Forgetting Sarah Marshall was easy...the rest of the cast, not so much.

This weekend afforded the time to finally make it out to the theater and hopefully this will be the start of a string of good movies hitting. With May just around the corner, expect the big movies to start appearing in two weeks. However, this weekend saw a couple of smaller movies leading the way. Though it wasn't the leader at the box office over the weekend, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" held up incredibly well and I'm still laughing as I refer back to a couple of scenes in my mind.

From IMDB.com, here is your spoiler free plot outline: Devastated Peter takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex ... and she's bringing along her new boyfriend. Classic tale, done just a little bit over the top.

With any feature that has the name Judd Apatow attached to it in any form, you can expect an "R" rating, and this doesn't disappoint my friends. Although Mr. Apatow is only credited with a producer tag, some of the gang comes along for the ride. Jason Segel returns from his minor roll in "Knocked Up" to not only star in this film, but as the writer of the pic. The great thing about this film is that some of the more outrageous moments are based on actual events in Mr. Segel's life.

Returning from recent turns in Superbad are Jonah Hill and Bill Hader for minor supporting roles. Just seeing Jonah Hill makes me crack up before he utters a word, and Bill Hader's straight man gig provides great comic moments to boot. Paul Rudd pops up as the classic surf instructor, whom one would think would offer the life outlook; you'd be partly wrong. But I'm neglecting the three other leads: Kristen Bell in the namesake roll, Russell Brand as the new boyfriend and Mila Kunis as the hotel employee that takes Jason Segel's character under her wing.

Oh Miss Veronica Mars, how I've been waiting to see you on the screen in more than just the vignettes we see of you on Heroes. Of course, Kristen Bell as Sarah Marshall is not to be admired or sympathized with from the outset of the movie. You definitely get to see some of that bitchiness that made Kristen Bell famous on Veronica Mars. You also get to see a little regret and jealousy seep in during the film and she handles these emotional changes so well that you actually have to question if she's really feeling any of this or is the character disguising a malicious intent. One scene I've been debating on talking about here actually lets us see her side of the relationship and this, while allowing a little sympathy for Sarah, actually adds a dimension to Jason Segel's character, Paul Bretter.

Paul Bretter as played by Jason Segel is our hero, but in a way, an anti-hero that you want to slap a few times. Our hero has to spend most the movie wallowing in sorrow and trying to rediscover himself; one of the more oft used rom-com plots out there actually. If you are familiar at all with Jason Segel from "How I Met Your Mother", than you won't see a new character in this movie, it's almost the same character, just taken up a notch. Now that I think back, it seems like this guy plays pretty much the same type of character in all his major roles. Back all the way from "Freaks and Geeks" to "Undeclared" to this. Doesn't matter, because it works. I've got nothing to complain about, except perhaps the numerous flashes of his full frontal nude scenes.

I love Mila Kunis in this movie. It's something we haven't seen from her really and I sat there thinking that this may be close to what she's like. It's a nice, real world departure from Jackie on "That 70's Show" and obviously nowhere near her voice acting on "Family Guy". She provides a lot of grounding in this movie, where the goofy hotel staff is just that: goofy. Not to mention the three other leads that are clearly above and beyond in their roles, but her Rachel Jansen offset's their personalities by being human and vulnerable. Kudos Ms. Kunis.

The final leading role of Aldous Snow is played by Britain's Russell Brand. Let me begin by saying that his character really steals the spotlight nearly every time he opens his mouth. He was an absolute perfect choice for the character and I hope that it's not a once and done for American audiences. If you can cut through the English accent and his mutterings you will have a real treat. Pay attention, because sometimes it's a bit hard to understand. That might just have been the fact that I couldn't hear over the audience laughter.

Overall the movie really gave me the feeling of a lot of Adam Sandler's recent films. For example, "Mr. Deeds" and certainly "50 first dates". First you've got the revolving cast, much like all of Sandler's films and secondly, the background characters are the ones that are providing the majority of the laugh out loud lines and moments. Which I love! The reason being, you can center the plot on the four leads and then break away for a good shot at laughter without breaking the feelings and story that is going on. Additionally, the peripheral characters are allowed to be completely insane, ridiculous characters that are/do completely unsocial, crazy feats. You'll know what I mean when you are introduced to the honeymooning couple at the resort and all the resort employees.

To sum up, I really enjoyed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and would recommend the movie to any person out there that doesn't mind over-the-top comedy and a little heart thrown in. Apatow fans shouldn't and probably haven't missed this film. I'm rating "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with 4 dracula puppet shows out of 5 dracula puppet shows. It's worth paying for a weekend matinee.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Stopping by your local video store today?

I don't post on dvd releases too often, but if you weren't paying attention this week you may not have realized that three great movies were added to the shelves this week! Of course, here at Skip The Concessions, we've got the reviews for you on all three and you can click on the links below to read them.

Lars and the Real Girl ended up being a bit of a sleeper and didn't get the best actor nomination I was hoping for. Nonetheless, this is a terrific movie and you'd be remiss if you didn't watch it. you can read our review here.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was another sleeper at the box office. Once again, our reviewer Jake loved the movie and you can read his article here.

Juno. The darling of the award season; the little movie that did. Still love it. You probably don't need to read our review on this one, but go do it anyway. Find it here.

If you didn't buy these movies on Tuesday when they were released, then make sure you rent them this weekend or the next. No excuses, check them out.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

What would you do with 88 Minutes?

Nobody held a gun to my head to watch this movie. In fact, I was jazzed to get the advanced copy before this Friday's release, but the more I watched, the more I felt like Al Pacino in the picture above.

Here is a spoiler free plot synopsis from our friends at IMDB.com: A thriller about a college professor who, while moonlighting as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI, receives a death threat telling him that he has only 88 minutes to live. In narrowing down possible suspects, he frantically seeks to communicate with a problem student, an ex-girlfriend, and a serial killer on death row.

That's a fairly good description while leaving out some key points. I was half expecting this movie to be akin to Colin Farrell's "Phone Booth" from 2002. You know, waiting around for an hour and a half to see if the guy would live or die. Which in the end that's pretty much how it felt.

As I was actually watching the movie though, I was constantly reminded of the last Pacino movie I saw, "Insomnia", also from 2002. The whole thing must have been filmed with a blue lens, because the whole film was completely washed out, much like what they did to make the Alaska town seemed washed out in constant daylight for "Insomnia." The difference of course being that I did actually like that film.

The overall problem that plagues this film is the actual screenplay and to point a more direct finger, the dialogue. This was clearly written by an unpolished writer or perhaps it was unable to be edited because of the writer's strike last fall. I don't know, so I won't name the offending party. But God, was it horrible. It would show up in the worst places and absolutely stop the movie's suspense for me, ripping me out of the story to wonder who in the hell thought that would be a good line or plot point to throw in there.

Overall the acting wasn't bad considering what they had to work with. Given that handicap, I'd say it was fairly good actually. Al Pacino does a good job and finds a way to make the most of his role. I do find myself wondering why he tied himself to this movie, but in the end, he finds a way to rise above the dialogue and the horrible plot devices.

Alicia Witt as the professor's assistant turns in a passable performance, but right in the worst spot possible the writer gives us a totally unnecessary, and frankly, very awkward scene. Some may argue that the scene is meant to be awkward. I get that. I'm just trying to remember the last time someone came on to me, while we were desperately looking for a murderer and fighting against the clock as I was only given 30 more minutes to live. I'm just saying. But by all means, please remove your shirt to reveal your undergarments, I'm just going to continue sifting through this possible evidence.

Leelee Sobieski. Why do you do this to yourself? Why can't you get hired on a top shelf movie? Sure, if someone offered me a part and told me Pacino was doing the film I'd jump at it too, no matter if it was a remake of Pee Wee's Big Adventure. You've got potential though! We saw it in the Joan of Arc miniseries you starred in, then again briefly in "Eyes Wide Shut." You've grown into a beautiful young women and not a bad actress; why aren't you in more A and B movies? If you do more of these films you're not going to get where I, personally would like to see you get to.

Amy Brenneman shows up as Pacino's professional assistant for his practice, and she performs well too. It's just that the things they are given to say and do are so ridiculous at times that I actually laughed out loud incredulously.

To sum up: 88 Minutes failed before the cameras even started rolling. The actors did their best and some of them managed to shine, but the cast is peppered with B and C level actors that don't help the movie rise above the written page. My advice to you: don't bother seeing this film, unless it's coming on HBO and you've already paid your monthly bill. I am giving this movie 1 1/2 serial murders out of 5 serial murders, because the overall premise of the film could have been killer, and Al Pacino adds something.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Death of a Legend, Charlton Heston

The following is the Associated Press' release, though I note that it mentions nothing of Mr. Heston's ill-fated appearance in the Michael Moore film, "Bowling for Columbine."

LOS ANGELES - Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played," Heston's family said in a statement. "No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country."

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

Publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for about 20 years, said the actor's passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema.

"If Hollywood had a Mt. Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it," Levine said. "He was a heroic figure that I don't think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today."

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

Later that year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.

He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury. "Ben-Hur" won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). Heston's other hits include: "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake."

He liked to the cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed:

Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper").

Heston made his movie debut in the 1940s in two independent films by a college classmate, David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. He had the title role in "Peer Gynt" in 1942 and was Marc Antony in Bradley's 1949 version of "Julius Caesar," for which Heston was paid $50 a week.

Film producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca") spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of "Wuthering Heights" and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded him that they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, "Dark City," a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star "The Greatest Show On Earth," named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. More movies followed:

"The Savage," "Ruby Gentry," "The President's Lady," "Pony Express" (as Buffalo Bill Cody), "Arrowhead," "Bad for Each Other," "The Naked Jungle," "Secret of the Incas," "The Far Horizons" (as Clark of the Lewis and Clark trek), "The Private War of Major Benson," "Lucy Gallant."

Most were forgettable low-budget films, and Heston seemed destined to remain an undistinguished action star. His old boss DeMille rescued him.

The director had long planned a new version of "The Ten Commandments," which he had made as a silent in 1923 with a radically different approach that combined biblical and modern stories. He was struck by Heston's facial resemblance to Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses, especially the similar broken nose, and put the actor through a long series of tests before giving him the role.

The Hestons' newborn, Fraser Clarke Heston, played the role of the infant Moses in the film.

More films followed: the eccentric thriller "Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles; William Wyler's "The Big Country," costarring with Gregory Peck; a sea saga, "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" with Gary Cooper.

Then his greatest role: "Ben-Hur."

Heston wasn't the first to be considered for the remake of 1925 biblical epic. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson had declined the film. Heston plunged into the role, rehearsing two months for the furious chariot race.

He railed at suggestions the race had been shot with a double: "I couldn't drive it well, but that wasn't necessary. All I had to do was stay on board so they could shoot me there. I didn't have to worry; MGM guaranteed I would win the race."

The huge success of "Ben-Hur" and Heston's Oscar made him one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood. He combined big-screen epics like "El Cid" and "55 Days at Peking" with lesser ones such as "Diamond Head," "Will Penny" and "Airport 1975." In his later years he played cameos in such films as "Wayne's World 2" and "Tombstone."

He often returned to the theater, appearing in such plays as "A Long Day's Journey into Night" and "A Man for All Seasons." He starred as a tycoon in the prime-time soap opera, "The Colbys," a two-season spinoff of "Dynasty."

At his birth in a Chicago suburb on Oct. 4, 1923, his name was Charles Carter. His parents moved to St. Helen, Mich., where his father, Russell Carter, operated a lumber mill. Growing up in the Michigan woods with almost no playmates, young Charles read books of adventure and devised his own games while wandering the countryside with his rifle.

Charles's parents divorced, and she married Chester Heston, a factory plant superintendent in Wilmette, Ill., an upscale north Chicago suburb. Shy and feeling displaced in the big city, the boy had trouble adjusting to the new high school. He took refuge in the drama department.

"What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people," he said in a 1986 interview. "In those days I wasn't satisfied with being me."

Calling himself Charlton Heston from his mother's maiden name and his stepfather's last name, he won an acting scholarship to Northwestern University in 1941. He excelled in campus plays and appeared on Chicago radio. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a radio-gunner in the Aleutians.

In 1944 he married another Northwestern drama student, Lydia Clarke, and after his army discharge in 1947, they moved to New York to seek acting jobs. Finding none, they hired on as codirectors and principal actors at a summer theater in Asheville, N.C.

Back in New York, both Hestons began finding work. With his strong 6-feet-2 build and craggily handsome face, Heston won roles in TV soap operas, plays ("Antony and Cleopatra" with Katherine Cornell) and live TV dramas such as "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Of Human Bondage."

Heston wrote several books: "The Actor's Life: Journals 1956-1976," published in 1978; "Beijing Diary: 1990," concerning his direction of the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" in Chinese; "In the Arena: An Autobiography," 1995; and "Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking," 1998.

Besides Fraser, who directed his father in an adventure film, "Mother Lode," the Hestons had a daughter, Holly Ann, born Aug. 2, 1961. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1994 at a party with Hollywood and political friends. They had been married 64 years when he died.

In late years, Heston drew as much publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.

He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War.

At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing.

Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."

It is with regret that I say to you Mr. Heston, "At least now those Apes will keep their Damn, Dirty Hands off of you"."

I'm just saying,

Elijah