Incidentally, the quote Cami is talking about came from an interview Tina Fey did with Esquire Magazine. But I guess she was on Oprah earlier this week with Steve Carell, too, and repeated it there.
I guess I just like the idea of Cami sitting around reading Esquire, for some reason.
For those of you that think I’m making up that story about a Korean man marrying a body pillow, that actually happened and it seems to be somewhat of an emerging trend in Eastern cultures. 2D Love, is what they’re starting to call it. Men falling in love with anime characters beyond what’s appropriate or… normal.
Interestingly enough, the phenomenon was referenced recently on an episode of 30 Rock where James Franco tried to arrange a shame marriage with Jane Krakowski’s character Jenna to keep the press from learning about his infatuation with a Japanese body pillow.
I mention that, I guess, because it also involves Tina Fey. I feel like I’m playing Six Degrees of Separation with body pillows, or something.
Back to the matter at hand, let’s talk about Date Night for a little bit. Certainly the film looks great on paper. Tina Fey and Steve Carell in the same movie? It would seem like they would have a very compatible sense of humor and a natural chemistry and I think that’s what Fox is counting on when (or if) you buy a ticket this weekend.
But if you scratch the surface, there is cause for concern. The first red flag is that it was directed by Shawn Levy who is one of the worst paycheck directors currently in Hollywood. He is to comedy what Chris Columbus is to children’s movies. Everything about Levy’s approach takes things that are otherwise funny and squeezes the life out of them. His work is safe and predictable and you only have to look at his directing credits for the proof. Just Married, Cheaper By The Dozen, the remake of The Pink Panther and BOTH Night at the Museum movies.
The second red flag is the script written by Josh Klausner – whose IMDB profile does not inspire confidence. Klausner only has 4 writing credits to his name and TWO of them are Shrek movies.
In other words, proceed with caution.
Fey and Carell have been all over the place doing press for Date Night. It seems either one or both of them have been on television every night this week. While that’s good for television – since they’re both always fun to watch in an interview context – it doesn’t exactly communicate quality in Date Night. They’re basically promoting the heck out of it now to drum up interest because (I’m willing to be) word of mouth won’t be very good afterwords. I hate to be a pessimist, but I’ve seen these kind of maneuvers before.
What do you guys think? Have I unfairly passed judgment on Date Night? Do you still want to see it? Leave your comments along with your thoughts and reflections about Japanese body pillows below!
I forgot to put this in the blog earlier today, but I wanted to share a bit of news that made my fanboy heart swell with glee.
Last night, Cami and I were watching 30 Rock (as you do) and out of nowhere she said, “I think I want to watch Iron Man tomorrow night.”
I looked at her with what must have been an expression of shock and confusion. Was she messing with me?
“Are you messing with me,” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I want to watch it again before the sequel comes out next week. I really liked the first one and I haven’t seen it in a while. I figured tomorrow would be a good night to watch it.”
I LOVE THIS WOMAN!