Year OneRating:
Reviewed by: Patrick Carone
Directed by: Harold Ramis
The Skinny: A couple of slacker cavemen are banished from their tribe and forced to wonder Old Testament-era earth. Hijinks—and run-ins with Biblical A-listers—ensue.
The Good: You can't beat this prehistoric laffer's pedigree. It was produced by Judd Apatow, directed by comedy legend Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day), and stars Jack Black, Michael Cera, and a host of moviedom's funniest character actors. The result is a (super) old school road comedy with unexpected surprises over each dune. Plus, leading lady (and Maxim cover girl) Olivia Wilde will have you grunting like a caveman.
The Bad: Black and Cera tend to use their well-worn personas (manic blowhard and awkward geek, respectively) as comedic crutches. C'mon guys, try a different shtick.
Drink It Up: Stick around for the end credits and listen up for a There Will Be Blood reference that is possibly the flick's funniest moment.
Theater, DVD or TNT in Five Years: Check it in the theater. Some of the gags may fall flat, but there are enough "Sodom" jokes to keep anyone glued to the screen.
Dead SnowRating:
Reviewed by: Eric Alt
Directed by: Tommy Wirkola
The Skinny: Take your typical horror movie set-up—a bunch of horny kids hole up in a cabin in the woods where bad things happened long ago—but make the kids Norwegian, the cabin a snow-lodged mountain retreat, and the "bad things" a pack of roving Nazi zombies and you have Dead Snow. Yes, that's right, we said "Nazi zombies."
The Good: The setting is novel enough to, at least initially, get you over the hump of just how cliche the movie is—when's the last time your zombie movie had snow and Norwegian subtitles?—and the movie is dead set on having fun with its premise. So there are a few more laughs than scares, and the gore is much more Evil Dead than Hostel (witness one scene where a character dangles off a cliff holding onto the entrails of a gutted zombie).
The Bad: Ultimately, the cliches overwhelm. Not only are all the characters just Norwegian versions of every horror movie character you've ever met, but the Nazi zombie element—let's face it, the movie's sole selling point—ends up being a gimmick with no pay-off. In the end, nothing happens that couldn't have happened with regular, street-clothed zombies. Their being Nazis has really no impact other than the shock element of seeing undead creatures wearing swastikas. In the end, this is disappointingly run-of-the-mill.
New Buzzword: If Dead Snow takes off, will it spawn a new horror sub-genre like "gorno"? Maybe Nor-no? Sno-no?
Theater, DVD or TNT in Five Years: This is a rental. It's fun, but nothing special.
The ProposalRating:
Reviewed by: Maria Fontoura
Directed by: Anne Fletcher
The Skinny: An uptight, über-demanding New York City book editor (Sandra Bullock) initiates a sham marriage to her long-suffering male assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to avoid being deported to Canada. With INS on their trail, the two decamp to small-town Alaska to meet his family and pull off a quickie ceremony. Might they fall in love for real over the course of the weekend? Hahahaha, that would be CRAZY!
The Good: If there's a film genre that makes Sandy Bullock tolerable (maybe even…shh…enjoyable?), it's good, old-fashioned rom-com. She nails the physical comedy and looks damn good in a negligee, 45 years old or not. Bonus: Betty White's winning turn as Reynolds' sassy grandmother will have you grabbing for your Golden Girls DVD box set the second you get home.
The Bad: This is, still, a romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock.
Get Out of Jail Free Card: Note the scene where Bullock's character, in a moment of vulnerability, reveals that she cried in her office after a disgruntled employee called her a bitch. After the movie, turn to the lady in your life and express sympathy for the double-standards and gender-based challenges working women must face every day.
Theater, DVD or TNT in Five Years: Theater if you've got a girlfriend, TNT in all other cases—but don't be afraid to catch the TNT marathon where they play the same movie three times in a row on a Saturday. Hell, Craig T. Nelson's in it!