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Reviews
The Ten (2007)
Not for Everyone
This movie is very much written and performed with a sense of humor very much along the lines of The State. If you "get" The State type humor, you'll think this movie is funny. Otherwise, you'll hate it. If you thought Stella was trash, you'll think this movie is trash. If you loved Stella to death, you'll love this movie to death. Thats the thing about comedies. Either you think it's funny and you'll rate it 10 stars, or you didn't find it funny and you rate it a 1. Just look at the ratings for this movie. There are just as many 1 votes as there are 10s.
Anyways, about 5 years ago I would have probably rated this movie a 1. That was before I really "got" the Stella type humor. Now whenever I watch a State alumnus project, I just think it's the best thing in the world.
The thing this film is that the jokes are not forced down your throat. You just have to let the jokes come to you. The aren't presented to the viewer on a platter, like a lot of Hollywood films today. One of my favorite moments was when the girl is driving a car and crying. She is in the middle of an intersection and takes her hands off the wheel, and the car continues to turn. Its the kind of thing that you'll miss if you're not paying attention. So it you did happen to miss it, you have something to look forward to when watching the next time. Thats whats go great about these The State alumnus projects. They usually have very good replay value.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die (2007)
boring hosts destroy what this show could have been
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels the same way about this show. It had lots of potential, but is ultimately ruined by the vapid hosts. There's nothing wrong with having a "normal everyday" couple to host a travel show like this, but if you're going to do that, its best to not have the couple upfront and center the whole time.
Every place they go to is "the best place I've ever been", each and every hotel they go to is "the best hotel I've ever stayed at", etc. At the end of each episode, the guy and the girl get to say a few words about the place they just visited, and its always the exact same boring crap they said about the last place, but with a different place name. Couldn't the producers have just written something for them to say? As much as I'd like to say this show is great with the exception of thew boring hosts, I can't. The hosts infest this show. They absolutely ruin it.
Mega64 (2004)
painfully boring with hints of funny scattered throughout
I read a lot of great things about this series, so I checked it out. Honestly, there is a lot of potential here, but it just falls flat on it's face.
One big weakness was the acting. The worst of them was the main one (Rocco). He was on screen probably 75% of the time, and he was hands down the most un-funny person on the whole cast. I actually van't think of an more un-funny person in the history of film. I'm not just saying that to be mean or as hyperbole, but seriously... Even Rob Schnider manages to be funny now and again in his movies. He reminded me of those nerdy high school drama students who thinks of themselves too highly. His facial expressions and voice inflection was way too overexaggerated which was distracting. I just wanted to punch him every time he said something. He only had one moment that I thought was funny, and that was the Metal Gear mission briefing. That was the only time it didn't seem like he was reading a cue card.
The other main character (the one who played Horatio and the other beta-tester) was only slightly funnier. He suffered from the same over-acting as Rocco did. I felt like they were trying to go for a unscripted/spontaneous type feel for the film, but most of the sketches and gags were OBVIOUSLY scripted to the point where they were clearly reading lines.
For instance that part in the beginning where one of them was just standing there eating pudding in front of the camera for 2 minutes. You could clearly tell he was acting, it didn't seem at all like it was natural or unscripted. The unscripted schpeel works for most small budget stuff like Jackass when it's actually unscripted, not fake like this.
I did like the skinny white guy though. I thought he was the only character who portrayed any personality. His gags seems genuinely funny throughout. The absolute best part was the puppet. That damn puppet had me in stitches just about every scene he was in. If they do a sequel, they need to feature more of this guy and the puppet.
The sketches were in my opinion the weakest part of the whole thing. Why the hell would I want to watch a bunch of high-schoolers throw dodgeballs at each other? Or a fat teenager run around asking people "Do you know who killed my father?" over and over again? Most of the sketches came off as poorly done Tom Green ripoffs. At least Tom Green played off bystanders' reactions to make it actually funny. Acting like a dumb ass in public does not automatically make it funny.
Also, I must say the editing, music, costume, and sets were all well done, especially for a small budget film like this one. The three guys who wrote this should be proud of themselves. Its just too bad the actors had to ruin it.