"March of the Penguins," "The 40 Year-old Virgin"

This past weekend I saw two movies that ended the summer movie season on a high note for me. "March of the Penguins" and "The 40 Year-old Virgin."

I saw "Penguins" with my mom on Saturday at the local multiplex/pseudo art-house theater...the same one that had "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" but is also still showing "Herbie: Fully Loaded." It ended up being a rather packed crowd for a Sat afternoon, most of it made of parents & their kids. Mom and I sat off to the side so as to avoid harming any of the noisy children.

If you remember, when I first saw the trailer for "Penguins" I nearly exploded with glee. It looked like so much damn fun, and the astonishing determination of these birds to endure minus-80 degree temperatures really got me psyched.

That was two months ago. And "Penguins" has become a huge hit -- on track to being the second-highest grossing documentary of all time. Its success hasn't turned me off, but I admit that my excitement had waned a bit by the time I sat down to watch it. I'm pretty sure I would've liked it a whole lot more if I had seen it right after seeing the trailer.

In any case, the movie is good...as a movie. As an educational/informative experience it leaves much to be desired. I learned the basics of the penguins' march but felt that a lot of information was withheld just for the sake of making the movie more palpable for kids. Jude makes the same point is his little review of the film. At the same time, the doc does discuss and show footage of dead penguins, even babies. So it's not a complete whitewash. But how serious can you take a movie that says that its story is "above all, a story about LOVE." C'mon. It's about nature and survival. Not friggin love.

The film is shot well, especially considering the harsh environment. It's a very intimate experience and I fully expect a "documentary of the documentary" to be included on the DVD.

3/5.

"The 40-Year Old Virgin" has replaced "The Wedding Crashers" as my favorite R-rated comedy of the year (although I haven't seen the new "Deuce Bigalow"). Let's get something out of the way right now: Yes, I do have a lot in common with Steve Carrell's character in the film, but not in THAT way. Now shut the fuck up.

You the know the premise, and probably how it ends, so let's skip the plot summary. All you need to know is that it's funny, really funny at times, is much more than a one-joke movie, and takes its core characters seriously. A couple scenes that stand out: the chest waxing, which Carrell really underwent (and you can tell), Carrell's perpetual morning boner, and Paul Rudd's drunken home movie (yes, even Paul Rudd is funny). There were several "remember that part when"s that Lori and I talked about after the show. It's that kind of movie. Carrell is the stand out of course. The look on his face when he's thrust into these completely foreign situations is just priceless. A common reaction to his portrayal of the asshole boss in "The Office" is to hate the man, but not in that good-funny-Ricky-Gervais way. But in "Virgin," the level of sympathy he earns from the audience is what makes the film succeed. Even when it's not out-and-out funny, the film is still entertaining and fairly smart about its premise. Don't get me wrong, it's by and large a gross-out comedy, but a well-acted and well-written one. In many ways, it's better than "Anchorman," if only because it's fantasy sequence is a helluvalot funnier than Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate's cartoon rainbow slide.

3.5/5.

P.S.

Laguna Beach, 2.5 --

Note to women of all ages: What is a surefire way to turn yourself into a skank? Answer: hair extensions.

Looking forward to next week's episode which features the return of Stephen.

Interesting piece of trivia: Stephen, Kristin, and Talan are all italian.