There are few things that I love more than a dumb comedy that’s actually rather smart. Whenever Seth Rogen has been in charge of a movie along with his co-writer, co-producer, and occasionally co-director Evan Goldberg, the duo tend to deliver just that. They specialize in the filthiest of mainstream comedies (Superbad, This Is The End, etc.) that tend to also carry an unexpected emotional depth, or sneaky satire, or meta-movie commentary beneath all the sex, drugs, farts, and swears. Their latest flick Sausage Party starts out as a hilarious pisstake on anthropomorphized CGI family comedies that was made filthy for fun. As the movie wears on and all the cheap laughs pile up, it gradually grows into something far more ambitious, clever, and in its own dumb way kind of profound. That’s a tricky balancing act to pull off and while Rogen and Goldberg don’t quite nail their silly/smart satirical intent quite as perfectly as Trey Parker or Matt Stone, they at least deliver the funniest Hollywood film of the summer that’s also deceptively the smartest.
Jonah Hill
Men in Black/Jump Street Crossover Rumour Confirmed
After emails leaked online as part of a Sony hack last year, Sony revealed that an upcoming Jump Street and Men in Black crossover movie is in the works. The crossover is titled MIB 23.
22 Jump Street (2014) Review
The fact that the 21 Jump Street movie worked was a miracle. To attempt to do it again is insane and yet the sequel works entirely because the folks behind 22 Jump Street understand that fact better than anyone. This is a meta comedy piss-take on the idea of Hollywood sequels. It’s a movie that … Read more
How To Train Your Dragon 2 Movie Review
Generally speaking, Dreamworks’ thriving animation department has always been the poor relation to Pixar. The Shrek series became a parody of itself almost instantly and the Despicable Me movies are little more than empty minion calories. But then there’s How To Train Your Dragon, a gorgeous bit of animation with a snarky comedy streak, and a … Read more
The Lego Movie (Movie) Review
When you sit down and really think about it, Lego shouldn’t be popular anymore. The Danish building blocks were groundbreaking playthings in 1949, but in days when toddlers are picking up iPads, they should be passé. Yet, Lego’s probably more popular than ever. There are a number of reasons why: nostalgia, simplicity, cross-marketing in videogames/playsets, … Read more
The Top Ten Genre Movies of 2013
You might have been too busy playing games and anticipating new consoles to notice, but 2013 was actually one of the best years for movies in recent memory. Oh sure, there were plenty of a giant hunks of crap shoved into screens simply to fill a release date (like… say… After Earth…*shudder*). But hey, that’s just how Hollywood works.
This Is The End (Movie) Review
Seth Rogen may have made his share of conventional and even crap comedies, but whenever he and his hetro-lifepartner/co-writer Evan Goldberg crank out a script, they usually bring their particular brand of dick joke comedy to variety of genres.