Culture

Cry it out. This fun little movie is actually a light-hearted look at Hollywood
back stabbings and financial dealings. In other words, this could have
been a scathing expose on Hollywood corruption, but What Just Happened
just lets it happen and allows us to be the judge.
Robert De Niro
plays Ben (yes, just "Ben"), a producer trying to balance his work
while juggling a messed-up life involving two ex-wives and kids to go
with them. Ben has two big deals in the works: one is a Cannes entry
entitled, "Fiercely," starring Sean Penn (as himself), directed by
indie filmmaker Jeremy Brunell (a superb Michael Wincott). We only see
snippets of the cruel and violent ending scene of "Fiercely," which the
producers insist should hit the editing floor. Jeremy takes it badly,
promoting tension between producers and himself. The second deal is an
action picture starring Bruce Willis (as himself). Here, the dilemma is
that Willis, contrary to all advice, has put on weight and grown a
Grizzly Adams beard, adding extra girth for his concept of the role
then refuses to shave his beard.

Even Bond is feeling the recession.Daniel Craig has that mysterious quality, that je ne sais quoi, that truly defines the James Bond character. This is a man who draws women effortlessly, kills efficiently and looks incredible in a tux.

James Bond has long been a cultural icon for masculinity at its best. Operating outside of the bounds of society, he is free from its restrictions, a man who protects the women, saves his country or often the world and does so with unparalleled style. Daniel Craig as James Bond, more than any other actor who has tackled the iconic role, brings a seriousness and enigmatic depth to Bond that makes the character even more fascinating.

Hot for teacher?The title Happy Go Lucky is kind of misleading. It implies a cutesy-fresh-feeling, sunshine approach to life, but it's far from cute-it's about real problems for real people and the ability to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Central character Poppy (Sally Hawkins) maintains a positive outlook throughout the movie. Her bike is stolen near the beginning and her only lament is that she didn't get to say goodbye. Poppy's a 30ish, single, North London primary school teacher whose passion is going to pubs and bouncing on a trampoline. Poppy's a wiseacre, unable to stop joking and always putting a spin of hope and optimistic sarcasm on everything. It's a struggle for her to take things seriously, though her caring demeanor is never nauseatingly sweet. She drinks, hangs out, is accosted by life and shrugs it off as "things just happen, move on and have fun with life." She's almost nervously out of sync with the rest of the world. After the bike incident she decides to learn to drive. We then follow Poppy and the various people she encounters, focusing more on life lessons than getting all hung up in plot.

And that, boys, is why you wouldn’t last five minutes in Sturgis. In the recently ended political season, there was a comment much
dissected and analyzed having to do with lipstick on a pig. I am trying
hard to forget the context, but watching Role Models this unfortunate
image came roaring back at me.

I suspect Judd Apatow is responsible
in large part for the new comedy genre, which created the following
formula: relentless amounts of crudeness, the raunchier the better,
followed by an awakened heart, followed by a gauzy enlightenment. And
in capable hands, it works. You get potty humor and leave the theater
feeling good about the world. We're going to make it, man.