Observe and Review

Observe and Report is a dark, black comedy that rings with Taxi Driver references from the opening scene. And that film's influence on this one is undeniable. Ronnie Barnhardt is a disturbed, delusional character who communicates in voice over, is overly aggressive and socially retarded. He is confused with his role in the world and his actions are fueled by selfishness and his own insecurities. But, by the end of the movie, miraculously, he is the hero.

It's funny, though. It's damn funny, if you can laugh at heavy drug abuse, extreme violence and date rape. The movie explores a side of the psyche in which a seemingly normal individual decides by any means necessary to do what he believes is the right thing. His heart is in the right place, but his methods are criminal and borderline psychotic. Whether it's conning Anna Faris into a date with him, accusing the Middle Eastern mall employee of terrorizing the mall or beating Patton Oswalt senseless against an oven, he is trying to fit into what society has taught him is a hero, someone who helps those that cannot help themselves.




I have read that many people were taken aback by the shocking nature of some of the scenes and preferred their cuddly, charming Seth Rogen who merely smokes pot and knocks up pretty girls. I liked that they made such an audacious film, particularly coming from Warner Bros. and Legendary Studios, who made this picture during the enormous success of their last picture, The Dark Knight. In many ways, it is a similar film where the protagonist is an unstable vigilante who administers his own brand of justice with a disregard for the proper authorities. By the end however, while Batman is on the run as an outcast, Ronnie has gained acceptance and fame as a hero for bringing the bad guy down. It's a movie that asks the question, where is the line and why do people cross it? Ronnie has only pure intentions and good motivations, but the results of his action have disasterous consequences. What is the right thing to do? I don't have the answer and neither does the movie.




Michael Pena steals the show with his Mike Tyson impression.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I am barely 1/5 of the way through my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I love this book. Written by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, it tells the familiar story of strong willed Elizabeth Bennet and her romance with the caddish Mr. Darcy. But this story takes place in an England where the dead have risen from the ground and zombies are a constant threat to the character's way of life. In between the pride and he prejudice of the original novel are intense scenes of graphic violence and bloody carnage. However, the novel has allowed me to indulge in my favorite pastime, casting the motion picture adaptation.



I have read that it will be developed into a movie soon, with rumors that Summer Glau is attached to play Elizabeth. While I think she can clearly kick much ass and I love Sarah Connor Chronicles, I think for the sake of the story, the cast must be entirely British.

Elizabeth Bennet - Emily Blunt

I think that Emily Blunt can play anything. I even have her in my remake of Charade with George Clooney. Obviously, she will have to do some physical training for the zombie killing stunts, but I think she can pull it off.

Second Choice - Keira Knightley.

Mr. Darcy - James McAvoy

Jimmy Mac is great with the drama like Becoming Jane or the action like Wanted. This is a perfect vehicle for him.

Second Choice - Orlando Bloom

Mr. Bennet - Alan Rickman

Who else to play the grumpy father of four daughters who constantly trains them in the deadly arts? Well, there is always my second choice.

Second Choice - Colin Firth

Mrs. Bennet - Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson has not only starred in every film ever made based on a Jane Austen book, but she has also had a hand in adapting Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice for the screen.

Second Choice - Cate Blanchett

Mr. Bingley - Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen can do great contemporary British drama, so why can't he tackle classic British drama?

Second Choice - Hugh Laurie

The rather secondary roles of Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham should be played by two comic actors, respectively, Martin Freeman and Peter Serafinowicz. And the whole thing is narrated by Kate Winslet.



Oscar, please!

No MoonWalker 2

Damn.








Beyond all the tasteless jokes that I've already told today when I heard that Michael Jackson has passed away, I am truly sad. I grew up on Michael's music, loved his videos, his early Jackson 5 music and have always adored him as a singer and an entertainer. Above all else, I truly believe that Michael lived for us, his fans. He will be missed.


Hard to believe the various music and movie legends who knew Michael as a child and managed to outlive him. From Diana Ross to Liz Taylor, Gladys Knight to Liza Minnelli. He worked with directors like John Landis, Sidney Lumet, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese while arguably changing the face of not only pop music, but MTV and the music video form forever. I am disheartened that I never got to see him perform, because I was looking forward to seeing him in Las Vegas soon. He gave hundreds of millions of dollars to various charities and was one of the first celebrities to lead the drive to fund AIDS research.


There is much more I could write about a man who was greatly admired by the children of my generation, but I would rather keep it succinct. I don't think Michael would have wanted us to spend much time crying over his life. I think he would have wanted us to rock the night away.

I Loved This Movie, Man

In a single thought, what I loved most about this flick, was that it was really a romantic comedy between Rudd and Segal's characters. Great fun and a rocking Rush soundtrack.

Simpsons Never, Family Guy Forever

Ten years long, ten years strong(with some years missing.)

I grew up on cartoons. Voltron, M.A.S.K., Darkwing Duck, Muppet Babies, and so on. Those were great cartoons for kids, but I soon began to out grow them. That's where The Simpsons came in. It was a funnier show and so smart. I know an insane amount of trivia from the first ten years of the show. After the tenth season, I graduated high school and stopped watching. Not only because I was out of the house, getting into trouble, but because Family Guy was on the air. Remember the first time you really rode a bike, with no training wheels and you were flying down the street, wondering why man would ever walk again after being given the gift of the wheel? That's what is was like comparing the two cartoons. I loved The Simpsons and I did for a long time. Somewhere along the line, they lost their way. I know that nothing great can last forever and The Simpsons is a perfect example. Without ever really jumping the shark, the show nowadays is a skeleton of it's former self, full of celebrity voices and irrelevant story lines that fail to captivate the way they used to. But, let me say two things before I move on. Family Guy would not exist without The Simpsons and there is NO denying the pure genius of the monorail episode.

Conan O'Brien wrote this episode.

Family Guy had a wackier tone from the start and was meant to shock and be irreverent to the comfortable tone that The Simpsons had fond on television. I'm young enough to remember the outcry from parent groups over the negative influence that Bart Simpson would have on the youth of America. But, the outrage that right wing pundits have taken against Family Guy has been far more severe and vicious in attacking not only the show's morals and values, but it's creators and their own political agendas. (Of course, the fact that both of these programs are owned by FOX, which has never shied away from shameless exploitation, should not be ignored.) But, after being so famously canceled and resurrected, not once, but twice, the show found the freedom to push not only the limits of society and television but the limits of their own talent as well. Can anyone honestly argue that, with the Blue Harvest episode, they had, by only their fifth season, made an hour of television that was vastly more entertaining that the culmination of twenty years of effort that was the awful Simpsons Movie?

Where the hell is the Empire episode already?

Purists of the show have decried it's return, claiming that only the first two seasons are of any worth and that the show is barely recognizable now. I call those people pretentious pricks who look down their noses only because their head is up their own ass. Seth MacFarlane is the first to admit that everything on the show has improved since those years. The animation, writing and the voice acting has gotten immeasurably since the early years. They have been able to bring in much more considerable talent on a regular basis, like Drew Barrymore, Carrie Fisher and James Woods, the casts of shows like How I Met Your Mother or The Hills and a really cool bit with Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Fallon all taped off of their own sets. Furthermore, the show has been able to tackle topics on the social landscape from the Iraq war, gay rights, legalizing pot and over saturation of the media, while still being able to riff off of everything from Stripes, Singing in the Rain, Office Space, West Side Story and of course, Back to the Future and Star Wars.

Saving Private Brian.

What I have grown to love most about the show is that in the great tradition of canceled FOX shows, a la Arrested Development, they are not above poking fun at themselves. Whether they break the fourth wall to discuss Stewie's inability to communicate outside the main cast, acknowledging a perceived over dependence on flashbacks and cutaways or simply winking at the fact that everything on the show is fiction and will start fresh again in the next episode, Family Guy doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should anyone else watching it. Just enjoy.

Because suicide is painless.