The House (2017) - Young filmmaker career-crashes with starry comedy flop

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The two stars look silly on this poster for Andrew Jay Cohen's The House

Two really goofy parents find themselves in a pickle, when their daughter gets into her dream college - but without a scholarship. - Could an underground casino in their basement be the solution to their financial woes?

 

The House is written by co-writer/co-producer Brendan O'Brien (Neighbors (2014)) and debuting co-writer/co-producer/director Andrew Jay Cohen (American Storage (2006, short)).

Will Ferrell (Zeroville (2019)) and Amy Poehler (Sisters (2015)) almost compete in silliness here and in that way play two fairly similar characters in The House, a film that shows that the two together is no comedy match made in heaven. The film is simply rarely very much fun, although to some degree it may amuse and entertain lightly.

The House deals with the hysterical monetary demands of American middle class life, - and the ludicrous individuals that seem to grow currently in this section of society. The film is like a sketch blown up to feature length without much success but with plenty of violence, gambling and Nick Kroll (Sing 2 (2021)) as a corrupt council chairman. The House is a forgettable trifle.

 

Related post:

 

Andrew Jay Cohen: Neighbors (2014) - Stoller's low-flying raunch turkey (co-writer)

 

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 34.1 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.85 times its cost)

[The House premiered 26 June (Los Angeles) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place around September 2015 in California, including in Los Angeles. The long period before release indicates that the studio realized they had a dud on their hands. The film opened #6 to an 8.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 25.5 mil. $ (74.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 3.4 mil. $ (10 %) and the UK with 1.5 mil. $ (4.4 %). Cohen seems to have ended his career in movies completely after The House. Ferrell returned in Daddy's Home 2 (2017); Poehler in 4 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Wine Country (2019). The House is rotten at 20 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The House? 

They Came Together (2014) - Rudd and Poehler clown around in Wain's romcom spoof

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+ Best New York Movie of the Year

 

A funny poster for David Wain's They Came Together, which boasts informative statements from Deadline.com and an amusing note in the bottom

 

A charismatic couple from New York, - which, as we are reminded on the poster and in the movie itself, is so central for the story that it's almost like a character in itself, - relates to a friend couple over dinner the story of how they met, fell in love, broke up, and got back together.

Amy Pohler (Inside Out (2015)) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man (2015)) are in high spirits and rack in several laughs in this funny farce, which also features the amusing antics of Christopher Meloni (Small Time (2014)), Jason Mantzoukas (Dirty Grandpa (2016)), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter (2011)) and others.

The method of production is 'rushed', (relatively) low-budget, 'throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks', and so there's a number of gags, particularly some of the more obscure and of the meta-comical, that just don't succeed. They Came Together, however, is so full of shenanigans that it has enough juice to still be a pretty funny film.

It is written by co-writer-director David Wain (Role Models (2008)) and Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)).

 

Related posts:

 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: Unknown

= Unknown (but likely a big or huge flop)

[They Came Together premiered January 24 (Sundance) and runs 83 minutes. Filming took place in New York and Los Angeles. The film was screened at 4 US festivals, one English, had an undisclosed limited run in the US and Canada and releases in the UK and Ireland. It was released simultaneously as VoD in the US by production company Lionsgate. Whether it made them any money as such is, regrettably, impossible to know, as no numbers are made public, but it seems most likely that theatrically, which is what is accounted for here, the film was a big or huge flop. They Came Together is fresh at 69 % with a 6.4 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of They Came Together?

Inside Out (2015) - The must-see movie masterpiece of the year

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+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best American Movie of the Year
+ Best Family Movie of the Year

The five core emotion characters on the poster for Pete Doctor and Ronaldo Del Carmen's Inside Out

Inside Out is the big Pixar event of the year and a film that's gonna go down as one of the greatest animation films of all time, I predict. It is a must-see, a masterpiece and maybe the year's best film.

Riley Andersen is an 11 year-old girl, whose life in Minnesota has been mostly happy up until now, as her parents have decided to move the family to San Francisco. Inside Out looks at how the girl's emotions react to the dramatic changes in her life.

The ingenious and very careful design of the representations of people's inner lives that are a major part of this film have been described as so thought-provoking and poignant that the film doesn't really need its story, meaning the story of moving in Riley's external world. I couldn't disagree more, as I think the external story makes the inner life more actively insightful, - and vice versa, - whereas an exclusive focusing on the inner life could have been more stillborn in contrast. The very relatable story of Riley's problems in adapting to a new environment and leaving her familiar one behind propels Inside Out forward. SPOILER The resolution inside the girl is ultimately more reliant on ploys of adventure and fantasy, but it also conveys a strong and true message about the importance of sadness and letting a variety of emotions be expressed, which touched everyone I saw the movie with on a deep level; (I was sure because of the noticeably loud sobs and sniffling.)
Inside Out is not only extremely funny and touching; its animation and character designs are overpoweringly strong and beautiful; Michael Giacchino (Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)) has made a great score, and the sound universe is fabulous. 
Inside Out is almost too good. - How will anyone ever be able to make anything to equal this, I pondered after finally coming out on the other side of the film's magic. Inside Out is human and profound. Smaller kids won't grasp it all, but I still think it is recommendable to people of all ages and outlooks. It is the kind of rare film that I genuinely believe betters the world.

Inside Out also has the benefit of a top-notch voice cast of which I'll single out Amy Poehler (They Came Together (2014)) as Joy, Phyllis Smith (The Office (2005-13)) as Sadness, and in particular Richard Kind (A Serious Man (2009)) as Bing Bong, a kind of fantasy imaginary creature who, with the talent and expertise of the Pixar character animators and Kind's outstanding voicing, grabs audiences hearts in very little time. Truly amazing.
Screenwriters Meg LaFauve (Captain Marvel (2018)), Josh Cooley (Up (2009), voice actor) and writer-directors Pete Doctor (Up) and Ronaldo Del Carmen (Freakazoid! (1995-96)) have layered the story with all kinds of meanings and evocative, innovative concepts. It marks Del Carmen's first feature directorial work and Doctor's best to date. The film had a long and difficult development, which can be read about here.
The short film before Inside Out is James Ford Murphy's Lava (2014), a gorgeously animated, musical love story of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean. In itself a moving work of art.

Related posts:

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a great trailer for the film here

Cost: 175 mil. $
Box office: 702.5 mil. $ (and counting)
= Big hit
[Inside Out was a majorly anticipated film; its unique story grabbed people's attention and imagination everywhere. It opened to a stunning 90.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, #2 behind Jurassic World (with 106.6 mil. $), but still Pixar's second biggest opening of all time (behind Toy Story 3 (2010)) and the biggest opening ever for an original movie, animated or otherwise, (original meaning not a sequel, spin-off, remake or an adaptation), in this capacity even beating Avatar (2009)! Inside Out went on to gross 344.5 mil. $ (49 % of the total gross) in North America. And there seems to be no possibility at all that it won't win the Best Animation Oscar (at least!) at the next Oscars, (in my mind.)]

What do you think of Inside Out?

Mean Girls (2004) - Lohan, Waters and Fey's high school satire triumph

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Lindsay Lohan and, behind her, 'the Plastics' (Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert) for Mark Waters' Mean Girls

Cady has been home-schooled in Africa until her 16th year, in which she will start in a regular American high school. There she soon falls into a difficult dilemma: Should she avoid the popular, shallow girls, try to expose and bring them down, or join them?

Mean Girls became a teen sensation 10 years ago, - mostly for teen girls, understandably, - and it's a smart high school satire comedy/chick flick with a romance subplot. Based on a non-fiction self-help-book book by Rosalind Wiseman (Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002)), the script is written by Tina Fey (This Is Where I Leave You (2014), actress), who also plays a funny supporting role as Cady's struggling, good-hearted math teacher. It's good writing, basically, with many amusing ideas played out in the well-paced movie. In the end, though, SPOILER things come together somewhat too neatly for Cady, I think, and Mean Girls loses some of its realism and ends as a package a little too clean for my taste. I was also a little disappointed to see Cady's friend Janis, who more or less outs herself as gay towards the end, in which everything else seems to come together, began dating a guy (...), - while the other gay male friend went nowhere. In the end of Mean Girls, you might say that Fey chose to dump the two substantial gay characters of her teen movie into a black hole.
Mean Girls features a young Lindsay Lohan (The Canyons (2013)), who is both very charming and a natural, good center for the film. Rachel McAdams (Morning Glory (2010)) is fun as the insidious 'queen bee', and SNL-regulars Amy Poehler (They Came Together (2014)) and Tim Meadows (The Ladies' Man (2000)) are hilarious as McAdams' racy mom and the principal.

Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Cabert next to an uncomfortable Lindsay Lohan in Mark Waters' Mean Girls

The details:

Many people really love Mean Girls, and it is a fun and entertaining film to watch, while it also has some edifying points about the futility and hurtfulness of bullying. It is high-paced and a little talky, and some may be put off slightly by the bitchy teen girl characters in it and draw a big breath after, happy that their general level of drama isn't a norm in most people's lives.
The film won Lohan a string of Teen Choice and MTV awards and was the preliminary peak of her career, before things started going awry and down-hill with DUI's, rehab visits, legal problems etc. etc. Film Excess is still hoping that she'll emerge on the other side as a strong woman sooner rather than later.
Mean Girls is directed by Mark Waters, who lately put out the overlooked Vampire Academy (2014), (many of us have simply had a little much of teenage vampires, I suppose.) He has also directed such hits as Freaky Friday (2003), - another Lohan-starring hit comedy, - and Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), a delightful family comedy with Jim Carrey.

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 17 mil. $
Box office: 129 mil. $
= Huge hit
[With happening young actors, first class comedic material, a pop star-studded soundtrack and good reviews, no wonder that Mean Girls struck gold. 66 % of its earnings were from North America.]

What do you think of Mean Girls?
What's your favorite high school comedy?

Blades of Glory (2007) - Copycat comedy about ice figure skating

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Will Ferrell and Jon Heder peacock it out on this poster for Josh Gordon and Will Speck's Blades of Glory

QUICK REVIEW:

In an alternative reality, ice figure skating is the biggest thing in sports, and the two leading male single ice skaters get excluded from the sport after a scandal. Albeit only to return, - as a pair!
Glory is pretty much an ice skating version of the Ben Stiller-starring Dodgeball (2004) (Stiller was also one of the producers of Blades of Glory). But Glory isn't quite as much fun.
By all means, there are laughs; a movie about a male figure skating pair in a variety of overly silly skating outfits could hardly be totally un-amusing, and Will Ferrell (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)) is pretty funny, although this isn't one of his best films. But his buddy in the film is played by an unfunny Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite (2004)), and the style of it simply seems too copied.
Still in all, especially at this particular time in age, the time of the deeply bizarre Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, - what better way to celebrate winter sports than to refuse to watch the Russian idiocy and watch Blades of Glory instead?
The film is directed by a male directing pair, which is a little fun fact; Josh Gordon and Will Speck (The Switch (2010)).
Anyway here's a couple of stills from the ridiculous skating acts that Ferrell and Heder perform in this sports farce comedy. Click to enlarge.

Related reviews:

Will Ferrell: Anchorman: The Legend Continues (2013) - Decent sequel with several laughs
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) - Burgundy reigns supreme

Watch the fun trailer for the movie here

Budget: Between 53-61 mil. $
Box office: 145.7 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of Blades of Glory?
And of the Russian Winter Olympics 2014?
Which is weirder?