This Fall's TV Shows We're Looking Forward To Most!

Andrew: Hello readers! We know we've been a little slow on posting new reviews, trailers or movie news, and this week will be the return of us doing those things on a regular basis. But we couldn’t go see a movie last night to review because it was a magical day - the return of our favorite television sitcom, How I Met Your Mother! So instead of doing a review, we're going to do something a little different and do a TV Preview and talk about what shows we're looking forward to the most this year, whether it's a returning show or a new one.

Sarah, there are a ton of shows I'm looking forward to this season, some of which I know you have no interest in, and there's definitely some shows you're looking forward to that I have no interest in. Let’s go through them one at a time starting with…

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

Sarah: Since this could be the second to last season of our most beloved five friends, this season is very important. We are seeing more people fall in love and could possibly meet "the mother" by the end of this season! Tonight will be like a small holiday for us. I will be interested in seeing who all they bring back as far as love interests for Ted and Barney. But let's be honest, it is all going to rock so hard!!!

A: I'm definitely interested to see where they go with Ted's decision to run away with his former love interest, Victoria. I'm hopeful he realizes the errors of his ways recently, but let's be honest - Josh Radnor's Ted has always been the least likable of the main characters. Neil Patrick Harris' Barney is the one we care about the most and we were very happy with the revelation of who he's going to marry, so I'm most curious about how he gets to THAT point more than I care about Ted meeting the titular mother.

S: It will be interesting, especially since I think we will see Nora again before we get Barney down the aisle. Ahhh it's all so exciting!

Welcome Back, Class of 1999!: Our Review of "American Reunion" (2012)

Directed By: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg

Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Sean William Scott, Eugene Levy

Rating: R for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, language, brief drug use and teen drinking

Synopsis: It's been 13 years since Jim Levenstein (Biggs) and his best friends spent their senior year in high school trying to lose their virginity. Now, in their 30's and attending their high school reunion, we discover just exactly what the whole American Pie clan has been up to these last ten years as they've moved away from home and hit adulthood.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! This afternoon we caught a matinee showing of this week's big "new" film, American Reunion, the fourth installment in the American Pie series (the National Lampoon-esque spin-offs notwithstanding). Reunion brings back all the main characters from the original movie - Jim, Michelle, Stifler, Kevin, Vicky, Oz, Heather, Finch and, yes, Jim's Dad - but the question is: was this film necessary after 10 years since the last one?

Sarah, what are your thoughts on that question?

Sarah: Oh it was most certainly necessary! With the same amount of raunchiness and humor, the newest installment to the series showed its soft side. There was a lot of heart in this movie and that made it not only a great comedy to go see but also made it a great date-night movie. It was great to see all of the old cast come back together and how much they have all changed over the years and actually have gotten better looking! 

What did you think?

A: I'll be honest, when I first heard that they were making this film I was skeptical because it had been so long. But the more I thought about it the more excited I became, and that excitement was well rewarded. The cast was still as funny and affable as ever, particularly Jason Biggs, Sean William Scott and Eugene Levy. It was nice to see all of the main players from the original film come into play, even if only for a small cameo.

Most importantly though, I felt that American Reunion had an excellent blend of it's style of humor and heart. You had your gross moments, you had your dirty talk, your token nudity (and some NOT so token nudity), but it also dealt with the issues that thirty-something characters SHOULD be dealing with and handled them well. It's not often that the American Pie movies make me go "awwww" but this one did on a few occasions.

(From left) Ian Thomas Nicholas, Jason Biggs, Sean William Scott, Chris Klein and Eddie Kay Thomas reprise their roles as Kevin, Jim, Stifler, Oz and Finch in American Reunion

S: Agreed! I said this yesterday in our preview but I will say it again - the characters in this movie have grown up with their audience. We are going through some of the same experiences now that the American Pie crew is going through now. 

But let's be honest, although there were some "awww" parts to this movie, there was still all the sex, drinking and drugs that the originals have.

A: One of the few downsides I had about the movie was that it runs a little long. It dragged a bit at times, or there were some parts of certain subplots that could have been cut out altogether to make it more of a 90 minute run time instead of the 113 minutes that it is. Did you feel the same way?

S: Yeah, I would agree with that. It was a little slow and I think they could have gone into a little more of the Jim/Michelle story. But just like the last movies, they have to show some of the other character's stories too. That was really the only thing that I would say is a complaint of the movie. But I suppose it would be a criticism of all the American Pie movies, and I think they speak for themselves on how successful they have been. (The originals at least)

Former high school flames Kevin (Nicholas) and Vicky (Tara Reid) catch up after many years

A: Not a bad point - Hannigan's character seems to fall off the map for a while at parts of the film and she's really supposed to be one of the main characters. Maybe it had something to do with her schedule for How I Met Your Mother, or something else, but I could have used more of her, too.

Some other positives I found for this film:

- The chemistry between Levy and Biggs as father and son. It's probably that both have gotten older, and Biggs is a better actor than he was 13 years ago, but I really enjoyed the scenes that had together. They play off each other well and could really be father and son.

- The soundtrack to the film was amazing. I need to look it up on iTunes as soon as we post this.

- Last but not least, the cameos. There are two in particular that I enjoyed VERY much and I don't want to spoil them here.

Anything that I might have missed that you liked or disliked in particular?

S: My favorite part of the movie was seeing everyone again. All the cameos and quick shots of characters really give the movie that true nostalgic feel. We will definitely own this one when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

(Our of Five)

Jeff Can Come Live With Us Anytime: Our Review of "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" (2011)

Directed By: Jay & Mark Duplass


Starring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer


Rating: R for language including sexual references and some drug use


Synopsis: Jeff (Segel) is a slacker who lives in his mother's basement. One day he receives a wrong-numbers phone call for someone named Kevin that he takes as a sign. When his mother (Sarandon) sends him on a simple errand, he ends up following his "sign" instead and runs into his brother, Pat (Helms). Together they try to figure out if Jeff's destiny truly does lie with "Kevin" and whether or not Pat's wife (Greer) is cheating on him.


REVIEW


Andrew: Hello readers! Tonight the wife and I decided that we would face the treacherous Friday night middle school/high school crowd to see a movie at the theatres. But we felt comfortable enough that we wouldn't have to deal with a crowded theatre because tonight we saw Jeff, Who Lives at Home, which is decidedly NOT a big movie like The Hunger Games or Mirror Mirror.

No, we wanted to see Jeff, Who Lives at Home for basically one and only one reason. Sarah, would you like to explain to our readers what that reason was?

Sarah: Andrew and I really love Jason Segel! We both loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man, both of which Segel is so good in combining humor and heart. But, our love truly grew when we became hooked on How I Met Your Mother and just continued with his turn as the villain in Despicable Me. We are really looking forward to his upcoming films The Five-Year Engagement and This Is 40 (the sequel/spin-off to Knocked Up). 

So that's why we wanted to see this movie. Andrew, what did you think of Jeff, Who Lives at Home?

Jeff (Jason Segel) receives a phone call that might change his life

A: To be honest I didn't really know what to expect going into it. I knew from the trailers and what I had read about the film that Segel played a lovable stoner (when DOESN'T he play a lovable character?) and he happened to run into his brother while out and about one day. Besides that I was going in blind.

So I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Segel and Helms are genuinely funny guys on their own and played off each other well in this film playing brothers. They usually both play characters that are lovable or are good-natured, but I was caught off guard by how much I disliked Helms characters for most of the movie. Did you get the same vibe?

S: You're right, I was a little surprised too, but I must say that the characters just seemed lost in their own ways. A major plot point is that they all still seem to be dealing with the loss of their Jeff's and Pat's father, even though it had almost been 20 years since he passed. Jeff, especially, seems to be going along with life hoping to bump into his destiny or at least follow a sign that will lead him to it.

Ed Helms (center) and Jason Segel (right) play brothers in Jeff, Who Lives at Home

What I really liked about this movie is that it starts with literally nothing. A couple lines, a water bong and a wrong number. That's it.  From there the film grows so organically that it is almost beautiful.

A: I like the way you put that. It really is organic. For a film that clearly makes "destiny" or "fate" a big part of the characters' plot lines, it could have easily felt forced and I don't think it was forced at all. In fact, even though I felt that Susan Sarandon's sub-plot was pretty useless for most of the film, I like how it all tied together really neatly in the end.

I wanted to point out another part of the film that I really enjoyed, and that was the camerawork. It was all hand-held and at times it could be a little shaky, but I enjoyed the times when the camera would focus in real tight on Jeff's eyes or Sarandon's face when she smiles. It was the little things I noticed about the film that maybe raised the film up from being just an okay film to a good one.

S: I agree with you on Sarandon's plot and the camera work. I usually don't like the hand-held look, it's usually too shaky for my taste and up in the actors face, but this really worked for me. 

I also liked how there were funny parts that had me laughing for a little bit but for the most part it was kind of serious with some deep story plot points. I definitely left the movie thinking.

Pat and Jeff argue while visiting their father's grave.

A: The script does do a good job of making the humorous parts come out of the natural progression of events, or how the characters would really react to a certain situation.

That said, I think that's a great opportunity to say that the film was pretty slow at times, so if you're the kind of moviegoer who fidgets and gets restless when there's not a whole lot going on, this may not be the film for you. This movie is very deliberate in what it's showing. It's actually a pretty short film, too, but it still may linger a little long on unimportant things for some viewers.

Ok Sarah, when all is said and done, what's our final verdict on Jeff, Who Lives at Home?

S: While this was a nice movie to see in the theatres on a Friday evening we really think that you could Netflix it on a rainy weekend.

(Out of Five)

Picture Courtesies: Time, Flicks and Bits, Movie Fanatic