Jack Black

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: One ‘Brütal Legend’ PlayStation 3 Video Game With Jack Black

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:06:45 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest extra-special edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Video Games, we have one PlayStation 3 video game up for grabs to the new video game “Brutal Legend” with Jack Black! This video game retails for $60!

“Brutal Legend,” which is written and directed by Tim Schafer, features Jack Black, Tim Curry, Jennifer Hale, Zach Hanks, Richard Steven Horvitz, Courtenay Taylor, Alex Fernandez, Rebecca Corry, Josh Robert Thompson, Rob Halford, Taylor M. Dooley, David Boat and David Sobolov.

“Brutal Legend” was released by Electronic Arts and developed by Double Fine. It is rated “M” for mature. While the version being given away in this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is for PlayStation 3, the title is also available for Xbox 360. “Brutal Legend” was released on Oct. 13, 2009.

To win your free “Brutal Legend” video game for PlayStation 3 courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is tell us what you like or dislike about heavy metal in this Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

A screen capture from EA’s “Brutal Legend” with Jack Black for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Image credit: Electronic Arts

Here is the synopsis for “Brutal Legend”:

From the mind of Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions comes “Brütal Legend”: a third-person action game rich in combat, imagery and storytelling that delivers lighter-flicking fun sure to melt your face clean off.

“Brütal Legend” tells the tale Eddie Riggs: the ultimate roadie. The “roadie’s roadie,” Eddie is the first person anyone calls when they need guitars tuned or stages rigged. With a love for hot rods and a photographic memory for every heavy metal album cover (and the lyrics those albums contained committed to memory), Eddie has always felt out of place (like he should have been born earlier when the music was real).

One night, a stage accident knocks Eddie unconscious. With his blood dripping into the belt buckle he wears (a gift from his father), his blood quenches an ancient thirst. This sucks him into a world that looks very strange yet oddly familiar. It’s a world where every heavy metal album cover and lyric Eddie knows has come to life.

It’s a world where the evil emperor Doviculus and his demon army, The Tainted Coil, have enslaved the last remaining humans. Led by Lars Halford alongside his sister, Lita, and the mysterious Ophelia, the human resistance is far from helpless.

However, what they lack is someone to bring them all together – someone who can organize them and lead them into battle. What they need is a roadie. Under Eddie’s command, this barbaric force of hot rods, Marshall stacks, leather and chrome will bring this ancient world into the age of metal.

The video game trailer for “Brutal Legend” can be viewed now below.

To secure your free “Brutal Legend” video game for PlayStation 3, you must be logged into your HollywoodChicago.com Web site account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having a free Web site account with a valid e-mail address is required to win this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup.

Next, simply tell us what you like or dislike about heavy metal. You must submit your answer using this confidential, Web-based submission form. Please do not comment in this Hookup. Your entry will be invalid if you only comment here and don’t submit into our Web-based form. Please only submit your answer using this submission form.

You must include your first and last name, e-mail address and physical mailing address in your submission. Your personal information will not be sold or shared, will be kept strictly confidential and is only for awarding winning entries. Please answer our question below.

What you like or dislike about heavy metal?

This HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Video Games is simple: One lucky HollywoodChicago.com reader will be randomly selected as the winner of our “Brutal Legend” Hookup! The winner will be mailed the video game at our expense. Good luck!

Read our “Brutal Legend” video game review for PlayStation 3.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Video Game Review: ‘Brutal Legend’ Rocks, But Misses a Few Chords

BrianTT — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:49:03 -0600

Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Can a game be clever and beautiful to look at but not be fun? EA’s highly anticipated “Brutal Legend” tests this theory with some amazing design, a unique concept, and very funny storytelling, but with actual gameplay that can be remarkably frustrating. To paraphrase something a friend recently said about something else that seems appropriate here, I liked everything about “Brutal Legend” except actually playing it.

The game opens with a prologue that features roadie Eddie Riggs (Jack Black) being crushed by a massive stage prop for a metal show and being whisked off to a fantasy world clearly inspired by the world of metal album covers. From there, you have to use your axe, a guitar with electric powers, and a variety of other music-based fighting skills to help free an enslaved race of people who look vaguely like followers of Judas Priest circa 1982.

Brutal Legend
Photo credit: EA

Let’s start with what rocks about this highly anticipated title.

The world of “Brutal Legend” is simply beautiful. The design is essentially open world, allowing you to travel from mission to mission in Eddie’s souped-up, demonic Deuce. The world resembles something out of J.R.R. Tolkien if it had been reimagined by Dave Mustaine. It’s a heavy metal album cover circa 1985 come to life and you’ll get lost traveling through it and just marveling at the detail as day turns to night. It’s one of the most beautiful games to look at that we’ve seen all year and it contains numerous surprises around every corner. Even if you don’t play “Brutal Legend” for very long, you really should make an effort to see it. You’ve never played a game like it.

Brutal Legend
Photo credit: EA

The audio for “Brutal Legend” matches the video. Not only has the soundtrack for the game been perfectly mixed, but the songs chosen for it play like a greatest hits of metal history. Hearing “Kickstart My Heart” as you work through a racing secondary mission or “Ace of Spades” as you’re kicking enemy ass gets the adrenalin pumping more than any score in years.

And it’s not just the music. Throughout the game, you’ll learn crucial guitar riffs, playable through the face buttons, and even they sound perfectly mixed. The music and sound effects are definitely a game highlight.

“Brutal Legend” is also straight-up funny. Black is actually better as a voice work artist than he’s been in a movie in a long time, playing comfortably in his Tenacious D-esque wheelhouse of metal deities. He’s having a blast and it can be infectious. The inclusion of real metal Gods like Lemmy, Rob Halford, and Ozzy Osbourne as plot-crucial characters, not just cameos, was a stroke of genius as well.

“Brutal Legend” is surprisingly short, running less than ten hours and featuring a multi-player design that’s more frustrating than fun (more on that later). And it can get surprisingly repetitive. The fact is that most of the secondary missions are variations on things we’ve seen before, whether they be racing missions, time trials, or minor attacks. And they’re not really secondary in that the player essentially has to do them in order to build up enough “fire tributes,” or points to turn in for necessary weapon upgrades. The main story missions are far more effective and interesting, but the game is over much more quickly than most players will expect.

Brutal Legend
Photo credit: EA

Much more frustratingly, the basic battle structure of “Brutal Legend” can be a controller-throwing mess. You start by recruiting a series of headbangers, fantasy world dwellers who have been beating rocks with their heads and can now use them to beat enemies, and you continue to build armies of soldiers who will help you in your quests, including groupies, roadies, etc.

For major battles (and all multiplayer), the player has to balance an action structure with real-time strategy. Conceptually, it works. You build a stage, play a fan tribute to raise followers from the dead, and protect your merch booths against oncoming attackers. The player can instruct headbangers and other “soldiers” to attack, protect, or follow, and choose reinforcement as needed.

It’s much better in concept than execution. Victory seems nearly random, as most of the fighting is happening off-screen, and constantly having to replenish headbangers and run from merch booth to merch booth instructing your followers on how not to get their asses kicked grows tedious quickly.

Brutal Legend
Photo credit: EA

Finally, the map structure of “Brutal Legend” is simply unforgivable. There’s no actual map on the screen, meaning that you’ll have to hit Select regularly to see where you are and where you’re going next. I actually recommend driving around for an hour or so just to get a lay of the land because the amount of “where do I go now?” frustration that I experienced in the first hour could send a player, especially a renter who wants to get into the meat of the game quickly, jumping for the power button.

Perhaps I’m being too hard on “Brutal Legend” because I so wanted it to be perfect but your reaction to the game will come down to expectations of your own with games in general. On one hand, “Brutal Legend” looks and plays like nothing else this year and originality should be rewarded. But the frustration level of the gameplay is unacceptable, especially given the long development time for the title.

What most “Brutal Legend” players will come to terms with after playing the game for a few hours is that even the most elaborate, amazingly designed metal stage show can’t hide all the flaws of a band that doesn’t quite have all the pieces in place. Ultimately, “Brutal Legend” is too unique and beautiful to behold that it’s impossible to completely dismiss, but it’s equally impossible to lavishly praise.

‘Brutal Legend’ was released by EA and developed by Double Fine. It is rated M (Mature). The version reviewed was for the PS3, but the title is also available for the XBox 360. It was released on October 13th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Year One’ Fails to Deliver a Single Laugh

BrianTT — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:22:01 -0600

CHICAGO – Here’s a thoroughly detestable comedy from some of the most appealing people in Hollywood. It could easily be mistaken for one of the fake movies advertised before “Tropic Thunder,” which cleverly spoofed the creative bankruptcy that befalls so many mainstream studio products. Jack Black and Michael Cera have both created comic personas that are wholly unique, and found great success with them in past films (Black’s pinnacle was “School of Rock,” Cera’s was “Superbad”). But both are guilty of using the same comedic well until there isn’t a drop of originality left, and in “Year One,” they are all dried up.

Blu-Ray Rating: 1.5/5.0

How could anyone, least of all Harold Ramis, think a caveman comedy would be a funny idea for a movie? When was the last time a caveman comedy was actually funny? From Ringo Starr’s “Caveman” and Mel Brooks’ “History of the World: Part 1” to Geico’s recent caveman commercials, cavemen have repeatedly proven an ancient principle of screen comedy: they are simply NOT funny!

Year One was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video

People in prehistoric garb with modern attitudes are not inherently amusing. The banter has to be clever, the comedy has to be fresh, and the characters have to be credible as more than cardboard caricatures, especially in a sketch stretched to feature-length. But Ramis is clearly aiming for broad Pythonesque hijinks that may have suited John Belushi and Tim Matheson a few decades ago. But in the hands of Black and Cera, the material is dead on arrival.

Year One was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video

The film opens like a poor man’s “Apocalypto,” as Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) leave their hunting-gathering tribe to explore a drab wasteland filled with worn Biblical vignettes. Paul Rudd and David Cross show up as Cain and Abel long enough for the viewer to wish the film was about them. Hank Azaria and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin’ himself) are Abraham and Isaac, and Oliver Platt is the High Priest of a Vegas-like Sodom (his outlandish costume and makeup are the funniest things in the picture). All the while, Black and Cera go through the motions of their familiar personas without ever really connecting as a duo. Black is all eyebrow twitches and hollers, Cera is all neurotic quivers and stutters. It’s the worst screen pairing since “Ishtar.”

Though the script is credited to three writers, the actors just seem to be riffing on half-formed ideas. Anytime a scene builds to some sort of conflict, it promptly ends and moves on to the next bit. Cera is practically eaten twice in the picture, but the film never bothers to show how he was saved. What’s most embarrassing are the moments when Ramis has his characters argue about the meaning of existence in between the incessant onslaught of fart and foreskin jokes. Ramis has achieved depth in his comedies before (most memorably in his enduring masterwork, “Groundhog Day”), but here his attempts at existential repartee ring hopelessly false. As caveman comedies go, “Year One” is flatter than the earth.

“Year One” is presented in all-too-clear 1080p High Definition with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and is accompanied by English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish DTS 5.1 tracks. Special features include commentary from Ramis and the two leads, which is far more pleasurable than the film itself, along with the usual deleted scenes, featurettes and gag reels. The disc includes both theatrical and unrated film versions, and three time-wasting BD Live features. Viewers can cut their own version of various scenes, peruse real-time in-movie trivia, and send on-screen instant messages to friends while watching the film together, thus uniting the world in shared disgust.

‘Year One’ is released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and stars Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Olivia Wilde and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. It was written by Harold Ramis & Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg and directed by Harold Ramis. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on October 6th, 2009. It is rated PG-13 (Extended Version is Unrated).

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com

Harold Ramis Interview: A Lifetime of Achievements With a Chicago Look at ‘Year One’

Ebeth — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:21:39 -0600

CHICAGO – Kicking off the Chicago-based “TBS Presents A ‘Very Funny’ Festival: Just for Laughs” on June 17, 2009, Harold Ramis presented his film “Year One” at the Music Box Theatre. Starring Jack Black (“High Fidelity”) and Michael Cera (“Juno”), “Year One” touts itself as a comedy of the ages – the dark ages – as it follows Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) on their accidentally religious quest.

At the opening, “Just for Laughs” presented its first-ever lifetime achievement award to the humble and well-deserving Ramis in honor of the awe-inspiring career of this actor, writer, director and producer. A Chicago-native Ramis said: “It’s so nice that this is happening at home.”

Writer, director and actor Harold Ramis strikes a pose for his hometown HollywoodChicago.com
lens before being honored with the Just for Laughs lifetime achievement award at the Chicago
premiere of his latest film “Year One” on June 16, 2009 in Chicago.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Best known for his role as Egon in the “Ghostbusters” series, the list of Ramis’s accomplishments on and off screen is plenty. He’s the writer and director on classics like “Caddyshack,” “Groundhog Day” (which he also produced), “Analyze This” and “Analyze That”. He’s a writer of films such as “Animal House,” “Stripes,” “Back to School” and the “Ghostbusters” series (among others).

In this week’s HollywoodChicago.com interview with Ramis, he glided in – with a paper cup of coffee in hand – and his cosmic-calming smile while bestowing a personal greeting to all around the table. He sat back and relaxed in anticipation of the casual conversation that was to come.

This writer began with discussion of “Year One”. When asked about the seemingly dangerous cast of characters joining Ramis for the film (humorously including Michael Cera’s wig), Ramis responded with stories about the animals on set.

“You’re warned as a director to avoid the “ABCs” of directing – animals, boats and children – and I’ve done them all. But in this movie, animals were gonna be a big part of it. We hired a wrangler, Bobby Colorado, and she’s quite a character. She lives in Texas with about 500 animals of her own. And we rented a boar. In Los Angeles, you can rent a boar.”

Jack Black stars in Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Year One”.
Photo credit: Suzanne Hanover, SMPSP

This writer responded, laughing: “What’s the boar’s day rate? Does he have his own trailer?”

Ramis responded: “I said we needed a cougar, and it was like: ‘Well, we got you the cougar from ‘Talladega Nights’’. This cougar worked with Will Farrell. Even I haven’t worked with Will Farrell! And then the cougar wouldn’t do anything we wanted it to do. We had to animate the cougar with CG. It turns out the cougar was constipated.”

This reminded Ramis of his days filming “National Lampoon’s Vacation”. He said: “I had a camel. We were ready to shoot the scene and I said: ‘Cue the camel. Where’s the camel?’ They said: ‘Eh. The camel won’t walk on sand. He’s not comfortable on sand. He was raised in Burbank.’”

Though Ramis says Michael Cera didn’t mind the animals on the “Year One” set, Jack Black was “terrified of them all. There’s a young lion and tiger. He (Jack) said: ‘I’m not walking by them cause what if they, like, turn on me?!’ I said: ‘We couldn’t even get the cougar to jump on a stunt man. They’re not gonna turn on you.’ Same with the python. Jack was terrified of that albino python at the beginning of the movie.”

Actor Matthew Willig up close just before greeting fans on the red carpet at the
Chicago premiere of “Year One” on June 16, 2009 at the Music Box Theatre.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Continuing discussion about the “Year One” cast, this writer referenced Harold’s acceptance speech the night before: “You said last night when you accepted your award that you often recommend to people that they ‘identify the most talented person in the room and – if it’s not them – go stand by that person’. On set, when you weren’t standing alone, who did you tend to be standing near?”

“Well, you know, I can only think of one comedy director who does it all. That’s Woody Allen. He trusts his own instincts totally. I come from the kind of comedy where it’s only funny and as good as the people around you. People think directors tell actors what to do, but essentially a big part of the job is hiring the person who’s already doing it right or already doing it better than you even imagined it.”

Ramis continued: “We hired Jack and Michael because they’re brilliant. My quote is true. In this case, I hire the most talented people around and then I go stand next to them to try to get them to embody the script as best we can do.”

Moving to his partner, he went on: “Judd (Apatow) was a juggernaut already when I started this project. He had become rightfully famous for television work that wasn’t quite successful but was really respected and then his films just started to produce. It kind of echoed something we’d experienced 20 years before. I didn’t have any alliances like that any more. I don’t ‘hang out’ with Ivan Reitman and Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd any more. We don’t make many movies together, but Judd is now in the prime of that.”

Olivia Wilde stars in Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Year One”.
Photo credit: Suzanne Hanover, SMPSP

“I was one draft into this movie when I thought: ‘I can’t do this alone.’ I thought I need a partner – a real strong producing partner – someone with a lot of studio credibility and a lot of connection into the contemporary comedy world. And who better than Judd?”

Observing the fact that “Year One” relies strongly upon religious humor and citing previous statements made by Ramis regarding “looking at religion more philosophically than in fundamental ways,” Ramis was asked about his views on religion as comedy.

“There’s all kinds of laughter. I don’t believe in laughing with contempt at things. I don’t think anything I’ve ever done has been cruel in that sense,” Ramis said. “I try not to make fun of people. Can I say this? (laughs) Maybe I make fun of people all the time.”

Ramis continued: “I want for the audience what I want for my own sons. I want my own kids – even though they’re growing up way over-privileged – to think critically about the things they’re told and what they’re being sold by this culture and by our government. I think it’d be a better world if people were more aware and thought and functioned more independently.”

Michael Cera (left) and Jack Black star in Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Year One”.
Photo credit: Suzanne Hanover, SMPSP

“I read a lot of history,” Ramis said. “I’m a keen observer of what’s going on. I see that fundamentalism and orthodoxy just lock people into these ideological positions. There’s no common ground. It’s like: ‘This is what I believe, and if you don’t believe it, you are wrong. You are the devil. You are Satan.’”

Harold addressed the issue of “chosenness” in “Year One”: “For Jews, chosenness is a big issue. I had my rabbi come to the New York screening of the film. He embraced me after saying: ‘Thank you for deconstructing the notion of chosenness!’ He was thrilled with it in that sense.”

“But the movie’s post-denominational and post-ideological,” Ramis said. “It just says whatever you believe, have your belief, but it doesn’t absolve you from acting responsibly. If you’re gonna make meaningful social change, it’s not going to be because of or through ideology or orthodoxy. It’s going to be because you’re willing to take action and do the right thing. It’s simple.”

Ramis was then asked about his concerns regarding technology’s influence on the experience of watching movies and particularly on viewing movies at home as opposed to in the theatre.

Director Harold Ramis on the set of Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Year One”.
Photo credit: Suzanne Hanover, SMPSP

“There’s a kind of sociological component to it,” Ramis said. “Older people don’t like to go to the theatre. It’s a hassle. A lot of older people see serious films (i.e. foreign films, independent films and art films). And those experiences can be solitary. But young people aren’t staying home.”

“My kids have an 80-inch screen. They don’t say ‘come on over and let’s watch a movie’. In the first run of movies, young people want to come out and see a picture and have the whole experience of laughing with a group of their friends and then trading lines on the way out. Later when people revisit movies, they carry with them whatever that experience was and they can laugh alone. Maybe even now they hear the stuff they couldn’t hear when people were laughing. In all our best films, hopefully there were lines the audience misses because they were still laughing at previous moments.”

To close, this writer asked the question on most of the minds of our readers: “Do you have any little ‘Ghostbusters 3’ tidbits?”

“I don’t know,” Ramis said. “Has there been a formal studio release or was I the release? (laughs) I decided I wasn’t going to be coy any more. The studio has hired two writers – my co-writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg – who are writers and producers on “The Office”. Together we wrote a story for a potential sequel. Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd are consulting and Bill Murray has said he’d be in it. And we’re going to introduce three new Ghostbusters. At least three…”

Jack Black (left) and June Raphael star in Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Year One”.
Photo credit: Suzanne Hanover, SMPSP

When asked about a release date, Ramis responded: “It’ll never come out if the script isn’t really good or if there isn’t a real strong group will to do it because no one needs to do it. The beauty of it is that – as much as there are people in the audience who would want to see it – we don’t want to embarrass ourselves. We know there’s affection for it, but it’s whether we want to do it or not.”

Here’s hoping “there’s something strange in the neighborhood” in the near future.

Ramis – currently a resident of Glenco, Ill. – closed with conversation about the Chicago area and humored this writer by swapping stories about mutual affection for Taylor guitars. He left as casually as he’d entered and was off to another round of promotion for his new flick.

“Year One,” which stars Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Hank Azaria, Vinnie Jones, Juno Temple, Olivia Wilde, Matthew Willig and Horatio Sanz, opened on June 19, 2009 in theatres across the U.S. The film is rated “PG-13” for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.

By ELIZABETH OPPRIECHT
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
elizabeth@hollywoodchicago.com

Post Super Bowl Edition of ‘The Office’ Scores Comedy Field Goal

BrianTT — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:14:25 -0700

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – What a network chooses to put in its post-Super Bowl spot says a lot about what they are most commercially and creatively confident about on their schedule. For NBC, the choice was clearly either “30 Rock” or “The Office,” and the brain trust went with the latter, delivering an expanded version of the Steve Carell hit that will thrill fans of the show and probably even satisfy the viewers who were just too lazy to change the channel after the big game.

The episode of “The Office” that follows the Super Bowl at roughly 9:30 CST is called “Stress Relief” and has been written by Paul Lieberstein (who plays Toby on the show) and directed by Jeff Blitz (“Spellbound,” “Rocket Science”). Guest stars include Jack Black, Jessica Alba, and Cloris Leachman.

Steve Carell as Michael Scott
Photo credit: Paul Drinkwater

In one of the most hilarious pre-credits openings in the history of “The Office,” Dwight (Rainn Wilson) decides to test the fire safety awareness of his staff by staging a fake blaze. He puts a lighter under some of the door handles to give the impression that there are flames on the other side and even blocks a few doors. Then he crumples some paper in a garbage can and tosses in a lit cigarette.

Steve Carell as Michael Scott
Photo credit: Paul Drinkwater

Of course, all that results is panic and one of our favorite workers at Dunder-Mifflin Paper ends up having a heart attack. Because of Dwight’s actions, Michael (Carell) is forced to deal with the heightened stress level in the office. He soon realizes that he is the main cause of most of the stress at work and concludes that the best way to relieve it is to stage a no-holds-barred roast. Anyone who’s seen the show can guess how well that goes.

Meanwhile, Andy (Ed Helms), Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) are watching a pirated version of an unreleased love triangle movie starring Jack Black, Jessica Alba, and Cloris Leachman. (Yes, that says “love triangle” with Jack Black and Cloris Leachman. Prepare yourself.) Pam and Jim are concerned about about the rocky relationship of the former’s parents and their discussion of it while watching the awful online movie convinces Andy that they are film gurus.

“Stress Relief” is clearly divided into two plotlines - the funnier material with Michael and Dwight and the more emotional material about the dissolution of the marriage of Pam’s parents and the concerns that raises within her regarding her union with Jim.

The ‘A plot,’ the material with the roast and stress relief techniques, works significantly better. Carell does some of his best work of the year to date and Michael’s response to the roast is a must-see for even casual fans of the show.

The ‘B plot’ isn’t as effective. The Black and Leachman cameos are amusing but Alba barely registers and the Jim/Pam stuff feels a bit overdone and it takes the audience away from the material in this episode that they are really going to want to see after a day of drinking and watching football.

Finally, I’ve never been a fan of 45-minute (running time without commercials) episodes of “The Office”. This show works significantly better in regular, not supersized, format. It’s an incredibly well-paced show. It’s the comic timing of the cast that makes it work. That’s much harder to maintain at twice the length.

Having said that, nothing is normal-size on Super Bowl day and most fans of “The Office” won’t complain about getting more of their favorite show. It may not be one of the best episodes in the history of one of NBC’s most beloved shows, so we can’t credit “The Office” with a touchdown, but they’re definitely walking away with points.

‘The Office,’ which airs on NBC, stars Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Ed Helms, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton, Craig Robinson, and Paul Lieberstein. “Stress Relief” airs on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 9:30PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Brandon T. Jackson of ‘Tropic Thunder’ Breaks Out With ‘Booty Sweat’ Calling Card

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:30:45 -0600

CHICAGO – For “Tropic Thunder” star and Chris Tucker protégé Brandon T. Jackson, the fictional Booty Sweat literally is his Hollywood calling card.

The Red Bull-like energy drink is a scripted creation of writer, director, producer and star actor Ben Stiller in the new comedy. The film’s talent list, which includes both “A”-list actors and up-and-coming actors, is longer than two or three typical films today combined.

Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller, left) and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr., right) are shooting an epic war movie and wind up in a real battle in the action-comedy “Tropic Thunder”.
Photo credit: Merie Weismiller Wallace

Rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) tackles his first serious acting role in “Tropic Thunder”.
Photo credit: Merie Weismiller Wallace

Along with recognized actors Robert Downey Jr. (who plays the memorable role of an actor who surgically blackens his skin), Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black, Nick Nolte and rising actors Danny McBride, Bill Hader and Steve Coogan, director Stiller takes a chance on newcomers Brandon T. Jackson and Jay Baruchel.

“Tropic Thunder” serves as the first major roles for both Jackson and Baruchel. The film also features cameos from Jason Bateman, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Voight and Tyra Banks.

While the film is an offensively complicated picture that certainly has figured out how to whirl about a laugh around every corner, so does its complication sometimes force the story to tug about in many different directions.

“Tropic Thunder” sometimes feels like it clearly knows where it’s going and at other times is completely lost in the black hole of Stiller’s uniquely melodramatic brain.

Along with Justin Theroux and Stiller, the film also lists Etan Cohen as a co-writer of the film’s screenplay. This Cohen is not to be confused with Oscar-winning phenomenon Ethan Coen (the brother of Joel Coen) of “No Country for Old Men,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Fargo” fame.

Left to right: Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) are actors shooting a war movie who get caught up in a real battle in the action-comedy “Tropic Thunder”.
Photo credit: Merie Weismiller Wallace

Rating: 4.0/5.0

While the drink Booty Sweat is a smash hit in the film and merely serves as one of its comedic asides, in real life the liquid isn’t nearly as renowned. It’s currently selling at novelty stores such as Spencer’s Gifts (as well as Amazon.com) and is one of many ways the movie is drumming up buzz.

Still, it’s trying to explode virally for the film at BootySweat.com and Alpa-Chino.com. Clearly borrowed from actor Al Pacino, Alpa Chino is Jackson’s character name in the film. In addition to Chris Tucker, Jackson names Jim Carrey as another comic inspiration.

HollywoodChicago.com recently interviewed the 24-year-old Jackson about his breakout role, today’s struggle to best the masses competing for Hollywood work and why he’s trying to build his own “star brand” that’s nothing like Kanye West.

“I know how to be funny to black audiences,” Jackson told HollywoodChicago.com, “but the challenge in ‘Tropic Thunder’ was having universal appeal.” He added: “It’s very difficult getting work in Hollywood right now especially for a young black comic. I’m trying to build a brand. I’m not just doing one-off projects. I’m always doing comedy and will never hit up a 9-to-5 desk job.”

Cody (Danny McBride) is a trigger-happy explosions expert on an epic war film that goes awry in the action-comedy “Tropic Thunder”.
Photo credit: Merie Weismiller Wallace

The Detroit born and bred Jackson makes the clear differentiation between how he’s crafting his nascent “star brand” as a “young black comic” in stark contrast to “all that hip-hop stuff” in which people like Kanye West are rolling in fat rolls of dough.

Jackson also says he’s continuing to use the concept of a “class clown” in his branding that he just hasn’t been able to shake since high school.

In 2005, Jackson was also seen in the lesser-known, coming-of-age comedy “Roll Bounce” about rollerskating, which was filmed in Chicago and also starred Mike Epps, Bow Wow and Meagan Good.

The young comic describes his first role of prime Hollywood prominence in “Tropic Thunder” as his “most proud and challenging role” thus far. As for working for director Stiller (who also directed 2001’s “Zoolander,” “Reality Bites” and a few others), Jackson said: “Ben knows what he wants. You’d better be funny or go home.”

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Tropic Thunder” image gallery.

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More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

We spoke with Jackson at a time in his career where he describes being in “mystery mode”. He’s attempting to delicately navigate a balance between “taking any work I can just to get paid” and “being selective” with the roles like in “Tropic Thunder” that’d get him the biggest bang for Hollywood’s buck.

While 2008 still has many more performances left to see, in Jackson’s view the two he’d pick for an Oscar would be Robert Downey Jr.’s role in “Tropic Thunder” (yes, he’s biased) and Heath Ledger’s role as the Joker in the epic film “The Dark Knight”.

While Jackson was mostly business in our Chicago interview, he also enjoyed lounging about in the hotel room’s plush couches. He left us with the following line in describing his favorite aspect of being in film as compared to stand-up comedy: “The best thing about doing film is the food. It’s just magical.”

“Tropic Thunder,” which is directed by Ben Stiller, stars Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Steve Coogan, Brandon T. Jackson and Jay Baruchel with cameos from Jason Bateman, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Voight and Tyra Banks. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 13, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Directors Mark Osborne, John Stevenson Create Balance Between Action, Zen in ‘Kung Fu Panda’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:01:00 -0600

CHICAGO – In this summer movie season of old men with whips, gals in stilettos and superheroes a go-go, you may ask: “Where’s the cartoon?” (“Speed Racer” doesn’t count.) Indeed, the most highly anticipated animation event of the summer is “Kung Fu Panda”.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Filled with the voices of “A”-list Hollywood stars and featuring a classic combination of well-choreographed action, laugh-out-loud comedy and feel-good philosophy, “Panda” doesn’t pander and works on all levels.

HollywoodChicago.com recently interviewed “Kung Fu Panda” co-directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson about putting together a major animated project for the first time and how their lead actor, Jack Black, helped shaped the destiny of the final product.

After having spent 20 years in the inescapable Chorh-Gom Prison, Tai Lung (Ian McShane) makes his daring escape in DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda”.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

“There was a general desire to return to that classic, timeless sense of story that Mark and I remembered as we were growing up,” Stevenson said. “We just wanted to make a story and a world that would endure and would be its own, self-contained universe.”

Unexpectedly chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy and train in the art of kung fu, giant panda Po (Jack Black, above) begins his study under Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman, below) in DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda”.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

“As for the films that inspired us most with animated action, there is no higher bar than ‘The Incredibles,’” Osborne said. “That was a film we looked at not necessarily as a template but for the level of quality and sophistication of the action.”

Jack Black is cast perfectly as the voice of Po: a lumpy panda bear working at his father’s noodle shop in China’s Valley of Peace. Po is an advocate of the fighting cult of kung fu and has kept up with the heroics of the “Furious Five” – Monkey, Mantis, Crane, Viper and Tigress – animals based on the fighting style.

They have been trained to protect the valley by Master Shifu (the voice of Dustin Hoffman) against the rages of evil, avenge-seeking tiger Tai Lung (Ian McShane). One of the five is about to be crowned the top warrior, which is also known as the “Dragon Master”.

Osborne praises the lead voice actor: “We rewrote and rebuilt the original story around Jack Black. That was one of the great things that happened in the genesis of the project. It is perfect casting.”

He added: “There was a lot of inspiration from Jack as a person, Jack’s movie characters and what we knew of Jack especially in association with Tenacious D. We took a lot of inspiration from all that in creating this ultimate fanboy character.”

Seth Rogen voices the fast and quick-tempered Mantis (one of the legendary Furious Five) in DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda”.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

“Jack gave a huge gift really early on about bending the concept to make it work,” Stevenson said. “There were interesting choices to be made and it all came from Jack.”

He added: “When he started doing his first sessions as Po, we all imagined that it might be Tenacious D Jack or something more cocky and abrasive. But Jack himself started to do these more vulnerable and ‘self aware of your failings’ kind of readings.”

Through a series of misadventures, Po becomes the Dragon Master and must endure the rejection and jealously of the Furious Five along with Shifu’s reluctant training. When Tai Lung escapes from prison, it’s up to Po to put into practice the teachings of his master and trust what he has learned to defeat the foe.

The story evolved through several renderings before Osborne and Stevenson found the right tenor.

Stevenson explained: “While we knew Po would eventually have to go one on one with Tai Lung, we didn’t want him to cheat, use magic, turn into Bruce Lee all of a sudden or have him do things you hadn’t seen him do before.”

He continued: “In the Tao Te Ching, there was this stanza in there: ‘The sapling that bends in the breeze is greater than the mighty oak that is rigid.’ It ends with this couplet: ‘The hard and strong will fall. The soft and weak will overcome.’ When we read that, we said ‘hurrah’! We found our overall philosophy.”

“Also, the philosophical underpinning of the story is that Master Shifu and Po are a balance of opposites,” Osborne expressed. “Villain Tai Lung and Po are a balance of opposites. We thought to build everything on that and we started to discover things.”

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our huge, high-resolution “Kung Fu Panda” image gallery.

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Read more film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

The fluid nature and the excitement of the action sequences – epic without being cartoony – are the centerpiece of the film’s legitimacy.

“One of the big conceits of the film was to use the five original animal fighting styles,” Stevenson said. “The Furious Five in the film actually personify them. It was kung fu in such a way that honored its source, but it also did it in a way you’ve never seen before because it was animals doing it instead of human beings.”

Bring the kids and line up for the popcorn as the result is a fundamental balance and a perfect summer animated classic. Osborne concluded: “It had to be authentic and still feel like kung fu, but at the same time, we knew we had to find our own path and our own way of doing things.”

In all, “Kung Fu Panda” features the voice talent of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Dan Fogler and Michael Clarke Duncan.

“Kung Fu Panda” opened everywhere on June 6, 2008.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Gondry’s Cinematic Breakthrough ‘Be Kind Rewind’ Proves Again He’s an Artistic Goliath

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:26:44 -0700

CHICAGO – Michel Gondry’s latest cinematic breakthrough “Be Kind Rewind” grants passage into his magical imagination and proves yet again he’s one of today’s artistic giants.

Whimsicality, childlike humor and unforgettable imagery line the palette of this film, which is a heartfelt yet hilarious tale of two friends saving a VHS rental shop (itself named Be Kind Rewind) from technology by instigating a passion for film in their neighborhood.

Set in tired Passaic, N.J., the shop is located in a building that’s rumored to be the birthplace of jazz icon Fats Waller. It’s owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), who is faced with the inevitable gentrification of condominiums and DVD rental stores.

Click here to read Allison Pitaccio’s full review
of “Be Kind Rewind” in our reviews section!

Click here for our full “Be Kind Rewind” image gallery!

Jack Black in “Be Kind Rewind”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Jack Black Drops Biblical ‘Year One’ Bomb in ‘Be Kind Rewind’ Interview

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:12:05 -0700

CHICAGO – Though actors aren’t supposed to chat it up about their other films when they’re being interviewed specifically for one, every now and then they do and the focus of the interview changes entirely. When Collider.com on Saturday published an interview with Jack Black about his Feb. 22 film “Be Kind Rewind,” details willingly slipped about his upcoming film “Year One”.

Mos Def (left) and Jack Black in “Be Kind Rewind”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Though the particulars of that project have been kept quietly sacred and despite the ongoing writer’s strike, we learn the following about “Year One”:

“Year One” is a biblical comedy. It’s about the Old Testament. I’m just a dude wandering through biblical times. I’m not a famous character … you would have heard of before. Me and Michael Cera are just sort of wandering through and you get to see all these old stories from the Torah told through agnostic – sort of – eyes.

The talent in the film feels partially “Superbad” as it features both Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse along with Jack Black and Oliver Platt. The film is directed and written by Chicago native Harold Ramis (“Ghostbusters,” “Caddyshack”) and produced by Judd Apatow (also a producer for “Superbad” and Knocked Up). /Film wrote about the interview:

It appears we might have a new controversial comedy that takes aim at religion (i.e. Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”), which may explain why details have been kept hush-hush.

Black also confirmed that the script was finished before the [WGA strike started] and the project is plowing ahead without the constant rewrites that he is accustomed to. “Year One” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 19, 2009.

A video segment from the Collider.com interview can be seen here. MTV published a very brief video clip from an “Year One” interview with Black back on Dec. 10, 2007. I’ve embedded it below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Be Kind Rewind’ Trailer For ‘Rush Hour’ Parody Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 14:50:28 -0700

Starring Jack Black and Mos Def, the trailer for the “Rush Hour” parody has surfaced from within the Michel Gondry film “Be Kind Rewind,” which is slated to open on Jan. 25, 2008.

Gondry also directed and wrote “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. Other parodies following this theme can be found here.