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Funny People

Cackling Co Pilot Kamala

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I saw Funny People earlier today and it was a good movie. Shave 45 minutes off that sucker and it'd be a pretty great one but man oh man did that third act drag. As is, it's probably Apatow's weakest film but still well worth seeing and easily Adam Sandler's best performance behind Punch Drunk Love. I'd venture to say it was Seth Rogan's but he hasn't done anything remotely dramatic besides a few scenes on Freaks and Geeks so it's hard to say.

It just brought to mind, why hasn't there been a great (fictional) movie about comedians? Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling and this had their moments and Punchline I guess wasn't terrible but they all managed to fuck it up part of the way through. I guess King of Comedy comes closest.
 

strummer

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I pretty much echo Kamala's thoughts on Funny People. Judd tried his hardest and Sandler was just spectacular in the role but the movie comes a bit short of being an all time "dramedy" masterpiece.

Judd put his entire heart into it though so I commend him. He tried to get his buddy Sandler an Oscar nod but I just don't see that happening.

still a really good movie though
 

treble

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I don't know, I really wanted to like it, but a lot of it missed the mark. A lot of the characters are pointless. Like the girl comic, why is she there? I realize that it wasn't supposed to be as flat-out funny necessarily as his first 2 movies, but I don't think there were enough laughs here. And for such a long movie, the ending is kind of abrupt. "I hate you Ira! Here, I wrote you some jokes"

It's not a bad movie, and I guess I had high expectations after 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, just a little disappointing, I guess.

I found it weird, too, that Sandler was in a movie that basically made fun of his entire career, pretty much summed up with the "He's funny, how come his movies aren't funny?" line.
 

Star Ocean 2

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Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore are seriously good movies, and if this movie mocks them, it's going way out of line.
 

bps21

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I feel like I just watched a 7 hour movie.
 

Big Beard Booty Daddy

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I enjoyed this movie. It didn't feel too long, I didn't look at my phone once to check the time, but I felt like the pacing would have been better if about 15-20 minutes were cut from the first half. Once Leslie Mann came into the picture (after the first phone call that is), it seemed like a totally different movie. You could have cut it in half and had two movies from this. I am a big Rogan fan, but this might have been his best performance so far. From what I understand, the character Sandler played in the movie is very much like how he is in real life, except his more of an ass in real life. He did a good job though in this movie though.
 

Fall of Epic

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I saw it last night and actually really enjoyed it. It was long, yes but it really didn't feel it at all. I liked Sandler's and Rogan's characters and thought they developed pretty nicely and was surprised that Eric Bana didn't get as much screen time as I thought. The film definatley feels like a completley different feature halfway in but I actually didn't mind that. I reccommend this one overall.

On a personal rant, the Fresh Meadows movie theater in Queens is officially the worst theater ever. UGH.
 

OG

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- Sandler was phenomenal
- Rogen was Rogen (which I'm not a big fan of)
- I actually liked Jonah Hill for once
- Some of the one-liners by Sandler were gold
- Pacing was terrible
- The scenes with the doctor were amazing
- Ray Romano's cameo was great ("Doesn't everybody love you?")
- Eric Bana was awesome
- Overall it was good but could've been great.

That's my point-form review.

That's my point form review.
 

HSJ

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Epic Reine said:
On a personal rant, the Fresh Meadows movie theater in Queens is officially the worst theater ever. UGH.


I like that theater.
 

strummer

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From what I understand, the character Sandler played in the movie is very much like how he is in real life, except his more of an ass in real life. He did a good job though in this movie though.

eh, I've mainly heard the opposite about Sandler in real life. Tons of friends and very loyal. Easy to work with, etc.
 

chuck415

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That's what I thought. It seems like everyone who works with Sandler becomes a friend for life.
 

Mik

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Jonah Hill was really funny here and some of the stand-up bits were great.

But the movie was not very good on the whole.

Can anyone honestly tell me they want to sit through those 150 minutes again?
 

still fly

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That's what always bugs me about Apatow films. They all seem too unnecessarily long. It's hard for me to re-watch them.
 

Cackling Co Pilot Kamala

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To call it not good is overstating it, though rewatchability will be a problem. Really, how many two and half hour plus movies are really rewatchable? I'm sure someone will crow Godfather or Lord of The Rings but those are like once a year event movies not sit down and plop down with the whole thing when you catch the beginning on HBO movies. Does that make sense? Probably not.

I think "Good but could have been great." pretty much sums up my opinion. Apatow I think is a terrible self-editor. He caters too much to his writer side rather than his director side. Think about it, the director's cut for this will probably be near three hours long...who's going to watch that?
 

Big Beard Booty Daddy

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Epic Reine said:
I saw it last night and actually really enjoyed it. It was long, yes but it really didn't feel it at all. I liked Sandler's and Rogan's characters and thought they developed pretty nicely and was surprised that Eric Bana didn't get as much screen time as I thought. The film definatley feels like a completley different feature halfway in but I actually didn't mind that. I reccommend this one overall.

On a personal rant, the Fresh Meadows movie theater in Queens is officially the worst theater ever. UGH.

That's the one I went to. I went to the 11 pm show and they waited until there were already people in there to clean it up.
 

Big Beard Booty Daddy

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strummer said:
From what I understand, the character Sandler played in the movie is very much like how he is in real life, except his more of an ass in real life. He did a good job though in this movie though.

eh, I've mainly heard the opposite about Sandler in real life. Tons of friends and very loyal. Easy to work with, etc.

I've always thought the same thing. He always came off as a nice guy in the interviews I had seen with him. It seems, though, that being famous has gone to his head. The Accounting supervisor that worked on the movie with me had previously worked on ZOHAN and is working on his new movie, GROWN UPS. He's not allowed to make movies over $98 million anymore since his movies don't bring the cash back, at least during the theatrical releases. He also likes to close down production for weeks at a time when there has already been a budget made out causing the movie to come in well over budget. He treats people like crap on set that aren't his friends. It's really amazing all the stories I've heard or been a part of and I've only been doing this job for 1 film.
 

Cackling Co Pilot Kamala

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Between this, Observe and Report and Adventureland this is not a good year for people going to theaters expecting wacky comedies and getting something entirely different instead!
 

treble

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I watched this again, and I think this could have been a really good movie had they cut out the whole second half. Watching him come to terms with dying through his stand-up and the relationship with Ira had a lot of potential. Instead, it seems like they ditched all that halfway through writing it and tacked all that other stuff on. That part's not necessarily bad, it's just not that interesting.
 

Cackling Co Pilot Kamala

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Yeah, I really just wish they'd focused on Sandler and Rogan's relationship and just cut out all of the Leslie Mann stuff but I guess they were afraid that America hates insidery movies about showbiz.
 
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The Ray Romano and Eminem confrontation had me fucking crying laughing.

".......h-hello Marshall...."



I don't know how I feel about the end, it sort of went from RUSH to odd ending.
 

wnyxmcneal

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From almost every account, Sandler is pretty much the opposite of George Simmons as he has tons of friends, and it seems like he bankrolls their life by constantly putting them in his movies.

Henry Winkler said he basically runs the set, and takes everything very seriously.

There's a lot I disliked about the movie, but in the end, I think I liked it. It was a lot to take in, and it gave me a lot to think about, and it's a movie I'd really have to see again to truly appreciate, or despise.

That said, Apatow has to cut his family out of his movies. That's nice that he thinks his wife and kids are the greatest, but that doesn't mean that we should have to watch them

And NORM! of course
 

wnyxmcneal

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Nobody laughed, poor Norm.

I agree with my friend in that if you cut out the entire Northern California trip, it's a fantastic movie. Go away, Apatow family.
 

wnyxmcneal

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I yelled: Noooooorm!

A couple people walked out as the movie was not ending, and I said: They must've just realised that Norm's not coming back.

I got a lot of emails and texts from people being like: You're gonna love Funny People, there's something in Funny People you'll love

and it's like: Guys, he's on the poster! You think I wouldn't know Norm is in the movie?
 

Black Lushus

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Sorry to go of subject, fellas: Bobby, I saw a Norm movie called "Screwed" for the first time recently...what were your thoughts on that one?
 

wnyxmcneal

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You should apologise for using the word fellas. I mean, really?

Oh, Screwed. Norm HATES it. Hates everything about it.

I will freely admit that it's a trainwreck, but I still love it. There's lots of random funny moments, and the scene with Norm in the cage is hilarious. I also like that the film stars Sara Silverman, Dave Chappelle and Norm Macdonald. Two of the three went on to achieve considerable fame, the other is Norm Macdonald.

But yea, Norm despises it, and everytime I see him, I always make sure to make fun of it.
 

Black Lushus

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I'm old, Bobby, "fellas" is what old timers say!

Anyway, I thought Norm and Dave themselves were funny, but yeah the movie is pretty much a mess. I love Norm's schtick though, so that helps make anything he's in enjoyable (usually). It certainly aint no Dirty Work, though!
 
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