This Is a Waste of a Great Cast and Our Money: Our Review of "This Is Where I Leave You" (2014)

Directed By: Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Real Steel) 

Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Corey Stoll, Adam Driver

Rating: R for language, sexual content and some drug use

Run Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Synopsis: Already dealing with the discovery that his wife is cheating on him with his boss, Judd Altman (Bateman) returns home for his father's funeral and to sit shiva with his famous author mother (Fonda) and his squabbling siblings (Fey, Stoll, Driver) per his father's last request. Traditional Hollywood family drama ensues.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! We were a little quiet the last week or so because my mother visited us last weekend and we were unable to catch any new releases, but we're back this week after having seen This Is Where I Leave You this past Friday night.

This Is Where I Leave You is a film we've been waiting to see for a while now because of the star-studded cast full of actors and actresses we very much enjoy. The film stars Jason Bateman (Bad Words) as Judd Altman, a radio producer who gets hit with the double-whammy of discovering his wife had been cheating on him with his boss, followed by the death of his father. His father's passing brings the whole Altman clan together, where we meet Judd's sister Wendy, played by Tina Fey (NBC's 30 Rock); his younger brother Philip, played by Adam Driver (HBO's Girls); his older brother Paul, played by Corey Stoll (Netflix's House of Cards); and his mother Hillary, played by Jane Fonda (HBO's The Newsroom), who's famous for writing a parenting book that explicitly detailed her children's lives.

And that's just the immediate family. Philip's older girlfriend is played by the great Connie Britton (ABC's Nashville); Paul's wife, Annie, is played by the hilarious Cathryn Hahn (Bad Words); and a neighbor/former flame of Wendy's that she still holds a torch for is played by Timothy Olyphant (FX's Justified). So this is a pretty great cast on paper.

Sarah, now that we've actually seen This Is Where I Leave You, do you think the movie lived up to the promise the cast gave? Or were these actors wasted?

Not the Neighbors We'd Want, But They Sure Are Funny as Hell: Our Review of "Neighbors" (2014)

Directed By: Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) 

Starring: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Dave Franco

Rating: R for pervasive language, strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, and drug use throughout

Run Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Synopsis: Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Byrne) are new parents and recently bought their first house. Not soon after a fraternity moves in next door and Mac and Kelly decide to try and be the cool neighbors to Teddy (Efron), the frat's president, in an effort to keep their noise down. But after calling the cops on them and betraying Teddy's trust, a full-on war breaks out between the exhausted parents and the frats brothers next door.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! Last night Sarah and I caught this weekend's new big comedy release, Neighbors, starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as a pair of new parents who must deal with a fraternity that moves in next door led by Zac Efron's hard-partying frat president.

Neighbors is the new film from director Nicholas Stoller who has helmed a couple of our favorite comedies, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and and The Five-Year Engagement, so when you add that together with our fandom of Seth Rogen and the fact that we thought the trailers were hilarious, it's not an understatement to say we've been looking forward to this one for a while.

Now that we've seen Neighbors, Sarah, what did you think of it?

Sarah: I really had some good laughs in this movie! I'm not going to lie, I had pretty high expectations for this movie. I was expecting nothing but belly laughs and I was not let down. I love a good house party movie and I think this one fits in with the likes of Old School and House Bunny. I loved Seth Rogen of course but I LOVED Zac Efron in this movie! He was so funny but at the same time was a pretty deep character. And that delivery! Dare I say he's kind of following in the footsteps of Channing Tatum? Looks AND humor?

It's Nice to See Vaughn & Wilson Back Together After All These Years: Our Review of "The Internship" (2013)

Directed By: Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) 

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, Max Minghella, Aasif Mandvi

Rating: PG-13 for sexuality, some crude humor, partying and language

Run Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes

Synopsis: Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) are successful watch salesmen who suddenly lose their jobs when their company goes under. Stuck with the prospect of only ever being salesmen, they take a chance at earning a spot in Google's internship program, where they must team up with other outcasts in the program to win full-time jobs at the famous company.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! A few weeks ago Sarah and I were able to catch an advance screening of the new Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy The Internship, where they play a pair of salesmen/best friends named Billy and Nick, respectively, who lose their jobs selling watches. Seeing as they have no real work skills they take a chance at getting an internship at Google; kind of an odd premise but we’ll get to that in a little bit.

This was one that I, personally, was looking forward to – what about you?

Sarah: I thought it was one that looked cute. It’s not one I was dying to see in theatres, I could have took it or left it as far as seeing it on the big screen or not. But I must say I’m glad that we did see it, because it turned out to be pretty cute! It turned out to be pretty funny and it had a lot of surprisingly heartfelt moments, good actors…it was just a fun movie. What did you think?

A: Well first I want to say I was looking forward to it because it had been so long since Vaughn and Wilson had done something like this together. The trailers made it seem very reminiscent of…

S: Wedding Crashers, a movie that we love.