Movie

Chaz Michael Michaels, played by Will Ferrell, is the bad boy of figure skating. When Chaz gets into a fight with Jimmy MacElroy, played by Jon Heder, his life is changed forever. Both Chaz and Jimmy are kicked out of Men’s Figure Skating for life.

 

Thanks to a crazy stalker and a has been coach Chaz and Jimmy might have a shot at gold again. It turns out that the lifetime ban is only in Men’s Singles, and there’s nothing in the rules that says 2 men can’t skate in Pairs competition.

 

 

My Opinion

 

In Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Will Ferrell played a Nascar Driver. In Blades of Glory Will Ferrell tackles another borderline sport. This time he’s playing a figure skater. Much like Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory is surprisingly funny.

 

For some reason Will Ferrell is always a lot more entertaining than I expect. Admittedly, I don’t expect much. I just don’t think trailers and commercials can really capture the kind of humor Will Ferrell delivers.

 

Will Ferrell isn’t the only surprisingly good performance in this movie either. Everyone does a great job. The romance between Jon Heder and Jenna Fischer is sweet and awkward. The sibling bond between Will Arnett and Amy Poehler kinda made my skin crawl, and I didn’t know they were married until I watched the special features. Craig T. Nelson is always great.

 

Even the real figure skaters did a great job in this movie, but most of them didn’t have to do much. There are lots of cameos. Watch very carefully though, because some of ‘em are very fast. I saw three cameos in less than 2 seconds during the hearing. I don’t know if they were originally supposed to get more screen time or if this is a treat for attentive skating fans. I’m left wondering…

What would Brian Boitano do?

 

 

DVD Extras

The extras on this disc are great. There are some behind the scenes stuff, several interviews and even a music video. Out of all the special features I think my favorite is the interview with Will Arnett and Amy Poehler. They’re funnier in the interview than they are in the movie. They’re kinda creepy in the movie.

Music Video

One of the extras I really liked was the music video. The song that Will Ferrell and Jon Heder sig in the movie is sung my Bo Bice. You can also hear the song on the closing credits. You can also watch it below.

 

 

 

 

Verdict

I’d recommend this movie. It’s strange and funny, like a lot of Will Ferrell’s stuff. Everyone involved did a great job.

I really liked this movie. It’s definitely worth a rental. Shoot, I may end up buying it.

 

[tags]Fandoms, Movies, Reviews, DVD, Figure Skating, Blades of Glory, Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Jenna Fischer, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Craig T. Nelson, Brian Boitano, Bo Bice, Music Video, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby [/tags]

Shrek the Third isn’t going to be a huge surprise. If you’ve seen the first 2 then you know what to expect. If you haven’t seen the first 2 Shrek movies yet you should be looking for those instead. They’re both great, but the first one is the best.

 

Shrek the Third does suffer from sequel-itis. It’s not quite as good as the previous movie, which wasn’t quite as good as the first movie. That’s really to be expected though. We know the main cast, but nothing new is introduced. 

 

Movie

 

In this movie we get to know more about Fiona’s home, the land of Far Far Away. Fiona’s dad is ill and Shrek is filling in as king. Things do not go well. There’s a great sequence that shows how some of the royal functions Shrek performs turn disastrous. During all of this Shrek just wants to go home to his swamp.

 

Shrek learns that if he wants to avoid being the King of Far Far Away he has to bring back Arthur, the only other person in line for the throne. So he sets off to drag Artie back. While he’s gone Prince Charming, who has been planning revenge, makes his move.

 

 

 

All in all it’s pretty good. It’s not the best Shrek movie, but it has it’s moments.

 

 

Moment of Pure Awesome

 

This is a Shrek movie, so you know there is going to be at least one moment of pure awesome. For me, this clip, and the following sequence, was it. This is what happens when you mess with Snow White.

 

 

 

Special Features

 

Basics

Like all the Shrek DVDs there are some pretty cool features. I’ve always liked the CGI bloopers. It’s kind of cool to see some of the weird things that go wrong when trying to make a CGI animated movie.

 

Arthur’s Yearbook

One cool extra on this DVD is Arthur’s yearbook. You get a good idea of what life was like for Artie when he was in school. It’s filled with characters that are only briefly glimpsed, or not in the movie at all. Most, if not all, of them are historical or legendary figures like Arthur Pendragon himself. That makes a few of ‘em even more amusing if you’re a fan of Arthurian legend.

 

 

Verdict

 

I’d recommend this movie. If you’re a fan of Shrek, you won’t need a recommendation though. If you’re not a fan then why did you read this review?

 

 

[tags]Fandoms, Movies, Reviews, DVD, Shrek the Third, Shrek, Fiona, Prince Charming, Snow White, Far Far Away, Arthur Pendragon, Arthurian, Arthurian Legend [/tags]

 

 

I wrote a post about Superbad about the time it came out in theaters. I didn’t get to see it on the big screen, but I rented the unrated and extended edition. Here’s my review.

 

 

The Movie

Superbad is about three high school friends and is set couple of weeks before graduation. These guys are geeks, no two ways about it, but thanks to a fake I.D. they have a chance to finish high school in style. They set out on a quest to buy booze for a party.

 

Seth and Evan need the booze to impress the girls they’re interested in. They want to make the most of their time before they go their separate ways in college. They also want to go to college with at least some experience, and I ain’t talking about band camp. That’s pretty damn important at that age.

 

The adventures of Fogell, A.K.A. “McLovin” played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, is where most of the humor is. McLovin tries to use his crappy I.D. to buy the booze. The store gets robbed and the cops are called, he’s just unlucky I guess. Or is he?

 

The cops seem to believe the fake I.D. or just don’t care that it’s fake. They offer him a ride to the party, but get caught up in other things. Things like getting drunk and shooting street signs. Along the way they offer him advice on life. Bad advice. Bad cop, no donut!

 

 

DVD Special Features

All the normal extras are here. Commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and previews. There are a couple of interesting extras.

I’m reviewing the unrated and extended edition of Superbad. I don’t know if the extras on the, no doubt numerous, other versions are similar. I’m thinking that theatrical version is missing a few of these.

 

Line-O-Rama

A lot of the dialog is very creatively foul and apparently ad-libbed. Line-O-Rama shows you the different versions that didn’t make it into the movie. Some of ‘em are lame, but others are hilarious. I enjoyed the different ways Jonah Hill, who plays Seth, described his choice of porn.

 

Cop Car Confessions

The Cop Car Confessions are a few short scenes with the cops talking to different people who are in the squad car. I enjoyed all of these a lot, but my favorite was the guy busted for drugs. He was just makin’ his famous pancakes for his buddies and the cops broke in and arrested him for possession. Happens all the time.

I don’t know why these didn’t make it into the movie, maybe they were filmed especially for the special features.

 

The Vag-Tastic Voyage

This is the porn site Seth talks about in the movie. They’ve included the full scene of the fictional site as a special feature.  From the initial pick up to the closing shot, the entire thing is a spoof of a real porn site. It’s pretty darn accurate too. Ummm… Not that I would know.

 

 

Verdict

 

This is definitely worth renting, it’s a great movie with some really cool extras. Superbad is an old school raunchy teen movie in the spirit of Porky’s and the first American Pie.

 

[tags]Fandoms, Movies, Reviews, Raunchy, Teen Movie, Superbad, DVD, Extras, Special Features, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, McLovin, Porky’s, American Pie[/tags]