how to do movie reviews

double feature. no matter the movies, i'm always the winner.

"talladega nights: the ballad of ricky bobby"
starring will ferrell, john c. reilly and sacha baron cohen
directed by adam mckay
written by will ferrell and adam mckay
viewed at the presidio theater, san francisco
you know the fare. it's the same old will ferrell movie. and although i can liberally quote "anchorman" now, and i love that movie dearly, i really didn't like it the first time around. and, quite frankly, i wasn't crazy about this one either and i don't think this movie is as good as that one. it's just not as funny. but, like i said, i didn't like "anchorman" the first time, and this movie has the same DNA. ask me again when it hits cable. what i did enjoy, and wish there were more of, was sacha baron cohen channeling the brilliant peter sellers in "the party". i haven't read any review making that connection (mostly because movie reviewers just recite the plot instead thinking of about it), but the bond is obvious and amazing. i thought he was great, really funny. but, then again, anything he does makes me laugh my ass off. (that being said, the funniest cohen was all night was in the trailer for "borat" that ran before the film).

"scoop"
starring woody allen, scarlett johannson and hugh jackman
written and directed by woody allen
viewed at the presidio theater, san francisco
here's what happened. woody's already in england shooting "match point". someone, probably his producers, ask him he had another script he'd like to shoot since they're already there. hell, scarlett's already here. woody says, "well, i've got this script. i just haven't added the jokes yet, and it's not new york specific, so this'll work". they say, "okay, let's run with it then". and they do some research, and they find that hugh jackman is in england, and he's free to work. woody asks, "hey, isn't he....?" and they say, "yeah, but...well, can you direct and cut around the love scenes and all, right?" and woody says sure and they shoot the film and edit it, and, lo and behold, it's not only unfunny, but it sucks.