By Tiffany Tweedie

Now available on DVD & Blu-Ray | Runtime: 90 min.
Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity.

This one was requested and since it was just released to DVD, I figured now was the time. Plus, there’s nothing coming out this week that I plan on seeing (shocking, I know!!) This one’s for you, Ann!

Based on the Saturday Night Live skit, MacGruber is pure spoof of the MacGyver series from the ’80s (really??! Twenty-five years ago??! First my son gets his drivers license and now this? Guess I need to pick up some Depends and Geritol on my way home from work!)

And much like (nearly) all SNL skits turned into full-length feature films, what’s funny for 3 minutes isn’t necessarily funny for an hour and a half! (Wayne’s World is one of the rare exceptions! Party on!)

MacGruber is spoofy to the nth degree. I mean, they really do nail it perfectly. However, it is an R-rated movie and they do all those things they can’t do on television. Over and over and over again. Lots of male nudity (though that is some of the really funny stuff. But also some of the really disturbing stuff.) Lots of f-bombs. And lots of… weirdness.

I am a little surprised (and a lot saddened) to see that Val Kilmer chose this as his return to movies. Val Val Val – what happened?! Where did the beach volley ball stud that I drooled over go? (Ok, so you could ask the same of me. Touche, IceMan!)

The movie basically is like a full episode of the original TV series (my apologies to Richard Dean Anderson!) but redone spoof-style. By 14 year old boys. It is raunchy, rude, crude, juvenile and totally crass. It makes Hot Tub Time Machine look sophisticated. If you can get past all that, it’s embarrassingly funny. I laughed. A lot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a terrible movie. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t funny as hell! Personally, I loved the absurdity of it. These guys knew they were making a spoof and everyone played their part to the hilt!

My overall review: One of the worst movies ever made. Viewer Discretion is Advised!!! Also, if you have any discernible taste, avoid at all costs (obviously, I do not.)

Note: For whatever reason, this one isn’t available on Netflix until 10/5/2010. Sorry kids!

MacGruber movie website

You can read more of Tiffany’s writing at Mommy in Real Life.

By Tiffany Tweedie

Opened September 3, 2010 | Runtime: 1 hr. 49 min.
Rated R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity

Sorry, girls. I know I said I’d review George Clooney’s newest movie, The American. But… I.Just.Can’t.Do.It! I don’t care for George, I think he’s a terrible actor and I can not bring myself to fork over even a few dollars at the matinee for this one. Ok, even if it was free, I wouldn’t go. Perhaps if I was paid… well, we all know I’m a movie whore anyway! No surprise there. So instead I bring you…

Going the Distance – the new romantic comedy starring real life couple (or are they this week, it’s hard to keep up with Hollywood!) Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. BTW – this was a freebie sneak-peeker for me. The last movie I paid to see was Piranha 3D. So, there you have my taste in movies. Take it as you will.

Where were we… ah yes. Romantic comedy. An R-rated one. And rightfully so. Not for the prudish! Not as juvenile/raunchy as Knocked Up. More in the vein of Wedding Crashers. Very funny, a little more crude than crass, definitely for adults!

The story starts in New York. Our two star-crossed lovers meet and six weeks later she (Drew) has to move back to SF. And so we all embark on a long-distance relationship. Will it work out? Can they manage to stay together? Will Drew ever be able to move back to NYC?! Dun-Dun-Dunnnnnnnnn!

Ok, so it’s formulaic and fairly unoriginal. It’s probably a remake of some Tracy & Hepburn movie from the ’40s that I’ve never heard of (and was probably much better done.) It’s not that I don’t like Barrymore & Long, I do. And they definitely have chemistry. And I LOVED Christina Applegate who plays her (very) over-protective sister. It’s just missing that something special.

It’s just an OK, racy, r-rated romantic comedy. I can’t give it huge thumbs up, even though I found it extremely funny. Because I also found it extremely forgettable. I saw it 6 days ago and I’m having a hard time remembering anything beyond “it was funny”.

My overall review: Netflix it, get your girlfriends together and play a drinking game for every time someone says the word “move”!

Going the Distance official movie website

You can read more of Tiffany’s writing at Mommy in Real Life.

By Tiffany Tweedie

Opened August 13, 2010 | Runtime :2 hr. 13 min.
PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity

Sorry everyone for the delay in getting this review out! Especially since I saw it opening night! (movie reviewer fail!) I did comment a bit on the book review thread. It took me longer to recover from a week at Disneyland with my two youngest than I thought it would! Whoever said 40 is the new 20 LIED!! And now, on to my brilliant review…

Eh, it was OK. The scenery was breathtaking and if this was like a National Geographic, Disney Earth Day movie then I would give it more of a thumbs up.

For those who don’t know, Eat Pray Love is a memoir. Based on the book of the same name by Elizabeth Gilbert, it chronicles her “year of discovery” if you will. She really did all these things. She was consulted on the movie and approved. This is her life. This is her.

I really don’t like her.

I think I would have really enjoyed this movie if it was fiction. More of a woman’s fantasy of something she’d love to do. I love the idea of dropping out of my life for a year and just exploring the world. Sounds fantastic! However, the reality is, that would suck. Mostly for the loved ones I’d leave behind in a confusion of WTH?!

She ends her first marriage because she’s not being her “authentic” self. Then she ends her next relationship for the exact same reason! Really? Way harsh, chick. Maybe you need to grow the heck up!

And that’s how Liz comes across (to me, anyway) as really selfish, self-indulgent and immature (much navel-gazing, if you will.) I don’t find her likable at all (and I do really like Julia Roberts, but even she couldn’t save this character.) And what I realized as I was watching this, is that the real Liz not only wrote this, but approved the movie version of her words, her life. Which to me means that in reality, she was even worse. Cause let’s face it, no matter how “true” we want something about ourselves to be, we are gonna candy coat it at least a bit. Try to put ourselves in somewhat of a sympathetic, if not completely positive, light.

And so I REALLY don’t like Liz.

And for possibly the first time ever, the movie made me NOT want to read the book.

My overall review: turn off the sound and enjoy the scenery.
Eat Pray Love official movie website

Elizabeth Gilbert‘s official website

You can read more of Tiffany’s writing at Mommy in Real Life.

By Tiffany

Opened August 6, 2010 | Runtime: 1 hr. 47 min.
PG-13 for crude and sexual content, violence, some drug material and language

You know all those high-octane, walk on the wild side, crazy, rogue cop buddy movies. Well, this isn’t one of them. It’s about “the other guys”, the cops with the desk jobs who crunch numbers and write reports.

Just to be clear, this is a spoof. Not a straight comedy. Mark Wahlberg is awesome! He’s a great actor and he takes this part all the way. Will Ferrell is… well, Will Ferrell. He excels like no other in this genre. There are bad Will Ferrell movies and insanely awesome ones. Thank goodness this falls into the latter category!

This is a pretty star-studded cast: Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson are HILARIOUS!!! Michael Keaton is perfect as the Police Chief. You’ll recognize the other two “other guys”. Though if I named them, you wouldn’t have any idea who I was talking about (one of them is a Damon brother). Eva Mendez is gorgeous and hysterical, great combo! I could go on and on.

Ok, so this isn’t high-brow. And some of the plot really doesn’t make any sense. But isn’t that how it is in all those cop buddy movies that its spoofing anyway?! The plot is really just an excuse for car chases, shoot outs, and blowing up stuff. And this has all that and more.

I will tell you that the whisper fight scene is probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen! Laugh quietly so you don’t miss a word of the dialogue! It’s already a classic!

My overall review: while this might not be everyone’s cup of tea (my parents definitely wouldn’t “get it”) if you can appreciate a good spoof and/or really like Will Ferrell, then you’ll LOVE this!

The Other Guys official movie website

You can read more of Tiffany’s writing at Mommy in Real Life.

By Tiffany Tweedie

Opens July 30, 2010 | Runtime: 1 hr. 50 min.
PG-13 for sequences of crude and sexual content, some partial nudity and language and sexual content

Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, together again (they were both in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.) This could either be really really funny or really really stupid. Sorry, I have to go for it:

This movie is Schmucking Funny!!

(I did apologize in advance.)

From the minute the opening credits first appear to the bonus scene after the last end credit has rolled, there is just non-stop laughs. A regular laughapalooza (I’m trademarking that!) It’s wacky and zany and crazy, yet plausible. You can see how this series of very unfortunate events could happen to almost anyone (well, except for the initial dinner party part. I really hope grown men aren’t having these kinds of dinner parties. I would expect that of frat boys, but not high powered business men!)

In case you’re unfamiliar with the premise, Tim (Rudd) is trying desperately to get a big promotion. His boss says that he’s SO CLOSE, but he has to bring an “extraordinarily gifted” person to a special dinner party. And by extraordinarily gifted, he means idiot. Tim at first tries to bail, but then quite literally runs into Barry (Carell). His special gift – he creates Mouseterpieces, masterpieces recreated using the carcasses of dead mice (many of which are shown in the opening credits.)

Hilarity ensues.

Carell could have played this as literally just a dumb schmuck. But just when his idiocy seems beyond redemption, he gives you a quiet, sweet revelation that just makes you want to give him a hug, take him home and fix him a nice cup of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows. Well played, Carell, well played!

Rudd is playing basically the same guy he does in I Love You, Man. And as the saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” He is the perfect foil to Carell’s craziness.

The scenes with the modern artist are freakishly accurate! If you’ve ever been to a modern art museum (I’ve been to the Guggenheim) then you know what I’m talking about!

The casting was perfect. Everyone seems to push their roles right up to the edge of over-the-top, but never quite go over the cliff. You can see where they were intentionally trying to crack each other up, a couple of them almost lose it in a few scenes. I credit the editing with not letting that happen!

My overall review: perfect date night movie. Your guy will LOVE Rudd and Carell. And there are plenty of jokes for the ladies too!

Dinner for Schmucks official movie website