Showing posts with label Will Ferrell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Will Ferrell. Show all posts

Sunday, June 5, 2011

my thoughts on.... 'Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie'

After reading my 'Top 50' list, you all know that I love 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'. It ranks right up there as one of my all time favorite comedies. I can watch it anytime, anywhere and love it from beginning to end. Now, 'Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie' has been on my to do list for quite a while but it didn't come with my version of the film. Netflix didn't seem to have it available to rent, so I waited until I was able to get a hold of it finally. Now I can say that I've seen this film. Basically, what it is.... they took extended scenes, deleted scenes and an entire scrapped subplot to put together this sort of sequel. All of it is of the same quality as the film you're all used to. It's just a whole hell of a lot of new footage. For die hard fans, it'll be obvious where the cuts are and the lack of continuity from the original. That doesn't make this crap, it just makes it not quite a whole film. It is fun to finally get to see more of the characters I love doing new stuff, for that it was worth the wait. I'm actually surprised at how well it turned out, based on the fact that this was pretty much made up of scraps. It also gives me hopes that maybe they'll make a sequel someday.... but only if everyone is back on board again. (It is being discussed and considered.)

The plot is this (taken from http://www.imdb.com): "While Ron Burgundy's rivalry with Veronica Corningstone continues, a group of unprofessional thieves better known as 'The Alarm Clock' try to make the truth known, whatever that may be." That's basically it. The whole Veronica thing seems kind of out of sync with the original film, but it's forgivable. Some of the stuff with The Alarm Clock is pretty damn funny and once again, Steve Carrell steals all the scenes he's in and who doesn't love his character of Brick Tamland?

I highly recommend this film to anyone who is a die hard fan of the original. Anyone else, you may want to think twice before you go into this one. Not that it's bad, it's just that it's more of a companion piece than a sequel. That should be made clear. Almost like a REALLY extended deleted scene. I'm hoping that someday in the near future that I can get this on DVD to go along with my copy of the original film.

Where the original is a wonderful example of 5 star comedy film making, this is more of a 4 star outing. It might only be 3 for those who aren't UBER fans like myself. There is a lot of really good stuff here and it just further solidified the 'Top 50' status of the original based on how solid the outtakes were. If you've never seen the first one, then you really are messing up hard. I really recommend that you go and check it out as soon as you can. I bet if you're a fan of the genre, Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd or Adam McKay films then you'll enjoy it. And after to finish that one, track down this pseudo-sequel and get your entire fill of the joy that is 'Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy'. Stay Classy San Diego?

NOTE: Since there is no official trailer to this film, I've included one of the funnier scenes with the guys. I will never look at burritos or crepes in the same way again. Ugh.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

my brief thoughts on.... 'Megamind'

I love a good cartoon getaway. To lose yourself in a fantasy world for an hour and a half is a refreshing change from the everyday crap. It seems lately that most of the CGI cartoons that have been coming out are really good. I haven't seen too many in the past few years that were terrible. And the fact that 'Megamind' has Brad Pitt, Steve Carrell, David Cross, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill made it sound like a winner right off the bat. Sadly, I didn't have a chance to see it in the theater.... and my kids school have a movie night once a month, so we got to see it there. I liked it right as soon as it started. The storyline was original, the characters were a lot of fun and the writing and animation were crisp and well done. I can tell you right now, before the review really gets going that I recommend this movie to kids and adults alike. There is a bunch of good stuff for everyone.

The basic plot as detailed by IMDB.com: After super-villain Megamind (Ferrell) kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (Pitt), he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight. He creates a new foe, Titan (Hill), who, instead of using his powers for good, sets out to destroy the world, positioning Megamind to save the day for the first time in his life. A bit more of the plot is that Megamind was sent to earth to be safe. His parents stayed behind on his home planet and he was forced to grow up as an outcast and always in Metro Man's shadow. Megamind is constantly trying to create one evil scheme after another, but is perpetually stopped by Metro Man. That's where the IMDB.com plot synopsis picks up. After you've read that synopsis, you can see how this takes the superhero concept and turns it on its ear. It's a fun change of pace after seeing so many of these stories be so similar, to find one that's fresh and unique. It also doesn't hurt that you have quite a few actors who are committed to the comedy of the movie. It doesn't always come through in the CGI format, but it's pulled off well in this case. The only real drawback of having actors that are so well known, is that their voices come through loud and clear as voices we all know. Because of that, it does take a little bit to get into the characters. After a while, that no longer becomes an issue. If you don't mind that one flaw, then I bet that you'll enjoy this movie.

I would like putting this one into my DVD collection, for both the kids and myself. It has re-watchability written all over it. I dropped a full 4 out of 5 stars on this bad boy. It proves that sometimes it's a good day to be a bad guy. I'm kind of wondering if they're planning on making a sequel to this. They leave that door pretty wide open. The only thing with that is that they'd have to get all the original actors back, otherwise it just wouldn't be the same. I would really like to see more of Megamind and to see how he continues to fight crime with only his giant brain and his complete lack of common sense. It would lend itself to a solid follow-up movie. Only time will tell on that one. As of writing this review, IMDB.com has no information on another one. So for now, I think that you should reconsider good vs. bad.... because it's not always that simple.

Other recent CGI animated movies that were good: 'How To Train Your Dragon', 'Toy Story 3' and 'Despicable Me'