411 Fact or Fiction Movies: Week 54

Posted by Matthew Craggs on 11.17.2006

Bryan Kristopowitz and Al Norton talk Borat lawsuits, Will Ferrell, Happy Feet, Hostel 2 and yes, even the alleged Britney/K-Fed sex tape.

Welcome to Week 54 of Movie Fact or Fiction.

This week we have Who!?!?! Bryan Krostopowitz.

His opponent is a man with two Tivos, Al Norton.

1. The morning show producer and drunk fraternity guys duped in Borat are suing the studio that made the film, but these lawsuits have no merit.

Kristopowitz: FACT. I'd probably be as annoyed and embarassed as these people are if I was "duped" into a documentary that ended up being both real and fake at the same time. But then why didn't they come out with their potential complaints before the movie came out? This is a big waste of time that's going to further ruin the producer's and the fraternity guys' reputations.

Norton: FACT. The guys and gals who made Borat are not amateurs, so I am assuming that the release they got signed before the camera's were rolling was pretty ironclad. These lawsuits are not about the money, they're about people who are mad because of how stupid they look and want some sort of reprieve from the constant barrage of crap they are receiving from everyone they know. The irony is these lawsuits just make them look like even bigger idiots.

Score: 1 for 1

2. Happy Feet will suffer at the box office because people are sick of animated animal pictures.

Kristopowitz: FICTION. While it does seem as though there's a new animated animal movie coming out every week, most of these things make good money. These movies are often advertised as "family" movies, and as long as studios don't produce "family" movies with live action actors in them, the "family" audience will still flock to the cartoons. And, quite frankly, what's wrong with that? Even if "Happy Feet" doesn't turn out to be the gentle fun movie it's advertised to be, it'll still make money. Is James Bond going to split the audience? Doubtful.

Norton: FACTION. There certainly is an overwhelming amount of animated animal movies this year - I have had problems telling them apart. That being said, Penguins are ALWAYS in style, especially after the success of last year's March Of The Penguins. The parents network is a tight one, and if the initial wave of viewers gives the thumbs up, the mass audience will follow.

Score: 1.5 for 2

3. This is a good time for Will Ferrel to take on more serious, less goofy, Stranger than Fictionish roles.

Kristopowitz: FICTION. If Will Ferrell thinks he should go off and be hip and edgy and an "artist" and he wants to do "serious" movies, he should go ahead and make that decision for himself. It should be something he and he alone should want to do. If he does go ahead and do it, he should start out small and then move up gradually. But that's his big problem, though. He's THE Will Ferrell. Any serious movie producer is going to want him to star, to put his name on the top of the poster, and when the kids show up and don't see Ferrell running around in his underwear, he's screwed. It doesn't matter if the movie is "critically accepted," if regular people don't come out to see it his "serious" career will be over.

Norton: FACT. And by "good time" I mean the holiday season. It's a no-lose situation - if he shines in a serious role, great. If he doesn't, Elf is on TV quite a bit this time of year, so everyone will be quickly reminded of how talented he is. The man is flat out funny and can make a hit comedy in his sleep, which gives him the ability to choose the scripts he actually likes and see what happens.

Score: 1.5 for 3

Switch!

4. This years crop of Christmas movies isn't very good

Norton: FICTION. It's a wee bit early to be making this call, especially since we haven't really hit it yet. Eddie Murphy getting an Oscar nomination (Dreamgirls)? Peter O'Toole finally winning a gold statue of his own (Venus)? Going through Lord Of The Rings withdrawal (Eragon)? Long awaited epics (The Fountain)? DeNiro's return to directing (The Good Shepard)? Will Smith reminding the world he is a fantastic actor (The Pursuit Of Happyness)? An old school slasher flick with some first rate babe-age (Black Christmas)? The return of an icon (Rocky Balboa)? And that's just off the top of my head! By the time we hit the end of the year you'll be taking a vacation from your vacation just to catch up with what's playing at the multiplex!

Kristopowitz: FICTION. This is one of the most diverse Christmas movies season I've seen (granted, I haven't been paying attention to the Christmas movie season as such for that long). The only thing that's missing is a big butt action movie, the kind of movie that you would normally see during the summer but for some reason is out during December. But you've got adventure movies, horror movies, "serious" movies, kids and family movies. Most of them look interesting. So I can't complain. But, then, too, it all depends on your personal threshold for whatever kind of movie you don't like.

Score: 2.5 for 4

5. The trailer for Hostel 2 has made you more excited for the film than you were previous.

Norton: FICTION. No real interest to begin with on my part, and the trailer didn't change anything. While I am sure this is a major over-simplification, I feel like there are two kinds of horror movies right now, the can-you-top-this gore that the Saw & Hostel franchises offer (with Turistas being the latest version), and the moody, slow building scares of The Grudge, The Ring, and the various other wanna be's (The Return being the most recent example). I wish there was some sort of middle ground that would make the audience feel shocked but not disgusted, tense but not bored.

Kristopowitz: FICTION. I absolutely hated the first "Hostel." Hated it. It's garbage. It was a missed opportunity. Eli Roth could have made a good, freaky horror thriller type of movie, and instead he made a hip and edgy borefest that, after having watched it now for a second time, just screams "Hey, look at me, I'm cool." No suspense, potentially interesting story that manages to shoot itself in the face within thirty seconds (that opening scene where the guy hoses down the grimy wall still annoys me to no end), and just an unsatisfactory experience all around. The trailer for the sequel is fine for what it is, it's just too bad it's for the sequel to a piece of crap. I'm an idiot and will probably go see the sequel anyway, but I'm certainly not excited about it.

Score: 3.5 for 5

6. Alright, I admit it. I want to see a Britney/Kevin sex tape so bad I would pay for it.

Norton: FACT. If lovin' her is wrong, I don't wanna be right. No bandwagon jumping for me - I can say I stuck by her during the lean, or not so lean as the case may be, years. Hey, it was less than 10 years ago that most of us ponied up $25-$50 to watch Tommy Lee and The Mrs. show the world their stunning...vocabulary, and Britney was always higher on my list than Plastic Pam, so where do I sign up? Yes I have to put up with seeing K-Fed in all his glory, but I think I would prefer that to seeing him up on stage with a microphone in his hand.

Kristopowitz: FICTION. I wouldn't watch it if it was free. Right now, at this moment, I can't think of anything nastier. Oh, I know intellectually there are nastier things out there, now and in the past, but even the chance to see Ms. Spears butt naked isn't that big of a draw.

Final Score: 3.5 for 6

Thanks, guys. Make sure to join us next week for Week 55 of Movie Fact or Fiction.