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Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay     B-

Starring John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris
Directed by Hayden Schlossberg (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle)
Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language and drug use
Appropriate for ages 17+

The Story: Leaving off exactly where the first film ended, Harold and Kumar head to Amsterdam so that Harold can have a chance with the love of his life that he doesn’t know yet.  While on the plane, though, Kumar tries to smoke pot on the plane, and the device used gets mistaken for a bomb.  So, the two titular characters are sent to Guantanamo where they immediately escape and begin their journey to clear their tarnished names.

The Good: Even more so than the first flick, this new chapter is one of the most shocking comedies I have seen.  I thought the Apatow bunch was raunchy, but these guys take the cake. 

Some of the humor is intelligent and the audience covered up much of the dialogue with their laughing out loud.  It helps that  Cho, Penn, and NPH are all very likable, and that the writing is extremely over-the-top. 

In a summer where stoner movies attempt to make a comeback (Pineapple Express and The Whackness are soon to hit theaters as well), this is a worthy addition to the genre, and should leave the other pics with big shoes to fill. 

The Bad: As you would expect, this is a silly, silly film filled with sitcom-like plot points that inorganically get you from one scene to the next.  If you want a more intelligent dirty comedy, turn to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which contains a much better written story with far more convincing performances.  But if Doogie Howser and dime bags are more your thing, then this film will most likely hit the spot. 

The Summary: Harold and Kumar bring us one heck of a guilty pleasure with the next chapter of their stoner saga. 

Forgetting Sarah Marshall    A

Starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, and Mila Kunis
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Rated R for sexual content, language, and some graphic nudity
Appropriate for ages 17+

The Story: When Peter (Segel) is dumped by his famous TV-star girlfriend Sarah (Bell), he tries to fight his depression by taking a trip to Hawaii.  Unfortunately, Sarah and her new rock-star boyfriend are staying at the same resort, and Peter is forced to accept his situation and try to move on.

The Good: Almost everything producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) touches is comedy gold (with the possible exception of Drillbit Taylor), and this is no different.  Here we are exposed (no pun intended) to a another lovable but flawed character with real pain in his life that we can’t help but laugh at.  The situations don’t feel fake in the least and this believability helps us, as the audience, to relate and empathize with poor Peter and cheer him on as he tries to get another girl that is way out of his league (Kunis).  
    What I am most shocked about here is how a little-known actor can actually make for such a great lead in a big movie.  Seth Rogen did it in Knocked Up, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera did it in Superbad, and now Jason Segel pulls it off with power in this project.  
    As an aside, if you find you like all of the above mentioned films and want to see where Segel and Rogen got their start, check out the DVD of the brilliant Apatow-produced TV show Freaks and Geeks.  It’s another one of those great shows that couldn’t find an audience at the time, but has done not-surprisingly well now that the kids have come of age. 

The Bad: If you thought 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad were too racy, then stay way-clear from this one.  This is a very adult comedy that probably came very close to an NC-17 rating due to it’s sexual nature.  That being said, the sexual situations and nudity are done for laughs and are far from sexy, but the skin has the potential to offend a lot of viewers.

The Summary: This is an unbelievably and unforgettably funny film.

Street Kings     D-

Starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, and Hugh Laurie
Directed by David Ayer (writer of Training Day)
Rated R for strong violence and pervasive language
Appropriate for ages 17+

The Story: A dirty cop (Reeves), working with a team of dirty cops (everyone else in the film), finds himself growing a conscience when an ex-partner is killed by a couple of gang-bangers.  Meanwhile, his current partners and boss (Whitaker) are trying to cover up the messes he leaves behind.  Hot on everyone’s trail is the chief of internal affairs (Laurie). 

The Good: The film has a few interesting moments and images, such as man rolling into a razor wire fence and a dead shark floating in an aquarium.  Also, the action is constant which doesn’t allow the film to get overly boring.

The Bad: I can’t decide which is worse: the writing, the directing, or the acting.  All three are so equally bad. 

The story lends itself out for predictability in the first act, and the dialogue is embarrassingly stereotypical.  Predicting the ending will not make you seem even slightly clever. 

The directing is flawed throughout, including a humorously bad scene where Keanu’s nurse girlfriend tries to take care of his gun-shot arm by wrapping it with a roll of gauze without cleaning it or removing a bullet.  Mind you, this only one of many bad examples.

The acting shows the poor ability of the performers to phone in their roles.  This film has Eric Roberts and Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson straight-to-DVD written all over it and it’s sad that the filmmakers didn’t realize this before hiring and shooting such a talented cast of actors.

The Summary:   This is a true stinker that could have you running for the doors long before it’s over.

Leatherheads     A-

Starring George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, and John Krasinski
Directed by George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck)
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language
Appropriate for ages 10+

The Story: In 1925, the entire professional football league was in a state of collapse.  Dodge Connelly (Clooney), a charming yet brash player is convinced that he can save the league by pulling in a big college player from Princeton (Krasinski) that is capable of filling stadiums.  Unfortunately, a cute little Chicago reporter (Zelleweger) is following their team in the hopes of bringing down the reputation of the new star player. 

The Good: From the very beginning this film comes across as a purely entertaining experience sure to put a big, cheesy smile on anyone’s face.  Clooney’s performance is every bit as good as his turn in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and the rest of the cast backs him up just fine.  There were several occasions where I couldn’t help but laugh way-out-loud.

The Bad: The part of the plot dealing with bringing down the young player’s rep gets a bit tired and slows the pacing down considerably.  A fifteen minute trim could have made this film a classic. 

The Summary: Clooney and gang turn this intelligent sports comedy into a fun and enjoyable escapade. 

21     B-

Starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, and Laurence Fishburne
Directed by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde)
Rated PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity
Appropriate for ages 15+

The Story: Young Ben Campbell (Sturgess) is an MIT undergrad who happens to be a mathematical genius.  In order to pay for his upcoming Harvard Medical School tuition, he joins a team of blackjack players, led by professor Kevin Spacey, to try to use their math skills to take Vegas for millions of dollars.  Unfortunately for them, an eye-in-the-sky security agent (Fishburne) is on to their game and will try to stop them at all costs.

The Good: The first half of this film is just plain fun to watch.  The pacing is terrific and seeing the set up and the possibility of winning this big is thrilling.  It was apparent from the Beatles musical Across the Universe that Sturgess had something special, and he proves it here with another great performance. 

The Bad: The second half of the movie just flops.  Once the thrill of winning is over, the characters all start to make stupid decisions for the sake of drama and the unrealistic turn the film makes gets you rolling your eyes on many occasions.  While I haven’t read the true-story book that this movie was based on, Bringing Down the House, I have been told that the real-life events were nothing like what was put on film.  I guess that the real-life events weren’t as cinematic, but I wish the film didn’t feel so immature. 

The Summary: Just like blackjack, when they are winning the film is a blast, when they are losing the film gets tedious and trying.  Also just like blackjack, you can’t force yourself to leave the table till the show is over.