Mike Judge is funny. His TV is the stuff of legends.
The dare we say, groundbreaking Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill helped revolutionize animation on television.
His movie Office Space poked great fun at business downsizing and today sits high on my comedy favorite list.
-- Times, trailer, theaters.
Extract manages to extract some rib-ticklers out of a complex but convoluted plot that casts Jason Bateman (Hancock) as Joel, the owner of a flavor extraction business.
The tightly wound Joel wants more sex with his routinely-not-interested-wife Suzie. Joels solution is an affair with a drop-dead gorgeous temporary worker. To justify the affair, he hires a gigolo to seduce Suzie. He doesnt think shell go there and then is totally surprised when she does. The woman on his mind is a money-grubbing con artist out to get her mitts on the settlement of one of Joels workers who loses his testicles in an accident.
It goes downhill from there but you get the point. Like all experimental comedy creators, not everything Judge attempts can be judged as funny.
Outrageous yes. Always. Funny? Judge is hit and miss, but more hit than miss. The hit part of Extract is clever casting of skilled scene-stealing character actors and then letting them do what they do best.
Bateman anchors while J.K. Simmons, musician and sleazmo celebrity Gene Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., David Koechner, Kristin Wiig and Ben Affleck have a blast, and carefully, and artfully, and lovingly deliver each line with pitch-perfect mock seriousness. Their fun is contagious and enough to hold you over when Extract cant extract any more juice.
Mr. Movie rating: 4 stars
Rated R for mature themes, language. It opens Friday, Sept. 4 at the Carmike 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
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At least the studios waited until after Halloween to release the year's first holiday movie.
Four days to be exact. But who’s counting? Used to be that holiday movies hit a few weeks later — on Thanksgiving. Not anymore or that anyone notices. For years, many of the big box and major hardware stores have started their Christmas decoration, lights and stuff displays in August.
-- Local show times, theaters, trailer.
'New Year's Eve' should be fresher than this
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It’s hard not to take aspects of this job personally. New Year’s Eve is an example.
For me, having to sit through used-to-be Hollywood TV icon and now movie producer and director Garry Marshall’s film is punishment for my ripping of last year’s equally awful holiday opus Valentine’s Day .
I wasn’t alone. Critics panned the film by the score. But this is take it personally day, so I’ll take having to review it as punishment.
'The Guard' among year's best foreign films
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Some are comparing The Guard to the critically acclaimed In Bruges from 2008.
Martin McDonagh — the brother of this writer/director — did it and it also starred Brendan Gleeson. While both are good films and feature the lower side of life, the comparison really isn’t fair. The Guard is a good movie on its own and the comparisons really aren’t necessary.
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UPDATE: Battelle Film Club cancels Friday's showings
UPDATE: Battelle Film Club cancels Friday's showings
EDITOR'S NOTE: Gary Wolcott said this week's snowstorm has prompted the Battelle Film Club to cancel Friday night's program from Aesthetica Short Film Festival.
Short films is an interesting genre. Some are hits. Some miss. Most are mediocre.
What makes the genre so odd is that even the miss and the mediocre shorts have something about them that make them irresistible.
'Footloose' an ordinary dance
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Here’s the good news — Kenny Loggins’ 1984 hit song and the film’s theme song is left in the 2011 version.
Drums pounding, synthesizer sizzling, Loggins voice soars. Toes tap. Smiles hit the face, and the theater is rocking out.
No. Wait. That’s not Kenny Loggins. It is country music star Blake Shelton. Admittedly, he does a decent imitation. And imitation is what sets the tone for Craig Brewer’s remake. The imitation — admittedly is decent — but not much more.
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