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 Movie 43 (2013)
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MguyXXV 
"X marks the spot"

Posted - 10/20/2013 :  17:42:42  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I'm certain that I blinked, and therefore missed the massive P&A campaign for this quirky little gem. Actually, I think I remember being next to someone who was thinking about what an ad would look like for this film while we both walked by the one-sheet (which barely caught anyone's attention as they passed by, with its bikini-styled word design. There's a term for that, but I just don't feel like looking it up).

I'm big on P&A right now (print and advertising) because I just finished binding arbitration against a slimy cable TV advertising broker who completely blew the run of opening week ads for a certain film that tanked -- T.A.N.K.E.D. -- at the box office. It was a low budget, independent film, but it had a couple of wows going for it, so it should have recouped its budget and even made a modest profit. But no one's going to see it if they don't know it's in theaters, DUH!
    (did you know that 70% of films that are (1) theatrically-released, and (2) have a production budget below $6 million are profitable? Indeed, the lower the budget, the higher the profitability and the greater the probability! But it's got to be theatrically released. And if you release theatrically, you have GOT to get people out to see it by doing some advertising. Screw the news papers [expensive and not that widely seen]: you've got to get those ads on cable, and in the cities where you release]. But I digress.)
Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Kate Winslet, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Uma Thurman, Terrence Howard: first string.

Richard Gere, Dennis Quaid, Emma Stone, Ana Faris, Josh Duhamel, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long, Kate Bosworth: Second String.

The third string reads longer and rings recognizable. A la "Pr�t-�-Porter" or the far smarter "The Player," Movie 43 has a shit load of recognizeable -- indeed, bankable -- actors in it. But what probably doomed it (from a distribution perspective) is that it was not smart like "The Player" (having no lasting storyline), and that it was a collection of shorts with notable actors doing some really silly stuff. It was like "Groove Tube" meets "Kentucky Fried Movie" meets "Jackass" meets "Shawshank Redemption." Yeah: figure that one out.

Seeing Hugh Jackman with a pair of balls on his chin probably turned off a bunch of "serious" film goers ("It's a COMEDY, a-holes!!"), who then lost out on the rest of what the film had to offer. And that was laughs. If nothing else, it showed that some notable actors can laugh at themselves. The humor was often dark and low-brow, but delivered with aplomb. Liev Scheiver and Naomi Watts creeped me out, and I liked it. The Terrence Howard scene is straight-forwards and cracked me the F up. Beezel the cat is just rude, and silly.

It's on Netflix. Get a glass of wine and watch one night when you've got nothing better to do. I promise that you will laugh more than you think you will.

randall 
"I like to watch."

Posted - 10/25/2013 :  20:00:11  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I saw it and was way underwhelmed. Some of the ideas were SNL-last-half-hour okay, but unlike MR. SHOW and its also-brilliant sketch comedy predecessors Python and SCTV, and like SNL itself, it doesn't know when to let go of the premise. Most SNL sketches don't even have proper endings, but where Python could solve that with a non-sequitur cut, SNL just peters out, like the fadeout on a record. This movie has likewise nowhere to go. Therse days, for economical sketch comedy with well-written "buttons," you gotta watch KEY & PEELE.

The acting, direction and all other tech credits are absolutely first-rate: this looks like a $25 million picture. It's sunk by the writing alone: all in all, it's just not funny.

P.S. The best segment is the first one, with Jackman's balls hanging from his chin, because it is so well written: the visual double entendres are clearly thought out. Most every other sketch lays down a bold premise [Animated Cat From Hell, Will You Poop On Me?] and then expects that to be enough. Two other exceptions, though: the boardroom trying to figure out what's wrong with its lethal "iBabe" music player, and the moment in the Truth Or Dare game that gets out of hand, when a dare forces Stephen Merchant to listen to MOBY DICK read by a surprise celebrity guest.

My thumb is down, but you might find parts of this amusing. I just can't predict which ones.

Edited by - randall on 10/25/2013 21:11:57
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MguyXXV 
"X marks the spot"

Posted - 10/26/2013 :  07:57:32  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Fair enough, and accurate. But sometimes I just like silly stuff!
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lemmycaution 
"Long mired in film"

Posted - 10/26/2013 :  19:17:54  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by MguyXIV

Fair enough, and accurate. But sometimes I just like silly stuff!




Which explains your presence here!
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