Monday, August 07, 2006

And now it's time for,

Ryduffalo Movie Reviews!
(We'll tell you what to like, whether you like it or not)

First up, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

I walked into this film with low expectations, and walked out with six months of new catchphrases. Seriously, it's like they just collected a whole mess of funny one liners and built a movie around them. And the weird thing is, it's not a bad movie at all.
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell, for those under rocks who didn't know already) has a rough childhood, partly because his Stock Car driving Daddy is never around, but mostly because all he ever says is, "I wanna go fast."
He grows up to become a member of a racing pit crew and luckily is there the day when someone finally asks the one question that Ricky knows the answer to,
"Does anybody here wanna go fast?"

Ricky answers.

And Go Fast he does.

He amasses a fortune as a great Racecar Driver and then has the requisite crisis which threatens to end it all (ala Ron Burgundy in Anchorman. Funny how they have the same initials). I won't tell you how it all ends up because you already know that, but I will say that Ferrell's supporting cast does an excellent job of telling the story. Michael Clark Duncan, Sasha Baron Cohen, and John C. Reilly all do admirable jobs as Ricky's Crew Chief, nemesis, and best friend, respectively, but the movie is almost completely stolen by the young Grayson Russell, who plays Ricky's youngest son, Texas Ranger Bobby. That kid is bound to be the most quoted 9 year old since that asshole from Home Alone.
This movie is funny. I think you should see it.

GRADE: 88% B+


Next up, the romantic comedy; You, Me, and Dupree.

Starring Matt Dillon, Owen Wilson, and Kate Hudson's Ass, this movie is horseshit. I went into this film with the lowest expectations possible, and walked out about a half of the way through and actually asked for my money back. It is more horrible than you can possibly imagine.

GRADE: 5% F (The 5% is for the ONE laugh I got out of the first hour)


And then we have Miami Vice.

This film was written and directed by Michael Mann, who you'll remember from such films as Heat and Collateral, as well as the original television series of the same name.

Oddly enough, besides the characters' names and location, this film had very little in common with it's small-screened counterpart. But that was cool with me, because if Colin Ferrell (no relation to Will) had tried to rock the Don Johnson scruff and pink T-shirt, it would have been a comedy, and a bad one.
But it's not a comedy. It is a bad-ass action flick.
A cops and robbers picture that interestingly enough, happens to also be very pretty.
It stars Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, who has gone from being featured on In Living Color to being one of the greatest actors of his generation.
They have a grand old time of it driving flashy cars, riding in flashy boats, and doing flashy asian girls in a very flashy city, and in the end, everyone dies.

That's not entirely accurate. But I don't want to spoil it for you.

GRADE: 86% B


Well folks, that's all the movies for now, check back in a few weeks when I've seen Ricky Bobby 8 times and can do nothing but spout catchphrases.