These Movies Came Late

In my holiday hunger for timekillers I've recently caught up on some movies I've been wanting to see. Last week I rented Talladega Nights, this summer's Will Ferrell comedy. It never reached the same comedic heights as Anchorman, and I think you can chalk that up to the stricter adherence to scripted rather than improvised comedy. I remember watching the sub-movie "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy" that they tacked on to my Anchorman DVD and realizing that half the cut material from the film was the original scripted plot. And thank god it was cut! Aside from a more painful coming-out-monologue from Champ Kind and a bizarre backstory gag for Brick, there wasn't much to speak of. I feel like the problem with a lot of comedians is that when they get behind a computer they lose half the funny to the natural overthinking of the writing process. Most of these guys are primarily performers, and it really shows in their natural improv strides. What's funny on page doesn't always translate to funny on screen, and hopefully Ferrell recognizes that before he tosses out another movie with Adam McKay.

Jackass 2 was next for my Christmastime Conquests, meaning a guarantee of bigger and more laughs than with Talladega, but unfortunately no greater in quality or quantity than the first Jackass. While it was refreshing just to see the masterminds (and I use this un-ironically) behind Jackass back in business, it was surprising to find that not many of their stunts push the limit beyond what they attempted in the first movie. Is nearly getting bitten by a shark worse than nearly getting bitten by several alligators? I guess its up to the viewer to decide that, but when you say sequel, I expect some elaboration or escalation, and there wasn't a lot going on in way of that. Thumbs up to making me squirm with the old leech-in-the-eyeball trick! Gets me every time I see it performed, even when not Live. Also, half the fun of the last movie was the DVD outtakes, which are arbitrarily broken down into multiple sections on the new movie's disc, many of which feature redundant material. There's only so many times Rip Taylor can improvise an entrance and reveal his baldness before I get sleepy.

Last on the list is Casino Royale, for which I had extemely low expectations despite the hype. Thankfully, the movie surprised me thoroughly. Daniel Craig made me think of Bond as a human being rather than a cartoon, which was an immediate shock. I was disturbed by Bond at times and empathetic at others. That alone is worth ticket price. Well that and the fact that I couldn't guess precisely when and where the twists would occur. Not to say that the movie is a narrative masterpiece, but it's impressive in an action franchise to have me so distracted by the character drama that I'm unaware of the shit about to happen. We tried playing a drinking game where you drink every time Bond kills someone, Bond makes a quip, Bond uses a gadget, and when sex is foreshadowed. Strangely enough, the only drunk-friendly rules are murder and sex, and sex is the one you'll be relying on a lot more frequently. A better rule might be drinking every time an eye bleeds or every time Daniel Craig could kick Pierce Brosnan's ass. (I HOPE YOU BROUGHT INFINITY BEERS!)