Men in Black II

[Jason Cross]

Is anyone else kinda excited for this one?

I just loved the first film. It had a great wit about it, moved along at a brisk clip, and it understood the idea that if you're going to have a rediculous movie, you've got to play it straight and just let the whole rediculousness of it be the joke.

I just recently watched it again (picked up the DVD) and in many ways it's better than I remember. Lots of clever little things you miss the first time around.

Good script, too. Lots of punchy one-liners and great delivery. Like when Kay (Jones) first meets Edwards (Smith) in the debriefing room at the police station early in the movie...

K: Did say anything next? (talking about the alien Edwards ran down that night)
Edwards: Yeah, he said the world was going to end.
K: (totally straight) Did he say when?

[James Galimo]

I enjoyed the first one. If Tommy Lee Jones wasn't in this next one, I'd most likely avoid it.

One of my favorite lines from the first:


Lady: Is this a joke?

K: No, Ma'am. We at the FBI do not have a sense of humor that we are aware of.

[Murph]

I'm not sure I've ever even seen the first one all the way through, from start to finish. I've enjoyed what I've seen -- and the previews for the sequel make it look great -- but for some reason, I've never just watched it. I plan to do that before seeing the sequel. But I do plan to see the sequel.

[Tom Chick]

I saw a screening of MIB2 last week and can't recommend it. Not enough Patrick Warburton, too many recycled stale jokes, and they're definitely aiming at a fairly young (well, juvenile at any rate) target audience. However, I will say this about it: it's short.

-Tom

[Murph]

Did you like the original, Tom? How would you compare them? (Ya know, in case I get around to seeing it.)

[Tom Chick]

I thought the original was a sort of enjoyable funhouse ride. Certainly one of Barry Sonnenfeld's better movies, which isn't necessarily saying much. But Men in Black II just seemed lazy and aimed at kids.

-Tom

[Dave Long]

Considering I loved the WB animated series, I'll take that as a recommendation to go see MIB 2.

--Dave

[Desslock]

I think it looks wretched, like Barry Sonnenfeld's last major project, Wild Wild West. But I wasn't the biggest fan of the original either -- I thought it was decent, short and forgettable (I'm not sure I can remember any 3 scenes).

[Bub, Andrew]

Tony Shalhoub was great in the first one. His scenes were too brief though. Tom, is there more Shalhoub to go around this time?

(Long, that cartoon is pretty slick. My 10 year old cousin loves it too.)

[Tom Chick]

Very little Shalhoub and most of it is hidden behind goofy prosthetic teeth and contact lenses.

-Tom

[Ron Dulin]

But the real question: How much David Cross?

Didn't Barry Sonnenfeld direct Addams Family Values? That was a good one.

[Bub, Andrew]

"Look, he has his grandfather's eyes!"
"Get them out of his mouth, dear."

That was a good one. Mostly due to Joan Cusack

[Tom Chick]

Ah, I should have guessed Ron Dulin for one of the few people on the planet who would recognize David Cross! I've never seen whatever TV show he comes from, though, so I only know who he is through talk show appearances and cameos.

He's in one scene in MIB2 and it's good, although there was a punchline at the end of the scene that I still don't understand.

TINY SPOILER:

Cross' mother calls to him from offscreen. He says something like, 'Coming, mother', picks up a shovel, and walks off screen. The audience laughed out loud. Huh?

The only thing I can figure is that the implication is that he was going to kill his mother with a shovel. That's funny? Someone -- wumpus maybe -- see the movie and explain that gag to me.

-Tom

[Bub, Andrew]

Cross has a terrific cameo in "Waiting for Guffman" as a guy explaining the crop circles. He's from Mr. Show and so is Bob Odekirk. I've never seen Mr. Show (two seasons just came out on DVD though) but my way late discovery of Tenacious D has me wanting to buy it. I first remember seeing Cross on "Just Shoot Me", a terrible sit-com. He played a mentally disabled brother who, it turns out, is faking it because being taken care of fits his slacker lifestyle. You had to see it, but that revelation was played extremely well.

[Ron Dulin]

Mr. Show could very well be the funniest television show since Monty Python, especially if you aren't easily offended. The DVD might not be the best introduction, though, because the show didn't get really great until seasons 3 and 4. Hopefully, those will be released soon.

And they'll be on tour!
http://www.bobanddavid.com/section_mrshow_hooray_america.html

[Tom Chick]

Umm, is someone named Bub editing his posts? I was going to correct what he wrote about Bob Oedikirk being invovled in Wet Hot American Summer (he wasn't) and now it's not there. Interesting.

-Tom

[balut]

Ah, I should have guessed Ron Dulin for one of the few people on the planet who would recognize David Cross! I've never seen whatever TV show he comes from, though, so I only know who he is through talk show appearances and cameos.

He's in one scene in MIB2 and it's good, although there was a punchline at the end of the scene that I still don't understand.

TINY SPOILER:

Cross' mother calls to him from offscreen. He says something like, 'Coming, mother', picks up a shovel, and walks off screen. The audience laughed out loud. Huh?

The only thing I can figure is that the implication is that he was going to kill his mother with a shovel. That's funny? Someone -- wumpus maybe -- see the movie and explain that gag to me.

-Tom


I saw a free sneak preview of MIB II on Sunday, and IMO, and from the audience reaction as well, it is implied that Cross is going to kill his mother with the shovel, move out of the house, and go to Cambodia with the girl. If anything, it's a bit of a twisted interpretation of Agent J's post-neuralizer instructions to Cross and the girl.

Overall, I found the movie enjoyable in a "light" sort of way - sure the jokes skew towards a younger audience than the first MIB, and there's nothing really memorable about the movie, but there are a few goofy smiles produced when watching it. Definitely worth my free admission, and maybe a matinee showing, but not really worth $8.50.

And yes, the movie should have used Patrick Warburton more. He's just a goofy, funny actor to watch (although IMO he wrongly portrayed The Tick as "dumb as a rock" instead of "obliviously earnerst").

- Balut

[Anonymous]

Edelstein hates it:

http://slate.msn.com/?id=2067600

'The mystery, kiddies, is what has happened to Sonnenfeld, a man of delicious wit and sophistication who has progressively unlearned everything he once knew about making movies. In Men in Black II, the former cinematographer (he got his start with Joel and Ethan Coen) puts everyone in the center of the frame and uses fish-eye lenses to shove them in our faces. The jokes go thunk!… thunk!…thunk! as if fired from a tennis-ball machine: You don't want to laugh, you want to duck. And all the actors—save the computer-generated ones—are poorly lighted. They look as over-made-up as cadavers.'

[Jason Levine]

Is A.O. Scott of the NY Times lurking on this board, or is Tom Chick reviewing movies for the Times under a pseudonym? If you boil Scott's reivew of MIB II in today's Times down to a single sentence, you get Tom's "But Men in Black II just seemed lazy and aimed at kids."

[Anonymous]

Haven't seen MIB2 yet, though I'm not in a big hurry too. Strangely enough, I adored the first MIB, which was loaded with tons of wit and irony), but I get the feeling the sequel is nowhere near as intelligent, if I can use that term.

Also, someone get Laura Flynn Boyle a Big Mac, quck! Ugh! It's bad enough that they don't have Linda Fiorentino (grrrrrrrrr....) in the sequel. Flynn Boyle is scary (way too thin, and she dates Jack Nicholson)... Fiorentino is a babe.

[Brad Grenz]

I just got back from a drive in double feature. MIB II was the first movie. I thought it was good. Weirder than the first, but still pretty cool.

[Mark Asher]

I just got back from a drive in double feature. MIB II was the first movie. I thought it was good. Weirder than the first, but still pretty cool.

I'll see this because the kids want to see it. I just want nice special effects and a few decent jokes. I'm easy.

Believe me, after watching the LSDish hypnotically bad Digimon movie a couple of years ago, I'm grateful for kids' movies like MIB.

[Anonymous]

"just got back from a drive in double feature."

Awesome. The drive-in I used to go to closed way too long ago; to give an idea of how long ago, some of the movies playing the last summer they were open were Apollo 11, Clueless, and Virtuosity (featuring Denzel Washington and Traci Lords -- together like you've never seen them before!).

Drive-ins rock. Fuck multiplexes.

[Brad Grenz]

It's a pretty good deal. $12 a car load. Even with only two people for two features that's $3 a movie per person. Plus you can buy candy and soda on the cheap at a grocery store before you go. The only real problem I had was that last night they started the movie before it was really dark enough. They didn't do that the last time I went, but I guess the operators got tired of people honking and flashing their lights wanting the movie to start.

[Mark Asher]

Drive-ins are fun. I feel sorry for kids today who don't have a chance to experience them. Making out at the drive-in is something every teen should experience. You're there in the car, you have this giant movie screen, you're necking and checking out the movie every now and then to stop necking and watch the movie when something corny or cool is about to happen, etc.

It's also a great place for an impromptu party, getting a few carloads of friends together and standing around chatting while the movie rolls.

[Mark Bussman]

I've never been to a drive-in movie theater. Do you know if there's one in the Saint Louis area Mark?

[Mark Asher]

Not anymore. The last one closed down a year or two ago. It was the Airport Twin and was in North County somewhere.

Most urban drive-ins were started decades ago and ended up sitting on a lot of prime real estate as urban sprawl made their property skyrocket in value. That's been the death of most of them -- owners selling off the land to developers for lots of quick cash.

The other problem they have is that they're single-screen and people bring in their own food and drinks so they don't get nearly as much concession stand money. The multiplex is a good business strategy.

[Jason Cross]

Saw MiB 2 today. It suffers from the sequelitis: the movie makers giving us what they think we liked in the first movie, but not what actually made it good.

It's the same thing that made so many other sequels much less than the original.

MIB2 reminds me of Ghostbusters 2. It's a passable movie, but just. There's no more wit or subtelty. Everything is in your face, while the first had a lot of clever things under the surface.

The cinematographer for the first MiB, Don Peterman, was the guy who did Adams Family Values, The Grinch, Get Shorty, and other movies with some really amusing and inventive shots.

The guy who did MiB 2, Greg Gardiner, did nothing but Orange County and a whole slew of TV shows and movies. And it shows. Everything is shot like you're going to watch it on TV. Center frame, nice and close, the camera follows along. It definiltey dragged the film down, though most of the moviegoers will suffer the effects of it and not even realize it. But such is cinematography, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Lite fun, but it does have the Best Supporting Dog Oscar sewn up. I'm also betting Laura Flynn Boyle's boobs were CGI.................. :)

[DennyA]

The sad thing is that the movie made $90.1 million in its first five days, and set a July 4 weekend record, despite what sounds like a bad script. So what lesson will Hollywood learn?

I was going to go see it this weekend, but between Ebert's review and what I've read here, I think I'll wait for HBO to get it.

[Anonymous]

The only thing I can figure is that the implication is that he was going to kill his mother with a shovel. That's funny? Someone -- wumpus maybe -- see the movie and explain that gag to me.

-Tom

I assumed it was a sly reference to the end of Psycho III; Norman kills his biological mother by bonking her on the back of the head with a shovel. Pretty obscure, but that's the reason I laughed.

The rest of MIB2 is a terrible, lazy, awful excuse for a film. The more I think about it, the more I'm offended that the filmmakers recycled the first movie and regurgitated it, only with a worse story, worse plotting, worse writing, and even worse special effects.

--Chuck

[Erik]

I assumed it was a sly reference to the end of Psycho III; Norman kills his biological mother by bonking her on the back of the head with a shovel.

I think that's actually Psycho 2, though I hope I'm wrong since knowing that fact pretty much guarantees Psycho 4 will be about me. The scene's funny in Psycho 2 because Norman goes through an elaborate set of steps to poison mother's tea, and then just conks her on the head with a shovel. I haven't seen Men in Black, so I can't tell Tom why it might be funny there.

[Anonymous]

I think that's actually Psycho 2, though I hope I'm wrong since knowing that fact pretty much guarantees Psycho 4 will be about me.

Yeah, you're right...that was Psycho 2. You're too late on Psycho 4, though. It was Anthony Perkins' last film. Not theatrically released, I think it was made for Showtime.

--Chuck

[Anonymous]

Just saw MIB2 today...

And it just felt flat. Not quite a total disaster like Wild Wild West was, but nowhere near as energetic, charming, and inventive as the original.

Whatever happened to Barry Sonnenfeld? He's totally lost the funny. Wild Wild West and The Tick just came off as horrible experiences for me.

Will Smith tried to elevate MIB2, but everyone else was just disappointing. Tommy Lee Jones cashed in his huge paycheck and just dialed it in, Lara Flynn Boyle does not a good villianess make, and why bother even having Patrick Warbuton in your movie if he's only gonna be on screen for like 2 minutes.

Most of it felt like we were going through the motions of "summer moviemaking". Have to admit the talking dog was funny, and Will Smith trying to give instructions after neuralyzing people was hilarious, but most of it was just blaaaaah.

Oh well, at least my Criterion Edition Royal Tenenbaums DVD came in the mail today. Woot!

[Tom Chick]

Oh well, at least my Criterion Edition Royal Tenenbaums DVD came in the mail today. Woot!

Ack, you bastard! I pre-orderd mine long ago and made the mistake of getting free shipping. Free-shipping=slow boat from China=UPS Ground=five to nine frickin' days?!?!

-Tom

[Anonymous]

I got free shipping too. Buy.com. They ship from California... unless you ordered from Amazon... you probably got their Kentucky warehouse.

It goes nicely on the shelf next to my Criterion Rushmore (still Wes Andersen's best movie). And I've heard rumblings that Criterion plans on doing a Criterion Edition of Bottle Rocket. Can't friggin' wait. The regular Bottle Rocket DVD is painfully sparse.

[Tom Chick]

Rushmore (still Wes Andersen's best movie)

All right, Coletrane, I'm calling you out.

-Tom

[Anonymous]

Maybe we should move this to a new Wes Andersen thread. Going off topic here.

[Brad Grenz]

I got my copy tuesday too. mail-order preorder is for suckers. I paid $16.99 at Best buy and watched it last night. Neener, neener.

[Tyjenks]

What a horrible film. The first was an interesting, amusing surprise. This one Tommy Lee Jones phoned in...what'd he have 10 lines total. He must have agreed to do it as long as there was no heavy lifting involved. WIll Smith, who I have grown less and less patient with, was not funny and the one-liners that were written for him were cliched garbage.

The dog and the worms were the funniest things and Lara Flynne was hot. Most likely because, at 95 pounds, she is about 50 lbs. heavier than the last picture I saw of her.

Horrible writing, non-existant acting, and unimpressive special FX. I give it 2 Chicks.

[Joe O'Malley]

Actually, this might be a good candidate for a zombie movie in the other thread that's going now. Tommie Lee Jones certainly seemed like a zombie the way he muttered and sleep-walked his way through this one.

[Kitsune]

I am totally and utterly confused. Somebody please enlighten me.

There are theaters in the States so huge that you drive into them and then honk to get them started and its traditional to have parties and kiss people while the movie is playing? And you buy the refreshments at a nearby grocery store? Does that mean you don't eat popcorn and licorice?

How come I never saw one of these huge places when I was in the States?

Somebody tell me! This sounds totally rad! What the hell is a drive-in?

-Kitsune

[Jason McCullough]

They're virtually all gone now for too reasons: land prices have gone up, and the spread of air conditioning has removed the issue of heat from crowding. Mostly, it was just a parking lot with a giant movie screen at one end.