Summer wedding season.  Your friends tap you to be in their wedding party.  You’ve gotta stay sober ‘til the reception.  The ushers aren’t nearly as good looking as your soon-to-be-wed buddy promised.  And you’ll never wear that ugly satin dress again, not even if you just shorten it.  But you don’t need an ugly dress or a history of wedding-induced trauma to enjoy Bridesmaids.  Though a hot usher wouldn’t hurt.

Think of this as The Hangover, with chicks.  And without the tiger and Mike Tyson.  That shortcut summary is just my way of saying that this movie is girly, yes, but dudes will like it too.  Annie (Kristen Wiig) gets tapped to be her best friend Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) Maid Of Honor, but with Annie’s life on a downward spiral, Lillian’s nuptuals aren’t going to be anything featured in Brides Magazine.  And thank goodness.  I’m a huge fan of girly rom-coms (as a female, it’s the law), but after a while you can start cranking out the storylines in your sleep.  With Bridesmaids you know you’re in for a roller-coaster ride of chaos, but unlike standard romance flicks, you’re never sure what’s around the corner.  Another good thing is the men are kept to a minimum in this movie; the focus isn’t on the wedding, it’s on the interaction between Lillian and her best friend/worst bridesmaid Annie.  There is a bit of romance in Bridesmaids, but it’s used to illustrate Annie’s inability to move forward with her life.

Rounding out the wedding party are Rose Byrne as over-achiever Helen, Ellie Kemper as naive Becca, Wendi McLendon-Covey as wild-woman Rita and Melissa McCarthy as token bridesmaid/sister-of-the-groom Megan.  Melissa McCarthy all but steals every scene she’s in with her ability to throw herself into her character.  Megan ain’t the sweet Sookie St. James of Gilmore Girls, but a blue-collar gal that is hilarious and a breath of fresh air.  Come on; Fight Club as a wedding shower theme?  And her scenes with real-life husband Ben Falcone (as fellow air traveler Jon) are a scream.  Jill Clayburg gets into the act as Annie’s off-the-wall mom, and I couldn’t help thinking about her own riot grrl films of her era, Starting Over and An Unmarried Woman.  Bridesmaids is Ms. Clayburg’s last performance (she passed away November, 2010), and she gives her character charm and goofy humor.

Underneath the gross-out humor and sight gags of Bridesmaids is a good look at the competitiveness of female relationships.  Annie and Helen’s passive-aggressive competition is all too true to life, even though here it’s played for laughs.  So is the relationship between Annie and Lillian.  Annie is overjoyed for her friend, but fears being left behind as everyone else she knows moves forward with their lives.  Bridesmaids shows female friendships as the messy, bitchy, loving relationships they really are.  This movie also lets women be human, which made me hark back to My Best Friend’s Wedding, another movie where a woman is allowed to have thoughts that aren’t all puppies and rainbows.  Thanks for Bridesmaid’s success in telling it like it is goes to writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, as well as director Paul Feig, who has shown his ability to craft believable humor with his work on Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development.

Women who flock to this movie thinking they’re in for a Sex and the City or 27 Dresses romp will be in for a shock.  These ladies are much more true-to-life than the sweethearts in those films.  Which means there’s swearing, booze, food poisoning and crazy sex with John Hamm.  (Yes, you’re uncredited here, but don’t think I don’t recognize you, John.)  Head out to catch Bridesmaids before the next wedding you’ve got on your calendar.  Or better yet, go after and smuggle in a piece of wedding cake and a flask of champagne.  Just leave the dress at home.

Atomic Popcorn would like to extend the opportunity to see GET HIM TO THE GREEK, starring Jonah Hill (Superbad), Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and P Diddy. Universal’s hilarious new comedy is the latest film from producer Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People).

The promotional screening will be held on June 3^rd at 7:30 PM at a local Baltimore theater.

In case you haven’t see the trailers or TV spots, you can get the gist from the synopsis below:

GET HIM TO THE GREEK reunites Jonah Hill and Russell Brand with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller in the story of a record company intern with two days to drag an uncooperative rock legend to Hollywood for a comeback concert. Aaron Green (Hill) gets things done. The ambitious 23-year-old has exaggerated his way into a dream job just in time for a career-making assignment. His mission: Fly to London and escort a rock god to L.A.’s Greek Theatre for the first-stop on a $100-million tour. His warning: Turn your back on him at your own peril. British rocker Aldous Snow (Brand) is both a brilliant musician and walking sex. Weary of yes men and piles of money, the former front man is searching for the meaning of life. But that doesn’t mean he can’t have a few orgies while he finds it. When he learns his true love is in California, Aldous makes it his quest to win her back….right before kick-starting his world domination. As the countdown to the concert begins, one intern must navigate a minefield of London drug smuggles, New York City brawls and Vegas lap dances to deliver his charge safe and, sort of, sound. He may have to coax, lie to, enable and party with Aldous, but Aaron will get him to the Greek.

And of coarse it’s always better to see it than read it:

How to Enter:

1. Join our mailing list here. You must verify your subscription!
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The only rule is that we will not be allowing multiple signups from the same family to sign up for our screenings any longer. You have 1 admit-two pass per family.

THIS SCREENING IS NOW FULL – STAY TUNED FOR MORE SCREENINGS!

Make sure you check out our other free screenings in the Baltimore Area.

This Saturday, April 17th, GET HIM TO THE GREEK will be participating in Record Store Day by releasing the first in a very limited series of INFANT SORROW tour shirts. One of the most influential rock bands of the decade, Infant Sorrow churned out a steady string of hit albums that not only reinvigorated the stagnant rock scene of the late 90s but went on to define a generation.  Led by notorious front man Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), whose scandalous exploits are well documented on both sides of the Atlantic, Infant Sorrow is widely considered the last truly great rock and roll band. “The Beast Without” shirt will only be available at participating Record Store Day locations while supplies last!

Check out www.recordstoreday.com to find a store near you!

Synopsis:

Get Him to the Greek reunites Jonah Hill and Russell Brand with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller in the story of a record company executive with three days to drag an uncooperative rock legend to Hollywood for a comeback concert.  The comedy is the latest film from producer Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People).

Aaron Green (Hill) gets things done.  The ambitious 24-year-old has been given a career-making assignment.  His mission: Fly to London and escort a rock god to L.A.’s world famous Greek Theatre for the first-stop on a huge comeback tour.  His record mogul boss, Sergio Roma (Sean Combs), gives him one warning: “The artist is the worst person on Earth.  Turn your back on him at your own peril.”

British rocker Aldous Snow (Brand) is a brilliant musician, but due to a bad break up and nose-diving career, has fallen off the wagon and is now a drunken   disaster.  Weary of “yes men” and scared he’s entered the “greatest hits” moment in his career, Snow’s in the midst of a nihilistic downward spiral.  When he learns his true love, model/pop star Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), is in Los Angeles, Aldous makes it his quest to win her back…right before kick-starting his world domination.

As the countdown to the concert begins, one innocent young man must navigate a minefield of London drug smuggles, New York City brawls and Vegas lap dances to deliver his charge safe and, sort of, sound… all while trying to remain faithful to his med student girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss).  He may have to coax, lie to, enable and party with Aldous, but Aaron will get him to the Greek.

Get Him to the Greek, in theaters June 4, reunites Jonah Hill and Russell Brand with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller in the story of a record company executive with three days to drag an uncooperative rock legend to Hollywood for a comeback concert. The comedy is the latest film from producer Judd Apatow. Also starring Sean Combs, Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne and Colm Meaney.

Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) and Ed Helms (The Office) are joining the Duplass Brothers’ stoner comedy Jeff Who Lives At Home. Helms most recently made the successful jump from the small screen to the big screen in last Summer’s hit comedy The Hangover while Segel starred in I Love You, Man as well as the Judd Apatow comedies Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

The Duplass Brothers’ directed the indie thriller Baghead and  soon to be released Cyrus starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei. Jeff Who Lives At Home is being produced byJohn Malkovich’s company Mr. Mudd and Jason Reitman’s Right of Way Films. I believe in jinxes but I also believe this movie can’t miss. Since we’re talking about the Duplass Brothers and television actors I have to say that The League on FX starring Mark Duplass is in my opinion one of the great new sitcoms joining the likes of Modern Family, Glee and Community.

What say you?

PHILIP BARRETT: Sometimes, one can expect too much out of a film. It’s not the fault of the film itself, but more on the audience and trailers. The Matrix sequels are the best, recent example of this as most were left generally disappointed. Time at this point has not been kind to either of them as most still revile them. It’ll be interesting to see if Funny People suffers from the same fate as it has a good premise and a very capable actor in Adam Sandler. This should have been a great film, and for an hour it is. However, what should have been a passing of the torch quickly turns into an exercise for one’s tolerance with dick jokes.

ERIK BUCKMAN: Besides The 40 Year Old Virgin, I’m not much of a fan of Judd Apatow’s work. Cock joke after balls joke in movies filled with characters who are either socially retarded, obsessed with chods or are infatuated with “gettin’ some.” It’s like repeatably attending high school reunions and watching your old friends revert back to their 16-year-old selves while bemoaning going bald.

That’s especially the case in Judd’s latest. Funny People is a bloated dramedy which, again, is filled with selfish and insular jerks. Instead of blaming it on PR, the blame goes squarely on Apatow for creating a movie with a runtime that is three minutes shorter than the theatrical version of Apocalypse Now (thanks Richard Roeper…for once) for no reason except to tell more wacky, wacky anal jokes. It could have been endearing. I couldn’t tell because film is stuffed with his patented dick and fart jabs made by his merry band of man-children.

If it was pity for Sandler’s character, George Simmons (who is playing Adam Sandler), that Apatow wanted, I’m wondering why he was made to be an asshole.

PHILIP: I don’t know if it’s PR or that I want to blame someone for this film not reaching it’s potential. The ingredients are there with Adam Sandler playing a sympathetic version of himself coupled with a very intriguing premise. In addition, he has long time Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski at his disposal. But The Buckman is probably right that the blame is on Apatow for stretching this film out longer than it needed to be. While the first hour is nearly flawless (dick and ball jokes aside), the second slows to a crawl and essentially pushes Seth Rogen to the side so we can focus on what ends up being a pointless trip to San Francisco so George Simmons can try to win back Leslie Mann. This needed to be sprinkled throughout the film and not cluttered toward the end of it.

BUCKMAN: The film grew tired after after the first hour and 45 minutes. Credit is given to Judd Apatow for attempting to, somewhat, step away from his shag-carpeted box but his priority of easy and boring vulgarity over substance turns Funny People into Douchey People.

PHILIP: Pretty much, and it doesn’t help that this is also where the funny leaves the film. I think now the fault isn’t so much in Apatow’s direction (which is, actually, decent) but in the plotting of his story. Again, the stuff with Laura should have come sooner. We could still end up at the same resolution and not be half as bored.

BUCKMAN: Apatow couldn’t sacrifice any of his precious blue jokes to help advance his message, which is apparently that people really and truly love celebrities.

Funny People‘s focus is too self-absorbed for viewers to enjoy without checking the time over and over.

PHILIP: And check the time a lot of them did. I’m also not sure what message Apatow wanted to convey. Did he want to remind us we need celebrities? Did he want to tell us that they have problems too? The film leans more toward telling us that being a celebrity can’t replace the real things that matter in life. Sadly this all gets muddled in the film’s third act which doesn’t exactly end on a happy note.

It’s really tough to say that Funny People is a bad film because it’s too likable. In fact, it’s a decent film that for the first hour is Apatow’s best work to date. I’m fine with getting to know the characters and relating to a good portion of them, even George Simmons. Where Funny People falters aside from wanting to tell every dick joke known to man is when it crams too much into it’s last hour. Leslie Mann’s Laura is given no time to lament over her choice of George or Clarke (Eric Bana) which makes the ultimate resolution rushed. It may not be so much that this film falters in it’s third act in that it tries to do too much with it’s last hour and a half. The jokes are funny, but honestly I couldn’t remember what I’d laughed at when I walked out.

At the end of the day, we’re left with a film that’s good, but not great. It wants to be great, and it should be given the talent and potential. Maybe time will be kinder to Funny People, but for now, it should be chalked up as a ‘what could have been.’

Philip’s Grade –

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Buckman’s Grade –

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

From the inventive mind of Judd Apatow is the latest creation, Funny People. The new dramedy centers around comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) who has a near death experience that, with the help of his newfound friend and comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), sends him into a refreshed mindset of what things in life are really important to him. Directed and written by Apatow, the film stars the talents of Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and many others.

Coming out on July 31rst in theaters nationwide, here’s the brand new restricted trailer from the folks below:

Year One wants it’s audience to believe it’s Agent Sands at the end of Once Upon A Time In Mexico. The film blindly fires it’s comedy at us, hoping things will hit us and evoke mountains of laughter. Why shouldn’t it? It’s directed by Harold “Egon” Ramis who’s done some decent comedy directing and is responsible for Ghostbusters and Caddyshack. The movie’s headlined by timid nerd Michael Cera, whom everyone adores, and Jack Black, who can be great when he wants to be. The talent is certainly there to make a fun, if useless, summer comedy. Yet like the aforementioned Sands, Year One misses just about every shot of comedy it unleashes.

Year One is terribly constructed together to the point where Ramis should feel ashamed he took part in it. Scenes start, climax, and then cut to the next scene without finishing the previous joke or giving us a clue as to what occurred. Picture sleeping with the chubby and ugly cheerleader and she leaves right before you both finish. Other, better films are guilty of this as well but they at least have the decency to mention what happened the next scene later. It leads into a point about the editing in this film, which is absolutely atrocious. Pieces are just slopped together, often times without any consistency. For instance, why does Jack Black’s hair change from black to blonde over the course of a scene? Editors Craig Herring and Steve Welch should do community service for what a sloppy job they do on this picture.

Nice, but mine are bigger.

Sloppy though, seems to be the keyword for this picture. The script by Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky, and Lee Eisenberg is full of half-assed ideas that come from a History of the World Part I/Life of Brian double feature. Unlike those films, theirs lacks the consistency both comedy and filmmaking wise to be anything remotely decent. Perhaps they chose to set the film in a prehistoric age because that’s how all of their jokes feel. All of the “laughs” rely on dick and fart jokes which is going to appeal to anyone ten and under. Certainly the film gave me this vibe it was trying to appeal to a young audience but even then, the jokes are almost twenty years too late. Ramis’ direction, unfortunately, doesn’t do anything to elevate the material either. Presumably, he shot what was on page and did simple pointing and shooting. To paraphrase, the man did a lazy job with a sloppy script.

Jack Black and Michael Cera do make for a solid team though and play off of the other well. Likely it’s due to the fact both men are essentially playing themselves in caveman’s clothing. The flick does absolutely nothing to make you accept these two are playing different people other than dress them differently. Black though, seems to be doing a parody of his Po from Kung Fu Panda as he proclaims “I’m the chosen one!” His typical shtick is at play here though, so those turned off by him will find nothing to accept here. Cera tries with his timid nerd act that does work in spots. Seemingly, he’s the only one doing something in favor of the film rather than taking a meh attitude toward it. His low-key take is refreshing when you consider what everyone else in the film is doing.

The biggest of these offenders is not Hank Azaria but Oliver Platt as the High Priest. Normally Platt is enjoyable but here he’s repulsive, and not because his character calls for it. Platt’s character is implied to be gay, since apparently all priests in comedies have to be. Trouble is, it’s annoying, unfunny, and should make said homosexual priests feel ashamed. Azaria’s a different matter, as he interpreted his role of Abraham as Cap’n Abraham of the S.S. Choppin’ Skin. Every line is muttered like a drunken pirate leading one to think Azaria was a Captain Sparrow reject. Unlike his other recent history adventure, Azaria doesn’t bring the film down and does have the best line in the whole film. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is his son Isaac and while it’s impossibly hard to hate the kid, he’s essentially McLovin in different clothes. Vinnie Jones is Vinnie Jones, and Olivia Wilde makes for some really nice eye candy. David Cross portrays Cain and seems to pop in and out when the script needs him, while Paul Rudd feels all but wasted as Abel.

Year One is lazy, unprofessional filmmaking. Ramis is better than this, Apatow is better than this, even Jack Black is better than this. I keep reassuring myself the only reason Ramis did this was so we could get Ghostbusters 3. At the same time, he shouldn’t have succumbed to such a stupid, idiotic and retarded monstrosity of film. Much like it’s premise, Year One should be buried, ancient history when it’s all said and done.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

This quirky, romantic, comedy is from the minds that brought you 40-year-old Virgin, Knocked-up, and Super Bad.

Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is a struggling musician who makes the between scenes music (think Law and Order’s dun dun) for the hit crime show Crime Scene. His five-year relationship to Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), the star of Crime Scene, has just ended with the ever-so-devastating “I love you but I’m not in love with you” speech.

Thrown into misery and consoled by his step-brother Brian Bretter (Bill Hader), Peter starts visiting clubs and bars in hopes of finding his next true love. After three weeks of finding horrible one-night stands, Peter decides to hop a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii and get away for a brief trip to clear his head.

Peter inadvertently checks into the same hotel that Sarah and her new boyfriend Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), the hot lead singer of a pop group, happen to be staying at. Not the start to a restful getaway that Peter expected and now feeling low and embarrassed is ready to leave Hawaii. As luck would have it he is saved by perky hotel clerk Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis) as she helps by giving him a complementary room.

As with all romantic comedies, the standard formula (Boy loves Girl, boy loses girl, boy finds new girl) is there. And this does result in lots of good one-liners and funny situations as they are layered throughout the movie.

As with any Judd Apatow movie, the minor-characters that make up the real world have scenes that enhance the comedy. There is a minor sub-plot between a recently married couple staying at the hotel having some honeymoon sexual issues. The husband is a bit shy in the sack and seeks Aldous’ advice on how to keep the new wife happy. I won’t give away the outcome but I will say that the accompanying training montage will result in tears rolling from your eyes due to laughter.
This is a fun movie that you and your significant other will enjoy seeing together as it has the best for both worlds. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is rated “R”, has a runtime of 2-hour, and is distributed by Universal Pictures.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆