I was scanning HBO for something to watch, and I found "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", which I have been meaning to watch for a long time. I'm definitely glad that I made time to watch it, as it was a really good romantic comedy.

The writing of the film was definitely my favorite part. It is one of those films that is a satire of the genre into which it falls. As such, it hits all of the romantic comedy tropes while making fun of them at the same time. This meta-humor always seems to appeal to me, as some of my favorite films fall within that category. The humor of the film is consistently very funny, and even the raunchier elements are done in a way that they are genuinely hilarious, not offensive. The characters are also very well-written and dynamic, especially the character of Aldous Snow, who often breaks outside of his archetype. 

The filmmaking style of the film is good. The cinematography is nice, making use of the location of Hawaii. The music choice is also very good to provide comedic elements. I also found the original song written for the film to be quite funny and enjoyable. All of the actors also do a good job of fitting the comedic elements of their role.

Overall, I really enjoyed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". It is a funny romantic comedy that makes fun of a lot of the tropes associated with a heavily clichéd genre. I highly recommend it for fans of meta-humor.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Big Tuna's Rating: B
How Did I Watch It?: HBO.
Had I Seen It Before?: No.
Would I Watch It Again?: Yes.

I've been meaning to watch this film for a long time because of my love for the Coen Brothers. However, I only now got around to it because it was on HBO. It may just be over-hype, but I think that it is probably my least favorite of their films.

The plot of the film is enjoyable enough, but I thought that it was pretty predictable as a whole. There are some funny moments, but I never thought it was absolutely hilarious, like some of the other films. It still does have the same witty dialogue that they are known for, though. I also didn't think it was as profound as some of their other films. While watching the film, I kept thinking of comparisons to "The Nice Guys", which I found to be more enjoyable. It seems as if Black was inspired by this film.

The filmmaking elements were all really good. The dream sequences were the best-made parts of the film, because they had some really intricate cinematography and production design. The acting is also really good as a whole. Jeff Bridges is obviously great as The Dude, but I thought that John Turturro and Peter Stormare were the funniest parts of the film. Both had characters with a very extreme personality that was well-executed.

Overall, "The Big Lebowski" is good enough, but I don't like it as much as the other Coen films. I think that the diversity in their filmography allows the audience to have different opinions of their films, so I understand if this is one of your favorites, but it just didn't appeal as much to me.

The Big Lebowski 
Big Tuna's Rating: B-
How Did I Watch It?: HBO On Demand.
Had I Seen It Before?: No.
Would I Watch It Again?: Yes.

"Rat Race" was heavily recommended to me by a friend, so when I found out it was on HBO, I decided to watch it. I generally enjoy the films of ZAZ, one of whom was the director of this film, and this film generally emulates their style.

The writing of the film is okay. It has some extremely hilarious moments in it, however, it isn't as consistently funny as some of their other films. The premise offers the potential for a lot of commentary, some of which is explored satirically, but one of my issues with all of their films is that they do not go as deep as they could go. The ending also isn't as predictable as I thought it would be.

The ensemble cast is very funny, with Jon Lovitz and Cuba Gooding, Jr. being my favorites. The filmmaking style is pretty simple, but that is all that a comedy of this caliber really needs. The opening credits are a little over-the-top, though.

Overall, "Rat Race" is an enjoyable, simple slapstick satire. If you are fans of films such as "Airplane" or "The Naked Gun", this is in the same vein, and you would likely enjoy it too.

Rat Race
Big Tuna's Rating: C+
How Did I Watch It?: HBO Go.
Had I Seen It Before?: No.
Would I Watch It Again?: Maybe.

I came down with a really bad illness last week, so I missed this documentary in a film class, so I watched it to catch up. Despite subject matter that sometimes becomes a bit too odd, "Project Nim" manages to be a very interesting documentary.

While the stories of the parties involved that are trying to train this animal are quite interesting, there are some aspects of the story that are very weird and uncomfortable. For example, there are parts talking about the chimp's sexual exploration and how the researchers wanted to study his sexual habits that are presented very uncomfortably. I have to applaud the film in the way it presented the story as a whole, though. The film is very much presented like a thriller in parts, and it works.

The film is an interesting combination of archive footage, interviews, and reenactments. The reenactments are better than those of the average documentary because of the way they are shot to make them blend with the archive footage. The editing f the film is also very good, as is the cinematography, both used effectively to transition between different aspects of the story.

So overall, "Project Nim" is a good documentary that gets a bit weird in parts. It is undoubtedly well-made, though.

Project Nim
Big Tuna's Rating: B
How Did I Watch It?: HBO Go.
Had I Seen It Before?: No.
Would I Watch It Again?: Maybe.

Tonight, I decided to watch the sequel to the film that I watched last night. Worthy of is predecessor in terms of quality, but slightly less enjoyable, "28 Weeks Later" is definitely a film to watch for fans of the original.

The biggest thing that I didn't love about this film was that it was far less suspenseful. It was definitely more action-oriented, whereas "28 Days Later" was more horror-oriented. Another difference was that this film was also very emotionally-driven, creating slightly better character development, even though it was already great in the original. All in all, this film was still interesting, but it never really had the edge-of-your-seat feeling of the original.

The cinematography of this film was really great. Two scenes stand out in particular: the introduction, and the night-vision scene. the introduction is the most suspenseful scene in the film, and that's because of a combination of amazing long shots showing the approaching danger, and a suspenseful score. The night vision scene has some cool techniques to add to the storytelling.

So overall, "28 Weeks Later" is a very good film. I didn't love it quite as much as the original, but just by a slight margin. This series may be the one to change my mind on zombie films.

28 Weeks Later
Big Tuna's Rating: A-
How Did I Watch It?: HBO On Demand.
Had I Seen It Before?: No.
Would I Watch It Again?: Probably.