Movie #338 - Kicking and Screaming

Kicking & Screaming
2005 - Rated PG - 1 hr 35 min
Director: Jesse Dylan
Starring: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, Kate Walsh, Musetta Vander, Elliott Cho, Dylan McLaughlin, Josh Hutcherson, Rachael Harris, David Herman

Will Ferrell does a kids' movie (kinda) and I just can't help but think it's hillarious.  I know not everyone is a big Ferrell fan, but I unabashedly am (except for Semi-Pro, which you will not see on this blog. Nope.) 

Here, he battles his competitive dad Robert Duvall by coaching the underdog pee wee soccer team (Duvall coaches the best team in the league).  Ferrell teams up with famed NFL coach Mike Ditka, Duvall's nemesis next-door neighbor, who plays himself. Genius.  He even coaches in his classic shirt, tie, and Bears sweater. Gotta love it.

Of course, the pressure sends Ferrell over the edge little by little, leading to scenes like the coffee shop throwdown and the butcher shop takeover (think chainsaw + half a cow). Some of its all for a cheap laugh, as is his usual style, but there's enough substance here to make this a feel-good comedy, more so than his others.  His relationship with his son develops nicely, as does his connection to his own dad.  And as he sees how interconnected the two relationships really are, he deals with it and makes the best of it.

Good stuff, all around. It's just cute and lots of fun to watch.

Movie #296 - Idiocracy

Idiocracy
2006 - Rated R - 1 hr 24 min
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, David Herman, Justin Long

This movie is both hillarious and terrifying.  What would happen if stupid people kept reproducing and smart people stopped?  What if eventually the scales tipped in favor of mankind's less intelligent?  Not only would Darwin rollover in his grave, but the events portrayed in this movie might actually happen.

Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph participate in an army program that freezes them, then gets shut down, leaving them in their pods for 500 years before they are accidentally opened up and set loose into the world.  Society is filled with idiots and the world is suffering.  Wilson now finds himself the smartest man in the world, a title which brings great responsibility.  Can he help save the crops and solve all the world's problems in one week? Or will he be executed, Colosseum style?

This movie is mostly low-brow comedy, but I think it's pretty funny.  And Terry Crews as president is just about my favorite thing in the entire movie.