the farrelly brothers Tagged Articles at Cinematical

• Dody Goodman (1915-2008) - Comedienne, Actress - Played "Blanche", the principal's secretary in Grease and Grease 2 and Tom Hanks' absent-minded secretary in Splash and Splash, Too (in which Hanks was replaced by Todd Waring). She also appears in Silent Movie, Max Dugan Returns, Private Resort, Cool as Ice, Frozen Assets and Bedtime Story, and she had a recurring role in the Alvin and the Chipmunk cartoons, including the 1987 feature, The Chipmunk Adventure, providing her voice to the character of Miss Miller, adopted mother of the Chipettes. She died June 22 in Englewood, New Jersey. (AP)
  
• Sidney J. Bartholomew Jr. (c.1954-2008) - Production Designer, Writer, Director - Won an Emmy for his work on TV's Pee-Wee's Playhouse before collaborating on most of the Farrelly brothers' films, including There's Something About Mary, Dumb & Dumber, Kingpin, Shallow Hal, Me, Myself and Irene, Stuck on You, The Heartbreak Kid, Say It Isn't So (produced by the Farrellys) and Osmosis Jones, in which he appears. He also co-wrote and directed the 2003 soccer comedy Just 4 Kicks, which starred Tom Arnold. He died June 15 in Los Angeles. (Variety)
• George Carlin (1937-2008) - Comedian, Actor - Appears in Dogma, Outrageous Fortune, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Jersey Girl, The Prince of Tides, Car Wash, Scary Movie 3, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, With Six You Get Egg Roll and the documentaries The Aristrocrats, F*ck, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism and The N Word. He also voiced characters in Cars, Happily N'Ever After and Tarzan II. For info on his death, read William's full post.
• Cyd Charisse (1921-2008) - Actress, Dancer - Starred in Singin' in the Rain, Brigadoon, Party Girl, Ziegfeld Follies, The Band Wagon, It's Always Fair Weather, Two Weeks in Another Town, The Silencers and Silk Stockings. For info on her death, read my full post.

It's been quite some time since the Farrelly Bros. have given us a gem like There's Something About Mary, Kingpin or Dumb and Dumber. Big-screen comedy trends seem to be changing; moving away from the random gross-out gags and more toward the random pop-culture references. But that won't stop Bobby and Peter Farrelly from navigating toward material they're familiar with -- and Variety tells us their latest comes from a script written by Mike Arnold and Chris Poole. It's called Beaujolais. Yup. I don't know what it means; Wiki says it's a wine.

Anyway, the Farrelly boys are going to produce with an eye on possibly directing. Variety describes Beaujolais as a "redneck action-adventure with a protagonist along the lines of Austin Powers or Ace Ventura." So basically it's Larry the Cable guy with a few more catchphrases. Danny McBride is currently in talks to star; he's popped up in films like The Heartbreak Kid and Hot Rod, with upcoming roles in Land of the Lost and Tropic Thunder.

Do you think Peter and Bobby Farrelly still have a comedy classic left inside them? Or has their type of humor simply taken a long walk off a short pier? (Man, would I love to see another Outside Providence from these boys ...)

I have to say, there was a time when I would really look forward to a new Farrelly Brothers flick. But not long after There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and Outside Providence (a personal favorite, which was written by the boys, who did not direct it), they began to lose it. The downward spiral began with Me, Myself and Irene, continued with Shallow Hal and bottomed out with Stuck on You. And it's real sad that I've come to the point where I've actually skipped their last two films, Fever Pitch (directed, but not written by) and The Heartbreak Kid. But some felt The Heartbreak Kid would be their rebound film; reuniting with Ben Stiller for the first time since Mary, the brothers were sure to find their magic again. Unfortunately, they did not. The film, which was predicted to open at number one this weekend with at least $20 million, came in at number two (with only $14 million) behind The Game Plan (a film in its second week; it grabbed $16.3 million).

The film marks the first "bomb" for DreamWorks this year, and who are they blaming for the lackluster opening? Yup, the critics. But if the critics -- and their harsh reviews (including one from our own James Rocchi) -- are to blame, then how do you explain the box office success that was Norbit? That film is currently sitting at a dreadful 9% at Rotten Tomatoes, while The Heartbreak Kid is at 30%. So did moviegoers all of a sudden decide to listen to the critics? Or is DreamWorks just looking to blame someone other than themselves and the Farrelly Brothers? Personally, with the success that Judd Apatow has had in these last two years, I really feel people expect more out of their comedy. That, coupled with poor placement and crappy-looking trailers, kept people away from Stiller and Co. this past weekend. But that's just my opinion ...

... so here's where I ask you: Why didn't you go see The Heartbreak Kid this weekend?

You might be tempted to feel a little pity for the Farrelly Brothers; they defined the big-box-office smutty comedy with movies like There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin. Recently, they've sort of had their thunder (and box office) stolen by Judd Apatow's band of merrymakers and the success of Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But that mild temptation to feel pity turns into a more steely impetus to feel contempt after you witness the squalid, lumbering mess that is The Heartbreak Kid, the Farrelly's latest effort to regain their toilet-throne as the kings of the gross-out comedy. Originally released in 1972, The Heartbreak Kid saw Neil Simon adapting Bruce Jay Friedman's short story A Change of Plan, with direction by Elaine May. The idea is simple -- a man, while on his honeymoon, meets and falls for another woman. The execution in the 1972 film was elegant, astute and smart: A comedy of manners about the mores and meanings of modern marriage, springing from the minds of three clever, talented comedians who knew how to go for the jugular and still had the sense to back off and let us breathe a little.

I only mention this in order to contrast it with the 2007 update, which is inelegant, oblivious and crass: A 'comedy' of rudeness about the mindlessness and meaningless of modern moviemaking, spring from the gonads and bowels of two dim, untalented filmmakers who only know how to cross the line and lack any sense whatsoever. In this iteration of The Heartbreak Kid, our hero is a San Francisco sporting goods store owner played by Ben Stiller. He's been commitment-phobic for so long that he may in fact be commitment-proof, which is weighing heavy on his mind after the Valentine's Day wedding of a woman he was once engaged to. On his way home, though, he has a meet-cute with a surprisingly vivacious and charming woman, Malin Akerman; they fall into a whirlwind courtship, but the news that her work wants to send her to Rotterdam a few weeks into their relationship inspires Stiller to make a leap of faith and propose. The wedding follows soon after.

Odds and ends from Wednesday:

• The other day, Martha reported on a Boston Herald article that claimed Gwyneth Paltrow had nabbed a role in Seven Day Itch, the latest Farrelly brothers comedy which is inspired by Neil Simon's The Heartbreak Kid. The article also claimed those Farrelly boys were after actress Michelle Monaghan, though nothing was even close to being certain. Okay, now reverse everything. According to Variety, Monaghan has officially snagged a role in Itch, while Dreamworks denied those Paltrow rumors claiming actresses were still reading for the part. Pic tells the story of a groom (Ben Stiller) who questions his marital commitments after meeting another woman (Monaghan) while on his honeymoon.
• America Ferrera (Wow, imagine growing up with the first name 'America'? Would you then celebrate two birthdays -- one being the day you were born and the other on independence day? That would be sweet!) has signed on to star in and executive produce the indie bilingual thriller Hacia la oscuridad (Toward Darkness) for writer/director Antonio Negret. Story revolves around the last 90 minutes in the life of a kidnapped Colombian. Ferrera is best known for her roles in Real Woman Have Curves and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
• Okay, so we all know by now that, if it were up to Johnny Depp, the actor would continue making Pirates of the Caribbean sequels forever and ever ... and ever. That's wonderful, but what about everyone else involved in the hit franchise? Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently chimed in with his thoughts on possible Pirates sequels saying that if Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio continue to come up with solid stories and Disney wants to finance them (they'd be stupid not to), then you bet your ass he's down for more. Also, when asked what he was working on now, Bruckheimer noted, as we previously reported, that he's trying to put together a sequel to 2004's National Treasure with the original cast all returning minus Sean Bean. They're currently working on a script which, like the first, will revolve around some phenomenal facts in American history.