Super Troopers
The fine art of handing out a freeway speeding ticket gets a deviously funny twist in this smart-alecky farce written and performed by the comedy troop Broken Lizard (consisting of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske). These pranksters in patrol cars (led by their long-suffering commander Brian Cox) are little more than overgrown frat boys in a campus rivalry with the brawling Vermont bullies of the local police force, and they know how to have fun on the highway patrol. This skit-like collection of comic moments clumps from one scene to another like a variety show, but the gags are more hit than miss, thanks largely to terrific ensemble work and inspired motorist mind games. With a nod to such 1970s comedies as Animal House and Caddyshack, this “boys in blue just wanna have fun” farce is hardly sophisticated, just clever, raucous fun.
Night at the Museum
An irresistible concept meets computer-generated wonders in Night at the Museum, inspired by a 1993 children’s book by Milan Trenc. Ben Stiller stars as Larry Daley, an underachieving inventor waiting for his ship to come in while getting evicted from one apartment after another for lack of funds. Larry’s son needs some stability, so the well-meaning ne’er-do-well takes a job as night watchman at New York City’s Museum of Natural History. What the soon-to-retire guards (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs) don’t tell him is that an ancient pharaoh’s tablet in the museum causes everything on display to come to life at night. Thus, Larry meets representations of Teddy Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, fire-worshipping cavemen, and Roman Empire soldiers, and learns to cope with an excitable T-Rex and man-eating, ancient animals. The film might have left things at that, but an added story element gives Night at the Museum some extra urgency and excitement, especially fo! r kids: Larry becomes responsible for keeping this nightly miracle going and preventing anything in the museum from dying due to exposure to sunrise. Computer effects, as well as wildly imaginative costumes and makeup, help make the film appeal to the 8-year-old in everyone. Director Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther) works with a hugely talented cast, including Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Carla Gugino, and Steve Coogan.
John Tucker Must Die
An unlikely sisterhood plots a girl-powered revenge in John Tucker Must Die. When the class-overachiever (Arielle Kebbel, Aquamarine), the head cheerleader (Ashanti, Coach Carter), and the vegan alterna-girl (Sophia Bush, One Tree Hill) discover they’re all dating the same guy–namely, star basketball player John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe, Desperate Housewives)–they recruit a bashful new girl named Kate (Brittany Snow, The Pacifier) to become the ideal girl to break Tucker’s heart. But as Kate uses the gang’s combined wiles to lure Tucker, his interest gives her a social standing she’s never had before…an intoxicating experience that may cost her a chance at honest love with another boy. John Tucker Must Die contrasts male and female behavior to cunning comic effect. The portrait of high school life is typically absurd, but the engaging cast, sprightly plot, and crisp dialogue will draw you in. It’s a testament to the smooth guiding hand of director Betty Thomas (The Brady Bunch Movie, Private Parts) that ex-Playmate Jenny McCarthy’s performance can genuinely be called understated. One of 2006’s best teen comedies.
Jackass Number Two
Jackass Number Two could be alternately titled “From Bowties to Bunny Ears: What Will Chris Pontius Be Wearing Next?” Like the first Jackass movie, Johnny, Bam, Chris, Steve-O, and the rest of the gang are all here. This “sequel” is full of stunts, pranks, and one-liners, and contains more male nudity, more scream-worthy moments, and of course more uncontrollable laughter. The film opens with a rather well-directed cinematic piece: the entire Jackass gang running from a stampede of bulls. From there it takes off into the hysterically exhausting world of Jackass. The bulls are in quite a few stunts, actually, one of which has “leader” Johnny Knoxville using himself as a red flag and getting speared by a charging bull. Ah, good times. Some of the stunts include: “Beehive Limo,” “Fart Mask,” “Red Rocket,” and a fake terrorist plot which boasts the improv line “Where I’m going, I don’t need luggage.” Bam gets branded, they fish for sharks with Steve-O as bait, Johnny catches anacondas with his bare hands… the list goes on. The gem in this collection of antics has to be the offensive interactions with the innocent people on the street by Johnny Knoxville and director-actor Spike Jonez, while disguised as a very old man and woman. Celebrity guests partaking in stunts include extreme-sports legends Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman. The movie culminates in a beautifully choreographed, fantastical, and dangerous musical number not to be missed. Throughout the movie, it is apparent that the Jackass gang is older and a little more worn, especially when Bam pleads, “Please God, don’t let there be a Jackass 3.” For fans of the TV series and the films, a trilogy may be just what the doctor ordered. The DVD extras (deleted scenes, unrated material, and two pretty funny music videos) are more of the same and worth the watch, though some of it is not for the fainthearted.
Hot Fuzz
In Shaun of the Dead, it was the zombie movie and the anomie of modern life. In Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg set their sights on the buddy cop blockbuster and the eccentric English village. The two worlds collide when overachieving London officer Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is promoted to sergeant. The catch is that he’s being transferred to Agatha Christie country. His superiors (the comic trifecta of Martin Campbell, Steve Coogan, and Bill Nighy) explain that he’s making the rest of the force look bad. On the surface, Sandford is a sleepy little burg where the most egregious crimes, like loitering, are committed by hoody-sporting schoolboys. In truth, it’s a hotbed of Willow Man-style evil. Upon his arrival, Chief Butterman (Jim Broadbent) partners Angel with his daft son, Danny (Nick Frost, Pegg’s Shaun co-star), who aspires to kick criminal “arse” like the slick duo in Bad Boys II. When random citizens start turning up dead, he gets his chance. With the worshipful Danny at his side, Angel shows his cake-eating colleagues how things are done in the big city. As in Shaun, their previous picture, Wright and Pegg hit their targets more often than not. With the success of that debut comes a bigger budget for car chases, shoot-outs, and fiery explosions. Though Hot Fuzz earns its R-rating with salty language and grisly deaths, the tone is more good-natured than mean-spirited. A wall-to-wall soundtrack of boisterous British favorites, like the Kinks, T-Rex, and Sweet, contributes to the fast-paced fun.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Alas! The fifth Harry Potter film has arrived. The time is long past that this can be considered a simple “children’s” series–though children and adults alike will enjoy it immensely. Starting off from the dark and tragic ending of the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins in a somber and angst-filled tone that carries through the entire 138 minutes (the shortest of any HP movie despite being adapted from the longest book). Hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup have been replaced by woes like government corruption, distorted media spin, and the casualties of war. As the themes have matured, so have the primary characters’ acting abilities. Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and especially Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) are more convincing than ever–in roles that are more demanding.
Harry is deeply traumatized from having witnessed Cedric Diggory’s murder, but he will soon find that this was just another chapter in the continuing loss he will endure. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned and, in an attempt to conceal this catastrophe from the wizarding public, the Ministry of Magic has teamed up with the wizard newspaper The Daily Prophet to smear young Potter and wise Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)–seemingly the only two people in the public eye who believe the Dark Lord has returned. With no one else to stand against the wicked Death Eaters, the Hogwarts headmaster is forced to revive his secret anti-Voldemort society, the Order of the Phoenix. This welcomes back characters like Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), kind Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), fatherly Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and insidious Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), and introduces a short list of intriguing new faces. In the meantime, a semi-psychotic bureaucrat from the Ministry (brilliantly portrayed by Imelda Staunton) has seized power at Hogwarts, and Harry is forced to form a secret society of his own–lest the other young wizards at his school be left ill-equipped to defend themselves in the looming war between good and evil. In addition, Harry is filled with an inexplicable rage that only his Godfather Sirius seems to be able to understand.
