The Never Ending Commitment of Will Ferrell

Who is your favorite actor? Tough question I know. And with a never ending range of options it's a pretty difficult thing to answer. But back in my youth, there was a simple and easy response: Will Ferrell. 

It's not easy to sell Will Ferrell as the best actor around, and today I'd give a different answer, but back in my younger days he was my top choice. The reason was pretty simple, everything he did made me laugh. I can't tell you how many hours my brother and I spent locked in our TV room watching "Anchorman" or "Old School" or his SNL best of DVD. When it came to Will Ferrell we just couldn't get enough. As I've gotten older my taste has matured somewhat and I've somewhat moved on from the brand of comedy that filled my youth. It's part of growing up and everyone leaves parts of their childhood behind. However, with Farrell there's an element of nostalgia, that keeps me invested in his career.  

Most recently Farrell stared in a 50 minute HBO Baseball mockumentary entitled, "Farrell Takes The Field." The special had Farrell playing 10 different positions for 10 different Major League Baseball teams, a record first achieved by Bert Campaneris in 1965. As a big fan of baseball and Will Farrell, I was immediately intrigued by the idea. Last March, Farrell filmed the special in Arizona playing briefly in 5 different games. Because he filmed it during spring training I was actually able to follow each game online with exclusive footage provided by MLB. The glimpse I got was hilarious and I had high expectations going into Saturday's premiere. 

While it was a pleasant 50 minutes of content, I was overall disappointed with it. They shortened some of my favorite moments from the day and it felt like they cut some great content in order to carry on jokes, that didn't quite hit. While I wasn't completely satisfied with the special as a whole, I still admired Farrell's performance overall. 

One of the things that has made Farrell great throughout his career is his unwavering commitment to a role. Even when the premise of his piece is ridiculous he is completely committed to taking it seriously. In the HBO special, Farrell goes through the games as though he is trying to secure a spot on each team and although it is obvious to everyone involved that it is a joke, Farrell never drops from character. His interactions with the players and the coaches read like a utility infielder trying to fit into a new situation after every trade. And regardless of how the mockumentary came out, all the proceeds raised during the special went to a cancer foundation that Farrell started and that's something everyone can get behind.

While Farrell's movies haven't exactly hit it big the last few years, he has always done a great job of staying relevant through all the different medias that are available to us. Whether he's appearing in random Milwaukee Beer commercials, or creating and posting Funny or Die videos,  he has found a way to stay current. And in each ridiculous video, his complete devotion to the comedy can be seen. Regardless of of your thoughts on Will Ferrell, it's hard not to appreciate his dedication to his craft. His unwavering commitment to each role is something every actor can learn from.

The Hangover ... Again

I recently watched the trailer for The Hangover Part 3 and all that I thought to myself was why are they doing this again. The first time I saw The Hangover, I was surprised at how funny it was. I went in thinking it was going to be a decently funny movie but it actually turned out to be hilarious. I liked the first Hangover so much that I was really excited for the second. As I was going to see the second Hangover, I had high hopes but those were quickly destroyed. The Hangover Part 2 was absolutely terrible. It was the exact same film as the original Hangover. What was once very funny was just stupid the second time around. The two films had the same exact plot line. You would think that Todd Phillips, the man behind The Hangover and Old School, would at least be able to make a movie with a different plot. One of the biggest problems with the second film was that there was no character development at all. "The Wolfpack" did not change at all from the first film and I'm not expecting them to change in the third.

The plot line for The Hangover Part 3 is supposed to be a different plot line from the first but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm expecting that many of the jokes will be the same as the first two and I'm also expecting for the characters to not develop at all. The Hangover Part 3 comes to theaters Memorial Day Weekend but I think I'll wait till it's on DVD for me to see it.

Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap

Recently, I watched the documentary Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap, directed by Ice-T. The documentary is a series of interviews that highlights the history of hip-hop culture and explains the meaning of rap music. All of the interviewees are hip-hop legends that shaped the culture and started a revolutionary music style. This was Ice-T's (yes, the guy from Law & Order) first film and as a fan of old school hip-hop, I was extremely pleased with Ice-T's execution. Due to Ice-T's high status in the hip-hop world, he was able to get in touch with the pioneers of hip-hop. The interviewees included Snoop Dogg, Grandmaster Caz, Afrika Bambaata, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Common, Immortal Technique, KRS-One, Ice Cube, Doug E. Fresh, Raekwon, Rakim, and many more legends. The documentary highlights the history of hip-hop on both the East Coast and West Coast and each interviewee spits a freestyle. The video is comprised of city life helicopter shots and street level b-roll. Many people don't appreciate what I would consider to be "real hip-hop." Hip-hop is a form of poetry and art and many mainstream rappers today give hip-hop a bad name and image. I recommend The Art of Rap to those who listen to old school hip-hop and the names of the artists I listed above. I also recommend this film to those who think mainstream rap is good music so that they can understand the poetic roots and appreciate true pioneers of the culture. I also recommend this film to those who dislike hip-hop so that they may come to appreciate the music and learn why and how the culture was created.

                                                    WATCH THE TRAILER.

"Hip-hop didn't invent anything. Hip-hop re-invented everything." - Grandmaster Caz