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.

Movie #182 - Employee of the Month (2006)

Employee of the Month
2006 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 43 min
Director: Greg Coolidge
Starring: Jessica Simpson, Dane Cook, Dax Shepard, Andy Dick, Harland Williams, Efren Ramirez

Hey, it's Pedro (from Napoleon Dynamite)! And he plays almost the same character!  And Jessica Simpson makes a worthy attempt at acting, but falls flat. Shocking.

So Dane Cook is the lazy guy who's had a tough life. Dax Shepard is the douche-bag who is happy to be a 17-month employee of the month at a wholesale superstore (like BJ's).  Both of them are kinda losers, but only Dane Cook is aware of it.  And he wants to date Jessica Simpson, who is strangely oblivious to Dax Shepard's douchey-ness. 

What bothers me the most about this movie is the way Dane Cook's friends turn on him so suddenly. "Friends."  He's trying to become a better man - breaking his butt, actually - and they're like, "Oh, you're too cool for us now! What about us?!" How about a little support, guys?  In the end, they come through for him. But their sudden anger towards him seems forced, since I don't think his actions warrant it.

In the end, though, this is just a fun, albeit predictable, movie with a pretty, straight-forward premise.  Dane vs Dax is enjoyable to watch, since both seem to buy into their characters completely. It works.

Movie #45 - Baby Mama

Baby Mama
Universal Pictures
2008 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 39 min
Director: Michael McCullers
Starring: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Greg Kinnear, Dax Sheppard, Romany Malco, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, Maura Tierney


Two movies in a row about women preparing for babies! Weird.


Anyway, this movie is pure insanity, mostly because of Amy Poehler and Dax Sheppard. Tina Fey plays her typical character - work-driven, wants to become a late in life mother, hopelessly awkward in a social setting, wears glasses. Poehler does the same, but with some extra spunk. She takes "crazed white trash" to a whole new level. And then sells it to you.


If you watch this movie, you're mostly watching it for the two of them and their priceless interactions. Romany Malco is pretty funny as Oscar, the doorman. And Greg Kinnear is his usual handsome, chipper self. The plot is fairly predictable and has a nice neat ending, where everyone gets something. Don't watch it to analyze, just watch it to laugh,

And don't be surprised if you find yourself quoting it later.

Hey... "I don't know your life!" Ok?