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Da Couch Tomato Podcast, Episode 43, discussing the Amazon Prime series The Boys, the similarities and differences with Pixar's The Incredibles, and why comic book stories are best told in long form.

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6:35 AM
"Is this John, Paul, George, or Ringo?"

Before we begin, I'd just like to say that I don't really like comparing a remake with the original version, as I'd like to judge the remake on its own merits. That said, I would like to make an exception with this film, as comparisons between the original and the remake cannot be avoided.

1. The "Circle of Life" intro was spectacular. It's an almost shot-for-shot recreation of the 1994 animated version, bringing the photorealistic animals to the forefront along with the music. The filmmakers retained the original opening chant by Lebo M, but replaced the original vocals of Carmen Twillie with Lindiwe Mkhize. And if you loved the Zulu chanting, you can thank Hans Zimmer for that. That was all his idea. (If you listen closely, you can even hear the Zulu tongue click.)

2. Speaking of Hans Zimmer, that man is a genius. His name may be very familiar to moviegoers everywhere, but what you probably didn't know is that despite his decades in the business, he only has one Academy Award, and that was in 1994 for Best Original Score for The Lion King. But does he really need another Oscar to cement his status in Hollywood? No, he doesn't. He is a wonderful musician, despite not having any formal musical training, and he will continue to be one of my all-time favourite film composers.

3. The only dynamic in this movie that truly works is the one between Timon and Pumbaa. That's because Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen recorded most, if not all, of their lines together, and their chemistry is just so natural that children watching this wouldn't doubt that a meerkat and a warthog could be friends in real life.

4. By comparison, Donald Glover was perfect as the adult Simba, while Beyoncé Knowles-Carter was perfect as the adult Nala. But that's individually. Together, there's something a bit off. Their dynamic just doesn't work well as a duo, and I'd chalk that up to faulty chemistry.

5. Chiwetel Ejiofor, meanwhile, is brilliant as Scar. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Chiwetel Ejiofor is this film's strongest asset. His Scar performance was subtle and nuanced enough to bring it up to the same level as Jeremy Irons's excellent performance in the animated version. The only downside, I guess, is that Ejiofor's rendition of "Be Prepared" dwelled more in spoken word territory than actual singing, but that doesn't really matter. Lions can't really sing, anyway.

Ladies and gentlemen, the real star of the show.

6. The good thing about Disney's catalogue is that it is so extensive, you can make pop culture references in any Disney film and not worry about trademark infringement. Here in this film, Pumbaa and Timon made a Beauty and the Beast reference, specifically Lumiere's intro to "Be Our Guest" in Beauty and the Beast. Of course, that's one Disney film referencing another Disney film, but think of the possibilities: A Disney film can reference something from Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars, because these are also owned by Disney.

7. Photorealistic animals are creepy when they talk. That's of course because of the way their mouths are. I think the only animal that could pull off human speech would be the great apes, which is why Planet of the Apes works so well. That's because heir mouths are similar to humans, specifically their lips, tongue, and teeth – three elements that affect speech. Director Jon Favreau could have gone with altered photorealism instead, similar to The Jungle Book or The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, instead of going for a BBC nature documentary look.

8. One of the nice things about this remake is the updated anti-shaming lesson given by Pumbaa. In the original film, Pumbaa goes on a tirade after the hyenas call him "Mr. Pig". Here, Seth Rogen expands on his admonition by stating that what the hyenas are doing is actually considered body-shaming, and he calls them out on it. Nice move by the writers, since body-shaming has been identified as one of the biggest social problems in the Instagram age.

9. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is an old song, like really old. The original song was recorded in 1939, but the version most of us are familiar with, the one by The Tokens, was released in 1961. I first encountered this song watching a short-lived children's afternoon show called Going Bananas in the 80s, and I've loved the song ever since. The original 1994 animated film had Timon and Pumbaa singing a few lines, but in the 2019 version, they went all out and sang more than half of the song.

10. Rafiki is a shaman. I just realised that now, of course. When I was a kid, the only shaman I knew was a character in the animated series Bravestarr. I became interested in shamanism and sorcery in college, and by then my Lion King days were behind me. It was only after watching this 2019 remake that I realised Rafiki is in fact the most powerful animal in the Pride Lands.

11. John Oliver wasn't as good as Rowan Atkinson as the voice of the hornbill Zazu. It's kind of obvious that he was going for an Atkinson-like performance, but he came off as a sort of poor imitation. Kids who haven't seen the old version might see no problem with Oliver's performance, but the real question is this: How could those parents allow their kids to go through life without having seen the original Lion King?

This shot is so iconic that it's enough to give 90s kids goosebumps.



The Lion King. USA. 2019.



Original rating: 8.5/10
No lion sex: -0.1
Final rating: 8.4/10
4:08 PM
Columbia/Mandate/Point Grey

Sorry to disagree with some of you, but while the premise of This Is the End may seem good on paper and in box office returns, in reality, it really isn’t.

The poster says it all.
4:22 PM
April 20 is the date most people associate with the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Which is a bad thing. But since this world needs good things, some other people decided to celebrate something else. Something good. Something happy. Something green.

Here are five celebrities who celebrate 420 not just on the 20th April, but every damn day.

Seth Rogen
A pothead in a suit is statistically
less likely to be randomly searched.
Rogan was at the Maxim party for his new flick, “Pineapple Express,” on the rooftop of the Solamar Hotel in San Diego where, spies said, he was smoking a funny-smelling hand-rolled cigarette. One onlooker said, “He was told to put it out immediately or leave.”
12:35 PM

I'm not too big on sequels, especially animated ones. It is my belief that unless a story was constructed as a part of a larger saga, a sequel could be only one thing and one thing only: a moneymaker.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is also a moneymaker. Just like Kung Fu Panda 3, which was hinted at by this film.

First, the 3D review.

God, not another boring, jargon-filled 3D review.
2:37 PM

The title says it all. The very first sounds you hear, when The Weinstein Company logo flashes on the screen, will be the sound of lightsabers. And also, the title uses the famous scrolling text. So you all know what kind of fanboys we're talking about.

Definitely not.
8:11 PM
"Losing thirty pounds sure has its benefits!"

If you artsy-fartsy freaks don't want to watch this because it's a senseless Hollywood action movie, the fact that it was directed by Michel Gondry might change your mind.

I do have some memories of the old reruns which starred Bruce Lee, but I don't remember it having a comedic feel to it. The old TV series had the same feel as Adam West's Batman. This had the feel of, let me think, Charlie's Angels probably? Half parts action and comedy. But this film had no shortage of laughs.

And we can thank Seth Rogen for that. This was the first time I've noticed Seth Rogen's unique style of comedy. Rogen's comedy is intelligent, but on the outside it seems crass and shallow─perfect for moviegoers of average intelligence. Most of the time, Rogen seems to just be mouthing off random strings of thought until he nails something funny, and from there proceeds to develop his other jokes, which actually turn out to be humorously smart. And surprisingly, there are no weed jokes or references. Except maybe when he exhaled the fart gas smoke through his nose.

But everyone knows he smokes that shit.

Great cameo from James Franco, by the way. Too bad he didn't last ten minutes into the film. But every second of his screen time was priceless.

Cameron Diaz still looks hot despite her pretty obvious aging. She's growing old, but so does everyone else on this planet. Let us now enjoy her while she still looks scrumptious, and it will only take a little imagination on our part to fantasize about her looking as young as she did in The Mask.

Just try not to imagine Jim Carrey in a green mask.

Edward James Olmos is old. But still good. Although his face looks really... old. Tom Wilkinson, on the other hand, can play old roles, but his face doesn't look that old. And I love hearing Wilkinson talk in an American accent.

Oh, and one last thing: the guy who plays Kato is NOT Harold from Harold and Kumar. Kato is played by Jay Chou, who is actually an Asian pop star. This gives new meaning to the words of Chris Tucker regarding Asian guys: "Y'all look alike!"

Above: Not Kato.


*some info from IMDb
pic from Pinoy Tutorial, Sensi Seeds, Obama Pacman, and Ace Showbiz


The Green Hornet. USA. 2011.


Rating: Seven out of ten.
9:43 AM
Now where's McLovin' in this pic?

As the name of the title suggests, this flick is indeed about some funny-assed people. And since this was a Judd Apatow creation, I expected to crack up multiple times. And I did! Majority of my laughter was stimulated by Adam Sandler's antics.

And also, since this was a Judd Apatow outing, I kinda' expected Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill to be present. And there they were. Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen that is. Two out of three ain't bad. The Superbad boys are at it again!

I found it pretty cool that Judd Apatow made a reference to Pink Floyd. Roger Waters to be exact. And this really cracked me up because what happened was, Adam Sandler and his new assistant Seth Rogen were invited to MySpace.com's anniversary party which was held in some other state, so Seth and Adam flew in Adam's very own charter plane or private jet somethin'-somethin'.

Now you know those movie transitions wherein somethin' mellow is bein' played in the background while the current scene is transitioning to the next one? You know, like in the movie Almost Famous where the song "Tiny Dancer" was bein' played in the background while Stillwater's guitarist was bein' whisked off on a tour bus after a hard night's partyin' at some Random house in Topeka, KS? Well it was somethin' similar to that in Funny People when they were goin' to the MySpace annual party. One of James Taylor's songs was being played in the background while they were boarding the private plane. Now as the scene transitioned to the MySpace party itself, there he was. James Taylor himself singin' the song that was playin' in the background.

When Seth noticed how cool it was to have James Taylor playin' at their party, the usher (or whoever was guidin' the newly-arrived guests) said that the previous year they had Roger Waters doin' Dark Side Of the Moon. Now as a hardcore Pink Floyd fan, and casual James Taylor listener, that's some funny shit right there!

I would like to say kudos to Marshall Mathers III for his acting here, but I won't. That's because he played himself so he didn't require any method or whatever sort of acting there is. He dissed Ray Romano of the TV shows Everybody Loves Raymond pretty naturally, just like the real Slim Shady would!

The hidden gem here is Eric Bana, believe it or not. Who would've thought that Hector of Troy could be funny? I was really caught unaware. Yes, we know that he's Australian and shit, but he delivered his Australian-accented lines with conviction. Just like that Aussie croc guy who always goes, "Crikey, mate!" Steve Irwin or Brady Barr or somethin'. All I know is that he's dead (R.I.P.). And he wasn't even killed by a croc! Just some stingray poisoning or something water-related. Poor croc-master.

I rate this movie 8 out of 10 just because of the fact that I love Happy Gilmore, Superbad, and Pineapple Express. Bring on the funnies!





*pic from www.thevine.com.au
10:35 PM

Two words: For children.

Apparently based on a series of books, also called The Spiderwick Chronicles, this film tries so hard to capture the magic of Harry Potter and the visual style of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Tried, but failed.

One of the problems was its excessive use of CGI. And that's the trade-off right there. More CGI, less realism. Which is why I like animatronics better.

Don't get me wrong, the CGI shots were great, of course. They were, after all, done by Industrial Light and Magic. But when there's more CGI than real people, then they should've just animated the whole thing.

Anyway, Seth Rogen once again lends his voice to one of the CG characters called Hogsqueal, who is a talking pig that eats birds. Nick Nolte is terrific as the evil sorcerer Mulgarath (such a lovely, fantasy-sounding name), although his actual screentime was, what, five minutes? Mary-Louise Parker also appears as the recently divorced mom, though she is not the star of this movie, so we are not allowed to soak in her beautiful face. But the best performance of all comes from the young Freddie Highmore, who successfully pulled off playing twin brothers with different personalities. This boy's acting skills are way beyond his peers'.

So, to end this, let me just say that this was a ho-hum movie, with a ho-hum plot, and that's-nice-but-ho-hum special effects.


*some info from IMDb and Wikipedia
pic from londonist.com


The Spiderwick Chronicles. USA. 2008.


Rating: Five out of ten.
7:19 AM
Finally...a proper movie. One that I've seen in the cinema. Alone.

Well, since I have no qualms at all about watching movies alone, let's just talk about the complicated world of computer animation.

You might have noticed by now that I can never write a review of a computer-animated film without mentioning Pixar. Pixar, Pixar, Pixar. But this movie was from DreamWorks. What?

Story-wise, DreamWorks Animation is catching up with Pixar, but the story is a bit---flimsier---than, say, Disney's Bolt. So my animation heirarchy right now is Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks a distant third. That's because DreamWorks is still too---there's no other word for it---pop. Their movies are too pop. Why? Because of celebrity voices. I hope I'm making sense here.

Anyway, since this film has a star-studded cast, I'll just call attention to one of them: Seth Rogen as B.O.B the Blob. He is definitely the cutest character here. Apart from Insectosaurus. And Seth Rogen's laugh. I recognized his voice the moment he laughed.

So, all I have to do now is wait for Pixar's Up to hit the cinemas. And I do hope that happens like real soon.


*pic from celebritywonder.com


Monsters vs. Aliens. USA. 2009.


Rating: Six out of ten.
Seth Rogen's laughter: Priceless.
5:05 AM
This is one of those films which straddles gray lines on genres. Most would classify this as a comedy. I would say this is a romance flick.

Knocked Up is the best romance movie I've seen in a long time. If you can't relate, you're probably a virgin.

We're all used to the common Hollywood romance formula. It almost always happens in sequence. Boy and girl meet, they fall in love, they have sex, girl gets pregnant. Here, it's quite the reverse. Boy and girl have sex, girl gets pregnant, boy and girl fall in love. If you can't see the romance in that, then give credit to writer-director Judd Apatow for pulling it off.

We see here again the common Judd Apatow posse, like Jonah Hill and Bill Hader of Superbad. There's also the hilarious performance of Paul Rudd (this is actually the first time I've seen Paul Rudd's funny side), and of course, the rioutous Seth Rogen, always in his element. But still, I have fallen in love with the gorgeous Katherine Heigl. If I would get someone knocked up, it has to be someone like Katherine Heigl.

The film might be a bit too long for some (a little over two hours), but the pacing is just perfect. It doesn't drag or slow down for anyone to lose interest. Aside from romance, it also tackles family life, which is actually pregnancy's very long sequel. I would actually want to say a lot more about this film, but I think it would be better if you just watched it for yourself. If you don't like romance flicks, or children, then hopefully after watching this, you'll start liking at least one of them.


*some info from imdb
pic from thevoidmovies.wordpress.com


Knocked Up. USA. 2007.


Rating: Eight and a half over ten.
1:55 PM
The riotous Seth Rogen and James Franco team up in this comedy sketch directed by Judd "The Comedy Factory" Apatow. That's three minutes and eleven seconds of Oscar gold.


"Orlando Bloom's dad in Pirates of the Caribbean..."

Best. Line. Ever.
8:11 AM

I firmly believe that the so-called "stoner flick" can now be considered a legitimate genre of movies. But strangely, this type of film is only popular in America. Don't expect any stoner movies to come out of Philippine cinema anytime soon, as it won't happen. We are too traditional to even attempt to use drugs or drug-related humor in our entertainment. Sad but true.

Anyway, critics have been calling Pineapple Express as the Cheech and Chong of the new millenium. It's about time Hollywood veered away from the stereotypical Mexican pothead to the more politically correct stoner─someone from everyday life. Seth Rogen (who co-wrote the screenplay with Evan Goldberg) plays a process server here (one who summons people to court) who, incidentally, is a pothead. James Franco, on the other hand, abandons his pretty boy-image and plays the drug dealer with such finesse that he was actually nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

The story starts out as an ordinary stoner flick, where we viewers are bombarded with images of weed, weed, and nothing but weed. So the real potheads in the audience will either have smoked some shit before watching, or will not be able to wait to roll one and blaze it up. Anyway, as the movie progresses, it starts to leave the path of the pure stoner flick and becomes more action and buddy-oriented. But the humor, drug-related or not, is consistent, which is what I would've expected from any comedy produced by Judd Apatow.

Pineapple Express, sadly, did not make a regular theatrical run in local cinemas. Distributors probably thought that movies like this will only click with the rebellious crowd, which is only a small percentage of our not-so-liberated movie-going countrymen. Anyway, they should've looked past that and invested in it not because it's a weed movie, but because James Franco is in it. So just catch it on DVD. At least you potheads can get to roll one and light it up while you're watching it at home.


Rating: Four stars.
10:10 AM
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