Tag: Jason Mantzoukas

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Watch The Hilarious Trailer For Road Trip Comedy ‘The Long Dumb Road’

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It seems like everyone who has worked with Jason Mantzoukas has said he is one of the funniest people in the world. And that’s saying a lot because he’s worked with Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman and Nick Kroll.

He’s mainly worked in television, but he’s starting to land more film roles now. It was announced earlier this year that he’ll have a starring role in John Wick 3.

But before we see him take on Keanu Reeves, you can watch him in the road trip comedy, The Long Dumb Road. He co-stars in the movie with Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and it looks like it’s going to be a pretty entertaining film.

“In The Long Dumb Road, Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel) stars as Nathan, a well-behaved teen driving across the American Southwest in order to get to L.A. for his freshman year of college. Along the way, he’s joined by Jason Mantzoukas as Richard, an impulsive, free-spirited mechanic who forces himself along on the journey.”

It’s a simple premise, but don’t let that stop you from giving this movie a chance. Jason and Tony are super talented. Even if the idea is average, a talented cast can really bring it to life.

It’ll have a limited release inside theaters November 9, 2018. Check out the trailer below…

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Movie Review: Dirty Grandpa – This Literally Might Be The Unfunniest Film of the Year.

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When paired correctly Zac Efron can be an excellent comic actor. When paired correctly Robert De Niro can be a great dramatic actor and a great comic actor. When paired together, it seems some kind of weird chemical reaction happens that makes these two stars just a little bit irritating and a whole lot of disturbing.

The premise is this. Jason Kelly [Zac Efron] is one week away from marrying his boss’s uber-controlling daughter, putting him on the fast track for a partnership at the law firm he works at. However, when the straight-laced Jason is tricked into driving his foul-mouthed grandfather, Dick [Robert De Niro], to Daytona for spring break, his pending nuptials are suddenly in jeopardy. This is a wacky road trip/buddy movie that winds up feeling awkward simply due to the mismatched cast.

Road trip comedies, provided they are hilarious and have the right casting, don’t have to be complex or intelligent. They can be really stupid and really thin, but still be enjoyable. Consider movies like “The Sure Thing,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” None of the plots are particularly complex, but they work because of the actors and because of the dialog.

What didn’t make them work was endless dick jokes.

It was like the writers went out of their way to make every single character as repellant as possible. Every last one of them has some deep seated, controversial issues, whether they’re selling drugs to kids or trying to molest aging pensioners.

Efron clearly made an effort to give his character heart and sympathy. It’s one of his first times playing the straight man in a buddy comedy and I felt like he gave it his all. Surprisingly, where it fell apart was De Niro. De Niro is an excellent actor, as long as he’s playing ‘straight’. The responsible mobsters, the overbearing father, the strict mentor, these are all roles he shines in. The ‘kooky grandpa’ role is not one of them. There’s just something so uncomfortable about watching De Niro trying to get laid.

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I’m not a fan of movies that depend on being crude to be funny, because crude isn’t always funny. Sometimes it’s just crude. See Andrew Dice Clay as an example. I have to say, if this is writer John Phillips best effort, I have little hope for the upcoming Bad Santa 2.

In a movie like this, it’s important to like the characters. While Efron works to be likeable, De Niro is that creepy old dude in the bar, standing in the corner, watching girls young enough to be his granddaughter dance, while he drools slightly. He’s not funny. He’s just gross. Honestly, if I met this character in real life, I probably would have maced him while blowing my rape whistle.

This literally might be the unfunniest film of the year. A script devoid of humor, and leads that come across as unlikable, make this movie one that’s sure to earn a Golden Raspberry nomination. This is not even remotely worth the watch. In fact, it’s one I wish I could unwatch.

We Gave it: 1 Star: Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below

1 star

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Movie Review: Straight Outta Compton – Easy to See Why This Movie Reached Both Critical and Commercial Success

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One thing that’s rare in the movie world is seeing a film that is both a critical success and a commercial success. While I expected Straight Outta Compton to be a critical success, I hardly expected it to do as well as it did commercially, considering the subject matter. It seemed like a movie with a single demographic. But honestly, once you see it, you realize it’s one of those movies that transcends demographics and makes it so everyone can find a parallel in their own lives to the problems of someone who isn’t like them at all. Yes, even a middle aged white girl, who spent the 80s in the mountains of New Hampshire, can identify with the main characters in this storyline.

But it’s not just a story. It’s a film based on the events that led to led to one of the most potent rags to riches stories in history. It’s the making of the group NWA, produced by the now billionaire group themselves. We see the stories of Andre Young (a.k.a. Dr. Dre), O’Shea Jackson (a.k.a. Ice Cube), and Eazy-E (Eric Wright) through their eyes. It’s an unflinching and often introspective look at a generation that authority tried to silence, but couldn’t.

One thing I have to say when it comes to movies that are centered around inner city main characters, is that they have a tendency to go for the cliché. We see heartless thugs played as new school cowboys and white cops that feel like they’re hiding KKK robes under their uniforms. These films tend to be black and white, but the world isn’t black and white.

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And neither is this film. They portrayed themselves honestly, as men who had to fight for respect in one of California’s most dangerous neighborhoods. From the beginning, it’s easy to see how every day is a struggle to maintain power and dignity. Eazy-E appears on the scene during a drug deal gone bad, moments before a LAPD tank rolls into a drug den. Dre gets pistol whipped in the face after getting into a tussle with a Crenshaw Mafia soldier on the bus and Ice Cube is a man ready to fight in the blink of an eye, even over something as small as getting shortchanged. They don’t play themselves off as martyrs. Instead, they make you understand why they made the decisions they did, even if you don’t agree with them.

Jerry Heller (Paul Giammatti), who is often seen as responsible for the dissolution of NWA, is played not as a character, but as a person. He’s one part villain, and one part guardian angel, both standing up for the group he represents and trying to drive them apart at the same time. They didn’t make Heller the easy villain. Instead, they gave him true motivation and a true duplicitous nature without making him a one dimensional villain who only wanted to break up the group.

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This is an extremely well done film that uses gritty realism to get its point across and gives us a deeper, more dimensional look at NWA’s rise to fame and subsequent breakup. Even if you’re not a fan of the music genre, Straight Outta Compton is straight up worth the watch.

WE GAVE IT: 4 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

4 stars

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Movie Review: Bad Neighbors (2014)

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Neighbors new posterIt’s a bit formulaic, sometimes gross, but mostly hilarious
Star Ratings

Zac Effron, I forgive you. I forgive you for all of the High School Musical movies and any of the crap you’ve made since then. Please make many, many more movies with Seth Rogan. Neighbors is currently crushing it at the box office, holding the number 1 spot. Here’s why.

In a custom made for fantastic comedy premise, a young couple, Zach and Kelly Radner ( Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne) move in next to a frat house with their newborn baby. Then, following a disagreement, war is declared against the fraternity next door, led by a fantastic Zac Effron as “douche bro” in charge Teddy Sanders.

Some of the humor went too far, but honestly, it’s a frat movie. What can you really expect? But a great premise with an even better cast made this movie fantastic. Is it high brow? Hell no. It’s just funny.

Honestly, I’m impressed with Zac Effron. I really have been nothing but disappointed by his movies, but I think that’s because they have him play the boy next door. In this movie, his is a straight dick, and that is just plain awesome. Effron has a flare for playing the bad boy and should really stick to those roles.

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Byrne has some impressive comic timing, and she isn’t overshadowed despite very funny leading men. With both Bridesmaids and Get Him to the Greek under her belt, she knows how to pick a winner in roles and she knows how to stand out in a great ensemble cast.

Rogan is just Rogan at his finest. The reason this movie jells is because the cast is so well suited to the rolls they play.

While in some college movies go to over the top gross, Neighbors never does it in a way that falls flat. The hijinks aren’t recycled and some of them are just plain laugh out loud funny.

Nicholas Stoller directs and he has another hit. He’s had similar success with other quirky comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Five Year Engagement. He just seems to have a gift for comedic timing, knowing when to go cringe worthy, and knowing when to pull back.

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Film Title: Neighbors

Even the smaller actors, like Lisa Kudrow as the flaky Dean, or Dean Franco as Teddy’s sidekick, shine in their roles, and their rolls manage to be surprisingly well developed for bit parts.

The cast is really what makes this movie work. While the jokes generally revolve around dick jokes (like a yard sale filled with home made dildos) they’re delivered in a way that makes them clever.

The movie is tamer than it could have been, but I didn’t mind that. While it is for 18+ audiences, it’s not unwatchable with a partner or even as a date movie if you have a pretty cool date. This is a comedy along the lines of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It’s a bit formulaic, sometimes gross, but mostly hilarious.

Currently performing number 1 at the box office, Neighbors is a surprisingly watchable movie.  Watch the official Red Band trailer below:

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