics in general. I don't think Lionsgate were sitting around going "Let's not screen The Spirit for David Poland."

"Scarlett Johansson doesn’t get to do much more than model her hats"

That line was amazing, Dave.

Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at April 14, 2009 12:56 AM

"You personally or critics in general. I don't think Lionsgate were sitting around going "Let's not screen The Spirit for David Poland."

um...it's entirely possible that's the case kam... local publicists hate poland and wells...

Posted by: scooterzz at April 14, 2009 02:18 AM

Yeah, Kamidouche, shut the fuck up.

Posted by: LexG at April 14, 2009 02:23 AM

simma' down, lex....

Posted by: scooterzz at April 14, 2009 02:44 AM

Yeah, it wasn't screened for anyone, far as I know. I tried to see it prior to LAFCA voting, but they knew it wouldn't make it, and said no.

Posted by: LYT at April 14, 2009 04:36 AM

I wonder if The Green Hornet will have the same handicap that hobbled The Spirit (and, maybe, Nancy Drew -- it's a property that many people have heard about for years, but relatively few really care about. (And even fewer know all the specifics -- origin, defining character traits, etc. -- associated with the property.)

Posted by: Joe Leydon at April 14, 2009 07:21 AM

Joe, I would think that's the perfect setup for an ambitious director. The character has name recognition but not a lot of baggage, so the director is free to make the material stand on its own. One good trailer can ignite a lot of public interest in a situation like that.

(I suspect The Spirit was hobbled my mediocre trailers, which were corny and made the movie seem like warmed-over Sin City. Never saw the movie myself, but I might after this post.)

Posted by: Eric at April 14, 2009 07:34 AM

Dave,
Your reviews are what got me coming here in the first place. It's nice to see you doing them again. Thanks for writing this.

Lex,
Your posts are what have kept me from visiting daily. That said, what you wrote today was quite interesting, so much so that now I'm gonna go back and look through your previous posts for similar critiques. Thanks!

Posted by: Ju-osh at April 14, 2009 07:43 AM

Seconding Ju-osh, this is exactly the kind of thing I like to read here.

Posted by: Eric at April 14, 2009 07:54 AM

Eric: Funny you say this. When I interviewed Seth Rogen a few days ago, I asked him about the possible dangers of doing Green Hornet. His response:
"[O]bviously, we’re not doing The Green Hornet because we’re big fans of it. We’re doing The Green Hornet because no one knows shit about him. So we can completely re-imagine him how we want. But because there’s enough built-in familiarity, the studio will give us enough money to make the kind of movie we want to make. Me and Evan Goldberg, my writing partner, we’re lifelong comic book fans, lifelong superhero fans. And we think we can have an original take on this from a writing perspective. That’s really why we pursued it. Because we thought, 'OK, if we do The Green Hornet, then we’ll get to make the kind of big movie we want to make. We can re-invent it to the point so that it can be exactly what we want to do – but no one will get pissed off, because no one really knows that much about it.'”

I wish him luck. On the other hand, I can't help wondering whether the people who made The Spirit thought pretty much the same thing.

Posted by: Joe Leydon at April 14, 2009 08:50 AM

"The Spirit" was screened in advance in some places, at least.

Posted by: chris at April 14, 2009 09:06 AM

"We’re doing The Green Hornet because no one knows shit about him."

What's Wrong With Hollywood 101.

And yes, that's why Eisner fans loathe THE SPIRIT.

Posted by: christian at April 14, 2009 10:30 AM

I'm sure he's right...the general population probably doesn't know about Green Hornet. Maybe they know of him from the tv show, know the theme or that Bruce Lee was in the show, but that's about it. Hell, I watched some of the episodes of the tv show and I couldn't tell you anything about him either except that he seemed basically like Batman but he couldn't come up with an interesting costume. And his butler was cooler than him.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 14, 2009 11:16 AM

Lex: "Yeah, Miller pretty obviously attained his "VISUAL STYLE" by biting everything RR was doing on the set of Sin City"

So, I'm guessing you've never seen the comic. The film is shot-for-shot from the comics, so if anyone was lifting the visual style of someone else, it was the other way around.

"Instead, RR tries to make these three dipshit sadsacks into some icons of machismo and bad-assness."

And along the same lines - the film didn't do anything with the characters the comic didn't (for better or worse), so you can't blame RR for that - Miller did them that way from the start.

Posted by: storymark at April 14, 2009 11:34 AM

Miller "lifting" in "Sin City?" He co-directed it, for crying out loud.

Posted by: chris at April 14, 2009 12:24 PM

According to Wikipedia, the Green Hornet is supposed to be a descendant of the Lone Ranger.

If Rogen and co. could somehow tie it in to the movie that Johnny Depp's playing Tonto in, that'd be a hell of a franchise synergy.

Posted by: LYT at April 14, 2009 01:35 PM

I don't get to the movies much these days because I'm an LA California expat currently living in Luanda, Angola, Africa. This site helps keep me sane (obviously a marginal call). My top
cinematic experiences of the past few years have been watching the latest BluRay edition of 2001; Sin City (opening weekend Thursday midnight show waiting in line with my 20 year old stepson); and Munich (not even remotely about the plot points of the actual story told in the movie). Due to David's review I'll have to get the BluRay of Spirit next time I get back to the US.

All that prologue is to address LexG's lack of OWNERSHIP of Sin City. When I walked out of the Edward's theater that Friday morning I felt I had finally witnessed the best possible adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest" (1929). Of course the story is distilled through the mind of Frank Miller and has a graphic novel patina, but the raw excitement of a basic personal code, life, sex and death is exactly the same. The translation from novel to film is as satisfactory as that of the Coen's adaptation of "No Country for Old Men", except there was the intermediate artist and media with Frank Miller and Sin City. And from an 80 year old book. Read the book, LexG, and you'll understand the power of Sin City. I hope Spirit is half as exhilarating.

Posted by: jake_gittes at April 14, 2009 01:42 PM

Sounds interesting. I'll catch it on DVD.

Posted by: ployp at April 14, 2009 05:53 PM

I did see SPIRIT in a theatre, and all through it I kept wondering why everybody was hating on it so much. I thought it was pretty darn good, and I'm old enough to remember the character. I was especially impressed with Katic, and am glad to see she's doing pretty much the same thing on CASTLE.

As for GREEN HORNET: assuming the audience does not remember the character--even if true--does NOT give you license to start from scratch. Call it something else and leave the original to those of us who still care. Plus since everything Rogen touches stinks of bodily functions, I imagine he'll have Kato taking a dump on the bad guys.

Posted by: Cadavra at April 14, 2009 11:55 PM

Rogen is a pretty great writer and very funny. Those guys saved movie comedy because until the Stiller/Apatow crowd showed up, comedy was in a sinkhole. The 90s were death for comedy movies.

I don't think there's anything wrong with re-inventing an old character at all. Comic book characters survive on that, or they get stale. Besides, I think no one knowing about the character exactly DOES give you license to start from scratch. There are no expectations, so do something interesting. I have faith that they will. The director (isn't it Gondry?) said it's not a straight up comedy.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 15, 2009 06:27 AM

"Those guys saved movie comedy because until the Stiller/Apatow crowd showed up, comedy was in a sinkhole. The 90s were death for comedy movies."

I will prove you wrong.
After work.
Maybe.
Yours in Christ,
Hallick.

Posted by: Hallick at April 15, 2009 06:58 AM

If you list a Farrelly Brothers movie, you will be destroyed!

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 15, 2009 10:13 AM

hallick, i hope you do.

praise jesus,
leah

Posted by: leahnz at April 15, 2009 04:25 PM

"If you list a Farrelly Brothers movie, you will be destroyed!"

I think I listed three, so I guess I'm safe. Phew.

So here's the "sinkhole" decade. I'm not a fan of many of these movies, but I felt I had to cite them for those who were or still are:

1990

Quick Change
The Freshman
Problem Child
Metropolitan
The Tall Guy
Millers Crossing

1991

Defending Your Life
Impromptu
What About Bob?
Soapdish
City Slickers
Barton Fink

1992

Wayne’s World
Man Bites Dog
Shakes The Clown
My Cousin Vinny
Delicatessen
A League of Their Own
Diggstown
Honeymoon In Vegas

1993

Strictly Ballroom
Groundhog Day
Army of Darkness
Mad Dog and Glory
Dave
So I Married an Axe Murderer
True Romance
Dazed and Confused
The Snapper

1994

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
The Ref
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Mask
Barcelona
The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Pulp Fiction
Clerks
Bullets Over Broadway
The Last Seduction
Junior
Dumb and Dumber

1995

Funny Bones
Major Payne
Tommy Boy
Clueless
Get Shorty
Toy Story

1996

Happy Gilmore
Bottle Rocket
Fargo
The Birdcage
Flirting With Disaster
The Great White Hype
The Cable Guy
Kingpin
Freeway
Swingers
Citizen Ruth

1997

Waiting For Guffman
Private Parts
Liar Liar
Chasing Amy
Grosse Point Blank
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
Austin Powers
Love Seranade
The Full Monty
In & Out
As Good As It Gets
Wag The Dog

1998

Zero Effect
The Wedding Singer
The Big Lebowski
Primary Colors
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
Bulworth
The Opposite of Sex
Henry Fool
I Went Down
Out of Sight
There’s Something About Mary
Happiness
Pleasantville
The Waterboy
Hard Core Logo
Waking Ned Devine
Rushmore

1999

Still Crazy
Office Space
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Analyze This
Ten Things I Hate About You
Go!
SLC Punk!
Election
The Castle
Notting Hill
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut
American Pie
Bowfinger
Being John Malkovich
Toy Story 2
Galaxy Quest

Feel free to add any others...

Posted by: Hallick at April 15, 2009 07:30 PM

Billy Madison, Mallrats, Adventures of Ford Fairlane.

Posted by: LexG at April 15, 2009 07:49 PM

A lot of stuff on this list, like Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, As Good As It Gets, I'd classify as a drama. And Delicatessen as a sort of sci-fi fantasy.

My addition: CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL.

Posted by: jeffmcm at April 15, 2009 07:54 PM

AWESOME! the '90 rocked comedies

superterrificrogenslim lists, hallick, and some ALL-TIME flicks

(perm, i think you stand corrected)

Posted by: leahnz at April 15, 2009 08:05 PM

If you discount movies that aren't comedies and the ones that weren't loved then and now (Major Payne?) that list is looking pretty paltry. With some of those choices, I don't see why you didn't list, say...Die Hard 3 because there was a lot of comedy in that too. More jokes than Miller's Crossing, at least.

And a lot of those don't hold up to what's going on now, which I think is a great new wave of comedy. It's like horror...if I said the late 80s/early to mid 90s were shit for horror (which is true) and you brought up Halloween 5 or 6...I mean yeah those are horror movies, but I can't count them because they are just so horrible. I remember back in the day if you wanted to see a horror movie for Halloween, a stupid Halloween sequel was all you got. Ugh, don'tget me started on the dudes who complain about no good horror being made now...grow up in the 90s and get back to me.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 15, 2009 09:28 PM

Remember what we were talking about earlier -- the notion that you can take something with name-recognition value (The Spirit, The Green Hornet), but isn't widely known, and feel you can do whatever you want with it? Well, today Fox announced plans to turn the '50s sitcom Father Knows Best into a movie. OK, I have to ask, seriously: How many people here have actually ever seen an episode of this show?

Posted by: Joe Leydon at April 15, 2009 09:28 PM

Not me!

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 15, 2009 09:36 PM

"And a lot of those don't hold up to what's going on now, which I think is a great new wave of comedy."

List 'em! I gotta have something to go by here.

Posted by: Hallick at April 15, 2009 10:11 PM

"A lot of stuff on this list, like Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, As Good As It Gets, I'd classify as a drama. And Delicatessen as a sort of sci-fi fantasy."

As Good As It Gets is more of a comedy with serious moments than a drama. Delicatessen is more sci-fi fantasy to me too, but there are people who think it's hilarious, so I threw it on the list.

Posted by: Hallick at April 15, 2009 10:40 PM

I'd give you 1998-99 as the start of it, with Election, Rushmore, Office Space, South Park, and especially Austin Powers. Even though Big Lebowski is the king of them, for some reason I don't count it because the Coens had done that type of thing before.

Then I guess the newer wave to me would be the Ben Stiller/Will Ferrell/Judd Apatow group.

Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Anchorman, Step Brothers, 40 Year Old Virgin, Dodgeball, Tenacious D, Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, Talladega Nights, Team America, Knocked Up, Wedding Crashers, Elf, Bad Santa, Old School. There are of couse tons more by these guys, but these are the ones that I think are the best. Tommy Boy or Major Payne aren't even close.

I don't think Team America would have been financed in 1996.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 15, 2009 10:41 PM

Quick Change is so bloody good! It would probably be one of my "desert island flicks" that I could watch all day long.

What about the Home Alone and Sister Act movies from that '90s rundown. I've watched them a lot (I grew up on them and I've seen Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit more times that I'm willing to admit, but I do know that movie almost word for word) and they seem pretty darn comedic to me.

Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at April 16, 2009 01:11 AM

I'd call those comedies. Hmmm, maybe when I'm saying "comedies" I mean comedies not made for the whole family that a 30 year old adult male would want to watch.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 16, 2009 05:59 AM

Great White Hype was hilarious despite being an incredible mess. I would rewatch that and Cable guy before going anywhere near Tropic Thunder, Anchorman, or Step Brothers again.

That being said I agree the Apatow crowd has talent but they are way too self-indulgent and willing to ride a joke way too long.

Posted by: hcat at April 16, 2009 06:57 AM

I'd agree about Cable Guy. I remember that movie getting shit on constantly, and I watch it and I'm thinking, what are they talking about? It's a great movie and one of Carrey's few decent comedies, in my opinion.

While Step Brothers isn't great...I like the style of comedy where you can have a long funny scene at a dinner table. Just straight character humor that's not based on being hit or screaming fat idiots.

Anchorman is the Caddyshack or Animal House for this generation.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 16, 2009 07:09 AM

Yeah, Anchorman seems to be the one that everyone I know agrees on. Lots of different tastes for comedy in my circle of friends but not a single detractor there.

Posted by: Eric at April 16, 2009 07:40 AM

If I'm not mistaken, Apatow wrote the shooting draft of The Cable Guy, but didn't get credited.

Dodgeball? Yikes. I think Dave liked it, too, and it had a couple of moments, but I'd see Tommy Boy ten more times before I'd watch Dodgeball again.

Posted by: yancyskancy at April 16, 2009 08:11 AM

Perm - Wasn't Step Brothers all about them hitting each other and being screaming idiots? And I thought Dodgeball was hilarious the first time I saw it but when it plays on cable I get bored immediatly. And how are we talking about trends in comedy without mentioning Borat and Bruno.

Posted by: hcat at April 16, 2009 09:55 AM

Jesus, I'm a terrible speller.

Posted by: hcat at April 16, 2009 09:58 AM

The funniest things in Step Brothers - the scenes with them sleepwalking and anything to do with Adam Scott and Kathryn Hahn - did not involve hitting or screaming.

Posted by: jeffmcm at April 16, 2009 10:07 AM

Yes Jeff, the movie was not one long 3 stooges sketch but a lot of the comedy in that movie was based on them physically attacking each other and running around like complete assholes, which I admit some of that was funny. I just thought it was strange to make a point about character based humor with a movie that was mostly juvenile screaming.

Posted by: hcat at April 16, 2009 10:24 AM

Well, I specifically mentioned the dinner table scene. There's a lot of character humor in that movie that isn't based on physical humor. Dinner table, the brother and his co-worker, the end song and the weirdness that acompanied it, them threatening each other in their beds. I'd say it was a far cry from, say, Chris Farley. You could say Farrell plays variations of the same character in every movie, but Chris Farley played THE same character in every movie.

I'm so glad the days of Saturday Night Live stars making movies is basically over. Did we need Superstar or Coneheads or that one where Will Ferrell and the other guy played the loser swingers?

And yeah, not mentioning Borat and Bruno is a huge oversight.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 16, 2009 01:30 PM

Major Payne is on my list as a personal favorite because Damaon Wayans' character is so unrelentingly fucked up and wrong to be in a little kids movie. That juxtaposition is inspired to me.

Comedies get better on the shoulders of the comedies that were better in the previous generations. Without comedies from the 90s, you don't get your Stiller/Rogen/Apatow classics.

Posted by: Hallick at April 16, 2009 07:11 PM

"Major Payne is on my list as a personal favorite because Damaon Wayans' character is so unrelentingly fucked up and wrong to be in a little kids movie. That juxtaposition is inspired to me."

That seemed to be a trend in the mid nineties with Ace Ventura and Happy Madison. These deplorable assholes who we are supposed to root for because they love kittens and their grandma. Sandler has never really had the guts to play a real misanthrope like Thornton in Bad Santa. He always plays a jerk with a soft sticky redeemable center.

Posted by: hcat at April 17, 2009 01:56 PM

Ace Ventura fails for me because I think it would have been really funny if they played Ace as in the real world. So everyone should fidn the guy completely bizarre. But no, they have to kiss Carrey's ass and have him getting liad by loads of hot women.

That's why I like Cable Guy, where his freakish nature is played with other characters well. You know, I really like Ben Stiller as a director, I wish he did it more. He has an interesting grasp of comedy (although Tropic Thunder needed some major rewrites) and they always look great. They're not "point and shoot" fests like so many other comedies...Zoolander is shot like a real thriller.

Posted by: The Big Perm at April 17, 2009 05:18 PM

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April 13, 2009

The Spirit: The Surprising Blu-Ray Experience

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