Two Disappointing Recent Movies

As you may be aware, I shut down my “Shhh! The Movie’s Starting” blog a week ago. What it’s done is given me an opportunity to watch movies once again for just the pure enjoyment of it, instead of pausing occasionally to take notes and jot down some wonderful prose that sneaked into my mind.

When the hobby became work, it was time to retire the avocation.

It gave me a chance to watch recent movies with no ulterior motive in mind … just to enjoy. Instead of looking for something good to write about, I can now take a broader view and peer more deeply into their shortcomings. And I’m not so happy with what I’ve found.

Last week, I watched two comedies that I thought would entertain me and have me falling off the chair in laughter. Well, that didn’t work, they weren’t as pleasant and funny as I thought they would be. To wit:

Tammy (2014): With a cast that features Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Dan Aykroyd, Toni Collette and Sandra Oh, one would think the film has a lot going for it. The problem is the lead – Melissa McCarthy – plays her usual foul-mouthed, “I gotta compensate for being grossly overweight,” character. She’s not lovable in the least. And everybody is dropping f-bombs all over the place. No, not fart bombs, the other f-bomb (although farts would have been funnier than McCarthy’s rantings).

I love Susan Sarandon, but playing an alcoholic, foul-mouthed, anti-societal, gray-haired grandmother is a far cry from  her classics – Thelma and Louise, and Bull Durham. The other star-names are mere supporting cast members propping up the foul-mouthed leads.

We’re the Millers (2013): Jason Sudekis is not a bad actor. Neither is Jennifer Aniston (at least she’s gotten out of the romantic comedy rut). Their supporting cast is okay – Will Pouter is sufficiently weird, Emma Roberts is cute. The rest of the characters are just kind of squeezed in where the producers thought they should be. Pretty lame.

The plot is pretty simple and stupid. But the worst part? The f-bombs. Lots and lots of them.

I can just imagine a younger audience laughing at these two movies. I can just imagine an older audience laughing AT these two movies.

I do want to watch more recent movies, so I won’t let my HBO subscription lapse. But as you may have noticed in my movie blog, I seem to like the older movies on Turner Classic Movies.

Am I a crusty old curmudgeon, or what?