All Things:Comedy

jerseydevil said:
Hurm. LOTS of funny moments, seriously. BUT sufferered from a third act that tried to redeem the FRAT, and Zac Effron. A LOT of funny moments...but just not the GREAT FRAT MOVIE.
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Well said, quite a few laugh out loud moments but kinda meh'd its way through the 3rd act. Rose Bryne stole the show for me.
 
If you are...so am I. Although I do love Terry Crewes. From the looks of the horrors they put him through he probably deserves better. At least this time...no Kevin James.
 
Review: 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' Starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron & Liam Neeson|The Playlist

From the outset, “A Million Ways To Die In The West” seems to promise a shocking, splashy western spoof in which old timey violence is starkly contrasted with modern concerns and humor. Instead, it’s a lifeless, meandering, overlong (116 minutes!) trudge through the oversized ego of its creator, full of wrong-headed humor and inept filmmaking (the fact that the movie doesn’t have a single point-of-view is the understatement of the century). In a weird way, both in its period setting and misguidedly lavish excessiveness, it’s closer to Michael Cimino’s studio-bankrupting “Heaven’s Gate” than “Blazing Saddles” (except that “Heaven’s Gate” is much, much more watchable). It’s unclear if boredom is one of the million ways you can die in the west, but it nearly took us out while watching this film. You can still stare in awe at the go-for-broke-ness MacFarlane applies to each project, but it doesn’t count for much when it’s an utter failure like this massive misfire. [F]
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Oof.
 
A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST Review

Despite these glaring flaws, I can’t deny that I laughed constantly throughout the movie. It’s probably as immature and offensive as Blended, but it doesn’t pretend to have a family-friendly sheen. Million Ways wears its brand of comedy as a badge of honor. MacFarlane is completely up front with his audience, so even if you aren’t aware of Family Guy or Ted, there’s no bait-and-switch here. Within the first ten minutes there’s a joke about the setting, a joke about the scenario, and then a dick joke.

It’s somewhat surprising that a filmmaker can be so honest about his comedy, and yet isn’t willing to acknowledge the truth of how his female lead worships the protagonist after knowing him for all of five minutes. It doesn’t want to admit that just because Albert isn’t a bad guy, that doesn’t make him a particularly good one. MacFarlane can be incisive with his humor when he wants to be, but his main character should need more than the love of a good woman. A Million Ways in the West had me laughing, but MacFarlane is never willing to laugh at himself.

Rating: B-
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'A Million Ways to Die in the West' Review: He's a West-ern Guyyyyy... | High-Def Digest: The Bonus View

Yep, the movie is pretty by-the-numbers, but that actually works in its favor. MacFarlane isn’t an unconventional storyteller or an artist with a message. He’s a joke factory with hundreds of TV episodes worth of experience and a stable of writers who can hang laughs onto just about anything. Just like how ‘Ted’ took the manchild and magic-best-friend genre staples and spun filthy comedy gold out of them, ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ takes old-timey Western conventions and adds hard R comedy to the genre’s bones. Every bodily function, ironic racial stereotype and pop culture reference in the MacFarlane comedy repertoire makes an appearance, and the laughs come in big heaping doses. The movie also has plenty of failed gags, of course, but this is one of those comedies where the bad jokes don’t matter because the next joke is never more than a few seconds away. Admittedly, the movie doesn’t reach the lunatic highs of ‘Ted’ (it has nothing with quite the punch of the ‘Flash Gordon’ cameo), but this flick also doesn’t have a movie-halting failed third act either. Ultimately, it balances out and both of MacFarlane’s directorial efforts are about even in quality.

As an actor, MacFarlane is surprisingly watchable. He has a self-effacing, nerdy, goofball charm that works well even if he’s outclassed by most of his supporting cast. Theron clearly has a ball raunching it up in an R-rated comedy and the fun she has is infectious. Neil Patrick Harris delivers one of his ironically nasty performances, and he’s gotten so good at this schtick that it’s hard to believe that he was once just that ‘Doogie Howser’ guy. Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, and Amanda Seryfried are all cast to type and they do it well. Sarah Silverman is somewhat wasted in a one-note role, but her natural comedic talent makes it feel like at least 1.5 jokes. Cameos fill the screen elsewhere. This is an undeniably well cast movie, which makes it work very smoothly as a joke delivery system.

MacFarlane might get a lot of hate from the comedy snob community, but compared to what Adam Sandler tries to pass off as mainstream comedy once a year, the guy is practically Andy Kaufman. ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ is exactly the type of laugh-til-you’re-in-physical-pain-without-ever-challenging-your-brain mainstream comedy that should be the norm in Hollywood. It might not offer much more than laughs, but this type of comedy doesn’t have to. If you’ve got a sweet tooth for MacFarlane’s personal brand of good natured “offensive” comedy, then ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ is the exact type of choke-on-your-popcorn gigglefest that you crave during summer movie season. Many more ambitious and intelligent comedies will come along this year, but few will have this many genuine laughs. Hopefully that Seth MacFarlane kid sticks with this comedy thing. He’s pretty good it.
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Anyone go?
 
Best comedy of the year so far, with decent drama bits too. As good as Ted? Not sure. Solid 4/5 for me. It was good to LOL at some jokes that went over some other theatergoers' heads.
 
^ yeah. I thought I had it abbreviated in my original post but my phone must've nuked it.
 
Does this 22 Jump Street look like one of the biggest pieces of **** ever recorded or is it just me?
 
Bogey said:
Does this 22 Jump Street look like one of the biggest pieces of **** ever recorded or is it just me?
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Got some news and reviews over in the sequels thread...I thought the same thing. But I also thought that about the first. And that turned out alright. Actually, if anything, this one is getting better reviews. I imagine it'll be a fun and forgettable 90 minutes.
 
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