Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis

Posted on July 30, 2010 Written by ripitup

Bored to Death starring Ted Danson, Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis — Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis. 2009. Created by Jonathan Ames. Image via daemonstv.com

Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman) is a writer who keeps talking about writing his second novel but he has not quite gotten around to it. He also occasionally writes for a magazine where he is good friends with his boss, George Christopher (Ted Danson). They hang out and even smoke pot together. And it is because Jonathan loves smoking pot and drinking white wine a little too much that his girlfriend Suzanne (Olivia Thirlby) moves out…

Jonathan’s best friend is Ray (Zach Galifianakis), a not-so-employed comic book creator. Ray has a girlfriend, Leah (Heather Burns), who has two kids of her own and his biggest problem is that they haven’t had sex for a couple of weeks. And even though Ray is probably not the most rational person around, he does find Jonathan’s new “job” insane.

Trying to cope with Suzanne leaving, Jonathan posts on Craiglist, saying that he is not a licensed, yet affordable and capable private detective. And he soon finds his first client…

This is a comedy series from HBO and even though it is not as daring as Sex and The City or True Blood, it is quite an entertaining show. I didn’t use to like Jason Schwartzman as he had made a habit of playing annoying parts; but here he is perfect as Jonathan and with all his flaws, Jonathan is a likeable character. Ray is more amusing than hilarious but it works. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Ray is played by Zach Galifianakis ,who you do remember from The Hangover where he plays Alan, the weirdest of the bunch. I just want to laugh as soon as I see his face.

Ted Danson is a charming actor who fits both comedy and drama equally well and his George is an original, interesting and often entertaining character.

This is not a sitcom and not exactly a laugh-out-loud comedy but each episode gets more entertaining and fun to watch. Episode 2 is definitely funnier than episode 1 and having seen 3 episodes so far, 3 is my favorite.

The show is created by Jonathan Ames who has named the leading character after himself. So I am guessing there is some relation to his real life. The first season only has 8 episodes but the show will be back for season 2. Bored to Death is a really refreshing and sweet show for both men and women.

Fun note: In episode 2, the client that hires Jonathan is played by Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig and in episode 3, the movie Broken Flowers’s writer/director Jim Jarmusch makes a guest appearance as himself.

Give this refreshing show a shot. Rated at 8.3 on IMDB.

Real Jonathan Ames and Jason Jason Schwartzman.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis

Posted on July 26, 2010 Written by ripitup

Forgetting Sarah Marshall starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. Written by Jason Segel and directed by Nicholas Stoller. 2008. Image via 3.bp.blogspot.com

Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is a musician working on the music of a popular crime TV series, starring Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Peter also has been dating Sarah for 5.5 years and he is still very much in love with her. That’s why he is devastated when she dumps her for another guy. Peter gets seriously depressed and despite the common sense his stepbrother Brian (Bill Hader) tries to talk into him, he tries to get over Sarah by going to bed with any woman he meets. When he realizes this is not the cure, he decides to go to Hawaii, thinking that maybe an exotic vacation might help him cheer up.

However what he finds in Hawaii is his ultimate nightmare, as Sarah and her new boyfriend, obnoxious but extremely popular British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) are there on vacation. Sarah is uncomfortable but Aldous couldn’t care less whether Peter was there or not. So Peter’s vacation is off to a terrible start, except for the one fact. The hotel desk clerk/guest manager Rachel (Mila Kunis) is nice, gorgeous, fun and has a good sense of humor. So in between trying to get over Sarah, meeting the weird but funny hotel workers (stoned surfer Chuck, the Aldous-obsessed waiter, sea turtles and fish-loving bartender, gentle but gigantic food server and the even weirder hotel guest- the newly married, devout Christian who is having sexual problems with his wife and sharing them all with them) and romancing Rachel, Peter’s Hawaii vacation gets crazier and much more complicated than he ever envisioned.

If I had to use one word to describe Forgetting Sarah Marshall, that word would be hilarious. This movie is one of the best comedies I have seen. It is original, funny, cute, entertaining and romantic all at the same time. While this is not your typical romcom, it is definitely not your typical crude comedy etiher. The writer of the film is How I Met Your Mother and I Love You, Man star Jason Segel. While the comedy series How I met your mother never hit home with me, I knew Jason Segel had comedic talent when I watched I Love You, Man. However as it turns out, Jason can also write marvelous comedy as the writing credits of this hilarious film are his.

Yes, the movie does contain some typical romcom elements: Such as the guy tries to get over a girl and then meets another girl and we root for him to get the second girl. But this movie is never all about Peter trying to hook up or end up with Rachel as the supporting characters are always ready in the background to make you laugh. I had a laugh out of every single character in the film.

And while the humor includes male nudity, sex, awkward sex attempts, mentions and implications of blow jobs , sex pointers on the beach and more, Jason Segel has managed to make everything funny and not disgusting.

The Cast:

It is also fun to see a cast you are familiar with. There is a big chance the actors will look very familiar to you.

*Chuck the surf instructor is played by Paul Rudd who you may have known from his movie roles in Clueless, The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, Knocked Up, Role Models, “I Love You, Man”, I Could Never Be Your Woman or his co-starring role in Friends as Mike Hannigan. Paul Rudd is charming and can be funny in any role. While he is not exactly what you can call a diverse actor, he does pull off comedy well.

*Jason Segel stars as Marshall on the hit comedy How I Met Your Mother and has been Marshall since 2005. And he does share some movies with Paul Rudd.

* This is the first time I see Mila Kunis in a movie as I am more familiar with her as Jackie from That 70’s Show. She is playing a pretty different character here and she really is good.

*Sarah Marshall is brilliantly played by Kristen Bell, who I had never seen her play a “bitch” before. She is famous for her title role in the detective TV show Veronica Mars that went on for 3 seasons. She is also the voice on Gossip Girl. While she is never seen, her voice is present in every episode. She also starred in movies When in Rome, Couples Retreat and the sort of spin-off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall- Get Him to The Greek. Get Him to The Greek is a comedy written and directed by Nicholas Stoller, who also directed Sarah Marshall. It features Russell Brand as Aldous Snow one more time. While Russell hit the target here, I am not sure I can take him through another movie. But I guess Nicholas Stoller deserves a chance as he wrote the scripts of Yes Man and Fun with Dick & Jane, two of my favorite Jim Carrey movies.

*It’s refreshing to see Jonah Hill appear in a movie without Seth Rogen around. While I don’t particularly like him, he doesn’t bother me in small doses. You might remember Jonah from Knocked Up, Funny People or The Invention of Lying.

*The stepbrother Brian is played by Bill Hader, a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has stints on two Saturday Night Live episodes I covered: One stars Jon Bon Jovi and the other Gerard Butler. Trust me, if you see those stints, you will recognize Bill Hader.

There is another SNL cast member on the show: Kristen Wiig. She keeps getting small roles in movies. You can also see her in Whip It and Ghost Town.

7.4 on IMDB, voted by over 70.000 voters. I have no objections.

Trivia: In the fictional tv show that is starring Sarah Marshall co-stars a male detective who is played by William Baldwin, one of Alec Baldwin’s brothers. And there is very little Jason Bateman cameo as well who co-stars with Kristen Bell in Couple’s Retreat.

Buy Forgetting Sarah Marshall on Amazon.com at $ 9.99

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais

Posted on February 12, 2010 Written by ripitup

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni and Greg Kinnear. Fun, fun, fun.

Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is an anti-social, cynical and bitter dentist. His “love” for human beings is as impressive as Gregory House’s, really. Of course since Pincus is being portrayed by Gervais, everything he does or says is just really funny.

Something really weird happens after Pinus gets a minor procedure done at the hospital. He realizes (to his utter disgust) that dead people can see and talk to him. In fact, he is the only alive person who seems to have this “power” so all the dead New Yorkers become his stalkers. They all have unfinished businesses and they need to get those done before they can leave this world for good.

The most persistent and annoying one of them all is the smooth and cocky Frank (Greg Kinnear). Now, Frank is the worst because he doesn’t even know what his final purpose is; but he is quite convinced that it has something to the with his widowed wife Gwen (Téa Leoni). He did cheat on Gwen a lot when he was alive but for some reason he considers himself his guardian angel. His mission is to break her relationship with her current boyfriend and Pincus is just forced to cooperate. He realizes Gwen is hot so he decides to try flirting. At first he sucks at it, but then as he slowly bonds with her, he begins regretting it already…

A typical romantic comedy has been combined with some typical Ricky Gervais humor and along with Kinnear’s adorable “bastard” character, the movie is just fun. I has many clichés but the good jokes and funny parts make up for it.

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais and Téa Leoni — This is how comedy is done. Sometimes it is not about being original (well, some parts are original) but about being truly hilarious...

The role is just made for Gervais. He is cheeky and funny. I especially love all his lines in the hospital. Téa and Greg are more than adaquate and are perfectly cute. The hilairous doctor in the hospital is SNL’s Kristen Wiig.

Totally agree with imdb’s 7.0/10 on this one. As romcoms get, this is one of the really good ones.

Also on Ricky Gervais:

Golden Globes Highlights – Ricky Gervais

The Invention of Lying

on Kristen Wiig

Whip It

Gerard Butler and Saturday Night Live

on Saturday Night Live

Jon Bon Jovi Hosts Snl

Whip It starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis

Posted on February 4, 2010 Written by ripitup

Whip It, starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis

Fun. This movie was just really fun. Roller-skating, dreams, romance, family issues and friendship came together beautifully.

Ellen Page (Juno, Inception) plays Bliss, a 17-year-old girl more into indie and bohemian stuff rather than her mother’s (Marcia Gay Harden) obsessive interest in beauty pageants. Bliss and her best friend are bored to death by their small town Bodeen and Bliss finds the perfect escapism when she gets a flyer for a roller derby in Austin.

These roller-skating chicks fascinate her. She works really hard and manages to get into a team. This is where the fun actually starts. Her team mates (rap singer Eve, Drew Barryomore, Saturday Night Live’ s Kristen Wiig) are all fun loving young(ish) women with fun nicknames. Their coach is a nice guy named Razor (Andrew Wilson) whose problem is that while his team loves the game, they don’t seem to mind losing all the time. So he is delighted to have Bliss: she is fast and determined. She has many problems though: She doesn’t seem tough enough and her biggest rival Maven (Juliette Lewis) really hates her. She has lied about her age to get in and her parents have no idea what she is really doing….

Yeah, this is one of those coming-of-age stories. We watch Bliss’ first passion, first love (band singer Oliver, played by Landon Pigg), her relationship with her not-always-understanding parents. But Drew Barrymore (also the director of the movie) has done a great job of entertaining the audience and making us empathize with the characters. Despite all the themes you have seen before (maybe with the exception of a roller derby), the movie has a certain freshness to it. All the actors are lovely but of course Ellen Page owns the film. The movie is based on the novel of Shauna Cross. Shauna Cross wrote the screenplay herself.

Rated 7.1 on IMDB. I think anywhere between 6-7 is just fine.

Fun Facts:
– Despite looking really 17, Ellen Page is actually 23 in this movie.

– Landon Pigg is really a singer in real life, this is first major role.

– The coach is played by Andrew Wilson, who is the brother of Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson.

– The roller derby is host is played by Jimmy Fallon.

– Pay attention how “Pash and Bliss” rewrite the lyrics of the song Joleen for Bodeen.