BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) DEATH AT A FUNERAL
For the fourth spot I had to think about it. Realistically MacGruber, The Other Guys, Due Date, and some others could have rode this spot out. Of those three I really considered MacGruber. Instead, I have to go with Neil LaBute’s 2010 update of “Death At A Funeral”. I saw the original a few years ago when it was new and yeah, this movie is the same thing as that one. It’s just an American family now instead of from across the pond and actually a little less dirty. The movie rocked because of the casting and the way it was done. Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Tracy Morgan, Luke Wilson, Zoe Saldana, and a million other people all had parts in this movie. If I hadn’t seen the original, I could imagine being really surprised by this one and would have ranked it higher.
(THREE) SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE
I didn’t know what to expect from this one. It could have been an edgy girl romcom or an edgy guy romcom. Luckily for us, it’s a guy one. Nothing wrong with girl romcoms, but they’re a little heavy on the rom and not as much com. At least that’s how I feel about it (and you should too) anyways. This movie surprised the hell out of me. I made the comparison to “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and by that it’s a very underrated comedy. Jay Baruchel was awesome and Alice Eve was hot. This movie should have gotten more love and better promotion.
(TWO) GET HIM TO THE GREEK
This one stuck with me the most. After first seeing it, I knew I enjoyed it but I didn’t know how much. As time went on the more I thought about and talked to friends about it the more I realized that I really dug it. It’s a dark comedy, which right there is points with me, and it has people I like in it. Russell Brand rocks it as Aldous Snow and Jonah Hill is on his A-Game here. The back and forth of it all and the whole rockstar road trip aspect of it made for an interesting twist to what could have been a very underwhelming movie. This one will surprise you and has some of the funniest drug scenes in recent memory.
(ONE) DATE NIGHT
If I’d have had to judge this based on trailers then I’m pretty sure this would not be close to number one. It looked reasonably entertaining and I love me some Steve Carell and Tina Fey. So I gave it a shot and ended up loving this movie. It’s not an overly-vulgar or super hip comedy that people love these days thanks to Apatow, Smith, and the Wes Andersons. This movie felt like it was ripped right out of the 80s. And good 80’s too. Not that fake 80’s retro shit where movies reference popular 80’s movies the whole time. The light hearted action and physical comedy and over the top scenario reminded me of an old Steve Martin or a late 80’s/early 90’s Bill Murray movie. It had edge, it had charm, and it had a lot of heart. I may watch other comedies from 2010 more than this one in the future, but for my laughs worth this one had me going the most upon first viewing. I’d seriously consider checking it out if you haven’t.
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