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Tropic Thunder
USA 2008
produced by Stuart Cornfeld, Eric McLeod, Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux (executive) for Red Hour Films, DreamWorks
directed by Ben Stiller
starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey jr, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Jeff Kahn, Anthony Ruivivar, Eric Winzenried, Valerie Azlynn, Matt Levin, David Pressman, Amy Stiller, Danny McBride, Dempsey Silva, Bill Hader, Jeff Weidemann, Nadine Ellis, Rachel Avery, Darryl Farmer, Rod Tate, Maria Menounos, Tyra Banks, Christine Taylor, Jel Galiza, Andrea de Oliveira, Yvette Nicole Brown, Reggie Lee, Trieu Tran, Brandon Soo Hoo, J. Thomas Chon, Jacob Chon, Mini Anden, Mike Hoagland, Jon Voight, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Bateman, Lance Bass, Alicia Silverstone
story by Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, screenplay by Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, Etan Cohen, music by Theodore Shapiro
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Action star on the decline Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) wants to revive
his career by making a serious based-on-a-true-story Vietnam War movie
about a platoon that got lost in the jungle, and now had to fight its way
back to civilisation. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong during the
shoot and the budget explodes, much to the concern of studio executive Les
Grossman (Tom Cruise). But then director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan)
has the saving idea - he goes to the actual Vietnamese jungle with his
five leads - Speedman, method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey jr in
blackface), comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), reality TV star Kevin
Sandusky (Jay Baruchel), and rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) - and
has the cast pretty much relive the situation they're in, as in actually
finding their way through the jungle that's spiked with hidden cameras and
pyrotechnics. Might sound like a walk in the woods, but then the director
steps on a landmine left from the war and is blown to pieces. And the
actors, believing this is part of the show, fail to realize the
seriousness of the situation and are more concerned with their egos than
anything that's going on around them. And there's quite a bit going on
around them, as the Black Dragon, a drug-running gang, claim the part of
the woods our heroes have been dropped in as their territory, and not
knowing they are only actors they decide to put up a fight. And it takes
quite a bit for our little motley crew to realize they're in real danger
even - but then it might already be too late, as Speedman is captured by
the gang, and upon realizing who he is, the Vietnames force him to
re-enact one of his worst movies ...
Matthew McConaughey plays Speedman's agent, Nick Nolte the veteran
whose book the film-within-the-film is supposed to be based on.
If you're at all into movies, you're almost certain to find plenty to
laugh in Tropic Thunder as it's a (self-)parody of the filmworld as
Hollywood has decreed it to be, taking apart many movie tropes (not just
war movie tropes) along the way - to the point of making fun of fart
jokes. Sure, not everything in this film is super subtle, but much of it
is a good laugh, and the cast give their all, with special mention going
to Robert Downey jr, really selling the absurditiy of him in blackface
well, and Tom Cruise, who rocks the rare unflattering character role much
better than quite some of his leads ...
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Thanks for watching !!!
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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