Observe and Report

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Directed by: Jody Hill

The Skinny: The director of the criminally underrated The Foot Fist Way returns with the twisted story of mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen)—a headcase valiantly defending his self-proclaimed kingdom from perverts, shoplifters, and even the police. Ronnie only wants three things in life: the love of make-up counter ditz Brandi (Anna Faris), the respect of grizzled police detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), and a gun.

The Good: First of all, this is not a cuddly Seth Rogen movie like Knocked Up or Pineapple Express. If you're going in expecting him to be the lovable stoner bear, you might want to just go home and wait for Paul Blart to come out on DVD. Ronnie Barnhardt is, at best, an ignorant asshole. At worst, he's a walking time bomb of gun fetishism and rage. He's also fucking hilarious. Not likeable, but hilarious. Make no mistake, O&R is very funny, but in that "Holy shit I can't believe I'm laughing at this" kind of way. The movie milks head-shaking laughs from alcoholism, drug abuse, intense violence, the handicapped, and even borderline date rape for crying out loud.



The Bad: No one is mining new territory here. Hill presents another rural loser in serious denial (albeit a much more dangerous one) like Foot Fist's Fred Simmons, Faris plays another brainless tart (she's funny, but you've seen this before), and Liotta scowls and screams a lot. It all works and it all fits, but you get the sense there's not a lot of new ground being broken here.

The New Big Kahuna Burger: The movie mall's resident "classy" restaurant is Captain O'Landers, the same franchise frequented by Simmons in Foot Fist Way.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? This is probably your best option this weekend. Go see it.

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Anvil! The Story of Anvil

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Directed by: Sacha Gervasi

The Skinny: This documentary follows the career of Canadian metal band Anvil, fronted by lifelong friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and—we shit you not—Robb Reiner. In their 20s, they seemed poised for stardom, their proto-thrash metal being the acknowledged influence on huge acts like Metallica and Anthrax. The only problem was, stardom failed to show up. Now in their 50s, they're still trying to live the dream…

The Good: About ten minutes into Anvil!, you'll swear you're being set up. You'll think, "No way this is real. This is some Borat shit." Nope. It's all true. Anvil are the real life Spinal Tap, only rather than being clueless Brits they are down-to-earth, almost painfully polite Canucks. You'll laugh, you'll cry as you watch Steve and Robb struggle with day jobs, in-fighting, the worst European tour in recorded history, and the ever-present spectre that their time has past. Great, great stuff.

The Bad: There are a few questions left lingering—like, why didn't these big time bands that shamelessly ripped Anvil off come back and lend them a hand? What exactly was it that kept them from breaking out?—but nothing that'll ruin your enjoyment of this amazing doc.

Buy It Now: See? Not a joke.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? Anvil! is only getting a limited release, so DVD might be the more likely option. Either way, don't miss it.