She Likes to Watch

Make ‘em laugh: “Tropic Thunder” aims for funny bones, gag reflexes 

Now that “Tropic Thunder” has opened in theaters, questions about the goofy war movie spoof are flying like fur.

Is “Tropic Thunder” a clever satire of Hollywood types? An offensive slur on African Americans and people with developmental disabilities?

Most importantly, will “Tropic Thunder” wallop “The Dark Knight” at the box office?

“Tropic Thunder” is the latest in a long line of boundary-pushing comedies — most of which rake in huge returns. They’re rude, crude and frequently raw.

So why are gross-out gurus like the Farrelly Brothers, Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith and “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone so successful?

Without further ado, I bring you “The Six Habits of Highly Disgusting People.”

UNLEASH YOUR INNER 8-YEAR-OLD

Locked inside each and everyone of us is a second-grader who still giggles at poop jokes. While some filmmakers rely on clever wordplay and plot twists to get their point across, these guys gleefully plumb the gutters for gags about diarrhea and dogs biting people in the crotch. And guess what? It’s still funny.

BE A POTTY MOUTH

Like it or not, swear words get our attention. That’s why you’ll see F-bombs and detailed descriptions of various sex acts floating through many an obscene comedy. Extra points if you get a little old lady, a minority character with a funny accent, or beloved game show host Bob Barker to utter your filth.

GET ‘EM TALKING

It took moviegoers and news anchors buzzing about Cameron Diaz’s hair gel faux pas to make “There’s Something About Mary” the sleeper hit of 1998. The same goes for Ben Stiller’s cat-milking scene in “Meet the Parents.”

MIX SASS WITH SWEETNESS

Look past the porn jokes, perversity and painful nerdiness of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and you’ll find a man searching for romance in a harsh world. Apatow in particular excels at mixing bro humor with touching themes of love and male friendship.

WHEN IN DOUBT, SING

As the “South Park” guys know, there’s something endearing about characters launching into song: whether it’s a cheerful tune about trapping animals (”Cannibal! The Musical”) or “Everybody’s Got AIDS” (”Team America: World Police”).

CONTROVERSY, CONTROVERSY, CONTROVERSY

Few things heat up a theatrical run like boycotts and angry protesters.

You could cast Alanis Morissette as God (”Dogma”) or give moviegoers an unsolicited look at Satan’s love affair with Saddam Hussein (”South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut”).

Or you can go the “Tropic Thunder” route and load up on jokes about self-centered actors willing to break every social taboo to bring home Oscar gold. Works (nearly) every time.

Dude, where’s my movie?

I’m inventing a new phrase, friends and neighbors. It’s called “trailer betrayal.”

Trailer betrayal is the sad state of affairs that occurs when a movie trailer promises things the film itself cannot possibly deliver. Hilarious gags. Fantastic action sequences. Thrilling climaxes.

When you watch the movie, however, the dialogue falls flat, the plot limps by, and the fight scenes are cheesy, boring and overdrawn. Rest assured, moviegoers. All the best jokes are in that two-and-a-half-minute reel.

The trailer for “Pineapple Express,” the latest from super-producer Judd Apatow, falls into the same group.

If you believe the hype, Seth Rogen and James Franco are the funniest stoner duo since Cheech and Chong and “Pineapple Express” is a comedic masterpiece — a slick, smart yukfest undercut with constant laughs and great tunes.

The movie looks good. Almost too good. And there’s a reason for that.

In reality, “Pineapple Express” is an confused mishmash of stoner comedy and action thriller. Torn between oddball humor, high times and violent he-man posturing, it never quite gets off the ground.

Stoner comedies, such as “Half Baked” and “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle,” succeed when they’re silly. Really silly.

Some of the best scenes in “Pineapple Express” rely on that time-honored formula and shine.

Not suprisingly, Rogen and Franco (reunited for the first time since “Freaks and Geeks”) have an easy chemistry as a pot-smoking process server and his equally clueless dealer.

Between frequent tokes, they go on weed-fueled flights of fancy, suffer from pot-flavored paranoia and occasionally remember they’re on the run from murderous gangsters. Watching the duo freaking out in the forest or engaged in a brutal fight with a pudgy suburban drug dealer (Danny McBride) are almost worth the price of admission.

Other scenes feel straight out of a ’70s blaxploitation movie, or an ’80s action flick. (If drug czar Gary Cole and bad cop Rosie Perez were in those movies, in fact, they’d be bumping tonsils for a full five minutes instead of merely trading saucy looks.)

There are memorable lines, laugh-out-loud sight gags and lots of bro love — enough to make some of my fellow moviegoers squirm in their seats.

Any time “Pineapple Express” really gets rocking, however, an errant twist or needless subplot mars the flow.

The movie also fails to utilize some of its strongest talent. One glimpse at Bill Hader’s stoned Army private or thugs Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson (Darryl from “The Office”) and it’s clear that they deserve more screen time.

It could be that “Pineapple Express” is brilliant, and I’m not nearly high enough to see it.

But with a confusing plot, uneven humor and some uncomfortably vicious scenes, I think there’s a better explanation.

Screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are simply one toke over the line.

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Photo courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

Would you trust these men? If you believe “Step Brothers,” you shouldn’t

Another week, another batch of audio clips courtesy of McClatchy Interactive:

“Mad Men,” AMC’s show about hard-edged men and women during advertising’s Golden Age, has garnered an astounding 16 Emmy Award nominations, and no wonder. It’s smart, original and — most importantly — a smoky, boozy, sexy portrait of the era.

Star Elisabeth Moss talks about her newfound connection to the ’60s.

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Meanwhile, the documentary “Man on Wire” takes a fresh look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s high-stakes stroll between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. As Petit shares here, it was a terrifying, but thrilling experience.

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“Step Brothers,” the new movie starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, is daring in a different way.

The movie follows two grown men who become stepbrothers when their single parents marry. As you might guess from a film directed by Adam McKay and produced by Judd Apatow, their relationship is a mix of boyish exuberance and violent, foul-mouthed antagonism.

Check out this scene from “Step Brothers.” You’ll hear the voices of Ferrell, Reilly, Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen.

I’m a big proponent of gender equality on film.

Yet, while most cinematic chicks drop top and trou at the slightest suggestion, male stars take a lot longer to get out of their skivvies. (The exception being shirtless wonder Matthew McConaughey.)

That’s why I was recently gratified to see two sterling examples of male nudity on the silver screen  — with nary a female nipple or derriere in sight.

In “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” mock rocker Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) holds an entire phone conversation with an extra’s … ahem … member in plain sight.

Wide-angle shots of star Jason Segel’s nude torso — both front and back — bookend “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

It’s done for comic effect, obviously, but the result is two-fold.

At first, we get a guilty, gross-out pleasure from the sight of Segel in his birthday suit. By the end of the movie, when Segel is embracing his fully clothed co-star (Mila Kunis), his nudity seems downright blasé.

Both of these examples come to us from producer Judd Apatow and pals. That’s right — the same guys that brought you a pale, slightly bloated Will Ferrell in his tighty-whities.

Apatow’s message is clear: For men, nudity means vulnerability. It means comedy.

Amd while we might giggle at Kathy Bates in a hot tub (”About Schmidt”) or Eddie Murphy in a female fat suit (”Norbit”), few women on film get laughs when they slip off their sundresses.

It sounds more like a wistful sigh.

A week after it hit the theaters, I’m still smiling about “Knocked Up.”
Judd Apatow’s latest comedy mixes off-beat, often raunchy jokes with a shaggy-dog love story with surprising heart. Finally, a guy movie for girls.
As the trailer suggests, “Knocked Up” pairs slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogan) with Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl of “Grey’s Anatomy”).
She’s way out of his league, a blonde goddess who works for E! He’s a scruffy slacker who spends most of his time smoking pot and watching movies with a Greek chorus of geeky roommates.
Then the unthinkable happens: What starts as a one-night stand turns into a full-blown disaster.
To Apatow’s credit, the camera spends just as much time with the pregnant Alison as it does with his goofy but likeable male lead.
As Ben struggles to make the transition from shiftless slacker to responsible dad, Alison worries about losing her job and her independence.
He’s got the munchies. She’s got morning sickness and mood swings.
“Knocked Up” doesn’t offer an easy fix.
Its protagonists are exact opposites plagued by bad examples. Even Allison’s put-together sister (Leslie Mann, Apatow’s wife) and her husband (Paul Rudd) are struggling to find meaning in their marriage.
I won’t go so far as to call “Knocked Up” the next “When Harry Met Sally.”
There’s a wealth of testosterone-driven humor, including a hilarious running gag about beards that I refuse to ruin here. But “Knocked Up” shows a new level of maturity for the man behind “Anchorman” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”
What begins as a cautionary tale for career girls – don’t swap spit with losers – becomes a sweet exploration of that final leap into adulthood.
Chalk it up as one of my favorite movies of the summer.

FUNNY BUSINESS:
The prediction: Comedies, not overblown blockbusters, will top the box office charts this summer.
The evidence: “Spider-Man 3” dropped dramatically its second weekend.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” saw “one of the steepest post-Memorial Day opening drops on record,” watchdog Box Office Mojo reported, pulling in $114 million its first weekend and only $44.2 million the second.
Meanwhile, “Knocked Off” raked in $30.7 million its opening weekend. The movie is already being mentioned in the trailers of Seth Rogan’s next movie, “Superbad.”
Now factor in the fact that “Pirates” cost $300 million to make. “Knocked Up” cost a tenth of that — $30 million.
I’m banking on comedies.

– Sarah L.