The Change-Up

2011 Comedy/Romantic Comedy by director David Dobkin

Description:  Dave, a lawyer by day and a family man, with a wife and 3 kids by night and his long time friend Mitch, slacker/stoner/very small time actor are about to take a ride on the weird roller coaster.  After an evening watching the game at a bar and getting a little drunk Mitch and Dave accidently pee in a fountain while wishing for each other’s lives.  So as is common when simultaneously peeing and wishing in the presence of a statue or fountain or in this case both, they wake up in the other’s body.  Let’s see just how much damage Mitch can do to Dave’s life and how many awkward situations Dave can experience with Mitch’s.

Review: Can I just express my favoritism here for both Jason Bateman & Ryan Reynolds? They are so funny!  But they have totally different styles of humor. Ok, on with it… Out of all the “trading bodies” movies out there, this one definitely just knocked my number 1 down a peg. Although the plot of the story isn’t original, it’s the writing and the delivery that I love. The physical and visual comedies are just hilarious. The character Tatiana is so messed up and Mitch is sick and twisted for actively perusing and just being involved! Watching Ryan & Jason play each other is great, because you get to see through their eyes kind of; body language, facial expressions, verbal character (pitch, whine, assertiveness, etc). Do not miss this movie.

My ratings:
Storyline & Plot – 9
Acting – 10
Comedy – 9.5
Romance – 7.5

My favorite quotes:

ü  “You’d be early too, if all you did all day is eat hummus and masturbate.”

ü  “I’m the mother, its 3 o’clock in the morning! Get the fuck outta the bed right now before I fucking cut you!”

ü  “No way! Phil Neikro is like my number one favorite of all time! Why is my voice so high?”

ü  I’m goin to work today, I’m gonna quit my job. I’m goin to apply to um Kinkos alright? Or maybe Chick-fil-A or Waffle House, huh? Foot Locker….”

Lead cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann
Supporting cast: Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, Mircea Monroe

Paul

2011 - Adventure Sci-Fi Comedy by director Gregg Mottola

Description: Two friends from London, UK come to America to attend Comic Con in Los Angeles and continue onto a road trip throughout the southwest to visit common UFO sighting locations.  Suddenly the most extraordinary thing ever to cross the path of these particular nerds happens.  They meet Paul, an alien, who needs a ride away from Area 51.  While on their journey they encounter many obstacles and through Paul they learn a lot about life, themselves and their friendship.

Review: Classic writing and acting from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost!  A must see for anyone who enjoys the sci-fi life.  Total nerd humor with references and tributes to numerous classic films and TV of the genre.  I think that even if you aren’t a geek you would still enjoy the movie.  Great line up of actors with special appearances.  We all know why we love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost!  Jason Bateman’s (classic) dead pan humor nicely contrasts the silliness of the other characters.  I love the combinations that Kristen Wiig’s character creates in an attempt to use swear words!  Bill Hadar and Joe Lo Truglio play really well off of each other.  Like they are 7 year old boys playing in the backyard…  Seth Rogen did an amazing job voicing Paul.  His voice adds the extra bit that really wraps the character up in a laid back, rude, funny blanket.  I wasn’t expecting one of the twists that came at the end… One of them was completely obvious from early on and through the film, but was still pretty cool.  Even without Kristen Wiig’s swearing this movie is really quote-able.

My ratings:
Storyline & plot – 7.5
Acting - 8
Action - 5

 My favorite quotes:
"That is jenga."
"Listen to me Frick & Fuck; I want everything you can remember about the pissy nerds."
"Baby, where we’re going you don’t need teeth."
"Fuckaroo that was the best titty farting sleep I’ve ever had!"

Lead cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen
Supporting cast: Jason Bateman, Kristen Wigg, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, Jane Lynch

Horrible Bosses

2011 Action Comedy by director Seth Gordon.

Description: Three male lead characters who have been friends since high school find that they absolutely hate their individual bosses and jokingly decide that their lives would be better off if they just killed them. When this becomes a reality things start to get interesting as they find themselves in situations that they never thought possible. They figure out if they have what it takes to take a life.

Review: So funny! Greatly written storyline.  Verbal and physical comedy that is on par with The Hangover. Nice use of different movie quotes and references throughout the movie and I was still able to pull lots of quotes specific to this movie. Lots of plot twists and a pretty good ending. The story line is original but somewhat predictable. You can pretty much figure out where this is going or at least see the possible outcomes but I don't feel that the predictability takes away from the story or ending. Everyone likes a happy ending. This movie has made its way onto my favorites list. Jason Bateman is awesome. The combination of great actors really sets this movie up for an hour and 40 minute ride of laugh after laugh. Colin Farrell did a great job with his sleazy character.

My ratings:
Storyline & plot - 8
Acting - 8.5
Action - 8

My favorite quotes:
"You know what’s going on in there? That was almost all over us."
"Suddenly I'm an expert on sifting cocaine... It's amazing dude."
"You think you're more rape-able than I am!"
"I gave the rest of my mother fucking money to Motherfucker Jones!"

Lead cast: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day
Supporting cast: Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Donald Sutherland