The Interview (2014) - Outrageous comedy at North Korea's expense

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+ Best Action Comedy of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Best Satire of the Year 

 

With a hilarious top center tag-line, this USSR propaganda styled poster for Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen's The Interview sells the movie brilliantly

One of America's most popular, - but fairly unintelligent, - talk show hosts manages to secure an interview with North Korea's fabled Communist dictator, who is a fan. But the CIA feel that the opportunity needs to result in the demise of the notorious villain!

 

The Interview is written by Dan Sterling (South Park (1997-98)), with great British Columbian filmmakers, co-writer/co-producer/co-director Evan Goldberg and co-writer/co-producer/co-director/co-star Seth Rogen (This Is the End (2013), both) contributing story elements.

The Interview is a Dr. Strangelove (1964) reminiscent adventure that's closer to reality than most would care to admit. It is not only a party to watch, it is also a very unique film, and one whose like you'll never see again, due to the dire ramifications for Sony it incurred, (read about those in the section under the trailer.) 

This is an extremely ludicrous and insane comedy, - and you can argue that the enormous controversy it caused makes it less foolish. Because it obviously hit a tender nerve, (in North Korea), and hit it bull's eye.

James Franco (The Disaster Artist (2017)) is permanently keyed up, and Rogen is also a bowl of fun as the odd team heading to the normally hermetically sealed dictatorship. Diana Bang's (Fast Layne (2019, TV-series)) performance as the North Korean Sook, whom Rogen's TV producer falls for, is off the charts. The Interview is a patriotic, freedom-loving kick in the nuts for Kim Jong Un and mad dictators everywhere. It is a howl, and you need to watch it!

 

Related posts:

 

Evan Goldberg: Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation (co-writer)

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

This Is the End (2013) or, Hollywood Apocalypse

Pineapple Express (2008) - Funny people incite laughs in ludicrous stoner comedy (co-writer) 

Seth Rogen: Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation (co-writer) (co-writer/voice star)

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

Neighbors (2014) - Stoller's low-flying raunch turkey (co-star)

This Is the End (2013) or, Hollywood Apocalypse

The Guilt Trip (2012) - Rogen/Streisand buoy low-fuel road dramedy (co-star)

50/50 (2011) or, Dude's Got the Big C (co-star) 

Paul (2011) - Pegg, Frost and Mottola delve into SF with mixed results (co-star)

Funny People (2009) - Sandler, Rogen, Mann and Co. tickle our ribs effectively in Apatow's endearing if overlong comedian comedy (co-star)

Observe and Report (2009) - Hill's hilarious dark comedy leaves good taste in the gutter (co-star)

Pineapple Express (2008) - Funny people incite laughs in ludicrous stoner comedy (co-writer/co-star)

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 44 mil. $

Box office: 11.7 mil. $

= Mega-flop theatrically but may have become profitable in the end

[The Interview premiered 11 December (Los Angeles) and runs 112 minutes. The original script centered on Kim Jong Il, but the project only gained traction after his 2011 death, at which point it was rewritten to focus on his son, the current president of North Korea. Rogen was paid 8.4 mil. $ for his work on the film; Franco got 6.5 mil. $. Shooting took place from October - December 2013 in New York and British Columbia, including in Vancouver. The script was obtained by the North Korean regime, who began sending threats to distributor Sony, who made minor alterations of the film in response. But the threats got worse and were followed up by a massive hack of Sony Entertainment on 24 November, leaking personal e-mails, films and sensitive records to the public, while threats of terrorist attacks against cinemas screening the film increased the pressure further, to the point that cinema chains backed away from distributing the film and Sony eventually pulled the plug on their wide release plan. Marketing was already advanced, and around 30 mil. $ were apparently spent for this purpose. The (North Korean) hackers now switched focus more to the White House and President Barack Obama, who were against Sony's curtailed release. They eventually released the film in a few hundred cinemas (3,000+ had been the original plan), and it opened #16, its peak position, to a 1.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 6.1 mil. $ (52.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 1.8 mil. $ (15.4) and Australia with 935k $ (8 %). The derailed distribution was improved by almost 6 mil. online rentals within less than a month, netting 40 mil. $. The film also made in excess of 7.6 mil. $ on North American home video releases. It was also licensed to Netflix, and Sony may likely have been collecting insurance compensation for the shelved wide release, so it is likely that it has made Sony money by now. Goldberg and Rogen returned with many short, video and TV credits but has not released a feature as directors since The Interview. Rogen returned as an actor in Broad City (2015, TV-series), Kroll Show (2013-15) and theatrically in Steve Jobs (2015); Franco in I Think You're Totally Wrong: A Quarrel (2014), which he also directed. The Interview is rotten at 51 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Interview?

Neighbors (2014) - Stoller's low-flying raunch turkey

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+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year 

 

Silliness is promised on this simple poster for Nicholas Stoller's Neighbors

 

With a newborn baby, our protagonist couple have entered a new phase in their lives and relationship, which is inconveniently clashing with their being neighbors to a house where a college fraternity now moves in...

 

Neighbors is written by Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien  (The House (2017), both) and directed by great British-American filmmaker Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)).

Not the experience of becoming parents, nor that of turning 25, 30 or 35, (it is unclear how old they are meant to be exactly), seems to have matured our protagonists to any meaningful extent. - Their dialog has a 'fucking' demonstratively placed in just about every sentence they utter, seemingly because that would make their lines funny, or? (The rationale is dubious at best.)

In any case they just aren't funny, and neither is the frat house next door. Neighbors goes on as a dick-obsessed, very low-flying, poor comedy, which even in its big party scenes didn't make me remember why parties can be fun.

It is a shame that the talented Zac Efron (At Any Price (2012)) finds himself in this cowpat, while it seems more natural that the other stars should sometimes appear in this type of trash. A 'milking scene' with Seth Rogen (Pam and Tommy (2022, miniseries)) and Rose Byrne (Annie (2014)) is the lightest moment in the film and somewhat amusing. Otherwise this amoral drinking and drugs-thrilled burp of a film is long and unfunny.

 

Related posts:

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

The Muppets (2011) or, Man or Muppet? (co-writer)
Get Him to the Greek (2010) - Brand and Hill light up Stoller's funny music biz satire (writer-director)
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
Gulliver's Travels (2010) or, Gulliver's Travesty (co-writer) 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) - Stoller and Segel triumph with hilarious, multifaceted romcom 

Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) - Powerhouses Carrey and Leoni buoy Parisot's uneven farce (co-writer) 

 

 

Watch a short trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 18 mil. $

Box office: 270.6 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 15.03 times its cost)

[Neighbors premiered 8 March (South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, Texas) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place in 38 days from March - May 2013 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 49 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 2 weekends (#2-#4), grossing 150.1 mil. $ (55.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 26.9 mil. $ (9.9 %) and Germany with 18 mil. $ (6.7 %). Stoller also directed sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) with also the stars returning. This was Stoller's return, with an episode of The Grinder (2016, TV-series) in between. Efron returned first with a voice performance in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise (2014, TV movie) and theatrically in We Are Your Friends (2015); Rogen in 22 Jump Street (2014). Neighbors is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Neighbors?

Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation

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An appropriately outrageous, funny poster for Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon's Sausage Party 

 

Sausage Party is the first R-rated CGI-animated movie, described as a spoof on Pixar movies by some, it is a furiously horny raunch-comedy. It is writen by Seth Rogen (Superbad (2007)), Evan Goldberg (The Night Before (2015)), Kyle Hunter (The Night Before) and Ariel Shaffir (The Night Before), with Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street (2012)) contributing story elements, and directed by Greg Tiernan (Thomas & Friends: Sticky Situations (2012)) and Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2 (2004)).

Frank, a sausage who is in love with a bun named Brenda, has high hopes of the divine afterlife outside the store which are to be fulfilled on 'red-white-and-blue day' (4th of July). But new intelligence rocks the food items' firm belief in a great beyond...

Sausage Party deals with more real content than most audiences probably expect: SPOILER Namely the idea of a divine afterlife, - and in doing so staunchly reproving and rejecting all religions, which isn't my cup of tea, but at least it's done with a lot of humor here. SPOILER And on its ambitious path, it also attempts to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict and reproves reactionary, Islamic politics!

 

 

But don't kid yourself: While doing these seemingly serious things, Sausage Party delivers enough f-bombs and more finessed sexual references to satisfy even the most vulgar teen or adult. It really is outrageous SPOILER and, of course, all culminates in a joyous, funny, exhilarating food orgy. - Literally. The film also references countless movies and celebrities.

Of the many star voices in the film, Rogen and Kristen Wiig (Ghostbusters (2016)) as the leads do well, - although there wasn't that much Wiig-quality to Brenda, perhaps a side-effect of the lovely funny-woman's simply over-working herself these years. David Krumholtz (Hail Caesar! (2016)) is funny as Lavash, and Edward Norton (Moonrise Kingdom (2012)) stands out as Sammy, - in a good or bad way will be up to the individual viewer, - with a voice that's very recognizably shaped on Woody Allen. Salma Hayek (Frida (2002)) is also good fun as a lesbian taco.

Sausage Party is filled with amusing moments and some that are laugh-out-loud funny. The animation isn't on par with Pixar movies, (but look at the budget and go figure), and is still of impressively high quality. It is an outrageous, very funny and very horny movie, bringing to mind such flicks as Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) and Fritz the Cat (1972). It could only come from the warped, baked minds of Goldberg and Rogen.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 19 mil. $

Box office: 114.3 mil. $ and counting

= Huge hit

[Sausage Party premiered March 14 (SXSW Austin, Texas Festival) and runs 88 minutes. Rogen has stated that the film took 8 years to get made due to hesitance and fear in Hollywood and has said of its development: "What would it be like if our food had feelings?’ We very quickly realized that it would be fucked up." The film dodged a NC-17 rating by removing some pubic hair from one of the food characters in the film to receive its R-rating. Controversy has surrounded the film's production, as animators have allegedly been forced to work overtime without pay to complete the film on its assigned budget. A large number of animators have reportedly been removed from the credits due to complaints about this outrageous praxis, alleged to have been at the behest of co-director Tiernan. (This story seems to explain some of the reason why the film could be made for such a low budget.) The film opened #2, behind Suicide Squad, with a 34.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #2 for another week and remained in the top 5 for 5 weeks in total, and has to date grossed 93.9 mil. $. The film has yet to open in several important markets and so is likely to gross a good deal more still. Rogen has talked of an idea for a sequel, which is likely to materialize now. Sausage Party is certified fresh at 82 % with a 6.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sausage Party?

50/50 (2011) or, Dude's Got the Big C

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A poster for Jonathan Levine's 50/50, featuring a still from the film's one-take head-shaving scene

A young man is diagnosed with spinal cancer and prepares to die. The chemo is tough, the girlfriend cheats, his best friend is infantile, his mother fusses over him, and his shrink is an amateur. But a sweet amateur. - Will he kick it?

After it's over, 50/50 feels like it should have been something more, but it does accomplish a realistic feel. Screenwriter Will Reiser (Brooklyn Castle (announced)) wrote it based on personal experiences with the subject matter, himself having survived cancer. Ironically, Seth Rogen (Neighbors (2014)), who plays the Reiser-based protagonist's best friend, (who was also Rogen in Reiser's own real-life experience), just works better in more straight comedies, I find, but both Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Manic (2001)) and Angelica Huston (Seraphim Falls (2006)) as the fussy mother are good here.
But 50/50 does become touching, and it has an especially fine hospital scene. Considering its pedigree, it is a hard little movie directed by Jonathan Levine (The Night Before (2015)).

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 41.1 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 5.13 times the cost)
[50/50 premiered 12 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 100 minutes. James McAvoy was supposed to play the protagonist but bowed out due to his becoming a father at the time of shooting. Filming took place in Washington and British Columbia, Canada from February - March 2010. The film opened #5, behind Dolphin Tale, Moneyball, The Lion King (re-release) and Courageous, to an 8.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #5 for a second week before leaving the top 5, grossing 35 mil. $ (85.2 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.3 mil. $ (5.6 %) and South Korea with 0.8 mil. $ (1.9 %). The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Levine returned with Warm Bodies (2013). Gordon-Levitt returned in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Rogen in For a Good Time, Call... (2012), Anna Kendrick (Elsewhere (2009)) in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011). 50/50 is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 50/50?