Neighbors

Expectations:
While I do love Seth Rogen and the premise behind Neighbors, I just couldn't get excited about this film. The trailer is funny. The cast is great. Still... no excitement. Either way, when it comes to R-rated comedies, I'm a sucker of the grandest kind. If you haven't figured that out by now, then you probably haven't read many of my reviews. Honestly, I didn't expect much out of this one, in a positive or negative way. I just always knew I would watch it. After such a long review of Spider-Man, this review may fly by (for you, the reader)...

Plot:
The most surprisingly awesome thing about Neighbors wasn't the humor but, instead, the clever nature of the plot, particularly the way that both groups of neighbors poked fun and got back at the other. The plot of this film was really well thought out, and, while there were ridiculous extremities, the heart of the film was built on the redeeming and destructive qualities of fraternities. Now, I'm not in a fraternity, so I can't speak to each and every aspect. Also, I do know that each fraternity is different. However, when you put a large number of guys in that sort of situation, there is no doubt that hilarity is destined to ensue. Kudos to the filmmakers for not stretching the storyline or going too far over the top. I really enjoyed the story, although Zac Efron's Teddy was a bit bipolar. If that character had been better, the film would have been perfect.

Characters:
The success of this film was heavily built on the relationship and personality of young couple Mac and Kelly Radner, played wonderfully by Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne. Because of the situation, I expected the couple to be a bit uptight, judging, and fairytale-esque. However, in the first ten minutes we see Seth Rogen's good-guy character smoking a joint at work, implying that he isn't as goodie-goodie as the trailer made him out to be. Soon after, it was evident that the couple was going through some kind of early-life crisis, which brought an entirely different element to the film. We were able to see the couple re-live their younger days, in an attempt to befriend/influence their younger neighbors, and it was just a whole lot of fun.

Negatives:
As I previously said, Zac Efron's Teddy was just a very confused character, and it really took away from the ultimate success of the film. In the beginning, Teddy had it all together and was the epitome of success, with a bright future ahead of him. I mean, most fraternity presidents aren't idiots! But, as the story went on, he became whatever the film needed him to be, whether that was smart, dumb, successful, or incompetent. Aside from that issue (it was a large, glaring one), the cast was great!

Positives:
On top of the perfectly created "family next door," there were many great and hilarious performances in Neighbors. My favorite frat guy, by far, was Dave Franco's Pete, who was an absolutely perfect example of a true frat guy (opinion). Normally, I don't care for Franco, whose range is quite small, but he was great in this film. My final note of praise goes to Ike Barinholtz's Jimmy, who "snuck" his was into quite a few memorable moments. Looking back, the scenes in which Barinholtz was the focal point really were the most memorable of the entire film, and his character could have been an absolute disaster, considering he was fairly pointless.

Conclusion:
Considering the current state of the R-rated comedy, I welcome Neighbors with open arms! There have been so, so many stupid comedies, over the past two years, which makes me a lot easier to please, at this point. Neighbors wasn't as good as This Is the End or 21 Jump Street, but it was much better than I expected, which is always quite a nice feeling. With many more exciting comedies still to come in 2014, I can only hope that everything else is as good as or better than Neighbors. If you want a good laugh, Neighbors is good bet. I give Neighbors 3.57 our of 5 stars.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Expectations:
While I didn't think that the trailer for The Lorax was particularly funny, I usually enjoy a good animated film, as long as it has some depth to it; and nobody does depth like Dr. Seuss. Plus, it made $70 million in its first weekend, so I figured it had to be pretty good. To be honest, I don't remember reading the Lorax as a child, so I was a bit confused when I saw the preview. I didn't know that there was a Dr. Seuss book that I was not familiar with. Because of my lack of familiarity, I really didn't have a clue what to expect story-wise as I went to the theater. It really made the story more interesting, since I didn't know what to expect. But did it make it interesting enough???...

Plot:
I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the story. Certainly Dr. Seuss has some of the deepest lines of all time, but his books are short and can be diluted if stretched out over too long of a movie. While there were a few moments that I felt were boring, overall The Lorax had a nice balance of story-telling, comedy, and lesson-teaching. The story was great because the bazillions of little kids in the theater were very much so focused on the film. The comedy was good because the bazillions of kids laughed a lot, and I also laughed a lot. The lesson-teaching was good because we are dealing with Dr. Seuss, who gives Jesus' parables a run for their money. Because I haven't read the book, I don't know how much they were poking at the environmental aspects of the story, but, if you are one of those environmentalist freaks, this is the movie for you (and your children).

Best Scene: Any scene with the randomly quacking duck

Characters:
As I have said before, this category is tough to talk about when you are dealing with animation. I did find it odd that the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) was the title character. He was far from the biggest scene-stealer. That title would go to either the Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms) or Ted (voiced by Zac Efron). The Lorax was important in the lesson-teaching but not so much in the comedy or the story-telling. At times, I felt like there was too much going on character-wise, in particular with the two "bad guys." It was tough to figure out who to hate the most between the Once-ler and Mr. O'Hare (voiced by Rob Riggle), but we eventually figure it out.

Best Character: The randomly quacking duck!

Worst Character: I believe I have to go with Mr. O'Hare for the worst character. Usually, I don't mind bad guys, but he just got on my nerves. And he was funny looking.

Conclusion:
I really liked The Lorax, and I really liked that the kids liked it. One little girl even clapped and screamed, "Yay!", as the credits began to role. The lesson was fantastic, and we need more people to challenge our kids to do something great with their lives. I suggest The Lorax for absolutely anybody of any age. It deserves to make $70 million dollars in one weekend. Dr. Seuss told stories unlike anybody else, and I can't wait to share his work with my future children. And The Lorax will certainly be one that I include. But first, I need to read it! I give The Lorax 3.21 out of 5 stars and encourage you to add to its massive, money-making total...

Movie News for the Week of July 26, 2011

1. Dwight Yoakum has signed on to the cast of The Lone Ranger, and most think he will play the villain in the film. I personally hate Dwight Yoakum, but I remain excited about the movie.

2. Cartoon Network is developing a live action Captain Planet movie. The producers believe that the environmental superhero is more important now than ever.

3. A new Paradise Lost movie is in the works, and Bradley Cooper will play Lucifer. The film will utilize motion captured technology and will require 72 weeks of post-production and visual effects works, which means we can expect the film to be visually stunning.

4. Warner Bros. has set the release date for Man of Steel. The new Superman reboot will premiere June 14, 2013. The date is six months later than the expected date of release, but the star-studded cast is sure to deliver.

5. Universal Studios just paid seven figures for the rights to a new R-rated comedy. This is a very high price to pay for a comedic movie, but the untitled comedy may be worth it. Seth Rogen is set to star as a regular old college guy who lives near a crazy fraternity house, in which resides ...... Zac Efron. Many think the two roles should be switched to make Rogen the more "wild" character. We will just have to wait and see how this plays out.

A lot of Spiderman news came out of Comic Con this week. Here is the first trailer for the film, and a heartfelt speech from the loveable Andrew Garfield. Check it out!