Movie #210 - Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
2008 - Rated R - 1 hr 51 min
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Kristen Bell, Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, Russell Brand, Bill Hader, Liz Cackowski, Maria Thayer, Jack McBrayer, Jonah Hill

From the awkward naked breakup in the very beginning to the Dracula puppet musical at the end, I love this damn movie.  Jason Segel hits every note of this movie perfectly and in an adorably charming way like no other.  Who could blame Mila Kunis for falling for him? And who could forgive Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) for leaving him?

And then, of course, there's Russell Brand's Aldous Snow - a character that is the stuff of legends.  Seriously, he inspired a second, unrelated movie to be written about this character.  So well done.  So what if it's not really acting because Russell Brand truly is that nuts? Now we all get to enjoy it together.

If you haven't seen this, please do.  It's smart and funny, and tackles a topic near and dear to all of our hearts: how to move on when you've been brutally dumped.

Movie #195 - Fanboys

Fanboys
2008 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 30 min
Director: Kyle Newman
Starring: Dan Fogler, Sam Huntington, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen, Danny Trejo, William Shatner, Carrie Fisher

Star Wars fans will take special delight in this geeked-out adventure movie.  Despite it's slap-stick Road Trip kind of comedy, the overall story is one I really enjoy.  Four childhood friends band together to storm Skywalker Ranch to see Episode One before it comes out, because one of them is dying from cancer.  The way I just explained it sounded lame, but it's not melodramatic or anything.  It's just a nice story about friends - with some hillarity thrown in for good measure.

Seth Rogen is arguably one of the better parts of this movie, and he only plays two small parts.  Fighting himself (one role versus the other) is possibly the highlight, but his Star Trek nerd taking down Dan Fogler is classic.  The laundry list of cameos doesn't hurt this movie either.

It's just fun, but not ridiculous beyond reason.  And don't we all want to break into Skywalker Ranch, either to save George Lucas's movies from himself or... no, that's why we all want to break in.  But before Episodes One, Two and Three came out, some of us probably wanted to watch those too.

Movie #136 - Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat
Universal Pictures
2009 - Rated R - 1 hr 53 min
Director: Peter Billingsley
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis

When this movie came out and everyone was like "Ooh! What a great cast! This is going to be hysterical!" I was onboard.  We saw it in the theater and enjoyed it, then were puzzled to hear that not everyone thought it was as funny as they hoped.  Well sure that's going to happen... This isn't a slapstick comedy, it's not Wedding Crashers, and it's not just shallow comedy either.

This movie is funny because of how well it hits the nail on the head.  The construct is a bit weak - four couples who all fit a stereotype we see in our world today - but the message is clear: "Make it work if you want it to work." Maybe the humor makes people uncomfortable, or maybe it's not the Favrea/Vaughn people expect.  Still, I happen to think this movie is pretty darn hillarious.

As for the vacation spot, with the crazy couples therapists and the fish-feeding exercises that draw sharks, there's your Favreau/Vaughn humor.  It's background noise, despite the movie's poster and catch phrase that would tell you its otherwise. It isn't the main point, it's the backdrop where these comedy writers make their valid point about human relationships.

For these reasons, and the fact that kids peeing in display toilets is hysterical, I really liked this one a lot.