Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Talladega Nights (2006)

This is topic Talladega Nights (2006) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-03-2006, 03:57 PM:

Sweet Jesus WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!

The ONLY thing humorous at all about this movie is the overly bloated advertising campaigns, ala the scene during a car crash where they cut away for a commercial break for Applebee's only to return to the car crash still in progress.

1/2 out of 5 stars

Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 08-03-2006, 04:52 PM:

Boy, I'm with you on that one. Not funny at all.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 08-03-2006, 08:33 PM:

Will Ferrell & John C. Riley are sure out there promoting this thing. Ferrell is on just about every TV show out there. Even the local radio stations had interviews with people in the film. It should have a big first weekend, then die out fast.

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 08-04-2006, 03:06 AM:

Great movie, I have nothing else to say.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-04-2006, 03:33 AM:

Chris, just because you want to have Will Ferrell's baby doesn't mean the movie was good. [uhoh]

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 08-05-2006, 01:45 AM:

The cougar was funny. "Help me Tom Cruise" was funny.

3 out of 5 cougars for this one.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-05-2006, 02:46 AM:

This one was a turd. I'm sorry, I had high hopes, I like Will Ferral, but this one dragged on too long and the funny moments were too few. Yes, it had its moments, the cougar, etc, but there just weren't enough.

2 out of 5

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 08-05-2006, 10:58 PM:

If you dont chew Big Red Gum, fuck you.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 08-06-2006, 01:16 AM:

Two words - "Fig Newtons"

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 08-08-2006, 09:27 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
Sweet Jesus

I lay claim to that comment as a trademark statement...

LOL.. That said.. I haven't SEEN the film, but if I see that fucking Sprint/Nextel commercial again with his stupid ass screaming... I'm gonna 'splode.

Why would anyone punish themselves to endure this movie? Then again, it pisses me off that they seem to be making such a joke/mockery out of NASCAR fans, which were originally good ol' southern folks such as myself...

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-08-2006, 09:54 PM:

This is getting better reviews than I expected. Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+, I expected a D-.

And that debut, well you can't argue with that. 2nd weekend will tell the tale if people are actually liking it.

We're planning to play this 8/18 so I'll post more of a review when I've seen it.

Posted by Phil Blake (Member # 2012) on 08-12-2006, 08:26 AM:

It is yet to be released here , but we have it comming , had a look at the trailer and OMG I do believe Brad may be correct with his score on this one. Will Ferrell at his worst!

Think we will chuck this one on the Date Movie pile!

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 08-17-2006, 10:47 AM:

It wasn't great, it was a little too long but it was funny in parts and somewhat entertaining. My expectations were low going in.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-18-2006, 11:49 AM:

Checked out Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby last night.

I laughed at a good number of scenes in the early parts of the movie. The argument over the prayer at the dinner table was really good, with the two kids stealing the scene. The boys steal other scenes as well. Lines like "I may be only 10 but I'll still beat your ass" and "I'll come at you like a spider monkey" had me rolling.

The movie ran out of gas after Ricky Bobby had his car wreck and mental meltdown. Didn't laugh much at all for long stretches of time, even on the scene with the cougar. The father character played by Gary Cole had some humourous moments (such as the career day scene early in the film), but overall I didn't think his story arc made much sense.

What's with the different edit on the driving blindfolded scene? The trailer had completely different camera angles, including one in the house where the car crashed. The movie just shows a distant shot with no cuts. Some other jokes in the trailer were left out of the movie, such as:
"When I say peanut butter, you say..."
"Ladies!"
"No. Jelly."
"You wanna put jelly on a lady?"

I guess that thing and some other stuff will be put in a bloated "unrated" version when the DVD is released.

Some of the racing stuff was pretty cool. Lots of car-by stuff happening in the surrounds. Good car wrecks. I wonder if a bunch of it was actually CGI -especially the angles where it looks like the crashing cars were taking out cameras.

Overall: 2.25 stars. Might be worth watching once, but it sure won't stand up to repeat viewings on DVD. The movie isn't in the same league as other more successful comedies like The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-18-2006, 04:52 PM:

We were at the Rocky Mountain Theatre Convention during the week and caught this movie during some spare time.

Some pretty funny parts, but overall I was sort of bored with it. I'd give it a 2.5 out of 5. The Applebee's bit was a hoot.

As with lots of comedies, there were too many of the best funny bits in the trailers.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-20-2006, 01:00 AM:

CINEMA: Trans-Lux Skyline Cinema, Dillon, CO
AUDITORIUM: 1
PRESENTATION: 35mm by Glamour Shots/I'm going to guess SR sound
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: It basically SUCKED, but I think it was functioning as designed.
RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

Admission is NINE BUCKS to this plex with its crappy 80's style lobby with lines of neon on gallons and gallons of teal semigloss and the cheesy oval "sky" ceiling with randomly placed can lights to represent stars. Really. Can lights in a random cluster. And this is a fairly NEW build. Stadium seating and all.

There aren't even surrounds on the auditorium walls. Oh wait...Yes there are. They're up by the ceiling, ala HITS. And they're mounted sideways.

You wouldn't think it possible for a picture to be TOO bright, would you? But it is. Bright scenes had a halo effect similar to shooting pictures with a soft lens. And a big cyan stripe with what looked like a data stream embedded in it ran down the left side masking throughout the movie.

MY COMPLETE HISTORY WITH NASCAR: Two years ago, my friend Jennifer (no, not Pan) begged me to accompany her to the Brickyard 400. There, I learned the following:

1. NASCAR fans will buy anything you mark a race car number on. Even Ricky Bobby has become ranked as one of the top movers of NASCAR merchandise.

2. Watching a NASCAR race live involves sitting around while nothing is happening, jumping up and screaming as the cars go by (and flashing your tits if you're female and so inclined), then sitting around socializing until the cars flash by again in a couple of minutes.

3. NASCAR fans have drivers they love and drivers they hate on a very deep and personal level. Jen defended this point by saying "It's just like professional wrestling". No, it's not. Professional wrestling fans are in on the joke. NASCAR fans are ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS.

I was surprised at how much I laughed at this. I was even more surprised at the girl behind me, who was bordering on hyperventilating the whole time. Tears streamed down her face. Her boyfriend looked kind of embarassed.

Attendance was solid, even in its third week of release. Literally every ticket sold while I was in line was to this movie. I think NASCAR fans are backing this big because it actually works as a race movie, and most of the characters aren't really that far-fetched.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-20-2006, 01:20 AM:

quote: Sam Graham
And a big cyan stripe with what looked like a data stream embedded in it ran down the left side masking throughout the movie.

That would be the soundtrack. Must have an improperly aligned apeture plate-or god knows what else.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-20-2006, 02:03 AM:

quote: Sam Graham
You wouldn't think it possible for a picture to be TOO bright, would you? But it is. Bright scenes had a halo effect similar to shooting pictures with a soft lens.

That's good old fashioned dirty optics from lazy "projectionists". Odds are the image wasn't even at SMPTE brightness specifications.

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 08-20-2006, 10:13 AM:

quote: Sam Graham
I was even more surprised at the girl behind me, who was bordering on hyperventilating the whole time. Tears streamed down her face.

Hey, you can't blame the girl for having good taste.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-21-2006, 11:25 AM:

quote: Sam Graham
You wouldn't think it possible for a picture to be TOO bright, would you? But it is. Bright scenes had a halo effect similar to shooting pictures with a soft lens. And a big cyan stripe with what looked like a data stream embedded in it ran down the left side masking throughout the movie.

I agree with Brad, the "halo effect" is likely flare from a dirty lens or portglass.

The cyan-colored datastream is simply the DTS time code, which is printed next to the cyan-dye analog track. The theatre is likely showing too much width, which should be checked periodically using a test film like the SMPTE 35-PA (RP 40).

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 08-21-2006, 03:31 PM:

quote: John Pytlak
I agree with Brad, the "halo effect" is likely flare from a dirty lens or portglass.

I know we're wandering off the review here, but I had the same halo effect on bright scenes about a month ago... and it turned out to be attributed to a "way out of focus" lamp alignment in the lamphouse.

We just finished our 3rd week of Talladega Nights, and it really brought out a "different" kind of crowd at the drive-in. Only crowd I can remember in 3 years to all "stand and sing" the National Anthem before the movie.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 2038) on 08-22-2006, 01:34 PM:

We're running the trailer for it now, and will be showing it by Labor Day Weekend. By the looks of the trailer, it will be another two hours of Ferrell screaming.

Perhaps he's an acquired taste that I haven't acquired yet. Reminds me a lot of Howie Mandell and Robin Williams when they get into their 9-year-old-kid who is showing off in front of everyone at the party phase.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 09-04-2006, 06:54 PM:

Today 9/4/2006, 12-noon, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene, House #1, SR-D. The image was bouncy and with too much dirt, the trailers sloppily assembled, intro to the Regal Roller Coaster chopped off. The subwoofer(s) are cranked up way too loud, out of balance with everything else. I heard something that was either a woofer cone bottoming out or maybe clipping. Either way it wasn't good.

Compared to "The Wicker Man" which I saw yesterday, "Talladega Nights" is a masterpiece of fine filmmaking. I laughed my ass off. Some funny stuff here. Better than I was expecting, so 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Justin Gorka (Member # 3727) on 09-21-2006, 05:57 PM:

Yawn, got I hate previewing films (except British ORIGINAL ones- see Children of Men!)