Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Four Lions


Movie: Four Lions
Genre: Dark Comedy
Cast: no one I have ever heard of
I saw it on: December 28, 2010
Synopsis: A group of Muslims living in London decide they want to be suicide bombers.  None of these men are Mensa material.  They would need to go to school to rise up to the intellectual level of Curly, Larry and Moe.  Two of them go to Pakistan for terrorist training, but are forced to return after only a few days after an embarrassing incident. We get to follow them as they try to make bombs, blow some sheep, a crow and one of their group.  The movie reaches its climax as the remaining group members try to blow up the London Marathon.

My two cents: A pretty funny movie.  The stupidity of these men is truly astonishing.  You have to wonder how they managed to reach adulthood. An example of the humor – the men are in the marathon in disguise.  At one point British snipers are ordered to shoot one of them disguised as a bear.  After the runner is shot, the two snipers start arguing whether the dead runner was a bear or actually a wookie.  One of the “terrorists” has a unique way of determining if he is confused: he takes his own picture with his cell phone and then looks at the picture to see if he has his ‘confused face” on.

If you get a chance to see this on TV, I would give it  a shot.  I am not sure I would recommend going to a theatre to see it.  If you do see it, be sure to watch the stuff that is shown during the credits – its pretty funny.

Little Fockers

Movie: Little Fockers
Cast:    Ben Stiller (Greg Focker)
            Robert De Niro (Jack Byrnes)
            Teri Polo (Pam Focker)
            Owen Wilson (Kevin Rawley)
            Dustin Hoffman (Bernie Focker)
            Barbra Streisand (Roz Focker)
Genre: Comedy
I saw it on: December 28, 2010
Synopsis: If you have seen the first two Focker movies, you know what to expect.  The Fockers have settled into married life with two kids in Chicago. Pam’s parents (the Byrnes) are coming for a visit.  Due to health problems, Jack Byrnes has decided to pass the role of family patriarch on to Greg Focker – to anoint him the GodFocker.

Of course, Jack is not convinced of Greg’s worthiness and is continually spying on him.  Teri’s old flame (Kevin) shows up.  Kevin is filthy rich and can do no wrong in Jack’s eyes.  He is the one who should have married his daughter.

The movie follows Greg get into trouble with a pharmaceutical rep (Jessica Alba), Jack having a long-lasting reaction to some ED medicine he steals from Greg, Greg trying to get on the good side of his daughter.  And of course, Greg’s parents join the mix for the grand finale.

My two cents: I think I have had enough of the Fockers.  I will grant you that there are a lot of really funny situations.  My problem is that I am just tired of Jack Byrnes and his unending conviction that he knows what is best for everyone and will stop at nothing to make what he wants happen.  I also could have done without the whole Jack vs the 4-hour-curse of a misused ED medication.  The Owen Wilson character is also wearing a bit thin.  I did enjoy the Jessica Alba character – something new for a change.