That is an actual title to a movie that is coming out. No joke. I’m not sure if a movie trailer has even given me such an urge to break people, to just punch them right in their ugly faces and make them apologize for all of their sins. But hey, apparently, to some stupid simple-minded fucks, having a movie full of completely recreated scenes from other comedies and actors doing awful impersonations is comedy gold. I am mostly pissed, because this assclown has made a feature length movie and I haven’t. Does he have no shame?
Now, I offer writer and director Craig Moss a chance to write me an apology for wasting my time on that trailer and pay me lost wages of $0.22 for repercussions. Otherwise, I will see you in court.
But no, I don’t wish death upon any of the people involved like many people across the internet, certainly not, that’s absurd. The embarrassment of having their names attached to this for the rest of their lives should suffice as punishment. “Hi, can I get a gin and tonic?” “Oh sorry, no, we don’t serve assclowns here.” Still, fuck you Craig Moss and fuck you 20th Century Fox for distributing this. I hope that you know the shame you have brought on your family.
That’s just horrible. Not a single ounce of subtlety. This is feature length? For real?
I am late bloomer Judd Apatow fan after watching Knocked Up for the first time a couple weeks ago. I cannot get enough of his stuff now, and trying to track down Freaks and Geeks.
that. is. the . single. worst. thing. of. the . year.
F&G should be pretty easy to find considering the stock of almost everyone involved (exception: Joe Flaherty) has risen in the past 5 years.
I also bought Funny People and Sarah Marshall, just a matter of sitting down with them
Everyone except the core family on F&G are big stars now. Even the Undeclared gang are doing better than the F&G family.
@ Everyone except the core family on F&G are big stars now.
Don’t forget the awful awful Sam Levine. His career’s shit too.
I would say that over all the Freaks fared better than the Geeks.
Definitely a classic show.
Yeah, Freaks & Geeks was great. I’ve been a fan of Apatow and the gang of actors ever since it’s unimaginable cancellation (which actually, was probably the best thing to happen to all of them in the long run).
I thought Funny People was solid and a somewhat ambitious idea on Judd’s part. As for Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I’m a huge fan (my review) for many reasons. It’s definitely less serious than Knocked Up or Funny People, but it’s a riot and pretty relatable to anyone that has ever been on the wrong side of a serious relationship dumping.
Yeah, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was much better than I expected it to be (the trailer initially didn’t draw me into it much, but early reviews convinced me to track it down). A great deal of fun.
I even bought “The Ben Stiller” show on DVD simply because it was an Apatow production. Not bad. Not consistent, but some excellent moments.
I’m not completely crazy about “Knocked Up”, but haven’t seen it since the one theatrical viewing I had when it came out. Haven’t seen “Funny People” yet. But I will.
I watched Knocked Up twice, back to back and to me it is one of the best comedies of the decade (got decade lists on the mind), I think it is better than Virgin and Superbad.
Has anyone seen Funny People? I bought the blu-ray on a whim, kind of hoping it doesn’t suck.
I had friends that through and through DESPISED Funny People. I enjoyed the hell out of it. I’ve heard it described as a character-driven drama about comedians and I think that’s somewhat appropriate. It’s probably Sandler’s best work, save Punch Drunk Love, probably because he is playing a version of himself in it. It’s a hard film to really pigeonhole though. I can see an argument for people hating it, but I think it’s a good B+ movie.
On rewatch I agree that Funny People’s last half hour is kind of meh in comparison… but for my friends and I and everyone I know who is fascinated by standup and how comedians behave in real life (see: Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedian, for example), it’s their favorite of Apatows films
It’s also far and away the best looking film he’s made.
I was disappointed with the cinematography of Funny People. Even with Kaminski on board he didn’t do much interesting stuff, a shot of an airplane in a car window was pretty much it.
I don’t understand the satisfaction that somebody like Judd Apatow would get out of not pushing the envelope. This is his third movie, for gods sake, experiment a bit, try and become a real filmmaker, surprise your audience. I thought he would do it by bringing on Kaminski, but not really.
Pretty good movie though, some boring stuff near the end, shouldn’t have been as long, but Seth Rogens character was great, and Adam Sandler was good as well.
Just watched Funny People, I enjoyed it but surprised how unfunny the stand-up bits were. The funniest bits were in the trailer.
@ I don’t understand the satisfaction that somebody like Judd Apatow would get out of not pushing the envelope. This is his third movie, for gods sake, experiment a bit, try and become a real filmmaker, surprise your audience. I thought he would do it by bringing on Kaminski, but not really.
I don’t know. You have to accept people for who they are. JA might not be pushing the envelope cinematically but he doesnt really come from that world.
He is a “real” filmmaker. Just not necessarily an ambitious one.
I thought Kiminski helped him make a film that really stands out from the rest of his filmography.
I really enjoyed the film.
I didn’t say I don’t accept him, I said I don’t understand him. I have enjoyed his past two movies, I will see his films still. I’d say that is accepting.
“….surprised how unfunny the stand-up bits were.”
If their material was killer, they wouldn’t be convincing as struggling comedians. It was very much an ongoing thing throughout the movie that Rogen’s character is quite capable of bombing, Sandler was working too dark and unlike what people want from him, etc.
And with Ansari, that character isn’t even supposed to be funny, its a swipe at comedians like that who are hacks but somehow connect with audiences. The Randy character is very much a stand in for the Dane Cook’s out there.
looks funny. has anyone actually seen it or is everyone just reacting to trailer?
I showed this to a couple people and hid the title from them…
they watch it and groan and go ‘what is this , Virgin Movie?’
When the title hits at the end, no groans, no screaming, no wtf’s, they just look down at the ground in disappointment of life and scuttle off from whence they came.
This movie ruins life.
I think they’re hoping that since theaters can’t usually post much on the marquee or kiosk that they’ll get accidental ticket purchases.
The one thing that bothered me about Funny People is that I never bought that George Simmons (Adam Sandler) was this great comedian. Say what you will about him being portrayed as a sell-out, you still get that Ira admires his work as a comedian, and that he is supposed to be this big ticket draw for his stand-up. Maybe I am biased because I don’t find Adam Sandler particularly funny, but I never felt the aura of the man I think the film wanted me to feel. Maybe if it was Eddie Murphy I could have accepted it.
It didn’t seem to me that George did standup throughout his career, it seemed obvious to me he followed the path almost every other late 80s / early 90s comic did. Do comedy until you get get a show or a movie and then basically abandon it save occasional vanity appearances. Its said explicitly when he shows up to the club that he hadn’t been there in several years.
The whole character mirrors Sandler in a number of ways, obviously by the manchild movies. For a lot of people that would be Ira’s age, they WOULD have grown up with movies like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, and WOULD have had his comedy albums, which from the glimpses I saw of them in the marketing, were all, like Sandler’s, mostly music/sketch albums.
I mean, if I met Adam Sandler, I would probably shake his hand, be happy and suck up because I grew up with his comedy too, watcher of SNL and his early stuff, and had one or two of his CDs. And despite that schtick getting lazier and lazier, like it when he can pull off other roles well.
There’s also a point in the film where he goes to their house for Thanksgiving and they’ve clearly sucked up by putting up one of the posters for his shittier movies. JOnah Hill tries to cover for it but fails.
I think the movie works fine on its own, but it works more richly if you followed the online viral campaign.
Overall on a couple viewings I’d say the bases are well covered on the realism front.
it is longing for a film that was never intended, but it would have been great if George Simmons was a great stand-up comedian that reverted to shit movies like Eddie Murphy’s career, and than you use the catalyst of the film to make Eddie (as George) relevant again, with some solid material. I think the film needs to give you a sense of the greatness to George, to know how far down he has fallen. With Eddie Murphy you would have that built in history, and it would be great to see Eddie Murphy riff again in that context, even if it is doing ‘dark’ shit.
I think there’s a number of different avenues someone could go with a standup comedy movie. I don’t see a lot of comedians going back to try and become great comics again though. George is kind of an asshole, capable of doing work but hates himself too much to try… maybe for fear that it will just continue to make him an isolated star with no real friends.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
I’d say that’s what makes the ending work so much for me. Sure its the typical “friends again” thing, but there’s more consequence to it, it will spur Ira as a writer/comedian, and it could spur George as well, because now he has someone he considers an actual friend he cares about impressing and amusing, and could get him to work without sweating the fame and greed issues so much.
I think Eddie has already had numerous chances to redeem himself, and kind of blew them, not just with the choices he made afterwards, but his attitude. With Dreamgirls he started acting like he was owed unconditional renewal of respect.
also I forgot to say I loved every moment Eric Bana was onscreen. I know people complain about the last half hour but it would have been 30x worse if that character was not as engaging as Bana made him.
Bana’s character is not completely unliked Russel Brand’s character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in the sense that he’s a comic relief dimwit, but there’s also hints that there’s more to him going on, that he has actual feelings.
This movie looks HILARIOUS! How could someone not have thought of that stuff before this movie?
I should have thought of this. It’s gonna make f’n money! Twitter page for this: http://www.Twitter.com/40yearolddouch
rewatched Funny People and worked even better the second time, like you said Goon. I hadn’t known before that Leslie Mann is Apatow’s wife, and those are their real kids in the film (pretty awesome in their own right).
I just watched Funny People a few days ago and was surprised by how much I liked it. Definitely goes long at the end and I wasn’t overly keen on where they took Leslie Mann’s character, but Bana was indeed golden.
I think it made total sense where they took her character, it actually would have been a tough choice to make, and I really like where they take George in the film, unconventional to say the least.
I watched most of the extras yesterday, some interesting archival stuff of Apatow and Sandler in 80′s, on Bill Maher show and doing stand-up. Apatow seemed the more funny comedian, and yet Sandler garnered the most attention.
This film may actually make my top ten this year.
It’s not necessarily that it didn’t make sense where they took her, but I just didn’t like it…She ends up lying about her and George to cover her mistakes. Understandable, but both Goerge and Clarke get to remain consistent and truthful. I just ended up not liking her much by the end and it felt somewhat unfair…I don’t know, maybe a second viewing would change that, but that was one of the elements that didn’t work for me.
I really liked most of the rest of it though. I think Ray Romano’s short scene was my favourite – I love his timing there.
which I think is great, how many times have we seen the woman in the story be the noble prize between two fault-ridden beaus? I like how maturely the relationships are developed, particularly for a summer comedy.
seeing it again on DVD may have helped push it into my top ten as well, and I guess that would depend on the quality of the december releases.
I definitely think it plays better on DVD than in a crowded theater, and maybe its taboo to mention for a film, but I think its also one that maybe deserves the DVD benefit of a self imposed intermission
so 3 episodes into Freaks and Geeks and I fucking love it. That is pretty much what I remember from high school. is Undeclared on par with F&G?
Undeclared is funny, but I was always partial to Freaks & Geeks. It is similar though, just transported to the freshman year of college, rather than high school. If you enjoy one, you’ll definitely enjoy the other.
Undeclared is great, but a different beast.
The Undeclared eps are half hour length, so they will seem rushed in comparison, and they don’t have the same depth of character either.
I think any Apatow fan should check out Undeclared, however I’d never tell them to get to it before F&G
Oh, and if you do see Undeclared on DVD, they fucked up the episode order on the DVD. If you check online they’ll have the proper order in which to watch. Continuity isn’t a huge deal for that show however I like to stick with what’s intended.
Oh stop it…and go see it. Looks funny, dude. What r u gonna go see…”Legends of the fall 2?”
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/41-Year-Old-Virgin-Knocked-Sarah-Marshall/dp/B0039UT3M4