BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) GREENBERG
This 2010 “mumblecore” movie is way better than it should be. It’s one of those indie movies where the main character’s dilemma is an internal one, nothing is solved, experiences are casual, and there is always a rambunctious girl. Basically, it’s a hipster movie. Stiller is still really sold in the lead. He’s the “fish out of water” in the situation so you can almost live through him in this “too cool for school” type of shit. Greta Gerwig is amazing in this too.
(THREE) THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
It’s been too long since I’ve seen a new Wes Anderson movie. I saw the animated Fox one, but I need some of his insecure family-love movies. His themes are ALWAYS the same and as beautiful as his movies look, they have started to look the same too. I’m not complaining because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Ben Stiller was awesome in this movie. He plays a widowed man who is overwhelmed and overly-careful in the raising of his two sons. They wear a lot of matching jump suits and it’s a fun visual. What I liked about it is that Stiller had no problem playing the awkward guy who really isn’t that likeable. He’s amusing and entertaining, but not until you understand why he is the way he is it’s this whole “what the eff is THIS?” thing.
(TWO) THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
This 1998 comedy is one of the best modern comedies of all time. I’m not that big of a fan of Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, or Ben Stiller but the Farrelly Brothers made it all work out. The story is insane, the characters even more so. There are moments in this movie, like the “zipper incident”, that anyone who enjoys laughing will always remember. Even with me not being that big of a fan, I still think this movie is becoming more and more underappreciated.
(ONE) ZOOLANDER
I was hung up on this one. Zoolander is a great movie, but so is Something about Mary. I go with this one because not only did he star in it, but he wrote and directed it. This movie IS Ben Stiller. He rocks in the role of “Derek Zoolander”, male model. It’s hard to believe this movie came out in 2001. It doesn’t feel THAT old, does it? I don’t think I’m alone in the sentiment that we’d like to see more Zoolander. There was a small tease on SNL recently, but still nothing no production date or anything like that. Is it going to be old men models now? Any longer and they’ll modeling depends.
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