Anchorman- The Legend of Ron Burgundy:
Ron Burgundy and his new crew (Brian Fantana, Brick Tamland, Champion "Champ" Kind) live in 1970's San Diego. They live a glamorous life, being beloved and championed by the citizens, despite their lack of brains, or even common sense. That is, until the beautiful but tough newswoman Veronica Corningstone rolls into town, and begins making Ron's life a living hell. They end up becoming a couple for a bit, but when Veronica tries to co-anchor with Ron, Burgundy decides there's only room for one anchor at his news station. Chaos ensues. Will Ferrell is at his best as the unintelligent, womanizing, alcoholic, and beloved news anchor Ron Burgundy. It's his most popular and iconic character, and for good reason. Burgundy is one of those comedic characters that you both pity but want to be friends with. Paul Rudd, David Koechner (who fills a role originally slated to be played by John C. Reilly), and Steve Carell all do fantastic jobs as Ron's dim-witted group of friends and co-workers (Brian, Brick, and Champ). Carell is one of those characters that doesn't actually do much, but steals the show in nearly every scene he's in because of just how stupid and random he is, similar to the minor character of Johnny (Stephen Stucker) in Airplane! Christina Applegate does a great job as Corningstone, Ron's girlfriend and rival at work. She's probably the most intelligent person in the main cast, even though she can be a bit stupid at times, too. She's the voice of reason in Ron's crazy and almost surreal world, and plays the "straight woman" role in many of the outrageous situations in the movie. Vince Vaughn has a small but very memorable role as Ron's nemesis, and San Diego's #2 news anchor: Wes Mantooth, an insecure and jealous anchor who's very protective of his mother, Dorothy. Fred Willard and Chris Parnell (SNL, Archer) plays Ron's boss Ed Harken and Harken's assistant Garth, respectively. Animal performer "Peanut" plays Ron's intelligent, multi-lingual, and lovable dog Baxter. The movie is also packed with funny cameos, featuring celebrities such as Danny Trejo, Adam McKay (the film's director, who frequently collaborates with Ferrell), Judd Apatow (the director of Superbad and Knocked Up, who served as the film's producer), Jack Black, Paul F. Tompkins, Jay Johnston, Fred Armisen, Tim Robbins, Jimmy Bennett, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, and Missi Pyle. Veteran Chicago news anchor Bill Kurtis provides his vocal talents as the film's narrator. The movie is non-stop jokes, and nearly every scene is comedy gold, almost every line is quotable. It's definitely one of the best comedies ever made. It combines sophomoric, surrealist/absurdist, and violent/dark humor (and a bit of satire) to create something almost everyone can laugh at. The only criticism that I comes to mind is it doesn't have a proper structure, at times, it forgets about the plot and starts to lose focus, but that's barely noticeable because you're laughing so hard, you don't think about it. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a hilarious, well-written, and highly entertaining comedy that gets better the more you watch it. It's one of my favorite comedies of all time, as well as one of my favorite movies in general. 5/5 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)Anchorman 2- The Legend Continues:
I had a chance to catch a pre-screening of this last Tuesday, so here are my thoughts: In 1980's New York, Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone are now anchors as a world-wide news studio. Unfortunately, Ron is fired while Veronica is promoted, causing a rift in their relationship. Ron decides to join up with a brand-new company: GNN (and you can guess what that's a parody of), a world-wide, 24-hour news network. Ron regroups his idiot friends/news team to join him in his quest for better ratings and more respect. Now, although they're a bit older, the news team isn't any less hilarious. Although this film isn't as good as the original (not that that's very shocking), it was surprisingly satisfying and, just like the original, it's joke-after-joke, nonstop. Ferrell, Rudd, Applegate, Carell, and Koechner all return from the first film and are at the top of their game, here. Carell has a slightly larger role than before, but it doesn't take away from the rest of the movie or make it feel like they over-used his character to the point where it got old. Newcomers include Dylan Baker, James Marsden, Kristen Wiig (who plays Chani, Brick's equally strange and stupid love interest), Meagan Goode, Judah Nelson, Greg Kinnear, and Josh Lawson. Fred Willard and Chris Parnell reprise their roles from the previous film, but their characters are heavily downplayed compared to the original. This film, like the first, is packed with funny cameos from celebrities. This time around, the list includes Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Jim Carrey, Marion Cotillard, Vince Vaughn (reappearing as Wes Mantooth from the first movie), Sacha Baron Cohen, Drake, Kirsten Dunst, Tina Fey & Amy Poehler, John C. Reilly (as a ghost), Liam Neeson, and Kanye West. The film revisits many jokes from the original, but unlike The Hangover Part II, it doesn't feel like a cheap rehashing, it feels like they really put some thought into it and cared about fan expectations. They also didn't solely rely on past jokes, and made some great new ones, too. I think it's definitely one of the best sequels ever made, and one of the best comedies of the past few years, as well as one of my favorite films of the year (not to mention it's the funniest movie I've seen this year). Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues definitely lives up to the hype. It may not be quite as great as the original, but it's almost there. 4.5/5 stars.
Note: There is a funny post-credits scene you may want to stick around for.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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