The Shallow End of the Pool

At the risk of falling into a rut, I'm going to do more movie reviews today! And, despite the title of this post, I will not be talking about the Damon Wayans comedy "Mo' Money" (Fun Trivia Fact for those playing along at home: "Mo' Money" was the movie I took my wife to on our very first date. For some reason she still married me). And away we go...

WEDDING CRASHERS: Either Vince Vaughn or Owen Wilson individually turn up the humor quotient in any movie they are in. The two together are comedy gold. It's great to see a good old-fashioned R-rated comedy again. The great thing about this movie is that it doesn't use the R-rating as an excuse to just be filthy (although consider this a warning: it is filthy), but instead focuses on being FUNNY. Don't expect any Oscar nominations next year, just go and laugh your ass off. Side note: Is Rachel McAdams turning into this year's Jude Law? It seems she's in just about every movie nowadays.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS: I'm very conflicted about this one, because Billy Bob Thornton is genuinely funny in it, but I didn't care for it. I really wanted to, but I just didn't. Here's the thing: despite Billy Bob's hysterical performance, everything else around him kind of, well, sucked. The kids were all just horrendous, every one of them. Every time one of them opened their mouths, I cringed. The whole movie seemed rushed as well, which seems kind of odd, because the brilliant original film told the same story in a shorter running time. I never really bought Billy Bob's transformation from washed-up drunk who cares only about himself to reformed drunk who cares about the kids (and I hate to keep harping on this, but if the viewer doesn't like the kids, why should he or she give a shit whether or not Billy Bob does?). Skip this and go re-watch the Walter Matthau version again.

SKY HIGH: What a blast this movie is. A fun, light-hearted take on Super Heroes that simultaneously parodies the misery of high school. The basic plot is thus: the offspring of super-powered beings attend a hidden school floating high above the ground to learn how to properly use their powers (when they arrive on the first day of school, the always fantastic Bruce Campbell assigns them a label of either 'Hero' or 'Sidekick' based on their powers). The incoming freshman class includes Will Stronghold, whose parents happen to be the greatest heroes of all time, The Commander and Jetstream (Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston). Does this fact make school any easier for Will? As he says himself, "If life were to suddenly start being fair, I doubt it would happen in high school." This was one of the nicest surprises I've seen in quite a while, and I give it my highest recommendation.

Coming SOON: "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "March of the Penguins." I plan on seeing them both in the coming week and will post my thoughts here.