Instant Watch: The League Season One

I just watched the first season of FX's The League.  The six episodes that make up the first season are now available for Netflix's instant watch viewing and I highly recommend it, in fact, I watched all six episodes in one sitting.  It is that good.  The League is from the one of the writers of the Cyrus, Mark Duplass.  As I wrote about in an earlier post, I was a big fan of Cyrus, so anything from its writer is welcome addition to TV.  

The League is about a group of friends whose relationship is centered around their fantasy football league and how each friends need to win the championship trophy - The Shiva affects their lives.  There are great performances from entire cast.  In addition, the characters are distinct from each other, have their own interesting personalities and are backed up by strong and funny storyline premises.

Definitely a Netflix Instant Watch Gem everyone should try and see.  

**** out of **** stars.

Bridesmaids Trailer: I hope it turns out well

So here is the new trailer for upcoming Judd Apatow produced movie: "Bridesmaids"

<br /> <a href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trailers/?src=SLPl:embed:&amp;fg=sharenoembed#/video/71f5d29b-f4ba-4867-9eeb-4d754ebee082" target="_new" title="Exclusive: 'Bridesmaids' Trailer">Video: Exclusive: 'Bridesmaids' Trailer</a>

The trailer is a promising.  I am keeping my eye out for this one.  I don't believe Bridesmaids will become a breakout hit like The Hangover however, I believe it can do well. I want this movie to be good for a couple reasons.  I complained on an earlier A Fistful of Popcorn podcast that there not too many funny women in Hollywood.  I want to be proven wrong.  Second, Bridesmaids is written by and stars Kristen Wiig.  I've found her really funny in her supporting roles in Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Adventureland and I am glad she gets the chance to star here.

Thoughts on Cyrus: An Unusual Comedy with An Unusual Star

I really enjoyed Cyrus.  It a small comedy from last year that is now on DVD.  It stars John C. Reilly as John, lonely divorced man who meets Molly, played by Marisa Tomei.  Jonah Hill plays the titular character Cyrus, the son of Molly, a 21 year old man-child who lives at home with Molly.  As John and Molly begin to develop a romance, Cyrus, due to jealousy issues tries his best to break up the budding couple.  The movie then becomes a battle between Cyrus and Molly for the affections of Molly.

What I liked most about this movie is the performance by John C Reilly.  I haven't seen him as the lead star too many times and it was refreshing to see him take a role and knock it out of the park.  He is really funny as the initially sad sack John and he has fantastic chemistry with Tomei.

Tomei is really good here also as the offbeat and naive Molly.  The relationship between Molly and Cyrus is odd, yet never the riches creepy zone.  The fact that the director/writers Duplass Brothers hold back from making the Molly and Cyrus relationship creepy is another  one of touches I really appreciated about the movie.

Jonah Hill has a tricky role here, his role here is different than how we see him normally.  He really holds back from being the annoying, neurotic person normally seen in movies such as Superbad.

I enjoyed the fact that the movie never goes "Hollywood" with the battle between John and Cyrus.  Things never really get goofy between the two, where they commit silly physical acts throughout the movie in an effort to discredit the other.  It's refreshing to see a comedy that can restrain itself.

I totally recommend seeing this movie.  ***1/2 out of **** stars.