Funny People

yeah, i noticed it's something like 2:25. apatow clearly has editing issues. that's awfully long for today's attention span.

 

I don't know why this movie intrigues me so much. Maybe because it reminds me of seeing the trailer for Clean and Sober with Michael Keaton and I thought it was a gag trailer, never realizing it would end up being a damn good movie. I enjoy people taking risks.
I don't know if this one is going to pay off though. Nikki Finke is reporting an $8 million Friday with an estimate of a $22 million weekend. Universal said they expected $27 million.

 

anyone see it today? ??? ??? ???

 

I think he started out adorable in Knocked Up, but the charm wore off really really quick and I didn't like him at all in Superbad, aka, the most painful movie I've ever been forced to watch twice.

 

I saw it yesterday afternoon. Not sure what to think about it yet. It's definitely got some laugh-out-loud moments, but I'd never call it a comedy. There are a few poignant moments, just like in "Forty-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," but I wouldn't call it a serious film, either.

Apatow said on "The Daily Show" the other night that he wanted to examine how comedians would deal with death, and that seems to be the thrust of the movie. If you take it as part of a trilogy about sex (Forty-Year-Old Virgin), marriage (Knocked Up) and death (Funny People), it kind of makes sense.

But, as others have said, it's about 30 minutes too long (at least).

 

Oh, I HATED Superbad.

But I find him simply adorable.

 

Fixed.

 

The early estimates are $23.4 million, which isn't bad considering the subject matter, but they're going to make it sound like it's a bomb because of the people attached (Apatow, Sandler and Rogen).

This is a tough movie to sell because it's not really going to appeal to Sandler's core audience or Apatow's.

 

What blows my mind is it cost $75 million to make and there are no explosions, minimal computer stuff and no car chases. You take out the rise in ticket prices from previous Apatow films and this movie did not do well at all.

 

I watched it this afternoon. It didn't quite work for me and it took me about an hour to figure out why. MILD SPOILER: the scene where George shows the asshole side that completely changes the plot (it's when he watches the video with Laura and Ira) never felt right to me. I don't think George, who is completely infatuated with Laura, would react that way.

 

I'm really looking forward to this movie. It's just difficult to get away to see it, what with an 11-month-old at home at all. Organizing a simple movie trip is a bit like organizing a space shuttle launch.

I'll get to it eventually, I hope.

 

My guess is each actor required a certain salary. That's the risk you run in hiring a bunch of big-name actors, or especially actors that are hot right now (Rogen, Hill, etc.) Sandler's salary is probably in the range of $20 million. I'd be willing to bet that 90 percent of the film's budget was paying the actors.