Cinematic Throwbacks: April 2012

Not that there are really a lot of comedy franchises out there, but the American Pie series (the real ones, not all those "American Pie Presents" DTV cash-ins) might be my favorite.

Every entry is better than it should have been. 1 is one of my favorite comedies ever, but it endures cause it actually has heart and actually has characters. 2 is one of the best comedy sequels ever, a movie that somehow recaptured the magic. 3 shows some wear, but was very funny.

Which brings us to American Reunion. This one followed a nearly 10 year break in the series. More than ever this was a cash-in. And comedy sequels with a long break in between have been particularly spotty.

But I liked this one too. Reunion brings back the entire main cast from the first 2 movies (some skipped out on part 3), even some of the bit players. And it's like reuniting with old friends. 

Nobody from American Pie really went on to major stardom, but it was well cast, and everyone slips back into the old roles. I was especially glad to see Mena Suvari back, cute as ever. I would have been fine with no Tara Reid, but she wisely is limited to only a couple scenes.

This is definitely the least funny of the group. This movie's big set pieces are just okay, and some of the raunchier stuff here feels uninspired. The heart is still there though, and again these are likable characters who it is just fun to be around. 

This movie was on my radar for a long time before it was released, as anything involving Joss Whedon would be. 

It was also a long time because of how long it took.to actually get released. The studio that made it sold it off, and it was ultimately 3 years from shooting to release.

In that time, one of its stars, one Chris Hemsworth, was cast as Thor, and shot both that first movie and The Avengers. 

The plot was kept under wraps as a big secret, although I recall knowing basically the twist going in. A group of college students go to a cabin in the woods, and begin to face all varieties of spooks and monsters. But the whole scenario is being controlled from afar by a bunch of lab technicians, who are doing this as a means of making a sacrifice to a group of gods who live underground and will rise to end humanity if they do not get their blood and gore.

So yeah the gods obviously represent horror fans, who require their own blood and gore from movies.

The stuff at the cabin is kind of purposely generic. The stuff involving the tech staff (led by a very entertaining Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) though is really a lot of fun. And then when these two halves of the story come together we get a very fun third act, full of great jokes and gore and references to the horror genre. 

Obviously it's odd now seeing Hemsworth in this. He actually has one of the least memorable main roles. Jenkins, Whitford, and Fran Kranz (from Whedon's Dollhouse) are the standouts. 

Okay, I'll admit there is not that much to say about Safe. Not that it's bad. It's actually one of my favorite Jason Statham starrers. But it's also just a very simple movie without a lot of distinctiveness.

Safe has a little bit of a Leon feel, as Statham spends much of the film protecting a little girl from warring crime families. It's obviously not Leon good, but I liked the Statham character here, the girl is a unique character, and there is a lot of good fighting. 

Other non-deep dive flicks:

1992:

-Beethoven: I think this is the only one of these dog movies I saw. They made a bunch. 

-The Player: I believe this was my 1st Robert Altman movie, and probably still my favorite one, although I haven't seen it in years. 

-Deep Cover: This Laurence Fishburne/Jeff Goldblum thriller would be.totally forgotten, but the title song was the debut of Snoop Dogg. 

-The Babe: John Goodman as Babe Ruth. Surprisingly considering this was the era when I was most obsessed with baseball, I didn't see this movie then and am not sure I ever did. 

-Newsies: I know I never saw this, but this was an early Christian Bale role.

2002:

-Big Trouble: A Tim Allen-led comedy that I'm pretty sure was not that good. 

-High Crimes: Kiss The Girls co-stars Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd teamed up again for a much less satisfying thriller. 

-The Sweetest Thing: A truly atrocious Cameron Diaz comedy. 

-Murder By Numbers: Sandra Bullock tried something new with this serious thriller, with early Ryan Gosling. It was disappointing. 

-My Big Fat Greek Wedding: I never saw it, cause it looked like shit, but this became one of the weirdest box office sensations of my lifetime. 

-The Scorpion King: The Rock's very first starring role in a movie. That's about the only thing that makes it notable. 

-Life or Something Like It: One of the many terrible movies Angelina Jolie made during the early 2000s. 

-Van Wilder: The movie that pretty much started Ryan Reynolds's movie career. 

-Changing Lanes: Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck get all road ragey on each other. 

-Jason X: Jason Voorhees goes to space. I do recall enjoying this. 

2012:

-The Five Year Engagement: A pretty solid romcom with Emily Blunt and Jason Segel. 

-Think Like A Man: I don't recall much about this ensemble comedy, other than that they made a sequel. 

-Damsels In Distress: One of the first movies that clued me in to the charms of Greta Gerwig. 

-Lockout: Guy Pearce onboard a space prison. I recall this being pretty bad. 

Coming in May....

Oh my!

Okay, the headliner is Attack of the Clones turning 20. I will defend it til the end. 

But also, the very first Spiderman movie turns 20.

AND The Avengers turns 10. Wow, it's already been a decade.

But that's not all. Christopher Nolan's Insomnia turns 20. Lethal Weapon 3 turns 30. Rocky 3 turns 40!