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Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a review by Jon

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ***
3 out of 5

Peter (Jason Segel) is dumped by his girlfriend of five years, TV star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) and goes to Hawaii to forget. Unfortunately Sarah is at the same resort with her new boyfriend, a British pop-star (Russell Brand)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the closest yet that the Apatow run of comedies (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) have come to the Kevin Smith brand of heartwarming romantic comedy via outrageous gags, and while it's more the quality of Mallrats than Chasing Amy, it's a very well written and faithful script by star Jason Segel. Part of me wishes it was funnier, but maybe that would compromise the characters.

They are all very believable. Each person has their good and bad sides; nobody is perfect and everybody is in for criticism. That's important because they feel real whereas normally in a rom-com, lead characters go on "journeys" while the supporting cast don't change at all and it's vomit inducing. Here they are all well rounded. Segel in particular is nakedly honest (literally so in a couple of unfortunate scenes!) and his Dracula The Musical moments (apparently a genuine project Segel wrote years ago) work as both poignant and possibly the funniest thing in the film. Kristen Bell perhaps has the hardest job, because she's the villain of the piece, so putting across her point of view is an uphill struggle. Far better is her new boyfriend. Russell Brand plays himself really, but is far more than a mere cameo and he is excellent at portraying several layers. If anything, he is the most grounded. I know Brand in real life is Marmite to many people, but even if you detest him, don't let him put you off because not liking his character can reap rewards. Mila Kunis is adorable (oh, the irony of her voicing Meg in Family Guy!), while Jack McBrayer almost steals the show with his attempts to consummate his recent marriage. "God put our mouths on our head's for a reason!"

The middle section is very messy and seems to waste time, but it comes good in the end by continuing to surprise, even when resorting to predictable convention. Even then, I thought they'd written themselves into a corner, but it resolves gracefully. Overall I think Segel has a better ear for dialogue than the other Apatow films have showed, as they occasionally lapse into moments of being too clever for their own good. Still, they are much funnier.

Note: like any Apatow DVD, this is stuffed with extras, but personally I'd avoid them. I ruined Knocked Up for myself by watching the hours of deleted scenes, gag reels, abandoned ad-libbing, etc. The Line-O-Rama feature is a case in point; take one scene and show the 20 or so alternative lines in quick succession. Argh!

(From Jon's Random Reviews on August 30th, 2009)

My Boss, My Hero, a review by Tom

My Boss, My Hero (2001/South Korea) IMDb | Wikipedia Winson Entertainment (Hong Kong) Director: Yun Je-gyun Writing: Ha Won-jun (Writer), Kim Yun-hi (Writer), Yun Je-gyun (Writer) Length: 98 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: Korean: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Korean: Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Chinese, English

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Stars:
Jeong Jun-ho as Kye Doo-sik
Jeong Ung-in as Kim Sang-doo
Jeong Un-taeck as Dae Gah-ri
Park Jun-gyu as Jo Bong-pal
Oh Seung-eun as Lee Yoon-joo

Plot:
Kye Doo-sik (Jeong Jun-Ho), is a gang vice leader, after dropping out from high school. But Doo-sik's stunted education makes him the laughing stick of the gang, and he's commanded to return to his studies by his boss. Disguised as a 19 year old, Doo-sik has a hard time at school: he's whipped, blackmailed and bullied by both teachers and students ten years his junior. But before long, Doo-sik begins to notice violent corruption in the school. The school foundation director is funded by a gang organisation, and demands that teachers give rich students good marks so that they can get into top colleges. The loathsome director sexually harasses female teachers and defends a student's mother who beat a teacher. When a student Doo-sik knows is beaten to a pulp then expelled, Doo-sik rallies his henchmen and fellow students and sets out for revenge.

Extras:

• Scene Access

After recently watching Gokusen and GTO again, I stumbled across this movie which sounded like a similar premise. Instead of a tough teacher (with gangster background in the case of Gokusen), a student with gangster background comes to school. I expected more of a comedy, but this movie is more serious with him dealing with a corrupt school.

Rating:

(From 2010 December Marathon - Discussion thread on December 24th, 2010)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Marathon , a review by Critter

1.07
Angel

Plot:My Thoughts: This is an excellent episode. Darla is fantastic as the antagonist here and it's great to hear about Angels interesting backstory. I've always loved the idea that returning the soul to a vampire is the worst punishment anyone can do to them and this really shows in how tortured Angel is. I also like how the story of the Master and the boy that works with him was developed throughout this ep. In a way though I was almost sad to see Darla go, she was a very cool villian.

Rating: 4/5

(From Buffy The Vampire Slayer Marathon on May 24th, 2010)