Sex Tape

By: Robert Murphy

We've all heard it at one time or another, a woman will say how much she misses the old days when her and her husband were younger and were having sex everywhere, all the time and every which direction. The fact that things slow down when you start a life together happens to everyone and yeah it is a little sad and we all say that it won't happen to us but it ends up happening anyways. That is the basic premise of the movie Sex Tape where a couple, Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay (Jason Segel) have finally begun to figure out the whole family thing and are looking to get the spark back to their love life after it has gone so far south. The thought of seeing Diaz naked would make most anyone jump out of their seats and it most assuredly does for the twos entire family as their exploits of a one night free for all gets leaked to everyone they know. Hoping to avoid the unbearable humiliation the two set out to destroy their ill advised sex tape once and for all before they have to pick up and leave to find a new town where no one knows them. 

Right from the first scene you can tell that Sex Tape is going for a lewdness factor that seems to be popular for Jason Segel when I first saw him in another movie called Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I had thought that Jason though wouldn't ever be seen doing a movie like that again especially after he made his mark in How I Met Your Mother and other various films and the same can be said of Cameron Diaz. For whatever reason the two chose to take part in the movie though and it sad because the whole thing is a one trick pony from the very start. We see a dizzying array of sex scenes based on Diaz and Segel's early college phase when they first met and while I do enjoy the thought of it all, it really wasn't that necessary to show scene after scene after scene of the two humping and Segel being the more naked one as you might expect. This bringing up another point I had to make which is Segel for some reason seemed incredibly scared on screen, naked or clothed he felt like a deer in front of headlights or a kid getting stage fright during a 1st grade talent show. He is noticeably slimmer than he has been in recent years and maybe he felt a little self conscious about himself the whole time, whatever the case it wasn't a shining moment for him through the movie. 

The other half of Sex Tape takes us all on a joy ride (cut out the joy) across the Los Angeles to all of their known friends and family who they must stop from seeing Diaz and Segel from doing the beast with two backs. This part I know should have been just as fun as it sounds but for whatever the reason it just wasn't, the two end up doing ridiculous stunts to get the evidence of their night together back from everyone, burning iPads and the like for no reason what so ever. Which also the entire film seemed to be a giant plug for Apple products as nobody else owned a single other brand for their phones and other electronic devices, it was like subliminal messaging but the kind that smacks you in the face repeatedly over and over. The one stop along the way that I did enjoy happened at the posh mansion of Hank Rosenbaum (Rob Lowe) who wanted to buy the blog that Diaz writes about her family (for some reason). Rob Lowe is famous for having his own sex tape get out a few years ago and the underline humor and chemistry in the situation is just oh so juicy to watch. The scene of Rob and Diaz is more enjoyable than the entirety of the rest of the movie if I'm being honest and it was my one good take away from it.

In conclusion, most of the titillation that you were expecting from Sex Tape gets used up in the first few minutes of the movie. Segel was not on his A game this time around and felt out of place for many of the somewhat raunchy points in the movie, Diaz was doing her part for the sex appeal (even though she is 42 now) but even she felt a little out of place with the whole thing. What I guess hurts the most about the movie though is you kind of already know it's going to be a one trick pony from the start but you hoped that it was the kind of movie that would make it work despite it all. In the end, Sex Tape has about the same appeal that you would get from a celebrity sex tape that has been "leaked" online and that is a dark, confusing image of something you built up too much in your head. 

Good:

- Rob Lowe wins me over again with his on screen chemistry that should have happened between Segel and Diaz 

- Cameron Diaz....the reason behind it is something I'm sure you all know already

Bad:

- A one trick pony joke about sex that never seems to end

- Segel is not at his best at all, not sure why but he felt very nervous the entire time to me

- One big Apple promotion disguised as a movie

- Most of the exploits to retrieve Segel's and Diaz's sex tape were plain ridiculous

Scully Rating: 3.0 out of 10 

This Is the End

By: Robert Murphy

Now I’m going to start this review by saying, I usually don’t go and see a comedy movie in theaters, it’s nothing against comedies, I just get roped into seeing an action or scary movie when I go out but taking one look at “This Is the End” and I was hooked. Seth Rogan and James Franco have been together in a couple of films in recent years and each time I’ve seen them together, it is just pure gold to me and the actors themselves are grade A as well. Joining them in the film is an all-star class of comedy movie characters such as Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride along with other big names that come to James Franco’s home in “This Is the End” for a huge party that they will all be talking about for the rest of their lives……for however long that may be. The party starts out well enough with all these stars playing as themselves like Emma Watson and Rihanna, all supposedly showing what they are all like off the screen, then things go wrong as things begin to erupt and the sky lights up with fire and it’s clear that the end of the days has finally come.

 These guys would not be my pick for an apocalypse team

A big appeal for me in this film right off the get go is the fact that all these stars are playing themselves and I love when a movie does this sort of thing, actors acting about being actors in a movie just tickles me because it makes you question, is this what these people are really like? This also adds to the fact that hey these guys and girls are regular people, they party, and they can be jerks or a bunch of people sitting around talking about life and playing video games in their spare time. This all is erupting in a powder keg of comedy and epicness at James Franco’s party in his incredible bachelor pad I might add and just when you’re starting to enjoy yourself, boop the world comes to end. People are being wrapped up in blue lights and carried off into the sky, being saved and raptured to Heaven while the rest are left panicking and being dragged down into the depths of the Earth in giant holes and so on. It’s all written in that book, you’ve read the book I’m sure, you know that book that’s in every hotel room still, starts with a B…..ahh damn it’ll come to me, anyway all that is going down and it ain’t pretty. Before long all that is left from this party are five guys, Rogan, Baruchel, Franco, Hill and Robinson, the three are left to survive and defend themselves at what this new world that is left after the rapture has brought them and these five comedians are not what you’d call end of the world survival material.

 Emma Watson to the rescue... or not

Now even though the world has collapsed and lawless/chaos are about to become an everyday occurrence, that isn’t even the main part of the story, what “This Is the End” becomes is a sort of “Big Brother” type affair. Each of the five all do hidden confessionals during the film to get what they’re feeling about their whole situation out there for all of us to see and it feels a lot like what you’d expect these comedians to say to each off camera. It is all completely raw and obscene but in the right way that doesn’t overdo it and while it feels all warm and funny, just a bunch of comedians and funny people hanging out together like something right out of the movie “Grown Ups,” there is back stabbing and self-absorption among the stars that takes over. Oh hey right the world ended or something I thought? Often times during the movie I forgot about the fact that it happened because of laughing so hard, “This Is the End” just digs into the personal life of these stars and continues your questions on this being who these people actually are.

 Some “Big Brother” confessionals

“This Is the End” gave me a huge amount of laughs in a dirty/hardcore way that I haven’t laughed at in a while and if anybody were to make it happen again it would be this cast of characters right here. Franco, Rogan, Hill, Baruchel and McBride are all at the top of their games with the laughs just pouring in as it delves into their supposed personal lives and what these guys are actually like outside the big screen…..while being on the big screen at the same time. Also there is a great cast of other famous celebrities included in the film like Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Kevin Heart, Aziz Anasari, Michael Cera and many more and while they’re not part of the movie for long, they make great additions to the film and add to the laughs as well. It was also refreshing to know that some people in Hollywood would actually be raptured up to Heaven and that is heartwarming in a way but then again it was only a few people.

Good:

-Amazing main and supporting cast

-A great level of raunchy and raw laughs

-Makes you question if this is what these people are truly like

Bad:

-There are those too far moments for certain people

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10