Top 5 Comedies of 2013
Sometimes it's hard to list comedies with Dramas so I decided to give them their own list. Some years this would be impossible to do, but I feel that this was a particularly strong year for comedies.
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- DirectorPaul FeigStarsSandra BullockMichael McDonaldMelissa McCarthyAn uptight FBI Special Agent is paired with a foul-mouthed Boston cop to take down a ruthless drug lord.The Heat is far from an original idea. It's a buddy cop comedy. There have been hundreds of those over the years. However, it's the year 2013 and The Heat is the first buddy cop comedy staring two women that I can remember.
An interesting twist and one that is long overdue. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy have great chemistry here as two officers of the law with two totally different personalities and two totally different ways of catching bad guys.
Sure, it's the old Hollywood standard. Bullock is the buttoned up, straight-laced snore and McCarthy is the loud, runaway locomotive of a mess.
Bullock doesn't come close to getting as many laughs as McCarthy, it's clearly her world and everybody just happens to live there, but Bullock has great comedic timing and is one of the more versatile actresses working today.
McCarthy continues where she left off in Bridesmaids as a scene stealing force of nature. I know a lot of people don't like McCarthy, but I think she's great. She's like Chris Farley was reincarnated into a female body.
As with most buddy cop comedies, the story is secondary. In the Heat, we follow the odd couple cops as they try to track down a local drug lord. Like I stated earlier, this is where most of the laughs happen.
Watching Bullock's more by-the-book character butt heads with McCarthy's no-books-tear-it-up-and-shove-it-down-your-throat character is where the fun really happens. - DirectorEvan GoldbergSeth RogenStarsJames FrancoJonah HillSeth RogenSix Los Angeles celebrities are stuck in James Franco's house after a series of devastating events just destroyed the city. Inside, the group not only have to face the apocalypse, but themselves.This Is the End is an interesting idea for a film. The film takes real actors and has them play exaggerated versions of themselves and see what happens when they have to deal with the apocalypse.
James Franco is portrayed as a zen like diva. Seth Rogen is portrayed as the cool, laid-back pal. Jonah Hill is the smarmy bragger who can't stop mentioning the fact that he was nominated for an Oscar.
The main character is Jay Baruchel, who's hardly a household name. That also plays into the story. Baruchel feels that ever since all his friends became famous, they've changed and left him behind.
This Is the End is one of the first films where I felt like I was "in on the joke" while watching. It's quite possible to not enjoy the film if you only know these actors in passing.
Many of the jokes are callbacks to films they've done together. There are also a lot of jokes about Hollywood and filmmaking in general.
The main cast is rounded out by Danny McBride, who plays the lovable d-bag. I can't help by think that Danny MCBride is pretty much playing himself. Craig Robinson has some big laughs as the down-to-Earth one, who just wants everybody to be happy.
This Is the End has some huge laughs. While watching, you can't help but think that some of the stuff that happened in the movie really happened to these real life friends.
This Is the End is also fun to watch for all the cameos, especially in the beginning. I would have liked to see a little more of Emma Watson, not just because she's endlessly adorable, but because it would have added a female dynamic to the cast and could have opened the doors to even more jokes.
This Is the End is not meant to be taken seriously. If you're a fan of these actors, this is a must see. - DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostMartin FreemanFive friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.The World's End is the third and final film in the Cornetto trilogy. The fist film was Shaun of the Dead, an undeniable classic. The second film was Hot Fuzz, an uneven but entertaining action flick.
I enjoyed The World's End more than Hot Fuzz, but not as much as Shaun. In The World's End, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play friends who have drifted apart.
They decide to meet up with a few of their other old mates from high school and return to their hometown in hopes of capturing the glory days of their youth. They are also on a mission - to complete an epic pub crawl of 12 pubs before the night is over. This is a dream that has eluded Gary (played by Simon Pegg) for almost 20 years.
The only problem is that everybody else has moved on with their lives. They have wives and families and jobs of their own.
Gary finally convinces his old pals to join him on his journey. When they arrive in the town, they notice it has certainly changed a lot and it's not just the presence of a Starbucks. Naturally, it's the fact that all the townspeople have been inhabited by aliens.
The World's End has tons of great jokes and so much quick humor you will have to rewind to catch everything. Certainly a film that will benefit from multiple viewings.
The film is silly to be sure, but it has a good message. It's about growing up and drifting apart and the realization that we don't have to let go of the person we were when we were younger. We can still be that person and the newer version we've become. - DirectorRawson Marshall ThurberStarsJason SudeikisJennifer AnistonEmma RobertsA veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.We're the Millers was one of the more surprising films of the year for me. I wasn't expecting much from it, but what I got was a film packed with quite a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of We're the Millers is that fact that it has a lot of heart. Pretty unexpected considering the film revolves around a drug dealer and a stripper trying to smuggle a ton of weed into America.
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis continue the great on-screen chemistry that they showed in Horrible Bosses. However, the real scene stealer is Will Poulter who plays the good-hearted, boy next door that gets caught up in this mess because he's just so damn agreeable and eager to please.
The rest of the cast is rounded out with Emma Roberts (Julia's niece) as a vagrant hoodlum. Roberts is already a stunning beauty, but now she's getting the acting down too.
We're the Millers isn't an original idea, but the execution is surprisingly solid. - DirectorJeff TremaineStarsJohnny KnoxvilleJackson NicollGregorio86-year-old Irving Zisman takes a trip from Nebraska to North Carolina to take his 8 year-old grandson, Billy, back to his real father.I'm an unapologetic fan of the Jackass franchise. I've been watching since their sophomoric stunts hit the airwaves way back in the year 2000.
Bad Grandpa isn't your normal Jackass film filled with a bunch of guys hitting themselves in the balls with various objects. The film has a loose story following Johnny Knoxville as Irving Zisman, a foul-mouthed horn dog of an old geezer, as he makes his way across the country to bring his grandson to live with his father.
Along the way, Grandpa finds himself in a series of, how should I say, interesting scenarios.
Knoxville's Irving Zisman character first showed up in one of the Jackass films a few years ago. He, along with longtime Jackass collaborator Spike Jonze (who would dress up like an old woman named Gloria) would go around pranking unsuspecting bystanders.
Jonze, who was nominated for an Oscar for directing Being John Malkovich and will probably be nominated for directing his newest film Her, adds some unexpected class to the whole franchise.
Anyway, it's uncanny how good the makeup is for Knoxville, he literally transforms himself into the old, crotchety Zisman as he pulls of crude prank after crude prank.
At it's core, that's all Bad Grandpa is, a Candid Camera for the absurd. The objective of the film is to put people in uncomfortable positions and watch how they react. It plays on a society increasingly more uptight about sex, vulgarity and race.
Another interesting theme I thought is how easy it is for somebody who is old to get away with things. People see an elderly man with a child and literally think he can do no wrong.
It doesn't need to be said, but Bad Grandpa isn't for everybody. If you're a fan of Jackass, sit back and let the hijinks begin.