Zack and Miri Make a Porno

[transmogrifier]

I like Elizabeth Banks, I like Maggie Gyllenhaal, I like Zooey Deschanel, but the slavering that goes on over their attractiveness on the internet is a source of great amusement to me - it's not a million miles away from the elevation of Bette Davis to gay icon in terms of a niche group trying to stake a claim of cultural independence.

They seem like nice, decent, good-looking women. But that's about it.

[number8]

All of you seem to miss the fact that Katie Morgan is in this movie.

That's all I care about.

[Raiders]

I like Elizabeth Banks, I like Maggie Gyllenhaal, I like Zooey Deschanel, but the slavering that goes on over their attractiveness on the internet is a source of great amusement to me - it's not a million miles away from the elevation of Bette Davis to gay icon in terms of a niche group trying to stake a claim of cultural independence.

They seem like nice, decent, good-looking women. But that's about it.

Well, for my part, I do the same thing to beautiful women I know as well.

[megladon8]

I like that Elizabeth Banks looks really nice naturally.

She doesn't need pounds of make-up caked on her face to look like a pretty woman, and she doesn't have the "blonde bimbo" thing going on either.

She's a pretty, classy lady. And she seems to be a pretty good actress, though I'd be interested to see her do a wider variety of projects. Perhaps tackle something a little more dramatic.

[number8]

Kevin Smith's best movie.

There. I guess I said it. It was really easy to say, though.

[Ezee E]

Kevin Smith's best movie.

There. I guess I said it. It was really easy to say, though.

Considering this is the first movie of his I'm actually wanting to see, I can only assume the statement is true.

[Ezee E]

Disappointing.

While it's obvious to know where the movie will head in the end, why does it do so in such a horrible way? The movie starts off solid, and Elizabeth Banks/Seth Rogen do a fine job with their characters. Justin Long is the highlight of the so-so supporting characters, while Craig Robinson is just an extended role from everything we've seen him in thus far. The laughs work, and we don't get any extended talks about movies. Instead, that's reserved for creative porno titles.

It all leads up to what I think should've just been the final scene of the movie. I'll spoiler the rest. [

Show Spoiler

Yes, they make love. We all knew it would happen. It's done in a good way too. A satisfying end. Instead, we have fifteen minutes of them having to realize that they were in love with each other all along, and there had to be a little conflict along the way. And when it finally does work out, one more curveball is thrown, and it's basically the same scene we saw before, only reversed. Eyerolling.

]

And that scene just made it much worse in my mind.

Rogen is at his best here, limited to actually following a script. Elizabeth Banks continues to show that she'll probably be one of the more sought after actresses in a few years.

[trotchky]

Kind of loved this, actually. It's Kevin Smith's best movie since, at least, Chasing Amy! Kevin, I'm considering this a formal apology for Clerks 2; thank you.

[Watashi]

Never again, Kevin Smith. Never again.

[Ezee E]

Yeah, I'm dropping my score even lower now after thinking about it over a day.

[number8]

Kind of loved this, actually. It's Kevin Smith's best movie since, at least, Chasing Amy! Kevin, I'm considering this a formal apology for Clerks 2; thank you.

Pretty much.

[Pop Trash]

Watched it last night. It was pretty good. I'd give it a generous 7/10 (or "good" on my scale) but again I feel like I'm being generous since I like Smith's blue collar P.O.V. It was fairly predictable to the point of being "When Harry and Sally Made a Porno" as far as the plot went. I do think Seth Roegan was more unlikeable and assholish than in any other movie I've seen him in, at least until Smith magically made him cuddly in the third act. Smith did create a good sense of working class people struggling with bills, the power being turned off, etc. and a nice use of Pittsburgh in the Winter seeming like a desolate tundra. The jokes are hit or miss here but the audience I saw it with seemed to be roaring, especially at the:

[

Show Spoiler

anal sex to shit all over the guy from Clerks joke. I chuckled at it but the dude in the audience in front of me practically gave that gag a standing ovation.

]

Overall not bad, but it kind of squanders its good premise. You kind of feel the movie could do more with it. Hell, I almost think Roegan himself might have written a better film with that premise. He's become just as good of a comedic screenwriter as Smith at this point. I think Smith is still spinning his wheels as a filmmaker, much like a lot of Woody Allen's and Wes Anderson's output, they still do good work but you feel like they need to get out of their safe zones and really try something new the way the Coens and PT Anderson did last year with No Country and TWB Blood.

[Winston*]

Pretty much.

I thought you liked Clerks II?

[number8]

I thought you liked Clerks II?

...No?

[Watashi]

The shit joke is one of the stupidest scenes of the year. It's not gross or funny. It's just pointlessly juvenile. Only Kevin Smith fans would laugh at something like that.

[trotchky]

I dunno man, I don't think I'd agree that it's pointless--it was sort of meant to top off the scene, or be a scatological representation of how low their situation had gotten; like the donkey scene in Clerks 2 but so, so much shorter, thank god. It's also a lot less juvenile than the donkey scene for that reason--whereas that reveled in its own (faux) transgressiveness for as long as possible, this was as blunt and frank as the rest of the film's gags. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Kevin Smith deals with grotesque things that are right in front of our faces, which is why his shit works when he doesn't try to be a showman and cheat the audience.

[Amnesiac]

Hm. "Scatological representation". I'll remember that one if I'm ever in a position where I feel compelled to justify a film's toilet humor. :P

Haven't seen the film yet. Really want to but, unfortunately, I haven't managed to take a trip down to the theater to see this (or Pride and Glory, W.. Religulous, Passchendale) yet. Good to hear some positive feedback, though.

[balmakboor]

Well, I'm not much of a Kevin Smith fan really, but my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Zack and Miri, even the shit scene. I'd say it is my second favorite out of four Smith films I've liked:

1. Chasing Amy
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
3. Clerks
4. Dogma

I found it a surprisingly romantic and old-fashioned movie. It has a lot of raunchy dialog and nudity and scenes like the shit scene and the one in the hallway between Zack and Lester, which saved the ending from otherwise being too sugary sweet.

It actually felt nostalgic and reactionary in its depiction of porn in 70s/early 80s plot-based terms. Everything from the use of Star Wars characters to the 70s music playing on the boombox to the use of Traci Lords seemed like a throwback to a happier time for porn. I imagine Smith has similarly nostalgic feelings for the porn he grew up with to those that P.T. Anderson expressed in Boogie Nights. Zack and Miri has the same sort of porn-production-as-happy-family-making-wholesome-couples-product that Anderson's film had before it turned dark. Oddly though, two of the markers that indicated the darkening of porn in Anderson's film -- video and anal -- are gleefully incorporated here. Zack and Miri thus plays like how Smith wishes the second half of Boogie Nights had played out in real life.

[Pop Trash]

Well, I'm not much of a Kevin Smith fan really, but my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Zack and Miri, even the shit scene. I'd say it is my second favorite out of four Smith films I've liked:

1. Chasing Amy
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
3. Clerks
4. Dogma

I found it a surprisingly romantic and old-fashioned movie. It has a lot of raunchy dialog and nudity and scenes like the shit scene and the one in the hallway between Zack and Lester, which saved the ending from otherwise being too sugary sweet.

It actually felt nostalgic and reactionary in its depiction of porn in 70s/early 80s plot-based terms. Everything from the use of Star Wars characters to the 70s music playing on the boombox to the use of Traci Lords seemed like a throwback to a happier time for porn. I imagine Smith has similarly nostalgic feelings for the porn he grew up with to those that P.T. Anderson expressed in Boogie Nights. Zack and Miri has the same sort of porn-production-as-happy-family-making-wholesome-couples-product that Anderson's film had before it turned dark. Oddly though, two of the markers that indicated the darkening of porn in Anderson's film -- video and anal -- are gleefully incorporated here. Zack and Miri thus plays like how Smith wishes the second half of Boogie Nights had played out in real life.

Before the hyperbole gets out of control here...Zack and Miri (which again, I liked, more or less) is no Boogie Nights.

[Watashi]

It's like we're connected...

[Ezee E]

It's like we're connected...

Well said Chaw. You're horrible at writing, but you got it right here.

[balmakboor]

Before the hyperbole gets out of control here...Zack and Miri (which again, I liked, more or less) is no Boogie Nights.

Well, I think Boogie Nights has its problems too. But I didn't say Zack and Miri is a Boogie Nights. I said Smith and Anderson seem to have a similar nostalgia for 70s/early 80s porn. Hell, so do I for that matter.

[balmakboor]

Well said Chaw. You're horrible at writing, but you got it right here.

I've never read Chaw before -- despite all the talk about him around here. But, if that review is any indication, you're right. He is one horrible writer.

[Ezee E]

I've never read Chaw before -- despite all the talk about him around here. But, if that review is any indication, you're right. He is one horrible writer.

And that's not even him at his loudest.

[megladon8]

So this may be a stupid question, but what's the nudity level like in this movie?

I just want to know who it is and isn't safe/comfortable to see it with.