*** Anchorman 2 : The Legend Continues –rm  Nobody should be surprised by this movie. Either you have seen the first version of Anchorman or you have seen the massive publicity and the trailers about this movie. If you haven’t, feel free to take a moment and watch one of them which has a good many of the film’s “funny” lines and bits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elczv0ghqw0‎ The jokes are juvenile, slapstick with a lot of screaming along with racial, antigay, sexist jokes and even makes fun of people who are blind. Of course the characters are also making fun of themselves and they will make you gasp and /or laugh, sometimes. Adam McKay, who co-wrote it with Will Ferrell, directs it. MacKay also co-wrote the first Anchorman. The movie opens with Ron Burgundy (Will Farrell) being fired by the retiring veteran anchorman (Harrison Ford) who at the same time names his own replacement to be Ron’s co-anchor and wife (Christine Applegate). A new 24-hour/day-television news station subsequently hires Ron and he rounds up some of his previous colleagues from the old days who are played by Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner. They have lots of interactions with the television station people especially one tough, sexy boss played by Linda Jackson. The storyline is thin, disjointed and flows in order to allow the jokes and comic routines. There are bit to middling roles by Kristen Wiig, Sacha Baron Cohen, Steve Coulter, Kanye West, Tina Fey, Greg Kinnear, Liam Neeson and Amy Poehler to name a few. They really don’t change the level of the comedy, which comes mainly from Ferrell. With so many great films out at this time of the season, if you don’t see a large number, we don’t know why you would choose this one. But on the other hand, we realize that there are a lot of folks who go for this type of comedy so after some discussion we decided that it might fit our criteria for three stars. (2013) 

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I Don’t Know How She Does It- rm– Remember the main character of the Sex and The City TV series and subsequent films? Well, imagine that instead of  being Carrie the writer, she was Kate Reddy a financial analyst and try to picture what her life might be like 10 or 15 years after she was running around Manhattan trying to find Mr. Big. Imagine that she is now married with two children living in Boston struggling to be the perfect working mother, trying to meet the needs of her kids as every morning she says hello to her nanny while saying goodbye to her husband before rushing off to her high powered job. We hear the narration voice of Kate (Sarah Jessica Parker  of course) reflecting her thoughts as she  ponders and explains her problems. We meet Richard, her husband  (Greg Kinnear) who is a lovely guy just beginning to get his big break at his job but is beginning to feel frustrated and deserted as Kate is taking trips out of town. She  is on the verge of closing a great deal working with Mr Big (Pierce Brosnan) of the stock portfolios. Her home life is best summed up by her late talking 2 year old finally saying his first words , “Bye Bye mommy” and her mother-in-law suggesting that the kid may have talked earlier if she had been around more. This movie will give at least two generations of working women a great deal to identify with. Maybe if Kate closes her deal she will have enough clout at her job so she can stay home when she wants to be with her kids, make a snowman with them when it snows and take her kids for landmark haircuts etc. But this is certainly not your middle class working family and what about the situation where such couple is forced to work long hours to make ends meet.?  Writers Arline McKenna (screenplay) and Allison Peason (novel) and director Douglas McGrath seem to have mixed feelings on their view of the role women and family today. On one hand despite her loving her career, Kate does strive towards ultimately putting family first. But the stay at home moms seen in this film (Busy Phillipps, Sarh Shahl and others ) are depicted in a self indulgent very unflattering manner which some are bound to find offensive.

If you are inclined to see this film because you are looking for some kind of validation of what your family has been through or is going through now, most probably you will find it fun to watch. Kelsey Grammer will add to the fun as one of her bosses as will Seth Myers as Kate’s nemesis at work. But be advised there is nothing ground breaking or really stimulating that is going to be found in this very light comedy. (2011)  

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Salvation Boulevard-sp   If you are not part of it – what could be a better subject for satire than a big Texas like Evangelical Church? Director and co-writer George Ratliff did just this thing and interestingly enough he told us that the previews are doing well in the midst of the bible belt. In addition to a well-written story with some good comedy and many surprise twists, this film project pulled together a great cast who created the zany characters who are up on the screen for 95 minutes. Dan Day (Pierce Brosnan) the church leader who is on the verge of building his Christian City on the Hill with a medical school, a law school and everything else when something happens that make him respond in not the most holy manner. Carl Vandermeer (Greg Kinnear), a former Deadhead (follower of the Grateful Dead) has settled into a clean life as a family man and a regular church goer  when he gets tested and then can’t believe he had been a follower of the good Dan Day. His journey is the heart of the film and the center of most of the comedic moments. Then there is his wife Gwen (Jennifer Connelly) who is hilarious as the dyed in the wool follower of Dan Day and his movement as well as being a weird artist. Honey Foster (Marisa Tomei) is a security guard with a heart of gold and she herself is former Deadhead who still likes to smoke her pipe. Ed Harris gets into the character of Dr. Paul Blaylock who in many people’s opinion ( but not the Evangelical crowd ) would be the voice of reason, but he gets a bullet in his head which does slow him down. Most people in the theatre seemed to have had a good time. There were a lot of laughs and the satire was as expected but the story was not predictable. So a good time was had, but it probably won’t be very memorable.  (2011)