Review: I Love You, Man

Those brilliant Judd Apatow regulars have done it again. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel keep the laughs coming in "I Love You, Man," which follows Rudd's Peter Klaven as he struggles to find a best man.

After proposing to his dream girl, Zooey (Rashida Jones), Peter is on top of the world. But after watching Zooey interact with her tight-knit group of girlfriends, he realizes he has no one to call his best man. Having moved around a lot as a kid and always relating more to women, Peter has never really had a best guy friend.

Determined not to leave Peter without a wedding party, his brother Robbie (Andy Samberg) sets him up on a series of "man-dates." After disastrous outings with Lonnie (Joe Lo Truglio), a man with a dreadful voice crack, and Doug (the hilarious Thomas Lennon), who thinks his "man-date" with Peter is a real date, Peter has almost lost hope.

Then he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), a carefree guy who attends one of Peter's real estate open houses because he wants to meet girls and eat free food. Peter and Sydney are complete opposites, but after striking up a conversation, Peter decides Sydney may just be best man material.

The film follows their developing "bromance" as Sydney coaxes Peter out of his shell and Peter tries to encourage Sydney to take a little more responsibility in his life. The two develop such a strong bond that Peter must figure out how to balance spending time with his new friend and his new fiancee.

The plot is fairly predictable, but John Hamburg and Larry Levin's script is nevertheless refreshing and funny. The jokes are fast and right on target, making for a movie that is both funny and sweet.

Rudd and Segel have great chemistry, which makes their onscreen relationship enjoyable to watch. After strong supporting performances in "The 40-Year-Old-Virgin," "Knocked Up" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," it's nice to see the affable and charming Rudd step into a lead role.

"I Love You, Man" may not be quite on the same level of comedic brilliance as "Virgin," but it's still a feel-good film that offers viewers plenty of laughs. B+

Review: Watchmen

Some skeptical fans of "Watchmen" deemed the complex graphic novel an unfilmable story. But "300" director Zack Snyder has created a near-masterpiece, packing a remarkable amount of the novel's material into a 2-hour-and-41-minute runtime.

The story's plot is hard to describe, but the film communicates it nicely so it is still easily digestible to viewers who aren't familiar with the graphic novel. "Watchmen" takes place in an alternate 1985, one in which the threat of nuclear war is still very real, but the work of costumed vigilantes has changed the outcome of history. Masked heroes first appear as the Minutemen in the 1940s, with a new generation of crime fighters taking over as the Watchmen in the 1960s. But in the 1970s, the public turns on these heroes and the government deems vigilantism illegal, forcing the heroes into retirement.

But the government still recognizes the power of the masked hero and uses two of them for their own purposes: The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a strong and aggressive man with a cynical outlook on humanity, and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), the only Watchman with actual super powers, which he obtained after a freak accident in his physics lab. Thanks to their efforts, the United States won the Vietnam War and by 1985 Richard Nixon is in his fifth term as president.

These particular plot points are seen as flashbacks, but the story's main action kicks off in 1985 when The Comedian is murdered. Rorschach (Jackie Earl Haley), the one Watchman who refuses to live without his mask, believes someone wants to kill the remaining Watchmen and calls on his former colleagues to warn them of his suspicions. Along with the looming threat of nuclear war with Russia, the increasing threats against the Watchmen's lives lead them to something far more life-altering than expected - something that could affect the fate of the entire world.

"Watchmen" is rife with action and political and social commentary, and David Hayter and Alex Tse's screenplay connects it all seamlessly. To get viewers up to speed on the complex story, they insert the history of the the Minutemen, seen in the novel as flashbacks, into a brilliant opening credits sequence.

Zack Snyder's direction is strong overall. It looks as though he has taken frames directly from the graphic novel and brought them to life. The color scheme and slow-motion action shots make for a very visually appealing film. But Snyder's music choices are very hit or miss. Some are extremely effective (Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A'Changin'" during the opening credits, Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" during The Comedian's funeral) while others don't mesh well with the content of the scene (Leonard Cohen's version of "Hallelujah" during a not-so-subtle love scene between Patrick Wilson's Nite Owl II and Malin Akerman's Silk Spectre II).

Some fans of the graphic novel have taken issue with Snyder's slightly-altered ending, but the point of the film's ending is exactly the same as the novel's. It just uses a different means, which actually plays out better onscreen than the novel's conclusion would have.

The performances are strong overall. Crudup and Wilson are solid as Dr. Manhattan and Nite Owl II, while Akerman's delivery is a bit dry at times and the American accent British actor Matthew Goode attempts to give Ozymandias fluctuates so much one can't tell where he's supposed to be from.

But the film really belongs to Morgan and Haley. Haley in particular flawlessly breathes life into Rorschach, arguably the film's most complex character. His black-and-white view of life makes him hard to relate to, but Haley makes him sympathetic all the same.

A story as dark and complex as "Watchmen" is bound to have a few flaws in its transition to the screen. Snyder faced a real challenge with this adaptation, and he has achieved a final product as strong as fans of the novel and new fans alike could hope for. A-

Box office booms despite economic downturn

Businesses across the country have taken a major hit during the past few months because of the declining economy. But while many industries are suffering, Hollywood is staying strong.

According to box office tracking company Media by Numbers, ticket sales are up to $1.7 billion, a 17.5 percent rise from this time last year. While some of this increase can be attributed to higher ticket costs, movie attendance has also risen about 16 percent.

While ticket prices have continued to increase, seeing a movie is still one of the cheaper entertainment options available to consumers, associate professor of communications Michael Frontani said.

“Movie theaters, despite their exorbitant price, are still a relatively cheap night out, certainly cheaper than plane fare to London or Orlando – for that matter, it is cheaper than a meal at McDonald’s,” Frontani said. “People may well feel that they can splurge on a movie once a week or so, particularly if they feel consciously or subconsciously that it is in lieu of a more expensive recreation.”

Steve DeLoach, professor of economics, said he agrees with Frontani’s assessment. According to DeLoach, people may be substituting going to the movies for other forms of entertainment they no longer want to spend money on, like going out to dinner or buying electronics.

“Usually in a bad economy people will stop spending on things that aren’t necessary, “ DeLoach said. “If they used to spend $200 on entertainment, they may try to spend $100.”

According to a recent article in the New York Times, there has been little research about this trend. But the piece does cite a 2002 study from the journal Issues in Political Economy by Elon alumna Michelle Pautz, who graduated in 2003.

In “The Decline in Average Weekly Cinema Attendance,” Pautz said in 1930 about 65 percent of the U.S. population went to the cinema each week. That number dropped to about 40 percent during the Great Depression before peaking back above 60 percent during World War II. But in the 1960s attendance dropped again to about 10 percent and has remained in that range ever since.

“According to (Pautz’s) work, a recession should lead to fewer people going to the movies,” said DeLoach, who mentored Pautz on her research. “So it is a bit odd.”

Frontani said another factor in the recent box office increase could be that people are using the movies as a means of escape from the recent economic turmoil.

“When thinking about escapism, one shouldn’t view it solely as a longing for something better, more fun, more beautiful, et cetera,” Frontani said. “It can also mean the 90 minutes that you sit in a theater watching a film, no matter the content, when you are simply taking a break from the day.”

The kinds of movies that have generated the most box office success in recent months reflect Frontani’s view. The crowd-pleasing “Marley and Me” was a holiday-season sensation with a $141 million gross, the low-budget thriller “Taken” recently crossed the $100 million line and Zack Snyder’s dark and graphic adaptation of “Watchmen” earned $55.4 million in its opening weekend.

While there are many reasons behind this box office resurgence, DeLoach said if a key factor is indeed people using cinema as a substitute for other forms of entertainment, box office revenue will likely go back down once the economy improves.

But according to DeLoach, Hollywood should be able to reap the benefits of the economic downtown for many months to come as it might be awhile before the recession takes a turn.

“If we’re lucky we’ll start seeing some positive signs by the end of the year,” DeLoach said.