Role Models

|Staff Writer

“Role Models” is a film about two slacker guys, Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott), whose jobs are to go from school to school selling an energy drink called Minotaur, which is funny in itself. Danny is sick of his job and his girlfriend is sick of him. One day everything piles up and Danny goes a little crazy, leading both Danny and Wheeler to have a date with the courts. Danny’s girlfriend (played by the wonderful Elizabeth Banks), also Danny’s lawyer, presents them with two options: either spend time in jail, or serve over a hundred hours of community service. They are then set up with a community service program called Sturdy Wings which is a big brother-type program for kids and is run by it’s founder; the hilarious ex-junkie Gayle Sweeny (played by the hilariously painful Jane Lynch). Wheeler is paired up with the foul-mouthed Ronnie who winds up stealing the show, and Danny is paired up with nerdyand genuine Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse of McLovin’ fame). Mintz-Plasse still plays the nerd as he did in “Superbad”, but this movie is a definite step forward from his branded McLovin character. He pulls off the role with charm and sensitivity.

“Role Models” is the product of the brilliantly twisted mind that gave us the near perfect and entirely under-rated “Wet Hot American Summer” in 2001. This is a mind that gives us penis jokes, sex jokes, nerd jokes, awkward jokes and jokes that make you cringe for laughing so hard in the first place. This is the mind of David Wain. Wain is a part of a three-man comedy team with Michael Showalter (“The Baxter”) and Michael Ian Black called Stella, which had a hilarious but cancelled one-season show on Comedy Central. Last year Wain made the very hit-or-miss comedy “The Ten” which stars Paul Rudd, Jessica Alba, and “The OC”‘s Adam Brody, but the film never got much spotlight. Wain’s comedies have never really reached a wide audience and have only seemed to sparkle for his close-knit cult following (including myself) mostly because his style of comedy is so abrasive and crude. “Role Models” is his chance to break that cult following and to reach a wider audience because it is so well crafted and incredibly watchable. This may be thanks to “Role Models”‘ star Paul Rudd. It’s not just that Paul Rudd delivers a fantastic, down-in-the-dumps performance, but because he has writing credits for the gig. Wain and Rudd are long time friends and when Wain presented Rudd with the script, Rudd felt it needed some work and, for the most part, rewrote the screenplay (according to Entertainment Weekly). It seems as though it was for the better. The dialogue is so quick and clever that it has a sharp improvisational feel to it. It also carries some weight by developing strong characters so that by the end of it, you are completely engrossed in the characters’ stories that you want to jump up and cheer for them. Wain also has a small role and delivers possibly one of the funniest lines in the film.

The entire cast shines throughout and this can be attributed to the fact that most in the cast are all good friends, meaning that Wain knows who’s good at what and how to get the best from each cast member. “Role Models” is also enjoyable because the characters are hyper-aware of the absurd situations they find themselves in that they fully embrace them. It is not quite as perfect as “Wet Hot American Summer”, but it’s damn close. Also, if you’ve seen the trailer for this film, be forewarned. The trailer does not do the movie justice by any means. If a movie can make Sean William Scott funny and likeable, it gets my thumbs up.

Grade: A-

Dia de Los Muertos: Dancing with the Dead

Anne Sivley | Foghorn Staff

A dreary Halloween weekend came to a vibrant ending in the Mission district October 24th. Thousands of people congregated at 24th and Bryant to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos (or Day of the Dead for us gringos). The crowd was incredibly eclectic, as people of all cultures and races have embraced the traditional Mexican celebration. Young children and old couples mixed in among beer-toting twentysomethings. Many were dressed in bright, traditional garb with faces painted like Misfit-esque skeletons. Orange marigolds and flickering candles illuminated the motley crowd.

Costumes ranged from the basic black and white face paint to much more intricate attire. Both women and men could be found wearing shimmering headdresses and flowing gowns. A person in a full prosthetic skeleton costume acted out little scenes with the passing crowd. Some toted incense and instruments, while others silently held photographs of those they came to celebrate.

A brief series of speakers took to the small stage around 7:00 pm. The speakers described how the festival has grown from just a few hundred people in the first year to the roughly 15,000 participants in this year’s 26th annual celebration. The crowd was led in a chant facing each cardinal direction, invoking the spirits that we honored. After brief encouragement to vote for Obama and against Prop. 8, the procession took off.

An ensemble of drummers dressed all in white set out the rhythm for the procession. Residents leaned out windows and watched from porches as we made or way down 25th. The crowd took a brief dance break in the middle of South Van Ness, with whistles blaring and maracas shaking. As we rounded the corner of 25th and Mission, past the Mission Cultural center, the procession grew into a sort of latino Lovefest. Walking and dancing, with the borrachos a little more enthusiastic than the rest of us, we truly celebrated the dead.

Our path looped around 24th and ended at Garfield Park. Here, celebrants set up altars for their loved ones. They strung hundreds of prayers to the between trees, with candles and flowers below. The boisterous procession ended relatively solemnly as participants took time to visit the various altars.

The popularity of this lively celebration clearly indicates that traditional Mexican culture is alive and well in San Francisco.

San Francisco’s got MILK

This past Tuesday I made my way down to the Castro for the premier of “Milk”, hoping to spy a celebrity or two and ended up seeing quite a few more.

A relatively low key event (low key for a movie premier that is) the crowd on the street was only a couple hundred strong which just made it easier to catch a glimpse of the likes of Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, James Franco, Diane Lane and Mayor Gavin Newsom just to name a few. I got to talking to the guy standing next to me who happened to be an extra in the movie and he told me that tickets to go inside and watch the premier with the stars evened out somewhere around five grand and included an after party for those who could afford it. If you hadn’t heard about the screening, it’s no surprise. Word is publicity for the film is being kept to a minimum for now but is scheduled to be set into full swing after the presidential election has been decided. So be on the lookout in the next couple of weeks for trailers and ads to start popping up.

For those of you who might not know, “Milk” is a biogaphical film about Harvey Milk, A former New Yorker who moves to San Francisco and becomes the first openly gay elected official in the United States and a gay rights advocate who is later assassinated along with the then Mayor, George Moscone by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White. Many of Harvey Milk’s real life friends and associates were part of the film’s production both on and off camera.

The spectators that were present seemed to fall pretty neatly into two categories: those on the sidewalk across from the theater holding “No on Prop 8” signs and those of us on the sidewalk closest to the red carpet snapping pictures and leaning over the barricades for a better look. I have to really give it up to the political advocates across the street, they were very enthusiastic and were chanting since before I arrived and were still going at it after I left. I’m sure this premier was looking like the perfect opportunity for those anti-Prop 8ers to get out there and voice their opinion in the grand tradition of the city; what with the theme of the movie, the historic location and the vote so near. San Franciscans have never had trouble exercising their right to assemble; we’re a very participatory society, which brings us to the extras in this film.

To be an extra on the set of Milk you pretty much had to sign up online and show up at the right place in the right dress for the period. There was a call for people of all races and genders to come and help recreate the marches that originated in the Castro during the 1970’s. There were no auditions and the website stated “If you sign up you will be used”. It was a nice extra little touch to give people who live in San Francisco now the opportunity to be apart of the retelling and connect with a pivotal part in their hometown’s history.

“Milk” officially hits theaters November 26th. I suggest you go look up the trailer if you have not seen it already, this one looks like it’s going to be a good one.

“SYNECDOCHE [Sih-NECK_doh_kee], NEW YORK”

 

By Sky Madden | Foghorn Staff

Acclaimed screenwriter Charlie Kaufman makes his directorial debut with “Synecdoche, New York”.  It opens in San Francisco tomorrow Friday, Nov. 7th.  Kaufman’s previous works “Being John Malkovich” (1999), “Adapation” (2002) and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004) have asked audiences to let the hand of existentialism come out of the big screen and massage their brains relentlessly.  This time, Kaufman reaches even further into the absurdist abyss with character Caden Cotard in his new script, “Synecdoche, New York.”  Cotard, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is a tired American playwright, frustrated with pluming bills and paranoid of terminal illnesses.  His contentious wife, Adele, played by Catherine Keener bruises Caden’s mental state with her outright detached life philosophy.  Adele understands romantic love to be mere projection and that the more you know someone in this way, the more disappointing they become.  The brutal estrangement of his wife only elevates Caden’s spiraling state as he attempts to finally execute a biographic play–the play that might save him from a life of meaninglessness.

Foghorn Podcast: Interview with Charlie Kaufman

“Synecdoche, New York” was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman and produced by Spike Jonze, Anthony Bregman and Sidney Kimmel.  It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Dianne West and Tom Noonan.

Mr. Charlie Kaufman talks with Sky Madden about scriptwriting theory and his experience with making “Synecdoche” for Foghorn Scene Podcasts.