Poll question: what is the funniest R-rated comedy since 2000?

The winner of the last question for best Australian actress was Cate Blanchett. The voting was a little screwy due to the blogger issues, but Cate took the price. Now let's move onto another question about the R-rated comedy.

I could have listed a bunch of films from the 1970s/1980s/1990s, so I decided to narrow it down to the past eleven years--even then I left some films out so feel free to do a "write-in" vote in the comment field of this post. Your choices for the funniest R-rated comedy since 2000 is as follows: Old School, Knocked Up, The Hangover, I Love You Man, Superbad, Bridesmaids, Wedding Crashers and 40 Year-Old Virgin. As I said earlier, write-ins are welcome! Go to the home page to vote.

Bridesmaids

Finally the women get involved in the raunchy R-rated comedy game. The men have been hogging the spotlight of this re-born moneymaking genre, but Bridesmaids is funny enough to steal a little thunder and box-office from the trying-to-top-itself-by-going-to-Bangkok Hangover II. Bridesmaids might even be funnier than its male focused counterparts simply from the refreshing quality it has by showing us women behaving inappropriately for the sake of laughter.

While Bridesmaids works as an ensemble with lots of funny ladies on display in the cast, Kristen Wiig is the main talent responsible for the film's success. Wiig, a veteran of many years on Saturday Night Live and playing bit-parts in comedies, not only plays the lead role, she co-wrote the script about the misadventures of a gaggle of women before a wedding occurs. Wiig's character Annie is a down on her love-life woman stuck in a degrading sex-only relationship with an insensitive brute [Jon Hamm] whilst becoming increasingly jealous of her best friend's bridal choices. The entire cast, from Maya Rudolph to the scene-stealing Melissa McCarthy, fearlessly give their all.

Bridesmaids is produced by Judd Apatow and directed by former Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig. It has the familiar Apatow combination of taking bawdy language and situations with the underpinning of sweetness that make his romantic comedies [Knocked Up, 40 Year-Old Virgin] such a unique blend of naughty and nice. It's got plenty of doses of the outlandish, but it's never completely in place of warmhearted elements that make you root for these people [or at least some of them] even as you laugh at them. Wiig, along with the rest of the cast, is not afraid to look bad onscreen, which adds tremendously to the film's appeal. Bridesmaids is a very welcome addition to the R-rated comedy world and gives a slightly different perspective of comedic dysfunction, while giving us both characters with depth AND laughter. Let's see if the just released Hangover II can do both of those things.

UTW review of The Conspirator

Robert Redford is a preachy S.O.B. He loves to tell the world of its ills in a variety of ways. The Conspirator pretends to be about the aftermath of the Abraham Lincoln assassination and the trial of some of the people involved in the conspiracy, but it's really about other things in the not-so-great society we live in. I just find Redford tiresome amongst other things. Go here if you want to read more thoughts I have about him and his latest movie.

Netflix streamers

For some mysterious reason, I only recently chose to connect my wireless to my blu-ray player to stream from my Netflix queue. It took me about half a streaming before I was kicking myself for waiting as long as I did to synch my account to my TV/blu-ray. The last couple of months I've drastically cut back on my discs--and have downgraded my account from 3 discs out to 2--but have been streaming like a wild man. There's something to be said for good old fashioned instant gratification!

I've created some boundaries for the streamers though. No blu-rays is rule #1. If a blu-ray is in queue and available to stream, I only watch it blu-ray. Obviously, the reason is the streamers don't look as good as the blu-ray, although the HD versions they offer seem every bit the equal of any run-of-the-mill DVD transfer that gets released. A thing I love about it is the TV series that are offered. Episodes are able to be viewed one at a time and it remembers the last episode that was watched, so you don't have to flip through episodes already seen.

If you have proper equipment, a Netflix account and fast enough wireless, try out some streamers! It will will take you about 3/4 a stream before you will likely fall in love with this bit of new[ish] technology.

Blogger issues

Not sure what is going on with Blogger. I've had posts, comments and multiple votes on the poll disappear. The poll, for example, was 8 Blanchett, 6 Davis/Collette/Watts and 0 for Kidman. Now it's much less than that. Not even sure if this post will show up...or if it will be visible for a little while and then go to some mysterious location.

UTW review of Source Code

I'm trying to get somewhat caught up on my longer reviews that appear in Urban Tulsa, so expect a few of them over the next couple of weeks so I'm still posting reviews of movies still in the theatre. If I wait too long, these will be available to rent on DVD rather than see on the screen. Up this time is Duncan Jones' second film, Source Code. It's a lean little sci-fi thriller that I enjoyed. Go here to read the full review.

Box Office Magazine profile

In the May issue of Box Office Magazine there is a profile of me written by Cole Hornaday if you want to go check it out. Titled "Programmer, historian, oddball" [!],  lots of topics are covered including electronic music, my dad's less than stellar parenting choices, midnight movies, Circle Cinema and even CineRobot. Go here to read it.

The new poll question is a real barn-burner as there is a log-jam at the top of the question: Who is the best Australian actress. If you haven't voted, head to the home page to mark your choice.

Real Life trailer

In 1979, Albert Brooks wrote and directed a satire of the PBS reality

show An American Family. His comedy was called Real Life and in

this terrific [non] trailer, Brooks dons the persona he plays in the film.

This trailer takes some jabs at 3-D, which was staging a comeback in

the late '70s. Thirty years later and his zingers still ring true regarding

how ridiculous 3-D is. Enjoy.

New poll question on Australian actresses/UTW review of Limitless

We did a poll recently on the male actors from Australia, now let's do one on the women! The question is who is the best actress from Australia and it's a strong field. Your choices are: Judy Davis, Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Toni Collette. Go to the home page to vote!

Results for the latest poll question on your favorite Sydney Lumet movie was: 5 votes for Network, 3 for Serpico, 2 for 12 Angry Men/Dog Day Afternoon/Running on Empty, 1 for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and no votes for The Verdict.

I'm still woefully behind on these Urban Tulsa reviews! I saw Limitless in late March and it was surprisingly enjoyable in a guilty pleasure, mainstream sci-fi thriller kind of way. Go here to read the full review.

April movies

Kind of a thin month movie wise, but I did see a few others that will have to remain secret as they might end up at Slumber Party 3: Payback in July. Don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone! And yes, Tiny Furniture deserves that one star and even less if I could. Also in April was two films with Juliette Binoche, four documentaries and watching an all-time favorite Something Wild again.

Source Code---2011---usa   ***1/2
Tiny Furniture---2010---usa   *
Typeface---2009---usa---***
Somewhere---2010---usa   ***1/2
Air Guitar Nation---2006---usa   ***1/2
Something Wild---1986---usa    *****!
Certified Copy---2010---france   ***1/2
Typeface---2009---usa   ***
Summer Hours---2008---france ***
Boxcar Bertha---1972---usa   ***
Hanna---2011---usa   ***1/2
Grown Ups---2010---usa   *1/2
Opa!---2005---greece   **1/2
Con Artist---2010---usa   ***

Dream drive-in double feature for Tulsa World

Recently I was asked by the Tulsa World to pick out a couple of films I'd show as a dream double-feature at the rebuilt Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa. Go here  and scroll down if you want to see what two films I chose--two wildly different movies, but each personal favorites of mine.

If you didn't know, the Admiral Twin, which burned to the ground last year, is being rebuilt in 2011. Tulsa without the Admiral Twin is not Tulsa so I am eager to see it reborn all modern in 21st century refinement. The photo is of the original entrance sign that I wish they'd also bring back and repaint.

If you have a dream double-feature, I'd love to know it. I had a hard time narrowing my choice down to these two. The link seems to be kind of off/on for some reason...my choices were Bad News Bears and Days of Heaven. If the link is faulty for you, google "tulsa world dream drive-in double feature" or some combo of that and it should come up if you want to read why I chose those films.