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It’s like they put out Christmas movies earlier and earlier every year.

The release of “The Night Before” marks the start of 2015′s Christmas Movie Season. It is perhaps one of my favorite Christmas-themed movies in a long time. Maybe after a few more viewings, I will be able to put it alongside “Trading Places.”

In “The Night Before,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Ethan. When he was a child, his parents were both killed in a car accident one Christmas. After that, his best friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) form a makeshift family with him and vow to spend every Christmas together. However, the older they get, the more difficult this becomes. While Isaac and Chris have career and family obligations, Ethan is the only one of them who can’t seem to grow up.

Like with “White Christmas” and many other Christmas classics in popular culture, “The Night Before” was put together by a lot of Jews. In fact, “The Night Before” is populated with more Jews than any other Christmas movie I can remember. Ilana Glazer (“Broad City”) and Nathan Fielder (“Nathan for You”) appear alongside Rogen and Gordon-Levitt.

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In the past, Jews have had to hide themselves in plain sight in Hollywood, throwing away Hanukkah traditions and buying into this whole Christmas thing. That changed around the time Adam Sandler came out with his first version of the Hanukkah song (for the record: I have heard the upcoming fourth version and it is great) and “Rugrats” put out a Hanukkah special. With this in mind, “The Night Before” might feel like a step back. Don’t get me wrong, it is a holiday classic in the making, complete with a stoned guardian angel played by Michael Shannon. However, I am still waiting for my Hanukkah classic, and “Eight Crazy Nights” doesn’t quite cut it.

However, in terms of Jews getting their beloved (but not that important) December holiday on the big screen, “The Night Before” comes very close. For this, we can thank Seth Rogen and his Star of David sweatshirt.

In the movie, Rogen is something of the token Jew in a movie that is filled with Jews playing non-Jews. Rogen is not the movie’s main character, and his story arc is less about being Jewish and more about his fear of fatherhood. But hey, the man spends the entire movie wearing a Star of David so we’re going to talk about it.

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Rogen’s Isaac is first introduced at a Christmas party. He has married a non-Jew (Jillian Bell). He is asked by two very creepy identical twins what a Jew is. Yes, I have been asked many variations of this question in the past. This movie tackles the fear of being alone on Christmas. Really, “The Night Before,” directed by Jonathan Levine, is Christmas through the Jewish perspective. Ethan wants a family to celebrate the holiday with. Anyone who lights a menorah for an eight night stretch of the year knows the lonely feeling of being the only one without a Christmas tree to decorate.

Jews will do anything to make it feel like they are celebrating their own holiday on Christmas, given that Hanukkah and Christmas rarely overlap. Some people go to the movies and eat Chinese food (the latter is part of Ethan, Isaac, and Chris’s Christmas tradition). Others might go to a Jewish dating event where a mixed drink costs $18 (I have done this and that price is real). None of these exactly feel right but they are comforting in their own weird ways. They are means of connecting on the one day of the year where you roll out of bed feeling like a misfit.

To say that Jews are an underrepresented minority in film and television would be wrong, given that Hollywood actually was founded by a bunch of Jews and there are minorities that deal with real representation problems every day (watch “Master of None”). However, it still feels like the Jewish experience can be hidden in plain sight, even when Jewish people are both in front of and behind the camera.

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Luckily, we have Seth Rogen. For him, it is just impossible to hide his Jewish nature. In “Knocked Up,” when asked what product he uses in his hair, he simply responds, “it’s called Jew.” While Gordon-Levitt is a chameleon, Rogen just has to be Jewish. It’s the elephant in the room.

The Jewish nature of “The Night Before” goes well beyond a reference or joke or two. Sure, it’s not “A Serious Man.” However, it is a step towards showing that not everybody connects with the biggest holiday of the year, and that maybe we will finally get the Hanukkah movie that we deserve.

But really, “The Night Before” is less about the true meaning of Christmas and more about the importance of being around friends, family, and people you love. You don’t have to celebrate this one holiday just to fit in.

Image via New York Post

So, where do you even start a review of a movie that stopped world news and got the attention of the President of the United States? Just focus on the movie, that’s the mantra. Just focus on the movie. Let’s see how far that gets us.

The Interview, the second film directed by writing duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, has caused a huge a stir (Damn! Broke it already!). When you see what all the fuss is about, you might realize that people are really good at getting offended before getting the full story. Political satire has been around since humans were grunting at each other in caves, so making a movie poking fun at Kim Jong-Un shouldn’t feel that radical. 

But let’s get back to that later. I don’t want this review to become about everything around the movie, rather than about the movie itself, because Rogen and Goldberg are smart enough to give us a lot to talk about. In The Interview, Rogen doesn’t smoke a single joint or crack a joke about his Jewish background. It is nice to see him leave his comfort zone, but luckily, he doesn’t venture too far away from it.

In The Interview, Rogen plays Aaron Rapaport, a producer on a light-hearted entertainment news show with a “gotcha!” spin to it. Host Dave Skylark (James Franco) is great at getting entertainers to reveal big secrets. He would probably make a great journalist if he only had a brain. While Dave is content with his work, Aaron dreams of doing something that is more important. When an offer to interview Kim Jong-un comes across his desk, he gladly accepts it. As satire of entertainment journalism, it works fairly well, as it gets to the root of every journalist who ends up focusing on the wrong part of every story.

The film gets off to a bit slow start out of the gate, but at 112 minutes long, this is a marathon, not a sprint, of a comedy. Most of the scenes before the film gets to North Korea focus on a sort of bromance between Dave and Aaron. If the film simply focused on that and had not taken the characters out of New York and into Pyongyang, then that would have been enough. However, Rogen and Goldberg have certainly said their piece about male friendship through movies like Superbad and This Is the End, so it is refreshing to see that The Interview focuses more on an unbreakable professional bond. Despite his status as one of the biggest comedy stars in Hollywood, Rogen is always willing to play the straight man. Franco, who is sometimes known as the self-serious artist, has no problem playing the nutcase. Both these actors play against type so well and mesh perfectly together.

The real scene-stealer here is Randall Park as Kim Jong-un. This is the kind of role that will probably land him a ton of work in the future. He gives the feared North Korean dictator the kind of three dimensionality you might not even see in an Oscar begging genre. He plays him as somebody who is really evil but also somebody who just want to be one of the guys. If the Golden Globes weren’t a complete fraud, then they would have nominated him for Best Actor.

Given the events of the past week, The Interview has been under more pressure than ever to be this mind-blowing satire that blows the lid off this whole Communist Cult of Personality thing. Bad news: it does not. Good news: that does not make it a failure. The idea that North Korea is a sad, impoverished nation under a shoddy facade of happiness is something that was covered excellently by Vice. The idea that Kim Jong-un just wants to please his dead father was basically assumed the moment he took power in Pyongyang.

Instead of hoping for the next Dr. Strangelove, let’s embrace The Interview for being a solid action comedy. While it does not top This Is the End, The Interview proves that Rogen and Goldberg are two of the best comedy directors working today. Cinephiles beware, with its hyper-kinetic violence and history-bending twist, The Interview takes more cues from Inglourious Basterds and Sam Peckinpah than Knocked Up or Superbad. This is not to say that they have abandoned all of their principles, just that they are exploring new territory.

The Interview also shows how much this pair knows how to write and film comedy. I appreciate the first half of this film even more after seeing how much of it converges in the grand finale. Normally, the use of pop songs in a film can be an annoying crutch, as if to profit off something that is already profitable. Here, the use of one certain pop hit helps to create a genius comedic sight gag. Some idiots tried to ruin it on the internet before any of us even got to see the film, but nobody was able to do the irony justice.

Years down the road, once the hype has dissipated, we might see The Interview in a completely different light. But if you are going to sit down to watch it, whether on YouTube or at your local art house theater, I beg you not to look at it as some courageous act of patriotism. Rather, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the sight of a grown man shitting his pants.

ABOUT THE ENDING (SPOILER ALERT DUH): Part of me really wishes the film ended with the image of Aaron and Dave sitting on that boat, floating out to sea. Look, I understand that you have to wrap everything up, and people would be furious if they didn’t get to see Dave finally write his tell-all while Aaron Skypes with his North Korean girlfriend (great way to bring back what seemed like a throwaway line). But that ending just seems too neat, and seeing everything in North Korea be tied up with a nice bow feels just the slightest bit contrived. So why not just have the two of them sitting on a boat together, wondering what the hell is going to happen next?

Behind every great goy, is a Jew writing all of their best one-liners.

Jews make up about 0.2% of the world’s population yet they have always been a loud (emphasis on the loud) and prominent voice in film, television, music, and comedy. 

The next eight days are Hanukkah, which is not the most important Jewish holiday, but we do get presents. For each night of Hanukkah, I will share one Jewish character who is important and represents some important aspect of Judaism and Jewish culture. For the fifth night of Hanukkah, let’s talk about Ben Stone of Knocked Up:

So…Seth Rogen is having a rough week. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this? Before he unintentionally turned America into a South Park episode, Rogen was the most lovable stoner of the 21st century. Hell, as soon as he comes out of hiding he can return to that coveted position.

Rogen has been in show business since he was a teenager, but he never achieved great success until adulthood. Maybe that is why he never became a heroin addict. Lesson learned: that is why you don’t let kids be successful. Anyway, if you ever take a comedy writing class, your teacher will tell you to create a character that’s you but to the extreme. That is exactly what Seth Rogen did with Ben Stone in Knocked Up. Sure, Seth and Ben are both Jewish stoners. However, while Ben is the kind of stoner who does as little as possible, Seth is the kind of stoner that would move from his home country at age 16 to a foreign land called Hollywood to pursue a career in entertainment.

Rogen is a proud Jew, and that is only one of the many reasons why he is one of my personal heroes. His sense of Jewish identity rubs off on Ben. Just to clarify, Knocked Up is not a Jewish movie, it just has a Jewish character in it. There is a difference. Ben Stone is special because he is a different kind of Jewish nerd. He plays video games and love movies but doesn’t have that old school kind of neuroticism. He talks with his friends about how Munich was the first movie to show Jews kicking ass. In another scene, he describes the product that he uses in his hair as “Jew.” Here is a guy who manages to be self-deprecating without being self-hating.

There is a rift between those Jews who talk about the fact that they’re Jewish all the time, and those who think they shouldn’t talk about it because it will make them lose cool points. Rogen has ushered in a new kind of Jewish cool. You can be just like Ben Stone: a wise-cracking idiot who isn’t always sniffling and adjusting his glasses.

Pictured: A Sony hacker in action.

Dear America,

Hi! Hope all is well. It only happens every once in a blue moon that politics cross over with entertainment and I get to feel like a fully informed citizen of the world. The desire of a bunch of hackers to prevent America from seeing a Seth Rogen movie has done just that.

First, they hacked Sony. We saw emails that nearly ruined careers and we all looked, because we are sheep. Then, they threatened a 9/11-style attack on all movie theaters in America that decided to show The Interview. A quick word of advice to the hackers: next time you decide to threaten an entire nation, get somebody to proofread the ransom note.

While the CIA discredited that threat, movie theater owners didn’t listen, because like I said, we are sheep. Bow Tie Cinemas, a theater chain in my homeland of Connecticut, decided to pull the movie, thus ruining my Christmas plans. Then, the five biggest theaters in America, including AMC and Regal, also decided to pull the film. Well, we did it, everybody: we let the bad guys win, and all it took was a threat in broken English.

Now, I can understand why movie theaters might not want to put their staff or customers in harm’s way. Movie theaters have always been palaces of escape. They are places where we can turn off our phones and forget about the troubles of the outside world. Now where am I supposed to turn for escapism? Do you expect me to become a sports fan?

I know that North Korea is scary. Hackers are even scarier because they seem almost invincible. There are ways around this. Maybe Sony will release this on VOD. But just because there are scary people out there, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be allowed to live normal lives. Last year, I went to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem (I know it is kind of insane that I am bringing this up, but please bear with me). The most remarkable thing I saw there was that women who lived in the Warsaw Ghetto would go on their rooftops and sunbathe. Even when everything sucks, people will do just about anything they can to feel normal. One such example of that would be going to see a movie even though an unnamed source threatens an attack on every movie theater in America. There is a really good South Park episode about this. In fact, this whole situation is starting to resemble a South Park episode so much that I am actually starting to believe that I am now a cartoon character.

In the end, there are two ways we can look at this situation. If we want, we can imagine the hackers as a bunch of evil geniuses in a sleek, Blofeld-like underground lair somewhere underneath Pyongyang. Or, we can picture them as a bunch of ugly losers working out of a smelly basement in the outskirts of Allentown, Pennsylvania. I prefer the latter.

Sincerely,

The Reel Deal

Edit: According to Reuters, Sony has officially cancelled the December 25 release of The Interview.

I only want to see this more now. Image via Screencrush

A few weeks ago, following threats from North Korea over the upcoming release of The Interview, Sony’s records were hacked and a shit storm commenced. What was once both harmless and hilarious in a voyeuristic way has now become a disaster that has nearly brought an entire studio to its knees. Oh, the hyperbole!

It all started when a steady stream of the leaked information was released by the media. Nobody seemed to have a problem with it at all. This week, after a series of hacked emails started to personally affect people’s careers, the backlash began. On Sunday, Aaron Sorkin penned a letter in the New York Times that mainly blames the media for distributing this stolen information and thus giving more power to the criminals who stole the information in the first place. You’re not wrong, Aaron Sorkin, but it seems a little convenient to post a critique of the media on the exact same day that your show The Newsroom, which is a critique of the media, was having its series finale.

While the idea that anything I write privately could be shown to the world terrifies me deeply, that doesn’t mean that I am not amused by any of the leaked information. On a purely objective scale, this has provided the most in-depth look at the movie industry in a long time. A lot of modern entertainment journalism is basically glorified PR.  Just look at the email chain between Scott Rudin, Amy Pascal, and several others regarding the planned Steve Jobs biopic. It shows that making a movie is hard and before anyone can even set up a single light kit, a bunch of producers, agents, and studio executives have to yell at each other for a while. This is a narrative we never see, and it is much more interesting than any DVD commentary where the actors pat themselves on the back.

Seriously, I don’t feel good about having seen any of this. In the end, the big names are going to be fine. Every celebrity who was insulted will have a box of chocolates and a Lamborghini waiting for them at their door step. However, I don’t know if I can say the same for many of the other people who would not make headlines that were impacted by this horrible cyber security attack. Show business is big, and there are countless production assistants, marketing directors, and accountants employed by Sony who are probably living in fear right now. But I am not a good person; I laughed hearing what everybody thought of Adam Sandler. I then laughed seeing Channing Tatum’s email about 22 Jump Street. And I laughed even harder seeing a powerpoint of themes in the Smurfs movie. Even Tropic Thunder couldn’t come up with something that good.

Maybe this all shows that there needs to be more transparency in Hollywood. That is not to say that all private emails should be made public. It just seems strange that a business filled with public figures should be so heavily guarded. I also don’t think it is completely fair to pin this all on journalists. Freedom of speech is endangered as is, and this whole event seems like another excuse to limit it. Let’s not use this as a way to forward agendas. Speaking of agendas, one actually useful piece of information this hack revealed: Sony’s close relation with the MPAA. Stopping piracy is a good thing, but seeing how close studios are to the ratings board worries me. You see, some of this actually is news that can start useful conversations.

This is all over the place. I have no idea what I am saying. This is a mess. Studio executive is turning against studio executive, and journalist is turning against journalist over our inability to just look away when some forbidden fruit comes to light. The hackers wanted chaos and in that regard, they have won. I think we all need to take a moment to give Sony credit. They are literally putting everything on the line for a bold and original idea. This kind of risk-taking doesn’t happen that often in Hollywood anymore. It is sad to think that after this, they might have to go back to banking on safer bets like Smurfs sequels so that hey don’t piss off anymore angry despots.

In the meantime, while the hackers cause chaos, let’s throw it back in their face. As the world burns, we can all just sit back and laugh at the fact that terrorists want to wage a war over a comedy that has a Guy Fieri cameo in it.

Here’s an interesting perspective on the leaks from Time.

Disclaimer: It has not been 100% confirmed that this leak has anything to do with North Korea. But…come on.

WE BOW DOWN TO YOU NOW. Image via Hitfix

As Rob Reiner says in The Wolf of Wall Street (nobody else in the history of humanity has said this): the chickens have finally come to roost, as a secret hidden in plain sight finally poked its ugly head out in full force.

Earlier this week, more women came out to say that they were raped by Bill Cosby. As a result of the mounting allegations, Netflix delayed the release of Cosby’s upcoming comedy special. and NBC completely dropped a planned Cosby sitcom.

In a very short amount of time, Cosby has gone from America’s TV dad, to something of a monster. To say his image is damaged beyond repair might be an understatement. Now, I see Cosby less as an inspiration and more like a condescending, power hungry butt wipe. It is a sad truth that public figures who seem outwardly kind can host a dark side. Right now, we are witnessing a real life version of Gone Girl unfold.

It is important to remember that celebrities are always putting on some sort of an act, both on and off camera. It’s just something they have to do. But don’t worry, we can still trust our idols. Since we don’t have Cosby anymore, here is a list of some other celebrities that are still good role models.

Dudes

Steve Carell

This whole Cosby ordeal is making me think that the idea of any entertainer being a completely normal family man is a carefully constructed public persona. But until we hear otherwise, and until our collective innocence is completely shattered, Carell is nothing but an incredibly nice and genuine family man.

Louis C.K.

Louis C.K. is a divorced parent who has used the n-word in his routine before, yet I could think of no better role model. Outside of his work, Louis doesn’t seem to do much besides raise his daughters. He is on his way to becoming a Comedy Buddha, with a philosophy that emphasizes hard work, concentration, and persistence.

Seth Rogen

It just hit me now that it is amazing how much Seth Rogen does. He starred in a hit movie this summer (Neighbors) and he has another potential huge hit on the way (The Interview). He is also a strong advocate for good causes such as Alzheimer’s research and awareness. He also does most of this while high. Basically, you can smoke  a lot of weed and still be a productive member of society.

Stephen Colbert

I don’t think that anybody’s moral being should be judged based on whether or not they believe in a higher power. However, there is something kind of refreshing about seeing a comedian who is open about his beliefs. Colbert is a proud Catholic, something that doesn’t normally seem to go hand-in-hand with comic genius. It just goes to show that you don’t have to be Ricky Gervais, screaming at the top of your lungs about Atheism, in order to be funny.

Russell Crowe

Have you checked out his Tweets? The dude loves to exercise! America has an obesity problem! Keep on Tweeting your ridiculously detailed workout routines, Russell Crowe, no matter how much people like me will make fun of you for it.

Ladies

Lena Dunham

No, Lena Dunham did not molest her sister and no, this is not up for discussion. Dunham is an inspiration for guys and girls everywhere. Everything she does is about learning to be comfortable in your own skin. She might share too much about herself sometimes but hey, at least she has nothing to hide.

Tina Fey

In Bossypants, Fey describes working all those late nights in the 30 Rock writer’s room while somehow managing to take care of her family. That is two ultra full time jobs at once. Guess I have no excuses anymore.

Amy Poehler

Like Fey, Poehler is a gifted multi-tasker. Along with starring in one of the most beloved shows on television right now (Parks and Recreation), she also helped bring Broad City to the airwaves and she has a stake in Smart Girls. It also helps that she is filled with valuable life lessons that never seem like condescending lectures.

Taylor Swift

I have warmed up to Taylor Swift a lot this year. Maybe it’s because she’s so ubiquitous now, or maybe it just took me this long to realize how talented she is. Shake It Off is the perfect anthem for anybody who has ever spent time in a website’s comment section. Screw the haters. This song was definitely stuck in your head until Too Many Cooks came along.

Kim Kardashian

HEAR ME OUT PEOPLE! Kim Kardashian is the American Dream incarnate. She proves that you can do literally nothing and still make millions of dollars. She’s the perfect role model for all the lazy people out there.

[Just Google "Kim Kardashian Paper Magazine" or whatever. I give up.]

In this episode of the podcast, I rejoice the new world order. Plus, why Pulp Fiction still matters 20 years on. Check out the article I wrote about Pulp Fiction here.

For the record, this poster is awesome. Image via Screen Crush

In response to the recent trailer for Seth Rogen’s upcoming The Interview (which looks amazing), Kim Jong-un released a statement from Pyongyang condemning the film. Okay, that makes sense, as I wouldn’t like a film about my death either. Then, he went so far as to call the movie “an act of war” and that America would be in big trouble if they supported it. It is probably important to note that Seth Rogen co-directed The Interview with Evan Goldberg, and it is probably even more important to note that Rogen is actually Canadian.

Rogen responded to the statement with a statement of his own:

His response is purposefully a little cheesy, but it’s also the best thing he could have possibly said to Dennis Rodman’s BFF. Seth Rogen is a comedian, and during a bad time, a comedian’s job is not to run towards the chaos but rather to laugh in the face of it. Laughter gives power to the powerless, because even the best comedian knows that they too are defenseless in the grand scheme of things.

I am not an expert in foreign relations, but I can tell you that North Korea’s regime is one of the most frightening out there, mostly because it is shrouded in mystery. While Bin Laden would release videos of himself ranting against the western world, Kim Jong-il would simply put on a pair of sunglasses and silently smile as his million man army marched past him. Forgive me for sounding like an idiot, but constructing a joke might be the closest thing we have to figuring out life’s biggest mysteries.

Something that struck me most about Kim Jong-un’s claims is that I feel like I have heard them before. That is because, like most things in life, South Park already did it. The genius two part episode “Cartoon Wars” from over two years ago depicted a scenario in which Family Guy  was going to show Muhammad. Al-Qaeda threatened retaliation, and once the cartoon aired, this is how they fought back:

Now, when I hear Kim Jong-un issuing a huge threat, all I can imagine is this, and it makes all of the fears of a possible World War III go away. Then I can go back to living my life and look at pictures of French Bulldogs on Tumblr. It is similar to how Team America forever associated Kim Jong-il with a mispronunciation of the word “lonely.”* Sure, Kim Jong-un could act on his threats, but I doubt he would kickstart the apocalypse over a comedy starring James Franco. Recently, John Oliver said in an interview that he didn’t fear calling out dictators, because they probably don’t watch his show anyway. The former part of his statement is true, but the latter may not be. After all, men like Kim Jong-un and Bashar al-Assad may be morons, but they are also egomaniacs with too much power. I am sure they have somebody checking their Google Alerts for them.

This is exactly why we need people like Seth Rogen, John Oliver, and Matt Stone & Trey Parker. They drag these elusive figures down to a human level by showing what buffoons they truly are. Kim Jong-un probably fancies himself King Arthur, but he’s more like King Joffrey. So Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg: do not be afraid. You are not “gangster filmmakers,” but rather good men using comedy to perform a public service.

Oh, and this is probably the best free publicity that Seth Rogen could have asked for. Thanks to Kim Jong-un, The Interview will probably open number one at the box office. See? Even bad press that might lead to war can be used to increase revenue!

P.S. Kim Jong-il was famously a huge film buff who was obsessed with Hollywood movies. He even wrote a book on the subject, entitled On the Art of the Cinema, which you can buy on Amazon.

*Hey, Kim Jong-il never complained about that once. Also, Team America doesn’t get the credit that it deserves.

I’m still laughing at this scene. Image via Ace Showbiz

It’s a classic setup: a rag-tag fraternity goes up against their stuffy, adult neighbors. The underdog rebels go up against the establishment. However, what Neighbors wants to presuppose is: what if we are actually rooting for the adults?

Here comes Neighbors, which is the first big comedy blockbuster of the summer. It promises big laughs and gratuitous party scenes. It delivers on both these promises, but more on the latter than the former.

Neighbors is ambitious, to say the least. It throws a lot of shit at the wall, and a lot of that shit actually works. Neighbors sees Seth Rogen growing up just a little bit from bachelor stoner to stoner with a baby. Rogen plays Mac Radner along with Rose Byrne, who plays his wife Kelly Radner. The Radners are in that weird stage where they are both adults but they still feel like they are kids. I sense a theme emerging.

Just as the couple is starting to get used to their boring suburban life, a fraternity moves in next door. The brothers we will come to know the most are Teddy (Zac Efron) and Pete (Dave Franco). We know that Teddy is a meathead because he always has his shirt off, and we know that Pete is smart because sometimes he wears glasses. The two of them are also trying to hold on to the last days of their youth.

Now, I know that last paragraph sounded abrupt, but that’s because it all happens very abruptly in the movie itself. At one moment, a gay couple is looking at the house next door and then suddenly, a bunch of fraternity brothers are already moving all of their stuff in. The biggest problem with Neighbors is that it rushes through every important plot point as quickly as possible and it never gives its story any time to breath. Neighbors is a comedy that relies heavily on its plot, yet it seems more interested in moving from one penis joke to the next.

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that. Randomness and chaos can make a comedy great. However, something like Neighbors should be focused more on the latter than the former. Something like Step Brothers, which is, no joke, one of the best comedies of the 21st century, can be as random as it wants because it never really claimed to have a plot. When you do something like Neighbors, which borders on some form of high concept, you have to commit to the story you laid out for yourself. One of the biggest problems with Neighbors is that it wants to have it both ways. It wants to be both an Apatow comedy and an 80s comedy where a bunch of slobs challenge the establishment. When you try and have it both ways, you end up defeating yourself.

This is not to say that Neighbors is a failure as a comedy. When it works, it really works. There is one scene depicting a parade of Robert De Niro impressions. Part of this scene is already in the trailer, but that doesn’t make the actual scene any less funny. Maybe the funniest part of the whole scene is that there is a Jackie Brown reference in it. But really, the best part is watching Dave Franco claim to be “Robert De Niro from Meet the Fockers” as he spouts out quotes from Meet the Parents. Neighbors does pop culture references better than a lot of comedies I have seen in a while.

Then, next to some of the smarter jokes, there is a lot of broad slapstick humor. A lot of it works very well, such as a climactic fight between Seth Rogen and Zac Efron that uses objects in the room masterfully. Then, there are parts like the airbag joke, which would have been a lot funnier if they spread it out and built up to it. It also would have been funnier if they didn’t play that same gag on TV every ten minutes.

Neighbors is good, light summer entertainment. It is worth many laughs. However, it is unfortunate when you think of the wasted potential. It is constantly at odds with itself about whether it wants to be stupid or smart. In that mix, you have a lot of funny and charismatic people trying to figure out what to do with themselves. Neighbors is not a bad movie. In fact, at times, it is a very enjoyable movie. Yet, in the end, it feels less like a movie and more like a collection of side gags looking for a more complete comedy.

Brain Farts From The Edge

• I would like to think that Neighbors is secretly a piece of comedy fan fiction and that the Radners are actually related to Gilda Radner. That would be awesome.
• Ike Barinholtz, who you might know from The Mindy Project, is fantastic as the goofy and inappropriate friend. I wish he was given more to do.
• Okay, Zac Efron is shirtless just a little too much. At least the guy has some acting chops, though.
• Oh good, Carla Gallo is getting work.
• Integrating new media and technology into movies is tough. Probably the worst way a movie could do it is by putting text conversations and Skype calls on the screen. Neighbors does just that, and it bothered me maybe a little too much.
• The baby actors that they got here are pretty great. Look forward to some hilarious baby reaction shots. Extra points to Nicholas Stoller to figuring out how to direct a baby.
• I really wish that they let Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg write this. They could have turned it into Superbad set in college.
• Usually, a movie like this would be told from the perspective of the fraternity and the parents would be the villains. Neighbors tries to utilize both sides and it only works sometimes.
• This movie is really about how nobody prepares you for adulthood. Maturity kind of just happens. I like that a lot. I just wish they focused on that a little bit more and cut down the penis molding scene just a little bit.
• Also, they could have cut down on the party scenes. I just graduated from college and don’t need to see your found footage frat party scenes.
• One more thing: I could have watched Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne saying “keep it down” for 20 more minutes. As well as an additional 20 minutes of Hannibal Buress’ laugh.