CulturePulp.

MOVIE REVIEW: 'Four Christmases'

From the Nov. 26 Oregonian....

There's one inviolable rule in mainstream holiday comedies about wacky family reunions: The house always wins. You can bend the family unit -- mock it, kick it, make it look stupid -- but you never get to break it.

In the broad strokes, "Four Christmases" hews to that formula. It's pleasantly funny (and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny) from start to finish, even when it's staging broad, easy gags about baby puke and fat kids. But it's better-than-average in the execution and details -- thanks to the chemistry and general intelligence of the talent.

The movie's never funnier than its first 10 minutes, when its lead characters are at their worst. Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) are the enemies of everything Hollywood holds dear in the above-mentioned mainstream holiday comedies about wacky family reunions: They're unmarried. They don't want kids. They have an offbeat sex life. They hate Yuletide obligation. And they proudly avoid their mostly horrible, divorced parents. I could have watched a whole movie of this couple gleefully flouting every holiday tradition and getting away with it.

They don't, of course.

Their plan to slip away to Bali on Christmas is foiled, and they spend the day learning each others' dark secrets at several skin-crawly gatherings under several holiday trees -- running afoul of families comprising white-trash bullies (including Robert Duvall and Jon Favreau) and terrifying cougars (including Mary Steenburgen and Sissy Spacek).

What's interesting here is that the actors and director Seth Gordon (the documentarian behind the brilliant "King of Kong") mostly depict Brad and Kate as happy, charming, and in love with each other, rather than overplaying their urban narcissism before punishing them for their sins. Vaughn does his usual motormouthed ad-lib routine, and he's doing it pretty well this time, or at least better than he did it in "Fred Claus." The big lummox fences beautifully with the dainty Witherspoon, who as usual mixes Southern-belle charm with an eye-rolling frostiness she can flip on and off like a light switch. (Given their Mutt-and-Jeff proportions, the cinematographer who managed to fit these two in the same film frame deserves a Purple Heart.)

Vaughn and Witherspoon are clearly having a lot of fun snapping each other's synapses, and their sense of play gives the whole easygoing, formulaic enterprise a welcome jolt.
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B; 82 minutes; rated PG-13 for some sexual humor and language.

'Four Christmases' (The Oregonian, Nov. 26, 2008)

CORT AND FATBOY: 'JCVD,' 'Bolt' and a pile of 'Star Wars' toys

During the Friday, Nov. 21 "Cort and Fatboy" broadcast, we discuss:

• A tub of "Star Wars" toys.


• Disney's latest animated product, "Bolt."


• A strange, self-referential little action movie called "JCVD." It opened in Portland this week and sounds absolutely fascinating. You can find several smart and ecstatic reviews of the film -- which apparently features a terrific performance by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme, who plays himself -- right here.

Cort and Fatboy (Friday, Nov. 21, 2008) [ iTunes ]

MOVIE REVIEW: 'Bolt'

From today's Oregonian....

Disney's "Bolt" is a fairly blatant ripoff of Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story": The talking toy that thinks it's invincible and has its illusions shattered during a buddy-movie adventure is replaced here by -- get ready -- a talking dog that thinks it's invincible and has its illusions shattered during a buddy-movie adventure.

In other words, "Bolt" plays it safe, and will probably make hundreds of millions of dollars in box office and merchandising. And if I may pull a few adjectives from the faint-praise playbook, while "Bolt" isn't as funny, memorable or inspired as the animation classic from which it blatantly pilfers, it's still beautifully animated, cleanly told, professionally voiced and makes you smile without insulting your intelligence. Adults dragged to this by howling moppets will not feel compelled to nestle Kalashnikovs in their mouths. Huzzah.

Anyway. The dog, Bolt (voice: John Travolta), is the star of a TV show in which he plays a canine with superpowers -- heat vision, super-speed, power-barking. The opening sequence of this show-within-a-show is action-packed and beautifully staged, recalling "The Incredibles," and I suspect most 5-year-olds in the audience are going to be a little bummed when the sequence ends, the cameras stop rolling, the set backdrop lifts, and they're suddenly watching a cartoon set in a studio full of agents and producers.

To keep Bolt's performance credible -- because credibility is everything when you’re making a show about a dog with heat vision -- the producers go to ridiculous financial and logistical lengths to hide the camera crew from the animal, who thinks he really is KITT's canine equivalent. When Bolt escapes his Hollywood studio prison and ends up in New York, thinking he has to rescue his fictionally kidnapped owner (voice: Miley Cyrus), only a sarcastic alley cat (Susie Essman) and a fanboy hanster (Mark Walton) can ease Bolt through his growing realization that he was stuck in his own Truman Show.

Travolta does a nice enough job, but Bolt is of course the most boring, blandly cute character in the movie. Essman and especially Walton (an animator by trade) add spice to characters that were clearly more fun to animate than the star. There's a clever running gag involving regionally accented pigeons encountered during the trio's long, montage-afflicted journey back to L.A. But the story contains about as many surprises as a Domino's pizza, and the script lacks that Muse-attracting secret ingredient that makes Pixar films so great.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Disney fired "Lilo & Stitch" director Chris Sanders from the project -- allegedly for being too "quirky" with his ideas and character designs -- but still had to make their scheduled slot in the fall-movie release calendar. If you want to see what might have been, do a Google search on "Bolt," "Chris Sanders" and "concept art"; it's fairly depressing.
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B-minus; 96 minutes; rated PG for some mild action and peril.

'Bolt' (The Oregonian, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008)

'Santa's Lil' Gimp': Now on SplashCast

New dissemination technology, same old beloved Christmas fable. You may need to click twice to activate it, and it’s served best in full screen.

This delightful book for children was written by Greg Dorr and illustrated by yours truly, and first published in 1994. (Drop us an e-mail and we might even be able to set you up with one of our few remaining print copies. A mere five bucks apiece! I might even sign it and draw a doodle!)

"Santa's Lil' Gimp" (Dorrk.com)

CORT AND FATBOY: 'Quantum of Solace,' 'Let the Right One In' and 'Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection'

Discussed during the Friday, Nov. 14 "Cort and Fatboy" broadcast:

• The awesome new box set of "Indiana Jones" movie scores. (Also available as DRM-free download!)
• The Swedish vampire romance "Let the Right One In" -- which I predict will artistically wipe the floor with "Twilight."
• The action-packed (and only somewhat problematic) "Quantum of Solace."

Cort and Fatboy (Friday, Nov. 14, 2008) [ iTunes ]

MOVIE REVIEW: 'Let the Right One In'

From today's Oregonian....

"Let the Right One In" could be described as a vampire horror romance, but that seems like too easy a label for this beautiful, unnerving little movie. This Swedish production burrows deeper under the viewer's skin than "Twilight" could ever dream -- in large part because it ignores so many "rules" associated with vampire films.

For example: The principal characters and victims are several years younger (or older) than usual. Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old weakling who looks like a Swedish tween Kurt Cobain. He's Trenchcoat Mafia-in-training -- mercilessly bullied by other schoolkids and developing dangerous fantasies involving knives.

A new pair of neighbors dramatically diverts Oskar's path. Eli (Lina Leandersson) is a decades-old vampire stuck in a 12-year-old body. She's accompanied by Håkan (Per Ragnar), a human who looks like Eli's father, but has more likely been Eli's henchman since he was Oskar's age. (We never learn for sure.)

The aging Håkan is nowhere near as good at killing and draining young men for Eli as he used to be -- forcing the "girl" to start venturing out on her own to pick off members of a local clique of aging, drunken losers, characters we get to know and pity before the film abandons them to their fates.

Eli also begins a calm, deliberate courtship of Oskar, possibly grooming him as Håkan's replacement while teaching him to fight his schoolyard oppressors. This courtship is disturbing because of Eli's advanced age -- so is the courtship in "Twilight," by the way, for the same reason -- but it's also emotionally nuanced: Eli's ruthless addict's hunger is balanced by regret, concern, wisdom and maybe even a chaste sort of love. Lina Leandersson has a knack for conveying multiple emotions simultaneously without seeming to do much; it's an incredible performance. I can't imagine how any actress in the planned American remake of this film (by "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves) could top it.

Director Tomas Alfredson, working from John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel and screenplay, shoots all of the above as a quiet drama with a muted score -- an approach that unsettles the viewer's mind much as Kubrick's overly composed interiors did in "The Shining." The snowbound Swedish setting and close-up camerawork between Oskar and Eli (beautifully played by the ferociously calm child actors) give the bursts of violence a terrifying, sometimes comic impact. This approach extends to the movie's muted color palette, which is mostly white and light-blue offset by carefully placed bits of red.

"Let the Right One In" is patient and unflinching about building up this sort of dramatic and atmospheric detail. It's one of the great horror films of recent years -- and a welcome antidote to the in-your-face sonic assaults that all too often pass for genre fare.
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A-minus; 114 minutes; rated R for some bloody violence including disturbing images, brief nudity and language. Opening in Portland at Cinema 21.

'Let the Right One In' (The Oregonian, Friday, Nov. 14, 2008)

CORT AND FATBOY: Bruce Campbell and 'Role Models'

Broadcasting from the Bagdad Theater before an 11 p.m. screening of "Army of Darkness," the lads and I discuss the very funny "Role Models" and The Chin's filmography.

Cort and Fatboy (Friday, Nov. 7, 2008) [ iTunes ]

MOVIE REVIEW: 'Role Models'

From the Friday, Nov. 7 Oregonian....

The surprisingly funny "Role Models" does three things extremely well. It gives killer roles to comic actors frequently stuck in ensembles. It directs hilariously harsh words at children and lets the children direct even harsher words back at the adults. And it's oddly determined to give a fair shake to fans of both medieval role-playing and the band KISS.

Director/co-writer David Wain ("Stella," "The State," "Wet Hot American Summer") tells the timeless story of two losers mentoring two younger losers. Thirtysomething underachievers Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) put on anti-drug seminars at schools -- a thin ruse to get kids hooked on a horrifying green energy drink called "Minotaur."

Then Danny, just dumped by his lawyer girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks), loses it in an epic meltdown that lands him and Wheeler 150 hours of community service mentoring troubled young boys through a sketchy program called "Sturdy Wings," run by a recovering cokehead (Jane Lynch) prone to getting lost in her nonsensical grandstanding lectures.

Danny is assigned to an unloved nerd ("Superbad"'s McLovin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) lost in a world of sword-and-sorcery LARPers. Wheeler is assigned to Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson) -- possibly the most foul-mouthed child to appear in a mainstream Hollywood comedy since Eric Cartman cussed a blue streak in "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut."

Spoiler alert: Each loveable loser learns something about himself. But Wain proved he could monkey with tired comedy formulas in "Wet Hot American Summer" -- and he's got a terrific cast finding the funny in a pretty strong script. (There's a slight lull here and there before the jokes-to-laugh ratio starts really spiking, but this feels like a minor complaint.)

Scott and Rudd have done their most successful work as the Party-Hearty Meathead and the Sardonic Good-Looking Guy, often in supporting roles; they're front-and-center here, playing well-written, deadpan variations on their go-to personas. (Rudd co-wrote, and scripts to his sarcastic strengths.) Lynch, probably best-known for her tiny role as Steve Carell's singing, pervy boss in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," is unleashed here as a cocky train wreck. And Mintz-Plasse might just cement his place in geek iconography with this; he once again gets an awkward but real character to play, not just a pair of taped glasses.

I feel compelled to warn my family-newspaper readers (who reportedly left angry phone messages with my editor after last week's comic strip): Much of "Role Models"' absurd humor involves salty double entendres and the verbal abuse and misdirection of young people. Danny and Wheeler are truly horrible mentors who love to shut down smart-mouthed kids with R-rated insults and threats of violence. But the movie also exhibits a surprising -- and surprisingly charming -- sympathy for its characters' dorky obsessions. (Tonally, this sort of reminded me of the barely seen and really funny "Sasquatch Gang.")

And if nothing else, "Role Models" will probably be remembered as the film that finally pitted a medieval-roleplay army against the KISS Army. If that doesn't get you in the theater, I can't help you.
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B; 99 minutes; rated R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity.

'Role Models' (The Oregonian, Friday, Nov. 7, 2008)

CORT AND FATBOY: 'RocknRolla'

During the Halloween "Cort and Fatboy" broadcast, I talk about Guy Ritchie's comeback film, "Rocknrolla."

Spooky bonus: Sitting in on this broadcast was "High Priest of the Paranormal" Clyde Lewis of Ground Zero Radio -- described by Cort as "Portland's own Art Bell" -- who brought eerie recordings of the paranormal into the studio.

Cort and Fatboy (Friday, Oct. 31, 2008) [ iTunes ]