Category Archives: Charlie Day

Movie Review: Pacific Rim

A movie is not just what it’s about, but how it’s about. “Pacific Rim” isn’t good because it’s about monsters fighting robots, it’s good because of the way it shows monsters fighting robots. Yes, robots fight monsters. Yes, cities are destroyed. Yes, you may jump for joy.

“Pacific Rim,” is the latest feature from genre mastermind Guillermo del Toro, who made The Pale Man of “Pan’s Labyrinth  the subject of everyone’s nightmares. It is the equivalent of a young boy playing with his action figures: it is filled with awe-inspiring imagination, but its story is just a little bit on the faulty side.

In terms of action movies, “Pacific Rim” is more “Aliens” than “Alien”: it’s about spectacle, not subtlety. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as this is the essence of every most major summer blockbusters since the 1980s. “Pacific Rim” has no limits, and its scope is often stunning. Del Toro clearly cares so much about perfecting this world and then tearing it to pieces.


“Pacific Rim” made me realize something very important that pertains to the modern film industry: just because something is new, it doesn’t mean its original. “Pacific Rim” is not a sequel, remake, or adaptation of any kind. It comes straight from Del Toro’s mind. Yet, what makes this story different than “Independence Day”? Is it the fact that the aliens come from down below instead of from up above? The only thing missing from the opening as Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) crouches over the body of his dead brother (Diego Klattenhoff) is a high pitched “NOOOOO!!!” Despite this, human truly rises to the occasion. He has what it takes to become a blockbuster star.

“Pacific Rim” doesn’t have a bad story. The problem with it is that it goes in so many different directions and never settles in one place. The film opens with a montage that is interesting but maybe a little too short. Monsters called Kaiju (literally the Japanese word for “monster”) have escaped through a portal in the Pacific Ocean and are destroying every major city they can find. So, you can guarantee that the Golden Gate Bridge will go down in the first five minutes.

Yet, “Pacific Rim” is not only about the destruction, but the resistance. In order to fight back, humans build robots called Jaegers (Japanese for “fighter”). The Jaegers are controlled by two pilots who operate it through their minds, in what looks like a much cooler version of a virtual reality game. The mind control and mind-linking stuff can be a little confusing sometimes, but Del Toro and co-writer Travis Beacham constantly invent new rules to prevent them from following into plot holes. Also, there’s always a bunch of guys yelling things at computer screens. So there’s that.

“Pacific Rim” can be labeled as a neurological blockbuster, with every character always trying to link mind and metal. This is by far the most intriguing part about “Pacific Rim.” In one scene, Raleigh finds himself inside a memory of his partner Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi). In this memory, she is a child who hides from a Kaiju that destroys her city. The scene is illuminated by terror and dust that falls like snow. It is beautiful and graceful and mesmerizing. It is staged in a way that every action movie and thriller should be staged from now on. Unfortunately, it is the only scene of this kind in the entire film.    

The complexity is dropped pretty early on. Because of this, the story never becomes convoluted  However, the story instead relies on a lot of simplistic action tropes. This hurts some of the characters, who are actually stronger than the average blockbuster stick figure. Yet, Idris Elba’s Pentecost is stuck in “angry lieutenant” mode, serving to tell his subordinates that they’re off the job every time they don’t play by the rules. The only one who never slips into cliche is Kikuchi as Mori, who’s given the most interesting and disturbing backstory. I must give a big round of applause to Charlie Day, who provides comic relief as mad scientist type Dr. Newton Geiszler (it’ll take you a bit of time for you to get over that isn’t the same Charlie from “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”), as well as Ron Perlman, who basically steals the show as Hannibal Chau, who’s profession is just as strange as his name.

As many others have said, Del Toro is basically a big kid. His excitement for the kaiju genre is tangible and completely sincere. Del Toro is also a master storyteller, so maybe I am being a bit harsh on him. However, that is only because I know he is capable of much better. Ambition is a much needed thing for the movie industry, but it shouldn’t substitute brains.

All in all, “Pacific Rim” may be the most watchable blockbuster of this season. Nobody can doubt the aesthetic, especially the score, which is an instant classic. I feel better about the film overall when I think about it for what it was, as opposed to what it could have been. After all, wishful thinking can only get you so far, especially when there’s giant robots and monsters fighting right in front of your eyes.

Movie Review: Horrible Bosses

Twelve years ago, Mike Judge mastered the cubicle comedy with “Office Space.” His workers just wanted freedom. In this summer’s “Horrible Bosses,” all the workers want to do is have their bosses killed. It’s funny how things change like that.

“Horrible Bosses” follows the lives of three men who are troubled at work: Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudekis), and Dale (Charlie Day). Nick goes by the life theory that good things only come when you work too hard and take orders excessively. His psychotic, manipulative boss Dave Harkin (Kevin Spacey), takes advantage of him and eventually takes over the job that would have been Nick’s.
Of the three of them, Kurt is happiest at his job as an accountant at a small chemical company until his boss’s son Bobby Pellitt (Collin Farrell) takes over the company. Bobby is a Scarface wannabe who has no regard for the company he works for. At one point, he tells Kurt to “trim the fat” from the company (by that, he means, fire all the fat people).
Then there is Dale, who’s only purpose in the world is to be the perfect husband. Though he does need some money to support himself, so naturally he becomes a dental hygienist. Unfortunately, his incredibly inappropriate boss, Julia (Jennifer Aniston), is sexually harassing him and prepares a blackmail plan to get him to have sex with her.
The three men constantly reconvene at Applebee’s and discuss their problems until one day they realize that they must kill their bosses in order to achieve happiness. So, they hire a criminal (Jamie Foxx) to help them out. As accordance to the law of comedy, things don’t work out quite as planned.
“Horrible Bosses” is a great summer blockbuster comedy and it succeeds where many other in this field have failed in both being funny and being entertaining. Films like this usually have to deal with following a stringent plot structure and arrive at a certain plot point (think of “The Hangover” movies). While “Horrible Bosses” must not veer from its murder attempt plot line, it also doesn’t hesitate to let everyone involved enjoy themselves a little. What can be picked up from the hilarious outtakes seen in the credits is that improvisation is not out of the “Horrible Bosses” formula.
I’ve always believed that comedy consists of a good mix of good acting, and even better writing. Writing makes a good comedy smart and plausible, and good acting makes the characters and every bit of dialogue spring to life. Yes, “Horrible Bosses” can be described as a dirty comedy in every sense of the word. However, the dirtiness seems more of showing a way people behave and think rather than a way to simply be shocking. A lot of the dirty humor is simply conversational, such as the scene in which the guys argue about who would be most likely to get raped in prison.
It is safe to say that “Horrible Bosses” has one of the best comedic ensembles assembled in many years. All three of the main stars have each developed a certain character and personality through their roles. Bateman plays the vulnerable workaholic straight man that he created in “Arrested Development.” Luckily, that persona never died once that show was cancelled. Day is basically playing the same version of his character in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”: a loveably inept idiot who shouldn’t be around, seeing as he screws everything up, but having him there makes the story all the better. Then there is Sudeikis, who can now be named a movie star. Here, he continues the horny everyman character he created in this past February’s underrated “Hall Pass.”
The villains are all perfectly cast as well, with Farrell giving the best (or maybe, the most believable) performance out of all of them. Spacey goes a little too over-the-top for comfort at times, but it definitely seems like he was enjoying himself. Aniston, usually the good girl, is surprisingly the dirtiest character in the whole film. Now, that is good shock humor: making an actor go totally outside their comfort zone, and then making them really good at it.
“Horrible Bosses” consistently works. It’s not perfect (I’m still not used to computers as being a main plot point a movie), but it does everything it can for laughs without debasing itself. Like any good comedy, it has a great sense of recall. As opposed to dropping side characters it introduces early on, it brings them back and ties them into the story in very neat ways. Also, it is not as predictable as, say, “The Hangover: Part II.” I think I can now forgive director Seth Gordon for having previously made “Four Christmases.”
The one thing I keep going back to in “Horrible Bosses,” is the strength of its characters. In good comedy, it is forgivable to have an implausible plot as long as the characters feel real. After all, humor usually comes from sticking ordinary people into a heightened reality. Because there’s nothing funnier than watching three white guys from the suburbs walk into a bar in downtown Los Angeles.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 5 Premiere: Foreclosures, Octomom, and Hummingbirds

I guess it makes sense that “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” would begin a new season with a pointless conversation about whether or not it’s illegal to own a hummingbird. After all, it’s not like they have anything valuable they could be giving back to society.

And so begins the fifth season of FX’s strangely genius, totally twisted comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” The show started years ago, being helmed by an unexperienced writer (Rob McElhenney) with a budget under $200. Some thought it would never survive. They were wrong.
Maybe what’s so great about “Sunny” is that it totally abandons the idea of having any sort of continuous story-lines or continuity. Season four ended with Charlie (Charlie Day) creating a fantasy musical that accidently ended up being about being about child molestation in a failed attempt to impress the Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). Season five finds the gang living in a totally different from the one we last saw them in last November. This time, they’re dealing with a tough economy. And what better way for the gang to celebrate financial meltdown than to totally exploit it?
The season premiere is entitled “The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis.” In it, the boys come up with an ill-conceived get rich quick scheme that involves them buying foreclosed homes and selling them at higher prices. As usual, their parallel universe collapses, and reality sets in. Meanwhile, Dee (Kaitlin Olson) decides to become a surrogate mom for a wealthy couple. The couple seems right out of “Juno,” and her plan emulates Octomom. Sounds perfect, right? Well, don’t underestimate the power of alcohol, or the stupidity of Mac (McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Charlie, and Frank (Danny DeVito).
While some shows tend to decline in later seasons, “Sunny” seems to be getting better and better. As the show has rolled on, each actor seems to be getting a better grip of their character, and finding a way to bring even the tiniest bit of sympathy to five of the most horrible TV characters ever created.
Maybe what helped make this episode so satisfying was that it did what a good “Sunny” episode should do: it placed the gang amongst intelligent human beings and higher standards of living yet still had them act as selfish and obnoxious as they usually would. However, this is also where some sympathy might build for the characters: in this idea that they’re simply misunderstood outsiders. They’re not trying to be bad, they just want to get ahead in life. But of course, their view of success is a little…warped.
The only problem with this episode falls in its very abrupt ending. Although it managed to tie both stories together well, in the end, parts of the episode felt slightly rushed. McElhenney took an hour long story and tried to cram it into thirty minutes. We’ll probably never hear about Dee’s attempt at parenthood, or Charlie’s attempt at a duel ever again, but then again, this gang does still have a bar to manage.