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I knew I wanted to say more about recent TV (or rather, film) news: I saw Kevin Smith's new movie "Zack and Miri Make a Porno". You've probably seen the ads, little stick figures with "Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks made a movie so tittilating we can only show you this drawing." Oddly enough, I saw this ad and figured it was just a clever publicity stunt--but the original poster, which featured Rogen and Banks appearing to give each other head (www.worstpreviews.com/images/posters/zackandmiri/zackandmiri1_large.jpg) was actually censored. So-- if you like Kevin Smith, you'll probably like this movie. If you only like Kevin Smith because of Jay and Silent Bob, you won't (they don't appear). If you like Seth Rogen, you'll probably like this movie (the role was written for him). If you like rom-coms and don't mind "strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language," you'll probably like this movie. It is a classic Smith film--sweet but dirty, about a pop-culture-obsessed loser, and with no censorship filter whatsoever on the characters' mouths. Unlike other Smith films, which in ten years have had exactly two seconds of nudity, in "Mallrats", "Zack and Miri" has quite a lot of nakendness. Nothing from Banks and only a joke ass shot from Rogen, but quite a lot of supporting cast member Stacey (played by a real porn star, presumably for street cred and so they could find someone who was willing to be naked (and simulating sex) for several minutes at a time with no shame), and a surprising amount, including an extended full-frontal, from Jason Mewes (aka Jay, here playing "Lester"). This nudity is, of course, unsurprising considering it's about making porn, but, then again, the two "making porn" movies I can think of -- "Orgazmo" and "Boogie Nights", "Orgazmo" had none (because it's funnier) and "Boogie Nights" had only short and sporadic nudity. And apparently Smith and Co. (aka View Askew) had to cut footage twice and then go to appeals to get it down from an NC-17. However, if you're not offended by ordinary sex (OK, sex for fun and profit), there's nothing offensive in the film--no violence, sex, only occasionally-implied drug use. Oh, and Brandon Routh (Superman) and Justin Long (those Mac vs. PC commericals and Die Hard 4) as a gay, porn-making couple.
So, enough on the rating. The movie itself is quite good. It's a relatively ordinary rom-com--Rogen and Banks are old friends who discover feelings for each other--with a Smith twist, that being (obviously) that they discover their feelings not through a kiss but by filming a sex scene for the porno. It's got a lot of good jokes and not many that fall flat, and the structure is simple but sound. Not my favorite Kevin Smith film, but one that I'll surely add to my collection when it comes out on DVD.
And, as a side note, I saw a profoundly unconvincing ad before the trailers. It was for a DVD-to-HD copier, so you can "copy your favorite movies." The movies it used as examples; Fantastic Four, X-Men: The Last Stand, I, Robot, and Jumper. Okay, so two lousy comic-book adaptations, one in-name-only book adaptation (seriously, the script was written without Asimov in mind at all), and a lousy book adaptation that NOBODY SAW. I laughed out loud, and probably confused the Hell out of the folks sitting behind me.
So, enough on the rating. The movie itself is quite good. It's a relatively ordinary rom-com--Rogen and Banks are old friends who discover feelings for each other--with a Smith twist, that being (obviously) that they discover their feelings not through a kiss but by filming a sex scene for the porno. It's got a lot of good jokes and not many that fall flat, and the structure is simple but sound. Not my favorite Kevin Smith film, but one that I'll surely add to my collection when it comes out on DVD.
And, as a side note, I saw a profoundly unconvincing ad before the trailers. It was for a DVD-to-HD copier, so you can "copy your favorite movies." The movies it used as examples; Fantastic Four, X-Men: The Last Stand, I, Robot, and Jumper. Okay, so two lousy comic-book adaptations, one in-name-only book adaptation (seriously, the script was written without Asimov in mind at all), and a lousy book adaptation that NOBODY SAW. I laughed out loud, and probably confused the Hell out of the folks sitting behind me.