Movie Review: The Trip to Greece (2020)

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First things first: Steve Coogan is okay. Last seen facing a cryptic and uncertain fate in North Africa at the end of the quixotic Trip to Spain, Coogan is alive and well and ready to impression battle another day with his offscreen friend/onscreen frenemy Rob Brydon in the fourth and final installment of director Michael Winterbottom's series, The Trip to Greece.

By design, of course, the structure remains the same. In each new eye-candy filled Trip, we watch in envy as the two actors indulge in six mouthwatering meals which take place in six out-of-this-world locations under the guise that they plan to write a book or article about their experience. However, as first evidenced saw in Winterbottom's brilliant sophomore entry The Trip to Italy and again in Spain and now Greece, the works are as singular as they are familiar.

Airing first in the UK as a miniseries before each venture is chopped down into the length of a film for distribution, the Trip titles, which pay tribute to the arts and culture synonymous with each setting, are much more than just picturesque travelogues for foodies.

Modeled on Homer's The Odyssey, just like its eponymous hero Odysseus took ten years to return home, The Trip to Greece finds precisely the right note upon which to end the series, especially given that — having started in 2010 — it's taken the screen exaggerated versions of Coogan and Brydon ten years to put away their suitcases and head home as well.

Cramming Odysseus' ten year journey into their six day trip from Troy to Ithaca, Greece layers in the dramatic themes of Homer's work — particularly with regard to mortality and a son's search for his father — into the film's otherwise, irresistibly funny trademark banter. Punctuated by many of the impressions we've seen in earlier entries as well as some wildly creative new material — Barry Gibb joins the party, Coogan and Brydon engage in dueling Dustin Hoffmans, and they fantasy cast Ray Winstone into Shakespeare — it's a great way to build on old gags while also giving us just enough surprises to ensure it isn't a straight up repeat.

Forever making me wonder just how on Earth anyone dining nearby doesn't immediately crack-up as they go from competitively trying to one-up the other man's impression to engaging in a friendly swim race since they are in the land that gave us the Olympics after all, Greece is as winning as it is thoughtful. And much like the other installments in the series, which has drawn worthwhile comparisons to Richard Linklater's Before trilogy starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, viewers hovering around middle age will unquestioningly relate to the topics and themes touched on throughout.

Gorgeously shot by veteran Trip lensman James Clarke, Greece is filled once again with the music of longtime Winterbottom collaborator Michael Nyman, whose introspective piano music from the original has become one of the series' richest motifs.

As a genuine fan, admittedly, I'm with Coogan and Brydon in hoping that one of my favorite film franchises will be revived in another decade or so (which kind of adheres to Before's schedule). However, if this is indeed the last hurrah, as series mastermind Michael Winterbottom believes it to be then — trapped halfway between comedy and tragedy, with both life and The Trip's Odyssey coming full circle — it's ending exactly the way it should. For whatever happens, this time you know that Coogan and Brydon will be okay and more than that, we're all the richer for having ventured along.

Text ©2020, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. https://www.filmintuition.com  Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made off my site through ad links. FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy or screener link of this title in order to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique. Cookies Notice: This site incorporates tools (including advertiser partners and widgets) that use cookies and may collect some personal information in order to display ads tailored to you etc. Please be advised that neither Film Intuition nor its site owner has any access to this data beyond general site statistics (geographical region etc.) as your privacy is our main concern.

Movie Review: Hot Air (2018)

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As a self-described "deliverer of hard truths" who knows full well that it's not love but anger that keeps him on the air everyday, alt-right shock jock radio host Lionel Macomb (Steve Coogan) implores his listeners to bring him their "rage."

Ranting about personal responsibility while simultaneously blaming the other (liberals, immigrants, etc.), Lionel is challenged to practice what he preaches by his sixteen-year-old niece Tess (Taylor Russell) who tracks him down when her mother lands in rehab and she needs a place to stay. Calling him a hypocrite when his first instinct is to kick her out of his posh New York apartment because that would mean relying on a governmental program — child services — to pick up the slack, after the brainy Tess threatens to send out a tweet arguing that what her uncle says and does are two very different things, Lionel gives in.

Impressed by both the girl's moxie as well as her aptitude for mental chess as the two relatives test each other's boundaries, Lionel rebounds back from a predictably rocky beginning by bringing his newfound niece to work with him at the radio station. Hoping to use any issues that the liberal minded, open-hearted Tess cares about as fodder for his daily bile, after he ambushes her on the air for a soundbite, she calls him out on his unwillingness to engage in any real debate since he's armed with sound effects, a production team, and the mute button.

A welcome opportunity to satirize the role that rancorous shows like Lionel's play in further dividing the populace as the new breed of infotainment that — neither informative or entertaining — runs on anger, Hot Air might crib a scene straight out of Network, but Lionel's venom goes largely unchecked from start to finish. Rather than zero in on any one argument (maddeningly, even when it ties right into the overall plot), Hot Air leaves politics behind to concern itself with the architect behind the angry airwaves instead.

Unsure whether to focus on Lionel's personal or professional awakening, the script written by first time screenwriter Will Reichel unsuccessfully tries to combine the two arcs and becomes a big mute button in the process. Unwilling to fully explore just who the unlikable character really is in both spheres of his life, whenever Hot Air stars to veer over the line of acceptability to show us Lionel cheating on his lovely publicist girlfriend or bullying a caller who turns out to be a child or a veteran, the film overcorrects. Pulling us back from the edge, Air tries to paint our politically incorrect lead in a still politically correct light when it could've benefited from presenting him to the viewer, warts and all. And although it hints at more depth as the walls that Lionel hides behind start to crumble when Tess' arrival forces him to come face-to-face with his past, Reichel's script routinely comes up short.

By now a veritable pro at evoking empathy from viewers regardless of how unsavory his characters are — not to mention uniquely qualified to play a larger than life radio host, thanks to his turns in Alan Partridge and 24 Hour Party People — Coogan takes to this role like a flag pin to Lionel's suit jacket. In fact he's so good here that he nearly fools you into thinking the film is more cohesive than it is from start to finish. Yet, featuring fine support from Neve Campbell and Skylar Astin, Hot Air is less a one man show for the always compelling Coogan than a capable two-hander between himself and talented up and comer Russell, who manages to not only hold her own with her costars but also pull focus as the one character we remain wholeheartedly invested in throughout.

Though augmented by its performances, the otherwise ambitious Air is in desperate need of a rewrite, which could've netted a slightly bigger budget for a film where far too many scenes feel like they're missing, rushed, or unfinished. And while The Wedding Singer director Frank Coraci — reteaming here with his Around the World in 80 Days star Coogan — knows how to make an affable movie and Russell and Coogan share some charming scenes, Air's lightness never feels earned. Pushing us in a few different directions, while the last thing we want is to bring Lionel our rage, Hot Air would've worked so much better if it had followed Lionel's lead and delivered to audiences some hard truths about American politics as well as the man behind the microphone who spends his days stoking the fires of hate.

Text ©2019, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. https://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy or screener link of this title in order to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique. Cookies Notice: This site incorporates tools (including advertiser partners and widgets) that use cookies and may collect some personal information in order to display ads tailored to you etc. Please be advised that neither Film Intuition nor its site owner has any access to this data beyond general site statistics (geographical region etc.) as your privacy is our main concern.

Blu-ray Review: Philomena (2013)

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In Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, Alan Alda’s sound bite ready TV executive argues that comedy is tragedy plus time before insensitively bungling an example of the less than well thought out point he was trying to make, which is that anything – including the Lincoln assassination – is fair game for hilarity since enough time has passed.

Obviously, it’s an absolute disaster of a reference that in addition to cracking us up owes a lot to another pop culture truism which argues that you’re the sum of your tastes. And while Allen gets a lot of mileage out of it in revealing so much about a person (as well as the overall film) in just that one line, it also reminds you just how much humor and tragedy depend on one another in a symbiotic relationship to deliver the strongest and most identifiable characters and situations as captured onscreen.

But perhaps no one was better at whipping up a realistic blend of comedy and tragedy than the immigrants turned filmmakers who first got their start in Hollywood in the pre-World War II era of the Great Depression from Lubitsch to Wilder.

And while the proof of this goes back as far as the '30s, it was arguably Billy Wilder that aced the delicate combination of teary laughter to greatest effect during his '50s and '60s heyday. In fact, Billy Wilder’s audacity in launching funny side up into the most melancholic of situations with frequent muse Jack Lemmon in The Apaartment (and countless others) continues to inspire new generations of filmmakers to this day.

And it was precisely this trademark Wilder sardonic wit blended together with the influence of the Gene Saks directed adaptation of Neil Simon’s timeless play The Odd Couple that encouraged comedic character actor Steve Coogan in his latest offering, which marks a great change of pace for the star.

Inspired not only by the distinctly Wilderesque tone but the Odd Couple character driven plot device of two opposites who clashed their way into a friendship after seeing a sad article in The Guardian that was contrasted by a companion photo of the subjects laughing, Coogan bought the rights to the book from which the piece was derived without having read it.

Based on a true story about Irish Catholic nuns that kept thousands of babies born to unwed mothers at their Abbey lodgings apart from the young girls who bore them, Philomena centers on one woman’s search for the son who’d been adopted away from her fifty years earlier.

A horrific practice that as cinematically depicted is guaranteed to shock like no film since The Magdalene Sisters (which was also produced by daring arthouse champions the Weinstein brothers), this miscarriage of justice didn’t end until the 1990s and by that point so many records had been destroyed that for many all hope for a family reunion had been lost.

Given the sensitive topic, Coogan is the first to admit that adapting the work allowed him to get out some of his own pent up anger at the hypocrisy of the church as a former Catholic school student (and as one in the same who likewise feels the same, this reviewer definitely felt a kinship with his take). Yet in adapting the book along with ITV fact-based production department head Jeff Pope, the two still show respect for and accurately represent the devout faith of the woman whose story they are bringing to life.

Although he’d initially intended to direct the film, when Coogan managed to land his first choice in actress Judi Dench (for whom he’d written the role), Coogan realized she needed a first class filmmaker worthier of the star. Likewise, he wanted someone who could make the most out of the tale that offered both Coogan and Dench an opportunity to explore their own background in casting that was decidedly against type.

As such he turned to one of contemporary cinema’s greatest yet most frequently overlooked directors of actors in the form of Stephen Frears who’s spent a majority of his career guiding countless performers (and women in particular) to Oscar recognition. In that respect, you could almost go as far as to say that Frears is the UK’s version of Woody Allen, except for the fact that he doesn’t write his own scripts and instead uses that distance to his benefit in knowing what to keep and change.

Attracted to the universality of the material which Coogan particularly liked because it offered the usually funny man something new to do, Philomena finds the actor in professionally similar terrain to the character he played when he first caught my attention via Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People, which again was rooted in more character driven plotlines than multiplex-friendly gimmicks.

Though he’s playing another journalist that’s likewise based on a real life individual, Coogan took artistic liberties to infuse his character Martin Sixsmith (who was barely in the book) with more of his own background. Crafting a hybrid of himself and Sixsmith, he’s helped set the stage for a personality based clash of manners and cultures among the leads when the snobbish, recently sacked BBC newsman grudgingly goes on the road with former nurse, Philomena (Dench).

Barely able to hide his disenchantment, he nonetheless wants to milk all of the pain she’s been through for a killer personal interest story he hopes will put him back on top. Soon enough and against all odds, he finds himself getting caught up in the search for her son for real rather than the exploitative professional gain he’d hoped to get for penning a story he’d ordinarily never even read.

And when he begins to realize how much Philomena has been manipulated over the years, Martin’s previously professional instinct is usurped in favor of a desire to protect and help her get to the bottom of the heart-wrenching mystery as the originally cold, calculating Martin begins to gradually unthaw.

Although initially his character is so unlikable that we’re not sure how we can get behind him, the fascinating premise and primal emotional pull of a mother separated from her child grabs us from the start. Admittedly contrived at times, Philomena nonetheless pushes back against any clichés and conveniences due to the undeniably moving performance of the Oscar nominated Dench in the Oscar nominated script that strikes a delicate, respectable balance of tragedy and comedy.

Likewise, by surprisingly dealing out the comedy to Dench rather than Coogan and similarly putting his own male lead through the existential ringer helps make their characters that much more multifaceted and believable in the way everything is experienced with both humor and heart.

A terrific multi-generational tale of unlikely friendship disguised as an emotional family mystery, Philomena works very well on a number of different levels simultaneously.

A film about the past that’s set in the present, Frears, Coogan and Pope were right to likewise venture to the past for their present day picture – paying homage to the Hollywood masters of yesteryear while incidentally doing the same in telling a tale that started fifty years earlier when Philomena was a teenager in Ireland and Billy Wilder’s The Apartment was most likely playing in Dublin.

Text ©2014, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

TV on DVD: The Mighty Boosh -- The Complete Series 1-3 (2004-2007)

The BBC Cult Comedy Hit Is
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In a comedic series that defies labels and anything resembling basic structure, we're beckoned to "come with" our hosts Howard Moon (Julian Barratt) and Vince Noir (Noel Fielding) "on a journey through time and space" via the trippy and brief theme song that leads into the start of each and every episode of The Mighty Boosh.

Furthermore, unless you're familiar with the world of The Boosh, it's nearly impossible to describe to others since the series illogically changes setting, direction, and every other tried and true storytelling principle in each of the three seasons of the smash BBC cult sensation. However that's precisely what makes you have to tune in and decide for yourself just what the hell this particular band of Brits were up to when they unleashed The Boosh on the masses-- helped to TV when Steve Coogan and Henry Normal caught the live stage show and became instant fans.

Yet challenging and enticing new converts even more, The Mighty Boosh changes its course several times over in any given episode that comprises these vibrantly packaged, space-saving two-disc sets. Therefore, in lieu of a 1-3 "journey," if you're adventurous, you have the luxury to watch them in any particular order you choose in deciding which ones make you laugh and which ones repulse or just don't work for you on quite the same level.

With a weakness for anything offered up to audiences from the company boasting those magical three letters that seem synonymous with quality-- the "BBC"-- I went into The Boosh without a map, compass, or any idea just what to expect. In doing so I barely read the box or press release before only a few episodes in, I found myself needing to do just that, wondering how such a show had come to air in the first place.

The first season is set at the "Zooniverse" where the men's dimwitted boss Bob Fossil forgets the name of animals to the point that he inadvertently plays Taboo with kids on a field trip by describing the "gray leg face man" that a kid finally guesses is an elephant. And doubling the fun of the series creators and stars-- the first episode tests your willingness to go along with the journey of their fictitious alter-egos-- as Fossil blackmails Moon with naked photos for him to fight a kangaroo. Yeah, you're not exactly going to see that on a very special episode of... well, anything on this side of the pond that's made on this side of the pond.

For the series, the guys use their off-screen talents for their fictitious onscreen personae as the musically gifted Julian Barratt manages to weave music throughout the series as the clueless jazz aficionado Howard Moon whereas the artistically inclined Noel Fielding employs his penchant for painting and art as Vince Noir.

And admittedly together the two seem to be an unlikely pair of friends yet the classic "odd couple" balance of the two works and their best scenes are together as they manipulate one another endlessly and often in ways wherein undoubtedly Howard Moon-- feeling he's intellectually superior to his hipper friend-- cons Vince Noir in a running gag that always backfires.In a memorable example from the first season, he recruits Vince to make a male panda jealous by flirting with the female to expedite their mating in captivity only for Vince to get the better of the situation.

While the first season stemmed largely from their origins as an improvisational comedy group who tested material in clubs before becoming the official version of The Boosh on the radio and in live shows-- the second season pulled them out of that setting. Additionally, it concerned itself with stronger rewrites-- taking us into much stranger and far more surreal terrain in a lower budgeted apartment set where the guys predominantly hang out along with their Shaman Naboo (Noel's brother Michael Fielding) and Bollo the ape from the Zooniverse.

The first television show in the history of the BBC network to be released online before its UK broadcast-- scoring 36,000 viewers-- the second series became far more complicated in its plot development both to its success and downfall. Having left the safety net of the previous radio scripts and original slightly Monty Python-esque source material behind them in favor of newly written material-- this season became far more daring than the last with a more polished and precise idea of just what they're trying to achieve.

Making the most of the madness of our instinctual night time giggle fits by setting events mostly at night (and frequently giving the illusion of the dark)-- one of the season's zaniest episodes occurs when Vince suddenly goes goth and convinces Howard to cancel his sole annual plan to get out of the house to try and score with two goth girls which of course fails after they raid Naboo's library of dark magic books.

Literally taking us into the light from its nearly gothic look, the season's finale which is a bizarre spin on Cast Away with a little of Chaplin's The Gold Rush thrown in as well is another standout in a season that began to make me yearn a bit for the Zooniverse despite my admiration for their impressive ability to challenge themselves as writers.

Although they attracted the largest audience in the history of a comedy series for BBC Three with the debut of the third season's premiere episode "Eels," the show which again was given an even lower budget than the previous season switches the setting one more time to Dalston's second-hand shop-- The Nabootique.

This found the men of The Boosh going back to their original roots once more to create something out of nothing and hope that it's funny. Again, unfortunately the results are a mixed bag with some of the episodes relying far too heavily on scatological humor and others feeling like a retread of previously trippy escapades and adventures.

Aside from a few moments of true hilarity, I couldn't help feeling that by this point-- often and similar to the previous season-- mostly The Boosh made me sort of half-smile or nod in amusement like those people who say "that's funny" rather than laugh because we admire the talent and intent but not the ultimate result.

Overall, the show seems as though it was made from a purely creative and childlike place of joy fueled solely by "id" with the "play" instinct that most of us have learned to suppress in our lives as adults. And as such, while The Mighty Boosh may often resemble a live action kids cartoon and some parts are indeed animated, it's basically the naughtiest version of Pee Wee's Playhouse crossed with The Wiggles you'll ever see in your life so you'll want to be sure to keep the kids away!

Sure to gain more cult status here in the states thanks to these individual sets from BBC America that also boast loads of commentary tracks and extras (although I found some of the ones I took in to be overly reliant on in-jokes and people they all had in common etc.)-- The Mighty Boosh would likewise make an ideal present for enthusiasts of the work of Science of Sleep director Michel Gondry.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

DVD Review: Tropic Thunder-- 2 Disc Director's Cut

Hitting DVD & Blu-Ray on November 18

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Read the Original Theatrical Review

In honor of November 18th's DVD & Blu-ray release of the Ben Stiller's summer comedy Tropic Thunder, I'm offering you an insider's view of the DVD that DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment were kind enough to send my way. However, before I go into the DVD features, first I'll serve up the first four paragraphs of my original theatrical review of Tropic Thunder, originally published on August 13, 2008.

Tropic Thunder



Director:
Ben Stiller

Former highbrow theatrical director turned filmmaker Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) is in trouble. When the explosives expert (Pineapple Express scene stealer Danny McBride) working on his big budget Vietnam epic film debut misinterprets Cockburn’s temper tantrum for a cue, four million dollars in explosives are wasted, everything is blown to smithereens, and the worst thing is that the camera wasn’t even rolling. Unable to control the actors on his set and already one month behind schedule after just five days of shooting, the British thespian is soon punched in the face very hard by a grip, upon orders shouted via webcam by sleazy studio boss Les Grossman (a hilarious and nearly unrecognizable Tom Cruise).

Out of desperation, he turns to Nick Nolte’s Four Leaf Tayback, the former Vietnam soldier who wrote the book they are adapting — not to mention the type soldier who may not have gotten the memo that the war is over. Visibly relishing his role, Nolte’s Tayback is often framed in a corner spouting off sentence fragments and irrational, obscenity-laced anecdotes that frighten and amuse all at the same time. Advising the mild-mannered Brit to get the actors “off the f***in’ grid” and into “the s***,” Cockburn heeds Tayback’s advice. With the hope that improvisational filmmaking will get the movie back on track, he sets up his “own little personal slice of ‘Nam.”

However, shortly after depositing his cast of five diverse leads deep into the heart of the jungle in order to show his pampered actors he’s really running the show, things go terribly, shockingly wrong. And soon enough the cast find themselves in a real life mini-war of their own when instead of guerilla filmmaking, the men become the target of heroin-trafficking guerillas who’ve mistaken them for DEA soldiers (yeah, I didn’t get that either). Obviously, this proves to be much more than the actors can handle, as they’d signed on with their contractual clauses for perks like gift baskets, TiVo, and luxury items, only to find themselves dodging bullets instead.

Heading up the group is Tropic Thunder’s director and co-writer Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman, a has-been, Rambo-styled action star whose most recent film wherein he played a mentally challenged character — Simple Jack — not only ruined his career but was also named one of the worst films of all time. With his barefooted agent (Matthew McConaughey) behind him, Speedman tries to get back into Hollywood’s spotlight but is worried he’ll be upstaged by his costar, the five time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr. channeling Russell Crowe), an Australian method actor so committed to his craft that he underwent skin pigmentation surgery in order to play an African-American for Cockburn’s film..."

Click Here to Read the Entire Review


The 2-Disc Director's Cut DVD

Although it's dubbed the "director's cut," I couldn't honestly tell a distinct difference between the theatrical version of Tropic Thunder with the feature film presented on the first disc of this set. Yet, for true fans of the movie and those interested in filmmaking in general, the 2-Disc set is ideal with Stiller providing enough added hilarity and down and dirty, gritty behind-the-scenes movie-making 101 examples to make it a terrific investment.

Offering audiences the chance to watch the film with two different commentary tracks including one consisting of the more creative and technical side from the filmmakers of Thunder-- the second track is the more free-wheeling DVD commentary offered up by the cast, including Downey who joked in the film that he doesn't break character until he's recorded the DVD commentary.

Also, perhaps to answer the bad press the movie received shortly before its premiere regarding the "Simple Jack" controversy as Stiller's action movie character Tugg Speedman had recently played a mentally challenged man resulting in a few instances in the film where the word "retarded" is bantered about (more to poke fun at Hollywood ego and industry exploitation than anything else)), there is a quality Public Service Announcement added onto Disc 1 wherein the tagline promises that the only "R" word those with intellectual disabilities deserve is "respect." While it feels a bit forced, it's a worthwhile sentiment and actually should've possibly played before the film as one of the many commercials or trailers as opposed to being buried in a separate menu of Thunder's first disc.

However, fans can rejoice in Thunder mania that fills the entirety of the second disc as we discover co-writer, director and star Ben Stiller's passion for his screenplay that dates back twenty years. In "Before the Thunder," Stiller notes that while he was busy making one of his first and most important screen appearances in a bit part in Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, most of his friends were auditioning for the war movies that were incredibly popular in the late 80's such as Platoon and Hamburger Hill. Noting the ridiculousness of actors who shared with him that their two week boot camp really helped them get into character and bond, Stiller became inspired by the absurdity of pampered actors not realizing how very different it is to actually be in a war as opposed to a movie about war and initially toyed with the premise of a group of actors returning from movie boot camp with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Upon realizing that he just couldn't find away to make it work comically, he set it aside until ten years later when he and actor Justin Theroux (Charlies Angels 2, Mulholland Drive) began e-mailing back and forth various scenes they wrote in the hopes of keeping each other laughing. It's easy to get caught up in Stiller's twenty year passion with Thunder's excellently packaged DVD set as we go into each and every extra which run the gamut from standard "pat each other on the back" electronic press kit generic enthusiasm to some truly hilarious and inventive additions including a fake Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness styled documentary called "Rain of Madness" which chronicles the fake "movie within the movie" and another similar bonus dubbed "Dispatches from the Edge of Madness."

In numerous candid behind-the-scenes interviews and clips including original videotapes from the auditions and various tests, we discover just how damn funny the film's straight man played by Jay Baruchel actually is as we glimpse the film's epic table reading and the way that Downey managed to just launch into his character head-first in a way that made Baruchel share that, "I hadn't laughed this much since Dick Cheney shot that guy in the face." With Downey admitting that they aren't satirizing Hollywood on the same level as Altman's brilliant Player by joking that "we're kind of destroying any leg [we have] to stand on in the future," in Stiller's lampoon styled "love letter to what we do," we realize just how much effort was put into making the comical film look so professional.

In "The Hot LZ," "Blowing Shit Up," "Designing the Thunder," and more, we witness some of the epic undertakings by Stiller and company, whether it's creating a cinematic compilation mix tape of their favorite war scenes for the epic opening sequence which took three weeks and fifty stuntmen to shoot or gauging the level of explosion offered up by the special effects man who Stiller says may be "slightly insane but in a good way," during the incredibly complicated shoot by veteran 2-time Oscar winning cinematographer John Toll (Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, Thin Red Line).

In an entertaining special feature dedicated to "The Cast of the Thunder" which is broken down by the last name of each actor, the cast members riff on their own characters as well as their cast-mates discussing what must have been a creatively freeing shoot filled with improvisation and laughter as well as interesting surprises as the American Humane Association handler for Bertha the water buffalo that carries Jack Black unexpectedly delivered a baby that they named after the comedic actor.

Also including deleted and extended scenes as well as "full mags," to illustrate the number of choices that were made by Stiller and his editor, we finally discover just what happens to Matthew McConaughey's character at the end of the film and learn that the scene stealing dance by a nearly unrecognizable Tom Cruise was the brainchild of Cruise himself, who impulsively started dancing without music during a makeup test.

Featuring promotional material as well-- one amusing bonus consisted of a great MTV Movie Awards promotional spoof as Stiller, Black and Downey all toy with each other's egos by trying to figure out the best way to sell their movie. While it's nearly impossible to absorb the plethora of features included on the disc or listen to all of the available and optional commentary, the 2-Disc Director's Cut really makes one appreciate Thunder on an entirely different level.

Moreover, it makes one realize just how easy it is to overlook the master craftsmanship behind everything as we're far too busy laughing at the performances to fully appreciate the effects, production design and stunning cinematography that makes it seem nearly as authentic as the films it references, even so much as to set up the DVD menus as though we were getting ready to watch Platoon or Apocalypse Now. Of course, once the movie begins with fake ads for "The Fatties" and "Booty Sweat," we realize we aren't exactly in Oliver Stone territory... but it's always nice to escape the realities of war by laughing at men rushing out to go fake one.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Read the 2-Disc DVD Review

Director: Ben Stiller

Former highbrow theatrical director turned filmmaker Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) is in trouble. When the explosives expert (Pineapple Express scene stealer Danny McBride) working on his big budget Vietnam epic film debut misinterprets Cockburn’s temper tantrum for a cue, four million dollars in explosives are wasted, everything is blown to smithereens, and the worst thing is that the camera wasn’t even rolling. Unable to control the actors on his set and already one month behind schedule after just five days of shooting, the British thespian is soon punched in the face very hard by a grip, upon orders shouted via webcam by sleazy studio boss Les Grossman (a hilarious and nearly unrecognizable Tom Cruise).

Out of desperation, he turns to Nick Nolte’s Four Leaf Tayback, the former Vietnam soldier who wrote the book they are adapting — not to mention the type soldier who may not have gotten the memo that the war is over. Visibly relishing his role, Nolte’s Tayback is often framed in a corner spouting off sentence fragments and irrational, obscenity-laced anecdotes that frighten and amuse all at the same time. Advising the mild-mannered Brit to get the actors “off the f***in’ grid” and into “the s***,” Cockburn heeds Tayback’s advice. With the hope that improvisational filmmaking will get the movie back on track, he sets up his “own little personal slice of ‘Nam.”

However, shortly after depositing his cast of five diverse leads deep into the heart of the jungle in order to show his pampered actors he’s really running the show, things go terribly, shockingly wrong. And soon enough the cast find themselves in a real life mini-war of their own when instead of guerilla filmmaking, the men become the target of heroin-trafficking guerillas who’ve mistaken them for DEA soldiers (yeah, I didn’t get that either). Obviously, this proves to be much more than the actors can handle, as they’d signed on with their contractual clauses for perks like gift baskets, TiVo, and luxury items, only to find themselves dodging bullets instead.

Heading up the group is Tropic Thunder’s director and co-writer Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman, a has-been, Rambo-styled action star whose most recent film wherein he played a mentally challenged character — Simple Jack — not only ruined his career but was also named one of the worst films of all time. With his barefooted agent (Matthew McConaughey) behind him, Speedman tries to get back into Hollywood’s spotlight but is worried he’ll be upstaged by his costar, the five time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr. channeling Russell Crowe), an Australian method actor so committed to his craft that he underwent skin pigmentation surgery in order to play an African-American for Cockburn’s film.

While admittedly it’s a risky move to play “blackface,” Downey loses himself completely in the role. He’s a tongue-in-cheek marvel the entire way; vowing to stay in character until he records the DVD commentary track, he immerses himself in a sort of Black Power homage to '70s stars like Richard Roundtree in a way that makes one giggle even before he opens his mouth to deliver another questionably politically incorrect line.

Of course, this is much to the chagrin of the cast’s real African-American actor, Brandon T. Jackson’s Alpa Chino. Still annoyed that the only good black role in the film was given to “Crocodile Dundee,” Chino, who hopes the film will up his credibility from just peddling his soft drink Booty Sweat, doesn’t let him get away with anything, especially when Lazarus lectures him about the “n word” and Chino calls him out on quoting the theme song from TV’s The Jeffersons.

Rounding out the group is Jack Black’s troubled comedian Jeff Portnoy. Much like the other characters we first meet in a series of fake trailers preceding the film, Portnoy is hoping the film will prove his range as well, since he’s mostly known for his drug arrests and overly flatulence-based humor starring in Eddie Murphy-like comedies with titles like "The Fatties: Fart 2". However, when his drug stash gets lost amidst the chaos of their new surroundings, he begins to suffer from withdrawal in a series of escalating scenes with range from disgusting (trying to eat an animal who ingested his last supply) to hilarious as he orders the men to tie him to a tree when they realize they have to storm the drug dealer’s compound in order to rescue Speedman who erroneously assumed this was all part of the movie. Why tie him to a tree? So he won’t do all the heroin in sight, Portnoy explains in a twisted but freakishly logical speech.

Of course, there’s the obligatory straight man played by likable Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky but he’s mostly ignored by the hammy antics of our leads. Filled with Hollywood in-jokes, the film at times feels like an overly long Comedy Central roast of the industry, as each character gets to exorcise their demons and impersonate those they’ve encountered in Tinsletown. And while — much like the funny but uneven Zoolander — there’s enough good stuff involved to keep you interested, you can’t help thinking you’re watching a series of skits that were awkwardly stretched into a feature length film.

From the ads, one would assume that Downey is the highlight and indeed, of the main cast, he’s the one we can’t take our eyes off of, managing to show his chameleon-like nature and astronomical depth following turns in Iron Man, Charlie Bartlett and last year’s brilliant, underrated Zodiac.

However, this being said, the true revelation of the film is none other than former couch jumping Scientologist poster boy, Tom Cruise. Yes, you read that correctly — as the smarmy, amoral, balding, bespectacled, gold chain wearing, chest hair revealing, profanity driven studio head who likes to freak dance to Flo Rida, Tom Cruise all but steals the entire film away from everyone else. In fact, it’s similar to the way that Ben Stiller guest starred in one of Mission Impossible 2’s best spoofs (included on the DVD) as Cruise’s obsessive stunt double.

Playing it ridiculous couldn’t have been a better professional decision for Cruise, given the scathing media attacks and popular opinion backlash over the past few years. Additionally, he reminds us again, just how good he can be when he isn’t preoccupied by arguing with Matt Lauer or criticizing Brooke Shields. While it’s safe to say his role is a composite of many types, as are a majority of the characters featured in the film, Grossman’s overreliance on Diet Coke did make me recall that it’s also the beverage of choice of a certain former head of Miramax (although, like Cruise’s characterization, I’ll let you do your homework in discovering the identity).

As far as his directorial career goes, it’s Stiller’s most ambitious film and it’s certainly impressively executed as it begins with an outstanding sequence that pays homage to the film’s greatest influences, Apocalypse Now and Platoon. However, it’s also guilty of Stiller’s comedic tendency towards “everything and the kitchen sink,” in trying to squeeze in far too much, preferring quantity over quality. Ultimately, I realized the film may have been better off if it had either dropped his character altogether or blended his with the underused Baruchel or Jack Black’s, in order to make the comedy more consistent and strengthen the storyline.

And while on the surface, that may seem like a crazy idea, in the words of Downey’s memorable Kirk Lazarus, “Crazy’s better than nothin’.” Fortunately, while not nearly as hilarious as most critics would have you believe, Tropic Thunder is elevated far above “crazy” or “nothin’,” thanks mostly to the always memorable Downey. However, the real saving grace is again in the surprisingly hysterical turn by Cruise that actually kept viewers in their seats during the credits to see him continue to dance with the most joy since he slid through the entryway in his socks in Risky Business.

Hot Fuzz

Related Review:
The World's End

Director: Edgar Wright

Bad Brits, Bad Brits, Whatcha Gonna Do?

In this inventive spoof of American buddy cop films, the Shaun of the Dead duo (Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright) reunite for Hot Fuzz bringing their distinctive blend of hyper cuts, ironic dialogue matched with contradictory images and witty banter to a film that I liked even more than their previous one.

Pegg stars as Nicholas Angell, the literal "Goody Two Shoes" London police officer (the song even plays during his introduction) whose arrest record is 400% higher than any other officer in the entire department. In the simplest terms, the prodigy with the badge is not only a criminal’s worst nightmare but that of his coworkers as well and, tired of looking like slackers, they give him a promotion and send him off to a country department in Sanford, a town with low crime but increasingly deadly accidents that Nicholas quickly believes to be foul play, making him unpopular in his new community.

Of course, this isn’t helped by the fact that on his first night there, he arrests what seems to be half the town for various offenses, only to realize that one of the men he apprehended is to be his new partner, the eager and hilarious Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), son of the Inspector who plies his partner with questions about carnage and danger.

In a humorous play on the homoerotic subtext of cop films made in the states, Butterman invites Angell in for a night of drinking together on the sofa during a cozy double feature of Point Break and Bad Boys II that seems all the more entertaining after discovering on IMDb that early drafts of Hot Fuzz had given Angell a love interest who was cut from the shooting script but lots of her original dialogue was given instead to Butterman “often without any changes.”

Featuring great bits by Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Steve Coogan and two nearly unrecognizable cameos by Cate Blanchett and Peter Jackson, the film also offers up two juicy roles for Timothy Dalton as a sadistic grocery store owner and Jim Broadbent as the Inspector unsure of how to deal with his new employee, other than making sure he enforces the swear box policy. A movie that, like Mike Judge’s Office Space, is sure to draw an even bigger following on DVD, Hot Fuzz is best shared with friends, especially those up on their 80’s and 90’s American cop movies.