Dane Cook continues to live out every man’s dreams through his movies this week.  That’s right, Cook has decided he is going to do a movie with every hot Jessica in Hollywood.  Or so it seems.  First came “Employee of the Month” with Jessica Simpson, now comes another romantic comedy in the form of “Good Luck Chuck,” co-starring Jessica Alba.  I’m sure everyone will be on the edge of their seats to see who's next, if it’s Jessica Biel or some other hot Jessica.

            For this week though we’ll just take a look at “Good Luck Chuck.”  Dane Cook is the lead as Chuck, who has recently been getting a lot of intention from women.  He finds out that someone has posted online that every woman Chuck sleeps with finds happiness with the next man they meet.  At first he thinks it’s complete bull, but when he finds out his girlfriend he just broke up with is getting married he starts to wonder.  Eventually more and more women start showing up at his office (he’s a dentist) and he isn’t sure how to deal with it.  His best friend, Stu (Dan Fogler), who happens to be a plastic surgeon that specializes in breasts, convinces him that he should sleep with as many women as possible.  Chuck does this for a while, but in the end he can’t help but want more and his mind keeps wandering back to a girl he met at a wedding named Cam (Jessica Alba).  But once they sleep together it’s only a matter of time before she’ll find the man of her dreams.

            Dane Cook is hilarious in this movie as Chuck.  He seems much looser in this film than he was in his first film experience, “Employee of the Month,” since this movie is rated R and doesn’t worry much about the whole family experience.  But he wasn’t the highlight of the movie. In fact, Dan Fogler steals the show as his perverted best friend.  Fogler is always grossing out girls, finding ways to get them naked, or impersonating Chuck so he can sleep with women.

            Overall the movie is a great laugh.  The premise of the movie isn’t great, but then again what comedy movie does have a good storyline?  If you’re shy about staring at boobs for half an hour, you may not want to bring the parents… or the girlfriend (I did, whoops).  It’s not going to rival “Superbad” or “Knocked Up” for the top comedy spot this year, but it’s definitely a top 5. 

Rating: 3 bananas

 

On the Rack: “Vacancy" Runtime: 1h25m Rating: R

Genre: Horror/Mystery

Horror movies have taken a turn for the worse in recent years- nothing is really believable anymore.  The scariest thing, for me, when watching a horror flick, is when you come to the conclusion that it’s believable.  Lately Hollywood has forgotten that.  Luckily, this movie went back to a classic format that is easier to follow and believe.

            “Vacancy” follows one horrific night in the lives of David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Fox (Kate Beckinsale).  The two are driving home through an unfamiliar area when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.  Late, and unable to find a garage that’s open, the two decide to spend the night in the only motel around.  Unfortunately for them, the motel offers more than they’ve signed up for.  When the two begin watching movies left on the TV, they quickly realize that the low-grade slasher films were all filmed in the room they’re in.  After searching the room their suspicions are validated- they’re stuck in a room with murders outside.  There only chance of survival is to study the tapes, and use their surroundings to escape alive.

            “Vacancy” has a decent premise.  The car breaks down, they find shelter, and the characters get in over their heads.  I like the simplicity of the plot, but what I didn’t like was some of the writing.  Kate Beckinsale’s character in particular was a little off.  One minute she was afraid and couldn’t move, the next moment she was ready to fight off her attackers.  Adrenaline does a lot of things for us, but somehow I doubt a person can go from the fetal position to fighting an attacker off.  Luke Wilson does a much better job in this movie.  He is very believable; he’s angry, he’s upset, but he’s trying to get out alive.  He studies the tapes in an attempt to learn the mistakes of his attackers. Everything is calculated, but as the night wears on and he realistically realizes his chances of getting out alive are getting slimmer, he begins to act more erratic.  The other characters could use some work. Particularly, I didn’t like the motel attendant.  He was creepy, which I’m sure was the intention, but he didn’t come off like a killer.  His part really didn’t make much sense.

            That wasn’t all that didn’t make sense in this movie.  The fact that the killers gave the couple so many chances to plot and escape was puzzling, so we’re left to imagine they want to film as much as possible.  We also get very little background information on the main characters, which wasn’t necessary to the plot but would have been nice to know.   

Rating: 2 1/2 bananas

 

From the Vault: “The Blair Witch Project” Runtime: 1h26m Rating: R

Genre: Horror/Mystery

           In 1999 two amateur film students came out with a movie that quickly became a cult classic.  Featuring the use of shaky cameras meant to look like the characters shot it themselves, and boasting the vocabulary of drunken sailors, this film comes off as real as any other movie that’s ever depicted teens. But aside from camera work and swearing, a lot of things were done right in this movie.  And it all starts with the script.

            “The Blair Witch Project” is technically a grouping of video clips that a search crew “found” when looking for 3 missing teens.  Heather Donahue, Josh Leonard, and Michael Williams set out to make a documentary in 1994 but never returned.  Each clip is shown on one of two cameras the group took with them.  Because they wanted to catch themselves making the film, the camera is on most of the time and it picks up a lot of the story.  We see them hiking, talking, shooting scenes, and ultimately falling to pieces as things go wrong.

            The acting is much better than you would expect out of a cast of nobodies.  Heather, Josh, and Mike all play themselves.  The best in this movie has to be Mike.  He plays the sound guy, and he doesn’t know either Heather or Josh before they set out on their trip.  Although he doesn’t know them well they still talk a lot. Mike becomes a focal point in the movie after he continually gets in spats with the other two over getting lost in the woods.  Heather is also very good in this movie, although at times it all seems a little forced with her.  Several scenes when she cries later in the movie seem pretty fake.  Josh doesn’t do a whole lot of talking in the movie, but he does a decent job as well.  The only other characters are a few people they interview before they start hiking. 

            The movie is pretty good as a whole.  You wonder how much better it could be though if they had a real budget and seasoned actors.  Then again, more money and big names don’t always mean a successful movie.  My advice to anyone who has not seen this movie yet is to watch it at night, and make sure you pay attention to every little detail.  A lot of people have complained to me about the ending of the movie, but if you pay close attention to everything from beginning to end you’ll understand it perfectly.  Personally, I think the ending is brilliant. 

Rating: 3 bananas

 

     Don't forget that you can always drop me a line, by emailing me Maxpower@arabianmonkey.com.  I'd love to hear what you think, or get recomendations on what movies you would like to see reviewed. 

 

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