SXSW07–Knocked Up/Murder Party

KNOCKED UP

I saw this back in December at Butt-Numb-A-Thon, but I liked it a lot, so I let a friend talk me into seeing it again. Besides, they cut about ten minutes out and I wanted to see if it seemed any tighter.

In case you don’t want to read my review there, here’s a new one. (Mainly because I only saw one movie that was new to me today. I’ve been a fuckin’ slacker this year.)

Ben Stone (Seth Rogen from 40 Year Old Virgin and “Freaks And Geeks”) is a stoner. Kind of a loser, too. He and his buddies are working on a website that shows exactly where stars can be found naked in movies. No, they’ve never heard of Mr. Skin. Or Celebrity Nude Database. Or Hollywood Babylon. Or any of the other myriad of websites just like this.

One night, he and his buddies (Jason Segel and Martin Starr, both from “Freaks And Geeks”) go to a club and meet Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl who apparently refuses to take her bra off during sex) and her sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann who I love more and more every time I see her). Ben and Alison hit it off, go to her place and nookie nookie.

Which, of course, leads to a tiny sack of dividing cells. Very funny comedy ensues.

Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin, “Freaks And Geeks”…see a trend? Hell, even James Franco and Steve Carell have cameos) has found a way to be better at gross-out comedy that you care about than the Farrely Brothers. But this isn’t just a gross-out. This is a really good movie about what happens when you get something more from a one night stand. And when the person you think is completely wrong for you is possibly right for you.

And Paul Rudd is hilarious.

Go see this movie in June. You’ll love it.

THE PIPE (short)

A man in a hole, buried alive as a publicity stunt for a radio station. Two men charged with making sure that his air pipe doesn’t get clogged and his alarm doesn’t go off. Insanity starts to break them.

Oh yeah. And it’s funny as hell, too.

A short review for a short.

MURDER PARTY

So, what happens when a lonely, shy meter officer gets invited to a Halloween party by a bunch of conceptual artists? Horrible, bloody murder!!!

When said meter dude leaves his boring little apartment and his boring little cat wearing a homemade knight costume, he doesn’t know that he’s being lured into a death trap. The people who are plotting his murder are doing it for art. How should they do it? Should they do it at all? Things get out of hand when one of them accidentally dies. Things get REALLY out of hand when the guy who says that he will give one of them a grant shows up with his muscle.

This movie was kind of like Reservoir Artists. A bunch of people stuck in a warehouse with a guy tied up in a chair ending in a bloodbath. No, it’s not nearly that good, but it’s still a fun flick with some great violence and a lot of very funny parts. The acting is just above, say, community theatre, but believable enough.

I’m sure the ultra-low budget movie won’t have any kind of huge release, but if it shows up on IFC or Sundance, check it out. It’s a pretty cool little movie that skewers the pretension of the art scene. And pay attention to the truth serum injected Truth Or Dare sequence. Pure awesomeness. (Love all of the costumes, too. PRIS!!!)