Wedding Daze (2006)

Actor/writer Michael Ian Black is known for his appearance on TV series such as "Reaper", "The State", "Reno 911', "Ed" and most recently on the series "Backwash".

Known for his comedy, Black had the opportunity to write and direct his first romantic comedy feature film "Wedding Daze" starring Jason Biggs ("American Pie" films, "Loser") and Isla Fisher ("Wedding Crashers", "Rango", "Confessions of a Shopaholic").

The 2006 film features Biggs as the protagonist Anderson. A person who is very much in love with his girlfriend Vanessa (played by Audra Blaser), a young woman who Anderson considers "perfect".

So, what best than to give her the perfect proposal for marriage to show his love for her.

Unfortunately, for Anderson, his plan is to dress up as Cupid and visit her at the restaurant to propose to her. His best friend Ted (played by Michael Weston) can't believe what Anderson is about to do and disagrees with his plan and thinks it is embarrassing but for Anderson, he feels that he knows Vanessa and its the best way to propose to her.

While both argue outside the restaurant on who is right and who is wrong, Vanessa is being schmoozed by the waiter Morty (played by Mark Consuelos) and you can tell that Vanessa is starting to become quite interested in him.

Meanwhile, Anderson wins the argument and goes to propose to Vanessa. Shocked by the proposal, Vanessa is so happy that she has a heart attack and dies.

From that moment on, Anderson is a mess and one-year later, he is seen as a much bigger mess. Everywhere around him is something that reminds him of his dead girlfriend and he can't get over her.

One day, his friend Ted asks him to join him and grab a bit to eat a restaurant. And Ted tells him bluntly that he has to get over Vanessa and move on.

Anderson said he can't because she's so perfect.

But Ted insists that he take a look at other women and start over. Ted looks around and all he sees are older women that smoke and then catches the eye of a waitress in the restaurant.

Anderson tells him that if he does go out with a girl and gives it a try, will he get off his back. Ted agrees.

So, the waitress goes to take their order and the first thing that comes out of Anderson's mouth is "Will you marry me?" and surprisingly the waitress says "yes!" and accepts his proposal.

The story then showcases the waitress named Katie (played by Isla Fisher).

The story goes back a few days before the proposal and Katie is dating a man who is very feminine. Her parents Lois (played by Joanna Gleason) and Stuart (played by Matt Maloy) love him but Katie is not sure if she loves him at all. In fact, her boyfriend proposes to her and she tells him that "she'll think about it".

The next day, her mother can't believe that she is not accepting the proposal from a perfect guy. Confused about her boyfriend, she goes to her father Smitty (played by Joe Pantoliano) who is in prison, and tells her about her boyfriend's proposal and how she is not happy about it.

She goes back to work and tries to convince herself that she is happy about the marriage proposal and tells her friends and co workers Jane (played by Heather Goldenhersh) and Matador (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach) about how she feels and Matador is quick to tell her that he doesn't like her current boyfriend.

And then we see the proposal once again, in which Katie says "yes" to Anderson.

Both agree to take things slow and live with each other. But still, Anderson feels guilty and starts thinking about Vanessa not approving of his decision to marry Katie. When Katie asks who is the woman that is pictured in his room, he tells her that it's Vanessa, a photo frame model and the reason why he is pictured with her is that he is a former model for a picture frame company. Katie doesn't question it and believes him.

But both spend time with each other and enjoy each other's company.

Meanwhile, Anderson introduces Katie to his parents, Katie introduces Anderson to her parents and sure enough, the parents don't agree with their children's choice of who they are going to marry. But Katie learns from Anderson's mother Betsy (played by Margo Martindale) that Vanessa is actually Anderson's girlfriend who passed away and is distraught that Anderson had lied to her.

The two get into a huge fight and it looks as if their brief relationship is over and the marriage is off.

And while they spend time away from each other for a brief time, both Anderson and Katie realize, they are actually falling for each other and want to get married.

And now with the help of Ted and Katie's friends, everyone takes off to Atlantic City for Anderson and Katie's wedding but in the process, Ted takes a car from the car lot that he works at and tells his boss it's for a test drive (and because he hasn't returned it, his boss calls the cops) and Katie's father has broken out of prison (and the cops are after him). To make things worse, Katie's former boyfriend has followed Anderson and Katie and wants to fight Anderson.

With all these obstacles, will Anderson and Katie ever get married?

VIDEO:

"Wedding Daze" is presented in 1080p High Definition (widescreen 1:85:1). Picture quality for the film is quite vibrant, black levels are pretty good considering this is a catalog title and I detected no artifacting, no edge enhancement on the video. For the most part, fans of the film should be pleased with the picture quality and vibrant colors.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

"Wedding Daze" is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 DTS and French 5.1 DTS. The film is primarily dialogue and music driven. Dialogue is clear and understandable as is the music coming from the front and center channels. There are some moments where the surround channels are used. When Isla shoots a gun into the ceiling or when Matador steps on the brakes of his car, you can hear the surround channels being utilized.

But for this romantic comedy, it's a front and center channel driven soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish and French.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Wedding Daze" comes with an alternate opening sequence and two deleted scenes.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Wedding Daze" is a romantic comedy that has a few jokes that will make you laugh and has potential to be entertaining. Somehow, during its final half hour, it becomes uninspired and loses its humor and eventually becomes too kitschy for anyone to really enjoy.

As someone who grew up watching Jason Biggs on the "American Pie" films and also have been entertained by actress Isla Fisher in a few of her films, the idea to have a film that revolves around a shotgun wedding is sure to bring some laughs, especially with Michael Ian Black writing and directing the film.

First, the good. The good is that the premise of the story of two individuals trying out a relationship and getting married, despite not spending any time together is quite interesting and can be entertaining. Both characters, Anderson and Katie are normal people, it's just those that are around them are not.

And the storyline that is built around those characters is pretty much out of left-field and very crazy.

Anderson's father is hardcore into sex and gives Anderson his cock ring as a gift for his marriage, while his mother threatens Katie that she will cut her if she brings up Vanessa's name. As for Katie's mother, she is married to a shy Jewish man who has built a Jewnicorn and wants to make it to a toyline, while her mother still thinks about having mad, passionate sex with her ex-husband.

Throw in Katie's co-workers, Jane who wants to be in the circus and throws knives while Matador is just a strange individual.

Needless to say, there are some funny moments in the film as Katie tries to be sexy for her fiance, tasting Anderson's toothpaste dribble around his mouth and he accidentally spitting it out on her eye and temporary blinding her. I couldn't help but laugh.

But from there on, things become too kitschy as Michael Ian Black somehow changes the pacing and has everything focus on the group going to jail, breaking out of jail and having the police after them. It worked great during the Laurel & Hardy and Buster Keaton silent years but to focus a romantic comedy so much on it, especially for its climax, unfortunately instead of peaking, the storyline goes downhill and never recovers.

Actually, I had more fun watching the ending credits with the talent having fun and messing around than what was taking place in the final 20 minutes of the actual storyline of the film.

"Wedding Daze" is a Blu-ray release that features vibrant and solid PQ and the lossless audio soundtrack is about what I would expect from a romantic comedy. Special features are few with only an alternative opening sequence and two deleted scenes, all three which I'm glad were cut out of the film.

Needless to say, I'm sure Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher fans will have fun watching the film but while the film has its fun and charming moments, much of those moments happen earlier on and the storyline doesn't get any better.

Overall, "Wedding Daze" is popcorn romantic comedy that is not the best, nor is it the worst but its storyline suffers from lackadaisical writing and an uninspiring way to end the film that it comes up short.

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No Strings Attached (2013)

What "No Strings Attached" lacks in originality and unpredictability is made up for in the charm and likeability of its leads. Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman not only have great onscreen chemistry, they also are individually well developed at least, as well developed as they can be within the boundaries of a romantic comedy. It's also surprisingly funny, although it's only partly because of the well placed raunchy sex jokes; the film is one of the few recent romantic comedies to successfully find that balance between sweetness and silliness, and while that's only moderate praise for writer Elizabeth Meriwether and director Ivan Reitman, at least it's proof that they know how to take innately ridiculous material and make it accessible to general audiences.

The film is not realistic in any way, shape, or form, but that's just stating the obvious because we don't go to movies like this looking for meaning or truth. It tells the story of Adam and Emma (Kutcher and Portman), who first met as teenagers in summer camp and saw each other off and on over the next several years. In the present day, they live in Los Angeles, Adam an assistant on a TV series that crosses "Glee" with "High School Musical," Emma a doctor at UCLA. They have successfully maintained a friendship, although there's always a flash of jealousy whenever one of them shows up with a significant other. When Adam's girlfriend dumps him for his father (Kevin Kline), he goes on a bender, makes several phone calls to women he knows ... and wakes up in Emma's apartment, naked and surrounded by Emma's friends and fellow residents.

No sex took place the night before. The morning after, however, Adam and Emma suddenly drop their defenses and just go for it. That's when they decide to take a stab at being friends with benefits; they will use each other for sex at any time of the day, but they won't commit to anything long-term. Surprisingly, this comes at the insistence of Emma, who for reasons left a little obscure is frightened by serious relationships. This is made clear in her habit of texting Adam rather than seeing him in person, a trend that has become all too real in today's smart phone society. I'll stop short of saying this movie is sending a message about technology limiting social interaction, although there are hints of it all throughout.

No more of the plot needs to be described. It goes through the motions and ends exactly the way we expect it to end. There are, however, a couple of side characters that deserve to be mentioned. One of the best is Adam's on-set colleague, Lucy (Lake Bell), who's deeply neurotic and talks at a hundred miles an hour. Making this kind of character likeable is next to impossible, and yet Bell pulls it off, probably because she understood that there's a fine line between comedy relief and annoyance. And then there are Adam's best friends, played by Chris Bridges and Jake Johnson; they aren't given all that much to do, but you can count on them for a few good male-oriented one-liners. Kline is somewhat underutilized as Adam's father, a former TV star who does drugs as if it was the 1970s and has a thing for much younger women. He's mostly just a counterpoint to his son, a way for the audience to see what Adam should not do when it comes to meeting and loving the opposite sex.

One of the film's funniest scenes is in Emma's apartment, where she and her girlfriends along with one gay man spend the night together in the throes of menstrual agony. Knowing they're all on the same cycle, Adam stops by with a box full of cupcakes. He also gives Emma a period-specific mix CD, with titles I probably can't repeat for the purposes of this review. There's also a moment when Emma gives Adam a Valentine's Day card, which reads, "You give me premature ventricular contractions." I laughed hard. But then again, I was raised by registered nurses who specialized in cardiology, so I probably have an unfair advantage.

Reitman made the right choices in the casting of Kutcher and Portman, for they have that compatibility movies like this require. Kutcher is especially enjoyable and plays what may be the warmest, most caring role of his entire career. Portman is also a natural fit for this movie, which is surprising given her latest stint as a mentally ill ballerina; it's good for even the most dedicated and serious of actors to reveal that they do in fact have a sense of humor. "No Strings Attached" is by no means a great movie, and it will never be in the same league as "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II," my two favorite Reitman comedies. But if you're in the mood for a conventional lightweight romantic comedy, this movie gets the job done nicely.

All the ingredients for a fine contemporary comedy are here, including a pertinent theme (the difficulty of finding love amid career obligations and easy sex) and an assortment of courageous young actors (Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Greta Gerwig, Olivia Thirlby). Unfortunately the director is Ivan Reitman, who's never made a more emotionally complex film than Meatballs (1979). Telling the story of a med student (Portman) and an aspiring TV writer (Kutcher) who try to navigate a "sex friendship" without falling in love, Reitman settles for easy laughs, and his off-color jokes about menstruation and drug use feel like greeting-card gags. The charismatic leads keep this watchable, but it's a waste of their talents.

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I consider myself to be a solid judge of a movie based on the previews, and this movie's previews definitely piqued my interest. As a single woman, begrudgingly falling into the stereotype, I'm always seeking a good love story that I can relate to. Unfortunately, I felt that this one fell flat. A decent overall movie to watch on a rainy day, but a uninspiring storyline.

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Comment: This review is written by an older guy from the "free love" Emerson Lake and Palmer, Black Sabbath, Yes, and Beatles generation. I don't usually watch "chick flicks", but i'm a movie collector, so some "get through". This film is a (hard core) formula movie for this genres (chick flick). I have to say that when this movie started I couldn't help but think how "prissy and "gay-like" (the new generation depicted by this movie...) was looking and acting. As the story started to go... it started to become entertaining. One thing that I just couldn't get past was the casual way people had sex with each other. I mean even back in my day of "free love" (despite what you may of heard or read) when you were "boning a girl" you liked, you didn't pass her around like a reefer (as some of the characters were doing). My "distilled" comment for this movie is that if you strip away all the "fluff" around the main story it is somewhat entertaining. Is it believable or true to life... not a chance in hell. Please don't "flame mail" me as some have done in the past. This is a "free and open" venue for us to express our opinions. Thank You.

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It is really sad when you get your expectations up with a new Ivan Reitman comedy only to be bitterly dissapointed by it. There is a hardly any chemistry between the two protaganists (Portman and Kutcher). All we get is a bawdy comedy with a slow moving story. Kevin Kline is simply wasted. Just oh dear, yawn.

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Jerry Maguire (+ BD Live) (1996)

Well, I'm incredibly late to the Jerry Maguire party, but I'm glad I finally made it. I thought this was just a comedy, but I should have known better because laughs alone usually don't generate the kind of success this movie enjoyed. This is a wonderful, feel-good movie with a surprisingly effective emotional payoff. Tom Cruise is great, Cuba Gooding, Jr., steals every scene he's in, and that Renee Zellweger is nothing short of perfect. They even threw in a clip of McGarrett on Hawaii Five-O and sent me away with Bob Dylan singing over the credits in my book, that's going above and beyond the call of duty. And I never tire of seeing someone break away from the cynicism of big business and actually put some heart back into an increasingly heartless way of life.

Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is, of course, a bigshot sports agent who has it all then loses it all. For some inexplicable reason, he develops a conscience late one night, puts together this huge "mission statement" all about reducing the number of clients and giving those remaining the genuine personal touch, and sends it to everyone in the company. With a schlep of a boss like Bob Sugar (the always annoying Jay Mohr), his days with the company are, not surprisingly, numbered. He vows to start his own company, desperately trying to hold on to the clients he has been representing but all he ends up taking with him are outrageous Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger), an accountant who was truly inspired by what he had written. It doesn't seem like much, but he really has all he will ever need he just doesn't realize it until the end of the movie.

Life on his own is quite a struggle, especially after he breaks up with his vicious fiancée (Kelly Preston), and I know it must be truly demoralizing to be defeated time and time again by Jay Mohr. Rod Tidwell, a great player who doesn't get the notice (or money) he thinks he deserves, stays loyal to him, though, for rather inexplicable reasons even after Maguire fails to get him the kind of big money he is looking for in a new contract. Dorothy also stays with him, and Maguire grows increasingly close to her and her little boy Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki). There's love in the air, and Maguire's famous problem with emotional intimacy makes what should be the simplest thing in the world immensely complicated. We see a lot of Maguire at his worst double-crossed, drunk, beaten up, wallowing in self-pity. He never gives up, though, and that's what's important. I find it a little problematic that he did not apply the principles of his "mission statement" to the way he lived his life, but in his defense guys tend to be pretty dense about this kind of thing (and would that we all had a Dorothy to help us see the light).

There's a wonderful cast on display here, with uncommonly meaningful secondary characters: there's little Ray, of course, but Dorothy's bitter yet loving sister Laurel (Bonnie Hunt) and Rod Tidwell's wife Marcee (Regina King) really do lay claim to a commanding presence in the story. You can also make a little game of spotting all of the sports personalities that make cameos (usually silent ones, thankfully) in the film.

This isn't a comedy; it's a serious story that just happens to feature a lot of laughs. It's a commentary on the depersonalization of business, a complicated yet wonderfully sweet love story, and a movie with a surprisingly big heart. And I love Renee Zellweger. As far as I'm concerned, she not Tom Cruise was the star of this film.

This is probably one of the best performances I have seen by Tom Cruise. He portrays Jerry McGuire, a sought after sports agent, that gets a wake up call causing him to reevaluates his priorities in life. Renee Zellweger is cast as his partner and wife. She is delightful and always a joy to watch. Cuba Gooding Jr. commands attention in every scene he is in. He was very impressive in this film. Who couldn't be in love with little Jonathan Lipnicki!

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This film is definitely what I would call a feel good movie. I came away from it feeling that there are decent people in this world and that we are not all disappearing into the obscurity of just a name on a piece of paper.

The story follows Jerry Maguire, played by Tom Cruise, falling from grace working for a sports star agency when he has a flash of inspiration and takes the moral high ground on the way people should be treat within the company. His eventual rise to becoming a better person is aided from the love of woman and her son and the realization that everyone who he represents should be treated with the same respect.

The person that stole the show for me was Cuba Gooding Jr. Every scene he was in made me laugh. This was the first movie I had seen him in and thought he was a terrific actor, deserved of the Oscar he won for Best Supporting Actor. The "Show Me The Money" scene will have you in stitches.

This is not a DVD that is to be bought for it's technical qualities or abundance of extras. All you get is a static menu with no trailer, character biographies or other extras. In this day and age of DVD's like "Contact" and "The Matrix" I would have expected a bit more from a quality movie like this. The picture quality is good, as is the sound but it certainly won't tax your Dolby Digital amplifier, but then again it is not expected to.

Jerry Maguire is a film to cuddle up to your partner with and watch on a cold rainy night. It is funny, poignant and thought provoking. Worth watching at least once.

Steve.

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this movie is about love. The hard thing in life is to simply love, not to mete out your love in a miserly fashion, but to love hard. To love with a visceral intensity that keeps getting stronger. "I refuse to not love" is the moral of this film.

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This film spoke to me in so many ways. It was almost as if "Jerry Maguire" had been written with me in mind. From Jerry's epiphany at the start of the story through his struggle and eventual triumph over his fear of intimacy, it all seemed to be drawn from my experiences. These are the things that concern me every day.

Tom Cruise was beautiful. He showed perfect acting the whole time. It is perhaps, the finest work so far in his career. You could see every flicker of doubt and insincerity cross his face. I was laughing out loud, then crying and then so tightly happy that I forgot to breath. All of the other cast members seemed perfect as well. I particularly liked the doubting, divorced but totally caring sister Laurel. And let's not forget Dorothy's son Ray, what a little charmer.

The basic story is a simple one and yet it is fresh all the same. One of the slogans that the promoters used was, "A legend that became a man". For me, that is not a bad summary of the plot. Jerry is a highly successful sports agent who has an attack of conscience which gets him fired. He manages this rather early on in the film by writing a new mission statement entitled, "The things we think and do not say", which harks back in time to simpler days where a man's word was his bond. As one of his work mates says, "I give him a week". Sure enough, Jerry was doing a Lone Ranger in seven days. And as happens to so many of us, this disaster turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

In the hectic moments as he tries tries to keep all his clients he is tied up by one rather loud and demanding footballer. In the end it is this one man who fills Jerry's client roster. Not to be daunted, Jerry strides out into the land of cubicles and coffee machines and firmly asks who would like to join him in exile.

Of course he is less than overwhelmed by the response. Just as it looks like his only colleague will be a gold fish, a young accounting clerk named Dorothy, who was inspired by Jerry's mission statement, pipes up and falteringly joins the crusade. Unfortunately she has a very young son named Ray and no other means of support. This puts Jerry under a little more pressure than he needed which is well illustrated when, before they even get out of the building's elevator, Dorothy starts enquiring about her health plan.

But in the end Jerry finds a strength he didn't know he had, an empathy he has never needed before, an integrity that used to be a handicap and finally he finds the love of his life. If you dream about finding any of these things in your own life I suggest you could do a lot worse than following Jerry's example.

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