411 Fact or Fiction Movies 4.18.08: Week 122

Posted by Ben Piper on 04.18.2008

Will Forgetting Sarah Marshall become an instant comedy classic? Are people interested in checking out Jet Li and Jackie Chan's first on-screen collaboration? Will there be an actor's strike? 411's Ben Moser and Max Power weigh in on these and other arguments in week 122 of Fact or Fiction: Movies!



Hello, everyone. Time for us to get our Fact or Fiction fun on. This week we have the former Doctor in the Hallway, Ben Moser taking part. While Ben is no longer a practicing 411 staff member, he remains one in spirit, hence his inclusion. Standing opposed is yet another 411 newcomer Max Power. (If that's his real name, I'll do something stupid, unspeakable and abhorrent, which none of you will never ever hear about.) Let's see what they have to say for themselves.

1. Forgetting Sarah Marshall will be an instant comedy classic.

Max Power: Fact - I tossed around on this one…instant and classic are some pretty big words to throw around a movie, but I settled on Fact. Why? Well, I think this movie is going to be, to quote the kids these days, down right hilarious! And hilarious + comedy = instant comedy classic. Some may argue that it's just a re-hash of some other Apatow classics, but I think the story is unique enough that it will stand out on its own. It's got some of the same players (Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd), but also has Kristen Bell (mmm, hottielicious) and Jason Segal – this will be enough to make it worth the watch.

Ben Moser: Fiction - That's not to say that I think it won't be funny. It will most likely be very funny. I've seen a lot of very funny movies that didn't go on to become classics, though. One of them was Knocked Up. One of them was The 40-year-old Virgin. You know, other Apatow flicks. They were very funny, and all anyone talked about for five, maybe six minutes after they left theaters, but you just don't hear a huge amount of references to them anymore. In the meantime, the most insignificant line from a true classic like Animal House, Blazing Saddles, or Clerks brings even the most passive comedy fan to life. So, funny? Yes. Will I watch it? Yes. Classic? Probably not.

Score: 0 for 1

2. Al Pacino won't be enough to elevate 88 minutes past mediocrity.

Max Power: Fact - I dunno, based on the trailer, this movie looks pretty good to me. The story seems pretty interesting too but there's something pulling me in the direction of a suck hole that I can't escape. I mean having the dude from The O.C. in some kind of convincing, thriller role? I don't buy it…I'm expecting him to sleep with someone's wife or something in the next scene – damn you Ryan! Sorry – got caught up there. I don't buy that Ryan from The O.C, Judge Amy Gray and a mish-mash of poor supporting characters playing out this story will help make it all sync. What death row inmate do you know that gets an exclusive on MSNBC?

Ben Moser: Fact - I'm not sure I have too much to add to what Max has to say on this one. So let me tell you about Christina Ricci. She's supremely talented (also supremely hot, but that's beside the point for my purposes here) but has been in a total of zero enjoyable movies. She is, however, always really good in those bad movies she's in. Why am I mentioning this? Because I have a feeling that Pacino is going to totally Christina Ricci this movie (see how her being hot had nothing to do with the point I was making?), turning in a great performance in an otherwise unwatchable movie.

Score: 1 for 2

3. You've been greatly looking forward to Jackie Chan and Jet Li's first onscreen collaboration The Forbidden Kingdom.

Max Power: Fiction - I would be if this was as an actual fight movie. This movie looks to be too much like a Rush Hour meets Narnia type movie. I enjoy Jackie in a comedy role, but Jet – not so much. Based on the trailer, my guess is that Jet will speak maybe 3 lines in the entire movie. I would have been more stoked if this was an actual action movie like War (bad example, but the most recent I could recollect), where we'd get to see more action (between these two and by themselves) and less comedy. As an aside, the visual effects look pretty wicked.

Ben Moser: Fiction - It looks pretty, and there may be some solid fight scenes; but having Jackie Chan turn to Jet Li and say "we can kill each other when it's over" after a montage of the two of them trying to train a dorky white kid who "has no kung fu" throws up a lot of red flags. Max was kind enough to refer to this as "comedy," but I don't think it makes for comedy so much as cute. Cute and some CGI-based super powered characters are probably going to dominate this movie rather than the fact that most people would pay good money for just an hour-and-a-half of Jackie Chan and Jet Li hitting each other. That tells me that this movie is probably not worth anyone's time.

Score: 2 for 3

Switch!!!

4. You have optimism that there will not be an Actor's strike come June.

Ben Moser: Fact - I think that both sides are aware of the damage that the WGA strike earlier caused. I think both sides are aware that an Actors' strike would do more damage because it immediately brings things to a halt rather than allowing shows to at least run until the scripts run out. I think no one wants that. I think there will be far less public goodwill for actors than there was for writers. You can be asked to feel sorry for a guy in a tiny office churning out scripts because he wants a piece of the profits from what he or she has created from nothing. It's harder to feel for the person who gets a huge dressing room and reads those scripts. I think that everyone knows these things and will try work something out before things get too ugly.

Max Power: Fiction - While Ben's arguments are quite valid, I think that they'll have a harder time trying to please those Actors with their big dressing rooms, big egos and huge salaries. The Writers, when you look at it, had some valid items in their reasons for striking, and thus it was "easier" to satisfy their laundry list (in all or in part) of concerns. Actors on the other hand, seem to be off to the wrong start. AFTRA and SAG terminated their joint agreement, so now you've got two (probably pissed off) groups to deal with, rather than a united front. Big question though, why would they strike, anyways? From what I've read it looks to be because of money (give me a break), one article even mentioned they were mad because of forced commercial endorsement via product placement. Seriously? If this is just a glimpse of the rest of their demands, we're in for a world of hurt.


Score: 2 for 4

5. The prospect of a fourth Austin Powers movie leaves you feeling less than enthusiastic.

Ben Moser: Fact - Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was great. I'd go so far as to throw the afore-mentioned "classic" label at it. Then came The Spy Who Shagged Me, which had some great moments, but was mostly rehashed jokes from the first flick, some fat jokes, and a midget. Then came Goldmember, which had one or two good laughs, a lot of rehashed jokes from the first two movies, and a midget. The decline from each movie to the next has been so sharp that it can slice through a tin can and then still make gorgeous tomato slices. A fourth movie in this series may be so bad that Mike Meyers might be stuck doing Shrek movies for the rest of his life just so no one will have to see his face.

Max Power: Fact - Fact, Fact, oh a million times Fact! It's not April 1st, is it? This is a possibility? The first two were decent movies. Goldmember , for me anyways, felt like a sketch comedy show gone bad whilst someone ran their fingernails down a chalkboard at the same time. There were too many cameos, no laughs, but everyone on screen looking at you with that stupid grin like "that was punny, right?". The only thing Mike Myers should continue to make sequels of is Shrek…but I'm guessing that #4 will probably be the last one in that franchise, at least as Shrek, spinoffs will probably happen for Puss n' Boots. Whomever from Hollywood thinks this is a good idea needs to be forced to watch Goldmember on a continuous loop until they think otherwise.

Score: 3 for 5

6. You'd be interested in seeing the Marilyn Monroe sex tape.

Ben Moser: Fact - I wanted to say fiction. I wanted to take the high road. I wanted to talk about how disturbing it would be for me to be watching a sex tape starring an American icon that met a tragic end. I'd love to be able to sit behind the comfort of my laptop and preach to you all that not only am I not interested in a Marilyn Monroe sex tape, but you shouldn't be either. I'd like to tell you that it's one thing to watch sex tapes from talentless "actresses" like Pam Anderson, celebutards like Kim Kardashian(by the way: if I've never heard of you before you have a sex tape, that makes you a porn star...that is to say that Kim Kardashian is a porn star), or talentless "actress" celebutards like Paris Hilton; but paying attention to a Marilyn Monroe sex tape puts a national treasure - who almost single-handedly redefined sexy to the point that we still point her way today - and puts her in a club with those same useless names that are attached to the other celebrity sex tapes out there. I would love to say that. But I can't. Curiosity will probably win out on this one because of who Marilyn Monroe was and what she means to American culture. I won't feel good about it, but when someone says "check this out, Ben" I will turn to the screen and probably not even pretend to avert my eyes.

Max Power: Fiction - I don't really know how to answer this one. I might be shunned, shot, disowned for saying this, but she's not that good looking. Sure she helped redefine sexy and push the boundaries a little for her time, but she's not "all that and a bag of chips". I want to see this about as much as I want to see the Paris Hilton sex tape, and she ain't hot neither. What type of "tape" would this be? I'd probably need an old film projector to even watch the damn thing, and then I'd probably have to keep fixing the reel…that makes it hard to, um, enjoy the movie. Bottom line, I know who she is and what she's done for America, but this won't be making its way into my "must see" list.

Final Score: 3 for 6

Wow, no love for a fourth Austin Powers, although I see where both Ben and Max are coming from. Let the comments commence! Thanks to them both for taking part.

Useless Trivia Question of the Week
Daniel from Swoyersville, PA. was last week's winner. He correctly identified the titular characters from the first feature length animated movie as Snow White, Bashful, Happy, Dopey, Sneezy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and Doc. Congrats to him and thanks to everyone that took the time to write in.

Rules: First person to email in with the correct answer while also providing their home address within the continental U.S. shall receive a hand-written letter from me. Previous winners are ineligible.

Question: A current TV star on a very popular show was one of the first vampires staked in the opening sequence of the pilot episode of Angel. Name the TV star as well as his current show.

Yes, it's an easy one, but so was last week's yet I didn't receive a lot of responses. So we'll stick to easy for the time being.

Thanks, and see you next week.
-BP