“This Is 40” Can Just Be Skipped
Dec 30th
“Can Just Be Skipped”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
This Is 40 is written and directed by Judd Apatow, and some are calling it a sequel to his 2007 Knocked Up, but it is only an elaboration of two of the characters in that earlier movie.
Paul Rudd plays Pete, and Leslie Mann plays Debbie, and she also happens to be Apatow’s wife.
Pete and Debbie have two daughters, Sadie, who is 13, and Charlotte, who is 8, and they also happen to be the real daughters of Apatow and his wife.
But before you start thinking, “Oh, isn’t that nice,” be aware that the language used by the two girls is so profane that they wouldn’t even be allowed to see their own movie in the theater.
Not that they, or anyone else, for that matter, should want to see this movie.
Pete and Debbie are both turning 40 in the week of December 5, and the movie opens with a scene of both of them in the shower, but the conclusion is not expected, and we hear, “That is the worst birthday present you could ever give anyone.”
Yes, the beginning is gross, but supposed to be funny, which could also be said about the entire movie.
Then we get a cliche scene about Debbie’s birthday cake, which claims that Debbie is only 38, and Pete explains to the daughters that their mother doesn’t want to be 40, and so the cake indicates 38.
You couldn’t write this stuff, and if you read a recent story about Apatow, it might not have been written, because the story says that Apatow likes to shoot a lot of footage of the actors improvising the scene, and if Apatow thinks the improvisation is good, he will go back and keep shooting the scene with the new ideas until he has what he wants.
And even then, that scene might not make it into the final cut.
Meanwhile, back to the movie, we see Pete planning his own elaborate birthday party, Debbie having to figure out if one of her employees is stealing money from the store, the girls constantly fighting while being obsessed about watching episodes of the old “Lost” television series, many references to modern celebrities and excessive use of modern technology, and disjointed scenes that don’t really fit together.
This Is 40 can just be skipped.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
This is 40 – Movie Trailer
Dec 23rd
Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Funny People) brings audiences This Is 40, an original comedy that expands upon the story of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) from the blockbuster hit Knocked Up as we see first-hand how they are dealing with their current state of life.
“Hitchcock” about the Master of Manipulation
Dec 22nd
“Master of Manipulation”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Hitchcock is about the famous British director, Alfred Hitchcock, who was known as the Master of Suspense, and takes place in Hollywood when he was making his most famous film, the 1960 Psycho.
We see Hitchcock in 1959 Chicago at the opening of his previous movie, his 46th, and a reporter points out that Hitchcock is 60 and says shouldn’t he just quit while he is ahead.
Thankfully, Hitchcock didn’t, who is played by Anthony Hopkins made up to look like the director and using a voice as reminiscent of the popular figure on television that we soon begin to believe that he is Hitchcock.
In fact, Hitchcock says that he is looking for a nice clean, nasty little book to make into his next movie.
That book becomes Psycho, a novel by Robert Bloch, based on Ed Gein and the murders he had committed in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, we meet Alma, Hitchcock’s wife, played by Helen Mirren, and we learn that she had even been Hitchcock’s boss in England when he was first starting out in the movie business, and they had collaborated on some of his early movies.
So, Alma helps Hitchcock with some of the casting and even makes suggestions for the plot, such as killing off the leading actress after the first 30 minutes instead of waiting halfway through.
Scarlett Johansson plays Janet Leigh, James D’Arcy plays Anthony Perkins, and in their first meeting, Hitchcock says, “Call me Hitch. Hold the ‘cock.'”
Then we see all the difficulties that Hitch had making this movie, with the studio, the censors, and even an actress with whom Hitch had a previous history, Vera Miles, played by Jessica Biel.
At one point, the picture is two days behind and $60,000 over budget, Hitch gets sick and confined to bed, and Alma goes to the set and takes over, showing everyone that she knows what she is doing.
One thing that might confuse you is that Hitch dreams and fantasizes about Ed Gein, the real murderer, and we see those scenes, but there is enough humor and lightheartedness in the movie to make up for these distractions, just like Hitch had in his own movies and TV shows.
Hitchcock is about the Master of Suspense, but he could just as easily have been called the Master of Manipulation.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
