The Interview

I haven't seen it yet. I don't know if there's a theater around here in which to see it. I originally had no plans at all to see it (I'm not much of a comedy person), but I might check it out eventually.

It looks awful in the preview and reviews. Not even all the hubbub could make me watch it. It's too bad all these hills-to-die-on couldn't have been over something that was actually good.

The esteemed site YAHOO had a headline about this:

"Eminmem Comes out as Gay in the Interview."

OK. That might be worth the price of a ticket.

We found it online and gave it a watch. Me and the other half found it hilarious.. and beyond just the assassination of Kim Jong Un, there were a lot of things said there too that they wanted to get away with. Some things were left out from the commercials too, moreso I noticed on this movie than others usually, from final cut.

It's on youtube, the full movie.

Our entire family watched it on YouTube yesterday. It's very much a typical Rogan/Franco vehicle in the vein of Pineapple Express and This Is the End, only without the hilarious supporting cast members like Danny McBride and Jay Baruchel. You have to be ready for a heavy dose of Franco. He vamps his way through the movie like he's in a comedy version of a method acting class.

That said, there was a lot of laughter here in my house, but then, we're a family of juveniles. The Eminem bit was funny. We paid $5.99 for 6 people to watch it, so it was worth the price of admission. I wouldn't have seen it at the theater controversy or no.

It showed up on my front YouTube page as "recommended". I immediately clicked on "Not Interested".

ETA:

J.S.F. said:

It is, however, a landmark film in the sense that the subject it's making fun of--Kim Jong Un--ain't dead yet. Memo to Sony and Seth Rogan and James Franco: If you're going to lampoon a ridiculous dictator, then wait until the SOB drops dead first.

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Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito were very much alive when the US and UK propaganda machines were running full-tilt, so it's hardly new.

Perks said:

It looks awful in the preview and reviews. Not even all the hubbub could make me watch it. It's too bad all these hills-to-die-on couldn't have been over something that was actually good.

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I'm with this viewpoint. I wouldn't have been interested in seeing this movie to begin with.

I wouldn't have seen it in theaters, but I'm definitely interested in joining in the collective "eff-you" to Kim Jong-Un. Watching it at home for $5.99 via YouTube is more appealing than shelling out mucho dinero to see it in a theater, anyway.

Plus, I've gotten some thumbs-up from friends who saw it. I think I'll watch it today at some point.

J.S.F. said:

It is, however, a landmark film in the sense that the subject it's making fun of--Kim Jong Un--ain't dead yet. Memo to Sony and Seth Rogan and James Franco: If you're going to lampoon a ridiculous dictator, then wait until the SOB drops dead first.

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In addition to what BenPanced said, Saddam Hussein was alive with the South Park Movie came out, and Kim Jong Il was alive when Team America came out.

Also, James Franco did not make this movie. Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg did. Franco just acted in it. He had nothing to do with the writing or directing.

Ken said:

The esteemed site YAHOO had a headline about this:

"Eminmem Comes out as Gay in the Interview."

OK. That might be worth the price of a ticket.

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I didn't see the movie (I also thought the trailer didn't look very good) but I did see that scene, and it was quite funny. Especially because it didn't have Eminem doing this big interview to announce, "Hey, everybody, I'm gay!" Instead, he just mentions it casually. Franco's character is like, "wait...what??" and Eminem just keeps talking about it, like he thought everyone knew it already.

Celia Cyanide said:

In addition to what BenPanced said, Saddam Hussein was alive with the South Park Movie came out, and Kim Jong Il was alive when Team America came out.

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And before South Park, the two Hot Shots! movies had fun with Hussein (even if they didn't have him in Hell in an abusive gay relationship with Satan).

Comedians and artists in free countries should never hesitate to make fun of contemporary dictators (including ones with whom the U.S. has cordial relationships, like the brutal hereditary dictatorship in Saudi Arabia). Freedom of speech needs to be kept in use.

Hell, Trey Parker and Matt Stone threw together a shitty sitcom based on the winner of the 2000 presidential election; whoever won got the show. After what seemed like years of waiting and a final ruling from the Supremes, That's My Bush! finally made it to air.

And if all of this had nothing to do with North Korea, as some of the more recent analysis claims, it's all a bunch of running around in a panic to the background music of the howling of the blackhats.

J.S.F. said:

Anyone seen this yet? Sony released it online and I imagine it will be released on DVD eventually. I watched it...not overly funny. It had some good parts, funny dialogue in spots, but really, to me it was nothing special.

It is, however, a landmark film in the sense that the subject it's making fun of--Kim Jong Un--ain't dead yet. Memo to Sony and Seth Rogan and James Franco: If you're going to lampoon a ridiculous dictator, then wait until the SOB drops dead first.

George Clooney was right. Sony never should have caved even though this flick wasn't as funny as it could have been.

Thoughts, anyone?

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We watched "The Interview" on YouTube. There were enough funny bits to make it worth the rental price.

But nah, not a landmark. Hitler was alive and well, and the US was not yet in the war when Charlie Chaplin lampooned him in "The Great Dictator."

What's actually unusual about this film is that Kim Jong Un watches American movies and pays attention to them. Most people like him would not know or care about a movie like this.

Celia Cyanide said:

What's actually unusual about this film is that Kim Jong Un watches American movies and pays attention to them. Most people like him would not know or care about a movie like this.

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What else does he have to do?

Celia Cyanide said:

What's actually unusual about this film is that Kim Jong Un watches American movies and pays attention to them. Most people like him would not know or care about a movie like this.

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His pappy was even quirkier. A huge fan of Looney Tune cartoons. One thing good about the dictator. Goes to show everyone has a good point if you search really, really, really, really hard.

Manuel Royal said:

And before South Park, the two Hot Shots! movies had fun with Hussein.

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Yep. Part Deux in particular. Saddam was a central character, from beginning to end.

Also, The Naked Gun opens with some far-reaching mockery of living leaders.

Then there are those Charlie Chaplin films to talk about, not just The Great Dictator, but also Shoulder Arms.

Sorry, The Interview isn't breaking new ground here in the least.

robeiae said:

Yep. Part Deux in particular. Saddam was a central character, from beginning to end.

Also, The Naked Gun opens with some far-reaching mockery of living leaders.

Then there are those Charlie Chaplin films to talk about, not just The Great Dictator, but also Shoulder Arms.

Sorry, The Interview isn't breaking new ground here in the least.

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...except that in this case, the leader in question apparently blackmailed the studio into not releasing the film in theaters. (Yes, many theaters refused to show it as opposed to Sony unilaterally deciding not to release it, and perhaps it was someone outside of N Korea who did the actual hacking, but the result is the same. I for one have little doubt that N Korea is behind the hacking in some way.) Otherwise, you're absolutely right. Dictators and leaders of all kinds have always been lampooned.

I saw the movie yesterday. It wasn't a waste of my time. There were funny bits and really dumb bits. Pretty much what I expected.

The movie did pretty well on just internet sales and very-limited-release. It made a good bit of change.

angeliz2k said:

The movie did pretty well on just internet sales and very-limited-release. It made a good bit of change.

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Except that it cost $44 million to make.

Celia Cyanide said:

What's actually unusual about this film is that Kim Jong Un watches American movies and pays attention to them. Most people like him would not know or care about a movie like this.

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Ken said:

His pappy was even quirkier. A huge fan of Looney Tune cartoons. One thing good about the dictator. Goes to show everyone has a good point if you search really, really, really, really hard.

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From all reports, the family has the largest private movie collection in the world.

BenPanced said:

From all reports, the family has the largest private movie collection in the world.

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In and of itself, that's neat. Hopefully when/if the dictatorship ends the movie collection will be donated to a library for all Koreans to enjoy. That'd be neat.