Comedy movies

Whaddya know? I just realised that the last time I updated this blog before today was almost a year ago. George RR Martin himself would be pissed off at me if he knew about my writing proclivity. So let's make it 3 for 3, and make this an annual event perhaps?

I love comedy movies, even the fart ones. But I want to write about this one particular period of time, when three comedies caught my attention. Apart from the time they were released (which is why I group them together), they also share a few characteristics. Also worth noting, I watched these without knowing much about them. Turned up at TGV with a few friends, decided to watch a movie, and decided which particular movie to watch, and they all unexpectedly pleased movie. These are three modern Hollywood comedies that I've enjoyed immensely and watched repeatedly.

1) Zombieland (2009)

When I first learnt about the movie, I thought to myself "Another zombie movie?" I mean they were remaking zombie movies left and right five years ago so it's not like we were short of them. Comedy zombie movies too. There was Shaun of the Dead, and Malaysia's own Zombi Kampung Pisang. But my friends wanted to watch it so whatever. But boy was my presumption wrong, it had me hook, line, sinker from the get-go, with Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls as the intro. The pairing of nebbish Jesse Eisenberg and unhinged Woody Harrelson was spot on, and when tough-as-nails con-women on-screen sisters Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone were introduced, it made the dynamics even more hilarious. 

Even better, Bill Murray had a brief but very cameo. I won't spoil it for you but he was magnificent. Let's just say it involves make-up, a shotgun and a Ghostbuster showing. That day I realised I was enamoured with Emma Stone.

2) The Other Guys (2010)

When I saw the trailer, I did not think much of it. I thought the whole discussion the Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's characters have in the trailer about how unrealistic movie explosions are, after a building blows up just before they are about to enter it, is a bit contrived.  Ferrell and Wahlberg play two NYPD detectives who are at the bottom of the pecking order in their department who go after an embezzler, despite the resistance of their superior (Michael Keaton). But again, my friends wanted to watch it so I went to watch it. Again I found it hilarious, and not in the usual Will Ferrell fashion. I like comedies that skew my expectations, and that's what The Other Guys do. From the Samuel L Jackson, The Rock and  MLB's Derek Jeter cameos, to Ferrell's wife and how they meet, it is one curveball after another. Furthermore, and this is another similarity among the movies I'm writing about. It more or less grounds itself in what was happening at the time, the economic collapse at the moment.

3) Horrible Bosses (2011)

Much like The Other Guys, Horrible Bosses grounds itself in the climate of economic collapse and the ensuing shrinking of the job market . Three friends (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) have to resort to offing their, err, horrible bosses (Kevin Spacey, a brunette and often lingerie-clad Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell with a combover) who make their work lives miserable, as they are not too eager to find a new job in the current climate. In their attempt, they are helped by a self-styled 'murder consultant' played by Jamie Foxx in a cameo. What sells this movie is the chemistry between the three friends.