Surprised there isn't a thread on this already.

I'm looking more and more forward to it the more I hear about it. There was an interview with Judd Apatow on Fresh Air the other night and at one point he talked about how he had lived with Adam Sandler when they were both first starting out as comedians in LA. And apparently there is some footage of Sandler from that time in the movie.

Also, they apparently wrote and performed full comedic sets for Sandler as well as Aziz Ansari's character (maybe others) to get realistic performance footage for the movie. Sandler apparently had a 50 minute set by the end of the whole process. And they filmed these gigs and used the best parts during the movie.

Which brings me to why I posted this thread to begin with. My favorite part is the marketing they're doing for the show (and specifically RAAAAAAAANDY):

http://www.laughyourdickoff.com/

there are others as well for other characters:
http://www.nbc.com/yo-teach/
http://www.george-simmons.com/

they've really taken a lot of extra time to make all sorts of content that isn't in the movie at all.

anyway. it opens on July 31

7/24/2009 7:51:33 AM

Comedy Central is doing a special tonight that shows the stand up bits they recorded.

7/24/2009 8:19:37 AM

Leslie Mann is pretty funny - http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=25380

7/24/2009 11:00:23 AM

can't wait for this flick!

7/24/2009 11:42:54 AM

just heard a Fresh Air interview with Judd Apatow. Turns out he and Adam Sandler were roommates in the late 80s in LA, when Sandler was doing stand-up and getting onto MTV and stuff.

Apparently the movie starts with a happy, ~20 year old Sandler making prank phone calls (before cutting to a 40-something, rich and depressed Sandler), which was an actual video that Apatow shot 20 years ago when they lived together.

7/24/2009 3:17:42 PM

it's ok. you don't have to read the first post.

Quote :

"There was an interview with Judd Apatow on Fresh Air the other night and at one point he talked about how he had lived with Adam Sandler when they were both first starting out as comedians in LA. And apparently there is some footage of Sandler from that time in the movie."

[Edited on July 24, 2009 at 5:58 PM. Reason : haha.]

7/24/2009 5:58:33 PM

I saw "Yo Teach!" on AICN. It's fantastic.

[Edited on July 24, 2009 at 6:05 PM. Reason : yo! mtv raps]

7/24/2009 6:04:35 PM

it's raaaaaaaandy

[Edited on July 24, 2009 at 6:09 PM. Reason : with 8 a's]

7/24/2009 6:09:36 PM

It's also important for ActionPants to note that the music in "Yo Teach!" is almost exactly the same as the music in "My Brother & Me."

7/24/2009 6:17:13 PM

i KNEW i recognized that beat.

7/24/2009 6:26:10 PM

The special for this movie on HBO on demand was hilarious, I was curious what this movie was all about.

7/26/2009 4:14:04 AM

where the hell is that yo teach classroom from, i've seen it before

7/26/2009 9:17:02 AM

welcome back kotter?

7/26/2009 3:15:35 PM

^8 haha, i think about that every time i hear someone talk about this movie

7/28/2009 9:54:10 PM

i would go see this, but i know i'm probably gonna see some superfluous scene where seth rogen smokes pot and also talks about how he's a jew at some point. and i've already seen the preview where he's wearing a superman shirt with the star of david around it.

7/28/2009 10:16:11 PM

I love that the second half of the RAAAAAAAANDY documentary is four minutes long and effectively skewers Dane Cook, Dat Phan, Ned Holness, AND Bobby Lee.

7/28/2009 10:25:07 PM

I only like narcissism from Woody Allen, so I'm sorta ambivalent about this movie.

7/28/2009 10:27:43 PM

a randy movie?
http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=27697

7/28/2009 10:40:09 PM

definitely funny

dragged a bit about 2/3 through

but definitely funny!

7/31/2009 10:57:42 PM

really funny

was there anything after the credits?

8/1/2009 12:46:12 AM

This movie was terrible.

8/1/2009 1:05:37 AM

It was pretty good. More drama than comedy though, and that probably turned a lot of people off. I actually saw two couples leave about halfway through the movie.

8/1/2009 11:33:38 AM

good, but too long.

8/1/2009 12:01:20 PM

I didn't like this at all. Didn't really think it was that funny and I felt like Adam Sandler's character was a jerk so didn't really care if he got back together with his ex.

8/1/2009 5:34:56 PM

^that is what you were supposed to think...you are mad b/c you thought what the writers wanted you to think??

and this movie was hilarious

it isnt a Superbad, but it isnt supposed to be

8/1/2009 6:17:22 PM

It was good till they made the trek up to SF

then it draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagged on

8/1/2009 7:18:42 PM

I thought it was a good movie. I don't mind the lenght, shit I paid $9 for the ticket it doesn't hurt my feelings when a movie is 15-30min longer than normal.

I think Adam Sandler is a pretty good actor/comedian. He plays the part of a dickhead in this movie, but he does it well.

I was dissapointed they didn't have more scenes with the Bo Burnham kid. He will probably get his Judd Apatow movie next.

8/1/2009 7:32:40 PM

^ Indeed he is. Some sort of "High School Musical" spoof.

[Edited on August 1, 2009 at 7:49 PM. Reason : ...]

8/1/2009 7:48:52 PM

looking forward to seeing this

8/1/2009 9:14:03 PM

Quote :

"it isnt a Superbad, but it isnt supposed to be "

IT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE A MEDIOCRE FILM? I'M GLAD.

8/1/2009 9:22:14 PM

oh yeah I almost forgot... The Eminem cameo was hilarious. I thought that is when the movie peeked.

8/1/2009 9:59:20 PM

The movie was over two hours of meandering skits, that only fit together with contrived situations, that ultimately had no message. If it had a message it was so hollow as not to really matter. While there were funny parts, and I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie, I left wondering if there was actually a point to it.

8/2/2009 1:30:28 AM

Some of the previews looked funny, and some of the comedians are decent, but I just can't bring myself to watch Adam Sandler stuff any more.

8/2/2009 2:49:29 AM

yeah, punch-drunk love is a piece of shit

8/2/2009 3:28:29 AM

CarZin nailed it. It just didn't have a good point to tell in the end. It seemed like the third act existed only so Judd could give his family some screen time. And, in my opinion, Leslie Mann is annoying as fuck in everything she does. I've been a big fan of Apatow's work for the most part, but I'm going to call this one as I see it: unfocused and bloated. Between this and Year One, not his best summer.

8/2/2009 8:24:23 AM

I thought it was decent. Although the most I laughed was at the home video scenes at the beginning of the movie. I doubt Ill buy the dvd, but ill watch it again on HBO when it comes out.

I agree with it draggin when he went to his ex's house. And the ending seemed like they ran out of ideas and just wrapped it up.

8/2/2009 10:41:20 AM

IF you say the movie didnt have a message I would say you missed the point. As I saw it, the whole point was to show that there isn't some cutesy message in the end about finding value in life and being good to people. Every characters narrative basically shows that there are no easy answers, long lost loves, do overs, or truly happy endings; it's just everyone doing the best they can with what they have.

8/2/2009 5:01:25 PM

so you people are saying it was too long? wow. i never would've guessed that after watching the 40 year old virgin and knocked up...

8/2/2009 6:36:02 PM

Loved this movie. Saw a special on comedy central about how all the actors were forced to do stand-up just to get the overall feel of what it's like. Loved Rogen's character. Perfect foil for Sandler's character.

And the cameos were fantastic.

8/2/2009 7:38:45 PM

Quote :

"so you people are saying it was too long? wow. i never would've guessed that after watching the 40 year old virgin and knocked up..."

people on here say that about any movie... if it goes 1 minute over 90 minutes, it's epically too long for them- if that is the main complaint I hear on here, I plan on enjoying the movie and it being a completely acceptable length

8/3/2009 7:25:34 AM

i was a caller on 101.5 this morning with my review

8/3/2009 8:38:16 AM

^^I still don't understand why people don't check the running time before going to see a movie.

It's the first thing my friends and I do when planning a movie night. And none of us mind long movies, I love them, but it allows us to plan ahead...snacks, drinks, after plans, etc.

8/3/2009 8:52:16 AM

Quote :

"IF you say the movie didnt have a message I would say you missed the point. As I saw it, the whole point was to show that there isn't some cutesy message in the end about finding value in life and being good to people. Every characters narrative basically shows that there are no easy answers, long lost loves, do overs, or truly happy endings; it's just everyone doing the best they can with what they have."

I didn't need to sit in a theater, nor I imagine must of us do, to know that life generally sucks, and life doesn't end like a typical movie. If thats the case, then this was essentially a 2.5 hour reality show. The characters don't advance from the beginning of the show to the end, and the story that is told really isnt very interesting. I'll give Apatow a pass, however, as he has made me laugh a lot in the past.

8/3/2009 10:55:06 AM

^so those are the only two options huh? 5 part story telling and standardized character arcs or reality TV? Pardon the condescending tone but I really think you're missing something.

8/3/2009 1:30:54 PM

Yeah, I know Apatow's thoughts are so deep and profound, that I missed them through the also profound Sandler and Co. This film isnt deep. Its as shallow as it comes. But thats just my opinion...

8/3/2009 3:26:58 PM

Haters gonna hate.

I think CarZin might hate Funny People for the same reason that I hate Closer, which is that essentially none of the characters are people you'd want to know.

They're both great films, but you need some way to relate to these at least some of these unlikable characters or the film isn't going to grab you. Closer didn't grab me, but as a former comedy performer, Funny People did.

Keep in mind that I'm not saying that you have to relate to characters in a film to make it work, just that it can help when you're dealing with material that doesn't intrinsically endear itself to the audience.

8/3/2009 5:47:26 PM

Quote :

"people on here say that about any movie... if it goes 1 minute over 90 minutes, it's epically too long for them- if that is the main complaint I hear on here, I plan on enjoying the movie and it being a completely acceptable length"

i don't have a problem with long movies. there are a lot of movies i enjoy that are 2.5-3 hours long. i do generally have a problem with comedies that run at 2+ hours. it's just too damn long. i can think of very few things that are funny for that long unless it's one of dave chapelle's absurdly long stand ups. and both the 40 year old virgin and knocked up dragged horribly in my opinion and couldn't be shortened to more reasonable amounts of time. and then when they come out on dvd you have to get this unrated shit with added scenes, so it takes even longer to sit through the movie than it did in the first place.

8/3/2009 6:24:31 PM

Funny People is not a true comedy movie.

Its a Drama about funny people (comedians) which just happens to have funny parts. Its not supposed to be all funny for 2.5 hrs.

8/4/2009 12:28:40 AM

so in a way kinda like big daddy or 50 first dates?

8/4/2009 1:16:38 AM

^^ yea exactly which made the title and the commercials misleading.

like naming a movie psycho killer and the movie being about charles mansons knitting hobby...

still thought it was ok overall but wanted a bit more funny, since the name was funny people.

8/4/2009 1:33:01 AM