Susan Hated Literature

Sep 29 2006

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Published by Fence under Moving Pictures, Sport

Dir: Adam McKay
Writ: Will Ferrell & Adam Mckay

Will Ferrell - Ricky Bobby
John C. Reilly - Cal Naughton, Jr.
Gary Cole - Reese Bobby
Sacha Baron Cohen - Jean Girrard

Ricky Bobby, born in a speeding car, wants nothing more out of life than to go fast. That, and win. Because if you aren’t first, you’re last. As his daddy told him the one time he turned up in his life. And as a winning NASCAR driver he seems to have a pretty good life. He wins, has plenty of money, two obnoxious kids with the genius names of Walker, and Texas Ranger, a beautiful wife, and the ability to go fast all he wants.

But then things begin to go wrong, as Jean Girrad, an F1 driver turns up on the circut. Ricky crashes his car, and all of a sudden begins to feel the fear. He loses his drive, his wife, his desire to go fast. And its all fun and games when his father shows up trying to help him out, in his own drunken bum with a heart of stone way.

Overall it is an entertaining enough film, with a fair few laughs, but it isn’t the genius that was Anchorman and a few of the laughs fall flat. Still, worth watching if you’ve nothing better to do.

Tags: 7 Stars, Adam McKay, car-racing, comedy, Gary Cole, John C. Reilly, NASCAR, Sacha Baron Cohen, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Will Ferrell

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Jul 13 2006

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Published by Fence under Moving Pictures

Dir: Justin Lin
Writ: Chris Morgan

Lucas Black - Sean Boswell
Nathalie Kelley - Neela
Bow Wow - Twinkie
Sung Kang - Han
Brian Tee - D.K

Car go fast. Car go bang. And look, pretty girls in short skirts.

Come on, that’s all you were expecting right? I mean, yes I enjoyed the first film, way back when. But it was nonsense. I avoided the second because I was afraid of a [tag]Paul Walker[/tag] overdose. But I’ve been a fan of Lucas Black’s since those American Gothic days, and I figured some mindless entertainment might be fun.

And it was.

Although the plot makes no sense, it is all just an excuse for the cars to drift. And yes, drifting is cool, I thought so when I saw it last year on Top Gear and I still think so. But 104 minutes of drifting is slightly too much. Still, cars go fast. And cars go bang. So its all good. Can’t say as I was impressed by the pretty girls though.

And in the end Show Spoilers ▼

There is one bit that deserves praise though. I thought the action sequences were very well shot. All the directing in fact was great. Everything looked just as it should, although Black is too old to be playing a school kid. But Diesel was too old to play his role in first film, so maybe they are just sticking with tradition.

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