Vice Is A Sprawling Saga of Corruption That Kind of Works (Surprisingly Well, In Fact) In Spite of Its Worst Elements

Adam McKay is mad as hell and he's not gonna take it anymore. Even when he was making ridiculous (though often highly hysterical) comedies that involved Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly licking dog turds, McKay clearly had some bitterness over how normalized powerful corruption was in America. Even a disappointingly rote Anchorman sequel managed to find time for commentary on how much 24-hour cable news is fixated on sizzle but not substance while the end credits of his comedic masterwork The Other Guys are dedicated to explaining how Ponzi schemes work. Is it any wonder then that his shift over to dramatic features with The Big Short and now Vice would tap directly into that frustration? What was subtext in his comedies is now the entire point of these more serious-minded, though frequently comedic, motion pictures that serve as McKay's most recent directorial efforts.

His Girl Friday Is A Charming Screwball Comedy Up Until Its Crummy Ending

Though there are a large amount of comedy sequels out there, especially in the modern-day cinematic landscape, for much of history, when a comedy has ended up being successful, Hollywood's de riguer was to simply assemble the leading actor of that comedy and possibly also it's direct and have them pair off again for another separate adventure that was similar in tone and style to what had come before it. Thus, Howard Hawks & Cary Grant re-teamed for another screwball comedy called His Girl Friday in 1940 after their 1938 effort Bringing Up Baby, which didn't perform as well at the box office as producers wanted but it had definitely proved that Hawks & Grant were a combo that worked well together.

Step Brothers Is Another Jewel In Will Ferrel's Early 21st Century Comedy Crown

He's had a recent string of duds thanks to the likes of more middle-of-the-road comedies like The Campaign and Anchorman 2 and outright disasters like Get Hard and Daddy's Home, but Will Ferrell still remains one of my favorite comedians out there. Not even a hundred more movies even worse than Get Hard could erase the value of Elf, Anchorman and The Other Guys, three of my favorite comedies that utilize Ferrell's talents as an actor to phenomenal success. Despite my status as a Ferrell fanboy, I somehow haven't seen Step Brothers in its nearly-decade long existence. That managed to finally change this past weekend when I sat down to view the comedy.

The Big Short Review

All pieces of writing, no matter what form (i.e. as a book, as a film, as a song) they take, intend to provoke some kind of reaction. Certain pieces of media look to make those who consume it laugh, other creations intend to sweep up its participants in sensations of euphoria. The Big Short makes it abundantly clear from the get-go that it wants nothing more than to send its viewers into an all-consuming mouth-frothing rage over the injustices that led to the financial meltdown of 2008. And, yeah, by the end I had more than a hint of resentment bubbling for the various figures at Wall Street who allowed this catastrophe to occur and got away from the calamity scott free.

The Big Short Trailer Has Big Name Actors And Stock Market Advice To Spare

Paramount just added another motion picture to a crowded Christmas Day release schedule today by announcing that Adam McKay's The Big Short will be released on December 11 in limited release and on December 23 in wide release. It's no shocker for weirdos like myself who obsess over movie release dates, considering Paramount is always doing these sort of last minute announcements regarding the crucial Christmastime frame (who else remembers their public indecisiveness over whether to release The Wolf Of Wall Street or Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit over Christmas 2013 two years back?), and to commemorate the films new release date, the studio has released a trailer for the drama that you can watch below!

Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (Classic Write-Up)

Two Days, One Talladega Night

Some movies are intentionally time capsules of certain eras, period pieces obviously falling under such a distinction, but other movies unintentionally serve as a great reminder of what the film industry was like in a certain place and time. Flash back to August 2006 with me, won't you, when Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby was released into theaters to large financial success.

Peyton Reed, The Director of Bring It On, To Direct Marvel's Ant-Man

For Ant-Man, it's been a rough few weeks. Edgar Wright, the original director of the film, left the project leaving Marvel with a PR headache and the internet to quiver in rage. Despite my undying love of Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is one of the best movies ever made), I did feel like some of the fanboy communities indignant responses were starting to be hyperbolic. After all, some of the new directors tossed around included Adam McKay, David Wain and Nicholas Stoller sounded more than capable of handling a Marvel feature.

Putting an end to one of the most anticipated directing announcements ever, today, they've confirmed who will now handle Ant-Man's first cinematic journey.