We kick off the countdown of the greatest comedies in recent years at number 5 with..

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Seth Rogen as Ben Stone
Katherine Heigl as Alison Scott
Paul Rudd as Pete
Leslie Mann as Debbie

Plot: A night of hooking up turns into a world of problems for Alison(Katherine Heigl) and Ben(Seth Rogen)

Review: Knocked Up serves as both a great, funny movie and a cautionary tale. No matter what guys, wear a condom unless you're looking for and can accept the consequences.

That was a word from our sponsers, back to the review.

Another Judd Apatow comedy masterpiece is what Knocked up is. Nothing too outrageous really happens but it doesn't have to. Apatow takes a simple aspect that probably happens a lot and just shows the really funny side to it, no biggy.

I personally am not a huge fan of Seth Rogen's comedic style but if you want to see him at his best, look no further. Sure, Pineapple Express is a close 2nd and a great performance from Rogen, Knocked Up really puts him on the map. He provides some great memorable moments with his quick comebacks and rambling through his arguments.

You have Katherine Heigl, who kind of comes off exactly the way she may be outside of acting. A real bitch. Of course in this situation, it's fitting. Who wouldn't be a bitch after finding out she is pregnant after a night of, too much, fun.

You're secondary characters are some of the better ones i've seen in years. Paul Rudd IS a personal favorite of mine and brings some great scenes to the movie. From the trip to Las Vegas with Rogen, to getting caught in a fantasy baseball league before getting mistakenly accused of cheating on his wife. Which brings me to Leslie Mann. Without her, the movie sort of dies a bit. She makes Rudd's character both funnier and deeper, while also making Heigls' character a little more likable. It doesn't hurt that she is also pretty hilarious herself. Alongside Rudd and Mann is small roles from the likes of Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel along with a cameo from Harold Ramis.

The reason this movie is my number 5 comedy on the list of best comedies in recent years is because it's a comedy with some insight. It has a bit more substance to it, while still delivering a ton of laughs and you don't get those kind of comedies much anymore.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Due Date Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. as Peter Highman
Zach Galifinakis as Ethan Chase
Michelle Monaghan as Sarah Highman
Jamie Foxx as Darryl

Review: Going into the movie I expected Due Date to be the comedy of the year. It has some stiff competition in MacGruber and The Other Guys but I thought it could beat both of them. Was I right?

Not entirely.

I didn’t find a lot wrong with it. I don’t want anyone to think this is a negative review, cause Due Date is a funny movie with funny people.

Robert Downey Jr. continues his resurgence and has shown that he is as versatile an actor as they come. He can do action flicks if need be and he can do comedy flicks if he so chooses to. Zach Galifinakis is slowly but surely becoming the funniest man on the face of the earth. He’s got a good balance of outrageousness and subtlety in his comedy that it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t find him out right hilarious.

The story is both a funny and believable one, though in comedy the story doesn’t have to be exactly moving. Peter, played by Downey Jr., is expecting his first child. He is all the way across the country in Georgia while his wife is in California. In boarding a plane to go back to California, he meets Ethan, played by Galifinakis. Through a series of arguments, Ethan gets both him and Peter thrown off the plane on the no fly list, leading to a cross country adventure between the two to get back to California.

The funny, memorable moments are there and they are good, just like they should be in any good comedy movie. But when you throw together Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifinakis, you really do expect comedy of the year and that is a high expectation to live up to. Because it is so high, it becomes extremely difficult to reach it. Nonetheless, Due Date is still hilarious and both Downey Jr. and Galifinakis give great performances.

One thing I liked other than the comedy, was the connection between Downey Jr. and Galifinakis. They’re definitely the best duo in a movie in quite some time. They had this bromance, to stay current with the times, that really showed and made things even funnier. My only problem with this bromance is that Downey Jr. never really acknowledges how much of a friend Galifinakis is to him, only when he was high. It could have worked better if both acknowledged their friendship with each other, much like they did in I Love You, Man.

All in all, Due Date is hilarious and a great movie. November still starts strong, not with the comedy of the year but definitely the rightful owner of the 2nd best comedy of the year.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Spot News: James Bond, eventually returning to the movies.

By: Robert Acosta

I've never been a huge fan of the James Bond movie series, only partly because I have not viewed all of them in full. Only from Goldeneye on, which is like maybe 5 films out of the illustrious career that James Bond continues to have.

With all that said, the next James Bond movie was thought to be well off into the future or non existent. With MGM filing for bankruptcy and being in some major trouble, you wouldn't expect a Bond movie anytime soon. Hold your horses now.

There is a lot of law, money and business mumbo jumbo so i'll explain it simply, which is how I understood it. MGM was granted extra time to pull itself out of debt, all of the while being given money to continue their daily agenda.

Now James Bond movies fit into this because MGM produces those movies and now, seemingly, will have the money to continue his legacy.

The next James Bond movie is to be Bond 23 and could be released sometime in the 2012, looking more towards the 2nd half of the year. A road block that may stall this project is Daniel Craig and his popularity. He is scheduled to shoot and promote 3 films that he's in between now and Bond 23. Will he even make it to Bond 23?!

Source: Bloomberg

The Spot News: Uncle Ben, Aunt May join Spidey

By: Robert Acosta

I love superhero movie news, I love reporting it just as much. Let's keep it professional here.

So little by little, the Spider-man reboot is coming together. I mean most, if not all of the important parts have been cast but hey, they're are still some intricate parts to cast.

Like the roles of Uncle Ben and Aunt May for example. Well both of them have been cast. Uncle Ben went to a member of the Sheen family. And no, not the crazy one but the award winning one. Martin Sheen has been cast as Uncle Ben.

As for Aunty May, actress Sally Fields, also award winning, has been cast.

What is there left to do? Oh yeah, film the thing and put it together. Fingers crossed.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Nacho Libre Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Jack Black as Ignacio/Nacho
Ana de la Reguera as Encarnacion
Hector Jimenez as Steven/Esqueleto

Plot: A monk, Jack Black, decides to follow his dream of becoming a luchador(wrestler) even against his religion.

Review: I gotta say, Jack Black has a lot of different, crazy roles. Although he's viewed as just this crazy, out of his mind guy, Nacho is probably his most sane character yet. His character just wants to follow his dreams while helping others along the way. You have to admit, that's probably the most realistic role he's played.

Not only is it a realistic role, but Black is a pretty funny hispanic man. He's got the accent and all the mannerisms down, the dialogue is pretty hilarious. I think he played being a hispanic monk better than any spanish actor could and that's saying something.

His partner in crime, Esqueleto played by Hector Jimenez, is equally hilarious and makes this movie even better. Black being hilarious on his own would have made this a ok/good comedy but it would just be like all his other past movies before Nacho Libre. With Jimenez' character being a trustworthy but still hesitant sidekick, it makes this movie  a great comedy.

I found myself remembering more funny parts in this movie than most other comedies in the past. Maybe because I am hispanic and I can "relate" to this in a sense. Nonetheless, behind Anchorman, maybe even ahead of Anchorman, this is one hell of a quotable movie.

Some may find the comedy to not be funny at all, possibly because they are not hispanic and don't really understand any of it. Just look at it as Jack Black being goofy again.

Overall, this is a great comedy, worth watching alone or with a group of people, however you enjoy your movies. Nonetheless, you'll enjoy this one entirely.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Vince Vaughn as Peter La Fleur
Ben Stiller as White Goodman
Christine Taylor as Kate Veatch
Rip Torn as Patches O'Houlihan

Plot: In order to save his gym, Peter must form a dodgeball team and win first place.

Review: Ahhh dodgeball. All the memories from high school of throwing around a rubber ball, trying to knock somebody out. Good times.

The 2004 movie Dodgeball definitely brought back that nostalgia and comedy along the way.

The story revolves around Peter and finding a way to save his dead beat gym. He is talked into joining a dodgeball tournament with a team to try and win $50,000 to save his gym.

Vince Vaughn is a pretty funny guy and this was one of his first actual funny roles. Vaughn is over looked in comedy sometimes due to some of the hard hitters in this genre like Steve Carell, Zach Galifinakis, Seth Rogen and many others.

Throw in Ben Stiller, who unfortunately looks to be getting less relevant and funny now. Luckily, he does have some funny scenes in here and his decline doesn't really start here. His role as White Goodman, rival gym owner to Peter, gives us some quotable moments like "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood."

Also, Stiller's beautiful wife Christine Taylor is in the movie and has her moments. You can't go wrong with her in the movie.

The dodgeball is actually funny to watch too, which adds to the movie. If the dodgeball sucked but the comedy was still ok, than the movie would have just been ok, or less. But because dodgeball was actually both good and funny to watch, the movie gets a huge bump in rating.

Overall, dodgeball is no 40 year old virgin and won't leaving you laughing for most of the time. The comedy is still there, still quotable and serviceable enough that is worth a watch.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

DVD Releases November 2nd

By: Robert Acosta

November has always been a good month for DVDs and movies in general. The holiday season is starting, if it hasn't already, so good DVDs will be in stock from now on.

Let's take a look at this weeks DVD releases:
NOTE: Bold means DVD is also available in Blu-ray

• Toy Story 3
• Toy Story Trilogy
• Centurion
• The Goonies
• The Pacific 
• V (Season 1)
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• The Wiz(Blu-Ray only)
• Nip/Tuck(Full Series)
• Beverly Hills 90210(The Final Season)
• Beverly Hills 90201(Full Series)

My picks for this week are probably going to be obvious choices but why not?

Toy Story was one of the better animated movies of the year and definitely one of the most anticipated movies of the year and it delivered. If you pick up the DVD, Blu-ray combo, you get 4 discs that include three studio stories, and a bonus feature look at the cast of Toy Story 3 all for about $25. Good deal.

Of course if you have none of the Toy Story movies, now would be a good time to pick up the Toy Story trilogy set. You get all 3 movies, 10 discs, for around $65. You definitely get your moneys worth with tons of bonus features, previews, studio stories and more.

For you TV lovers, the Nip Tuck series is on DVD in full. The box set is a bit pricy at around $135 dollars but you get a lot. All 6 seasons on 35 discs(!), all 100 episodes. Think about it, 100 episodes for 135 dollars, that's $1.35 per episode. That's much better than iTunes or any other distributor.

Next week will bring lots of good DVDs that you'll want to pick up for you or as gifts for others so check back to The Movie Spot!

Anchorman Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy
Christian Applegate as Veronica Corningstone
Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana
Steve Carell as Brick Tamland

Plot: Ron Burgundy is the best newscaster of his time when a woman, Veronica Corningstone, becomes his partner and questions his top spot.

Review: Anchorman is one of most quotable comedies of all time. All of them are just ridiculously hilarious quotes. From "60 percent of the time it works all the time." to "The bears can smell the menstruation" and of course the classic "You stay classy San Diego."

I don't know if Will Ferrell is going to have a role define him more than his Ron Burgundy character. Maybe his George W. Bush impersonation will be mentioned but when you hear Will Ferrell's name, you're gonna hear Ron Burgundy right after it. He really does own the role, become the role and it's great to watch. The movie isn't half as funny without him as Burgundy.

The supporting cast is great and tremendously hilarious. Throw in Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, David Koechner and small cameos from Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and you have a great array of funny scenes.

The chemistry between the 4 male newscasters(Ferrell, Rudd, Carell and Koechner) is phenomenal. Another strong part of the comedy and without it, the movie becomes extremely unsuccessful. They all bounce off each other really well. Burgundy is the man, the king of the world. Brian Fantana, played by the awesome Paul Rudd, is like this wing man in all of it. Brick Tamland, played by Steve Carell, plays the retard who blurts out random stuff at great times. Finally, Champ Kind, played by David Koechner, is the veteran sports newscaster and is Burgundy's left hand man.

Probably the funniest scene, or close to it because it's hard to pick the funniest one, is the huge newscasting fight where all the channels news teams create a huge fight. Mayhem ensues, people lose limbs, someone gets a trident, it's fantastic!

Does the movie lose it's rating because of all the great comedies that have come along since Anchorman? It's hard to say. Anchorman is still hilarious without comparing it to anything and is worth watching again and again.

Rating: 4 out of 5

40 Year Old Virgin Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Steve Carell as Andy
Catherine Keener as Trish
Paul Rudd as David
Seth Rogen as Cal

Plot: When he tells his co-workers that he is still a virgin, Andy, and his friends, look to change that.

Review: This is the movie that started it all. Or so I think it started it all. All those hilarious comedies made by producer/writer/director Judd Apatow that stars guys like Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, Jonah Hill and many more.

In the movie we have Andy, now 40, struggling with his love life. He's a virgin and every time he has tried to change that, something bad always happens. Something bad always hilariously happens I should say. He tells his co-workers that he is a virgin and that's where everything goes down hill for Andy and up hill for the audience.

Some of the best comedic moments in the last decade or two have happened in The 40 Year Old Virgin. The waxing of the chest scene, Andy reliving his sexual moments, Andy simply going to work. All of it was just down right hilarious.

It's not just Carell who was hilarious though. Paul Rudd is funny with his witty remarks, Seth Rogen with his unhelpful advice and Romany Malco as Jay always leads Carells character into sticky situations. It's a good blend of comedy that isn't coming from just Carell.

This movie definitely helped catapult some of these actors careers. Sure, The Office was great for Steve Carell but this movie pushed him into stardom. Paul Rudd was doing movie for years before this, more than a decade but his push came from this movie. Seth Rogen may have benefited the most from this movie cause he's gotten lead roles in many movies after this one.

If you're looking for a good time, a good comedy and an overall memorable, hilarious movie then look no further than 40 Year Old Virgin.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Spot News: Batman news galore!

By: Robert Acosta

Don't you just love any news about the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises? I sure do!

So as reports have it, specially from ComicBookmovie.com, certain ladies have been auditioned for roles in The Dark Knight Rises.

Charlize Theron is said to have been auditioned for the role of Sarah Essen. For all you non comic bookers,  Ms.Essen ends up being a love interest of Comissioner Gordon. Another role being auditioned, and this may be more indicative of a possible villain coming in, is Julie Madison. Both Kacie Thomas and Vera Farmiga have auditioned for the role.

Why is this Julie Madison character important? Well from what i've read up on, her main story in the comics has the villain Clayface attached to it.

Does this mean that Clayface will be in? Who knows. Christopher Nolan loves to play around with things and he has honestly done a great job in the past of taking 2nd or 3rd rate villains and making them great and actually powerful.

Let's hope for another scenario like that.

Source: ComicBookmovie.com