Kevin's Watch

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNVJG15tGs

I just stumbled across this. Some of you may have seen it on MTV but I haven't watched MTV since the late 80s.

Anyway while watching this video I nearly wet myself laughing.

I saw Tropic Thunder this weekend.

It's pretty much the same movie as Three Amigos and Galaxy Quest, with a much harsher take on Hollywood and much harsher language. It's funny; really funny at times, but like a lot of Stiller's work, feels like it could have been so much more.

Robert Downey Jr. owns the movie. Bafflingly, some of his funniest lines are in the trailer, but they still work. Jack Black is mostly wasted, Stiller (as usual) tries too hard, and Matthew McConaughey steals every scene he's in.

Both the "blackface" and "retarded" controversies are completely overblown....Both schticks are clearly jabs at the industry, not at any other group.

Edit- The viral video is hysterical.

"You went full retard. Never go full retard."

I thought it was very funny at times. Especially the "gradual" way the movie begins (don't want to spoil it--just, show up early. That's all I'm saying.) The movie opened strong, with a hilarious action scene being shot. The line about teaching his buddy to juggle when they get back to that states nearly had me crying. Gut-busting stuff there.

And the movie is still funny once they get to the jungle. But it quickly becomes not funny. It's not that the movie gets bad, it's just no longer hilarious. Cail is right, Jack Black is wasted. Except for how he was used to make fun of Eddie Murphy very early on, there's hardly anything else for him to do. I honestly thought they would spend more time being clueless, continuing with the gag. Luckily, they didn't run this gag into the ground, as they could have. No, the movie focuses on the characters more than the plot gimmick of the characters continuing to make a movie when they are actually being ambushed. That's not necessarily a bad thing; the gimmick could have gotten old very quickly, as soon as it was no longer plausible that the characters would believe the set up. To Stiller's credit, he has the characters arguing over this point from the very beginning, so that you're not constantly distracted by the fact that these guys would have to be utter morons to not recognize their danger. Instead, Stiller's character comes off as in denial, rather than merely stupid. And he's in denial because he is so desperate to be taken seriously as an actor. He relishes the chance for his acting skills to be accentuated by this dose of reality, and that character arc is continued once the gag is left behind for good.

But then the movie tries a twist on the basic gimmick: rather than the actors believing they're making a movie, all of a sudden they believe they can be real soldiers! That's even more ridiculous and unbelievable. The movie shifts gears from "actors making movie in a real setting and not realizing that it's real" to "actors realizing it's real, and then actually perform the military rescue they were before merely pretending to perform." I suppose that makes for a symmetrical plot structure. I just thought the execution was lacking. Like Cail said, it could have been so much more. Zoolander was funnier.

Tom Cruise needed this movie. Bad. It may resurrect his career. People may actually start liking him again, and forget all about Scientology and the Oprah's couch.

I'll agree on Cruise, but I thought his schtick was beaten into the ground.

Doesn't sound like anyone actually watched the youtube link I posted.

I haven't seen the film and probably won't get the chance before dvd.

I'll agree on Cruise, but I thought his schtick was beaten into the ground.

Well, it didn't help that he danced his way through the credits. That was too much. But I though the first time he did it was funny, when trying to convince the agent to get on board with him.

Mainly, I thought it was great that he was able to appear so foolish. Usually, when watching a Cruise movie, I can't stop thinking that this is Tom Cruise, rather than his character. I heard a rumor that he was offered Edward Scissorhands, but only if the scars were removed at some point in the movie. He just couldn't let himself be ugly. This was exactly the opposite, and he desperately needed to be seen as not taking himself so seriously.

Doesn't sound like anyone actually watched the youtube link I posted.

I haven't seen the film and probably won't get the chance before dvd.

Oh, I watched it. It was funny. I just thought the actual movie was a bigger deal than a viral video. Sorry about the tread jack!

BTW, the funniest part of this movie can't be reproduced at home. I can't explain it, but trust me: you'll miss out on the funniest gag if you wait for the DVD. But other than that, I can't really argue that this movie deserves the $50 I spent to take my family. It's definitely a DVD movie, if not for that gag.

Malik23 wrote:BTW, the funniest part of this movie can't be reproduced at home. I can't explain it, but trust me: you'll miss out on the funniest gag if you wait for the DVD. But other than that, I can't really argue that this movie deserves the $50 I spent to take my family. It's definitely a DVD movie, if not for that gag.

Totally agree on this.

Tom-Saw the viral vid, laughed my ass off.

Cail wrote:
Tom-Saw the viral vid, laughed my ass off.

Thank you. Just checking.

Loved the hammer.

dAN said he liked the rabbit punches.

I'll probably love the movie as I'm one of the few who actually like Ben Stiller. And I have no doubt Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious in it. The promo youtube thing has insured I'll be seeing the flick in the theatre.

I watched the viral video. RDJ was the best part of it by far; the other two (three) were rather unentertaining.

Ok, a good second outing for Stiller as writer/director/producer/actor. Not as overall funny as Zoolander (one of my all-time favourite comic-guilty-pleasures), but worth the price of admission. (it must be pointed out that I saw very littel promo on this so I kinda went in 'blind'.)
The beginning is hilarious! Caught me totally off guard ... in fact there are a few moments like that in this movie -- in a good, and funny way.
Much has been talked about concerning the cameos in this one (especially Tom Cruise) and they do not let down (yes, perhaps the end-credit dance was milking it a little)... all cameos are hilarious!
The cast does an amiable job of keeping us interested and laughing almost all the way through. And the movie in-jokes for those of us who are movie-geeks, are pretty good.

7.5 out of 10

The first 10 or so minutes were golden; they actually slipped the first minute by me, probably because I'm not familiar with the actor. The bit with Toby Maguire had me in tears.

Saw the movie last week - RDJ was just incredible, and the daughter and I haven't laughed that loud in awhile. Neither of us knew Cruise was in the movie, so figuring that out was priceless.

The video was at least as funny.

Rain of Madness the fake documentary of the making of the fake movie Tropic Thunder is now available on iTunes. Here's the trailer.