Walk Hard är berättelsen om den fiktiva sångaren Dewey Cox vars karriär spänner över sextiotalet år. John C Reilly spelar Cox från det att han är fjorton till dryga sjuttio år och man får här följa honom genom familjetragedier, genombrott, äktenskap, skilsmässor, föräldraskap, drogmissbruk och en svajjig karriär. Filmen parodierar dramadokumentärer om musiker i allmänhet och Walk the Line om Johnny Cash liv i synnerhet.

Jag var ytterst skeptisk till den här filmen till att börja med, men bara efter en stund var jag helt såld i den här bisarra historien som blandar flabb med allvar på ett fyndigt och rätt skickligt sätt. Det är skruvat – väldigt skruvat, vilket man nog antingen köper eller hatar. Judd Apatow står som producent och manusförfattare, men har också varit med och skrivit  flera av låtarna i filmen. Jag är verkligen ingen countryfantast eller älskare av 60-talspop, men jösses så några av melodierna etsar sig fast i skallen på en. Nynnar ofrivilligt “Walk Hard” mer eller mindre konstant. Filmen skildrar på ett lättsamt och väldigt härligt sätt olika skeden i musikhistorien och man får också möta några av Coxs konkurrenter som bland annat The Beatles och Elvis. Reilly är fenomenal som den drumlige Cox och andra som dyker upp är bland annat Kristen Wiig, David Krumholtz, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Rudd, Justin Long, Cheryl Ladd, Jonah Hill, Morgan Fairchild, Patrick Duffy, Jack Black, Lyle Lovett, Jewel, Frankie Muniz, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr, Harold Ramis, Craig Robinson och många många fler.

Betyg: 4

It may seem that I have stopped blogging but I have not.  In a mix of me being lazy, uninspired and flat out busy with other things (currently my quest for 50,000 Gamerscore, amongst life in general) I have neglected my poor blogs and the adoring fans I have.  OK so I made the last part up but a guy can dream right?

Anyway, this post isn’t meant to be a triumphant return to form, after all I am quite lazy but a few things have popped into my head over the last little bit and I felt maybe I should lay them down for you as proof I still know how to take words and form complete (if sometimes nonsensical) sentences.   But be forewarned this post has about as much substance as an empty bottle of water.

MUSIC

Gigapoodle’s recent discovery of the Beatles has me thinking about them more and more.  I am still not a fan.  I appreciate their contributions to the industry and I do like some of their music but I just don’t dig the music.  It’s cool we don’t all have to like the same stuff, after all many people think “Chinese Democracy” is a pile of crap but I personally think it is the bloated, pompous, self-referential masterpiece that Axl Rose was always destined to make.  Anyway back to the Beatles, I recently watched Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and despite it being an awful excuse for a comedic endeavor it did feature an awesome scene involving The Beatles as played by Jack Black (McCartney), Paul Rudd (Lennon), Justin Long (Harrison) and Jason Schwartzman (Ringo).  I don’t recommend watching the film but if you can find the clip somewhere it is comedic genius.

Outside of that my musical infatuation for the week is the band July for Kings, in particular their 2002 album “Swim” but that will probably change next week with the release of Sister Hazel’s sixth studio album “Release”.  In anycase, for me July for Kings comes across as a musical mix of Live, Matchbox Twenty, Our Lady Peace and the Goo Goo Dolls, which is cool because I like all those  bands.

Oh and I’m pretty pumped about going to see one of my favorite guitarists, Mark Tremonti, tomorrow night in Camden when the re-formed Creed makes their obligatory Philly stop in Camden, NJ.

MOVIES

As I stated earlier I watched “Walk Hard”, it was worse than what I was expecting (which honestly wasn’t much).  I also watched a Steven Seagal movie where he fought vampires called “Against the Dark” it was about what I was expecting.  I’ll be heading to see “District 9″ this Saturday and if you want my impressions on the film be sure to tune into next week’s About 12 Minutes podcast or maybe I’ll post a review, who knows.

The summer is almost over and I have to say I was kind of disappointed in this summer’s efforts.  It wasn’t quite as bad as the summer of 2007 where we had three straight third film stinkers in a row but overall Summer 2009 was, at least for me, mediocre.

GAMES

I’ve been on a tear recently and am now within a little over 4000 points to my goal of netting 50K Gamerscore.  I’ll be happy when the quest is over because I have  other shit I have to do.  I have however gotten to play a ton of games during this endeavor, some good and some bad but all games I wanted to play.  Like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which I finished last night (the 26th game I’ve finished this year).  It was a blast.  Would I purchase it?  Probably not but if you are a fan of games like God of War you should probably play it.  It’s ten hours of straight on gory as all hell shred-em up action.

I’m also currently, and slowly, playing through Resident Evil 5.  Its not the masterpiece some people tried to convince me it was but it is also not just RE4 with a new coat of paint.  I like it, I just don’t love it.

Purchasing season is just around the corner, starting September 1 for me with Guitar Hero 5 and I’m quite pumped for it as well.  I’m not exactly sure why I am pumped for it but I am and I am quite happy that if I get it day one I will get a copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free which I had absolutely zero intention of buying because the game is not an indication of Van Halen’s career.  It seems mighty stupid to me that the game is going to pretend that the Hagar era never happened.  Regardless of if you liked Van Halen with Sammy or not, there is little denying that some of their biggest hits came during that time and don’t even get me started on how they are completly slapping Michael Anthony in the face by having Eddie’s 18 year old kid, Wolfgang, in the game.

POLITICS

I’m not going to get into a whole lot about the Healthcare debate.  President Obama recently stated, “”For all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary is if we do nothing”.  I generally agree with that statement but what should be done is where I may disagree with him except he doesn’t even seem to know how to go about changing the system.  The government (both sides) needs to give the people some options to take a look at and decide what is best.  Those voted into office were put there to represent us not make decisions based on party allegiance, loyalty to lobbyists, or just their gut.  They need to be educated on the matter and bring it to the people.  I urge all politicians to read all 1018 pages of the Health Insurance Reform Bill because most of you (on both sides) don’t seem to have read much, if any of it.  And guess what when someone starts yelling at you about a certain section of the bill, show them the bill, read them the bill and help them understand the bill because mostly people are scared of the unknown and if you could explain to them what something they have an issue with means maybe we as a country could be more productive.

———————–

Anyway, maybe a post about critical reviews and analysis is in the cards soon.  Who knows?

Oh and I have a Twitter account.  I originally thought it was stupid.  It is not.  Follow me (Kariyanine).

The latest in the steady stream of musical legends to be immortalised in film will be Hank Williams. Variety reports:

Nashville-based 821 Entertainment Group and Strike Entertainment have teamed to turn the life of country music icon Hank Williams into a feature film.Strike Entertainment partner Marc Abraham will write the script. The 821 banner will finance development and most likely production, with Universal getting first crack at the project through its first-look deal with Strike partners Abraham and Eric Newman.

The package includes cooperation with the Hank Williams estate that gives the production use of his most memorable recordings. Also, 821 has optioned the rights to “Hank Williams: The Biography,” a book by Colin Escott that is being used as a resource by Abraham. Escott will be associate producer.

I’ve just learned from Wikipedia that Hank suffered from spina bifida that led him to problems with alcohol, morphine, and other painkillers. Substitute spina bifida for blindness, and morphine for heroin and it sounds remarkably like another recent biopic. Is this just a shameless bid for Oscars, or will it bring something new to the table?

It's funny cause it's the 70s...

R

John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows

Dewey: Edith, I am startin’ to think…that maybe you don’t believe in me.
Edith: I do believe in you.  I just know yer gonna fail.

Parody of musician bio-pics, particularly Walk The Line.  Dewey Cox (Reilly) accidentally kills his older brother when they are young and has to live with the guilt, and disapproval from his father, for the rest of his life.  He’s a gifted musician who starts to gain popularity, but then succumbs to the temptations of drugs and women.

This movie starts off really well, with a lot of funny moments and a story that moves along at a good pace.  Unfortunately, the second half is just a series of comedy set-ups involving Dewey’s various music styles and encounters with other musicians.  Some of it is funny, but it’s so meandering and repetitive that I got a bit bored with it.  I will say, though, that the version I watched was listed as the “Unrated” version, which means there was probably some extra footage thrown in.  The theatrical release may have been edited a bit more tightly.

Also, be warned (or just notified if you don’t see it as a negative), the version I watched had copious amounts of nudity – female and male – so if that bothers you, be ready with the fast-forward button.

The music in the movie is surprisingly easy to listen to.  They didn’t just throw together some lame songs.  They had to make it at least somewhat believable that these songs could bring him fame and popularity.

Overall, it’s a funny movie, with a TON of guest appearances by all kinds of comedians and celebrities.  I just wish there was more structure and flow to the second half so that my attention wasn’t moving away from the screen and to the clock as I checked how much longer this movie was going to last.

10 – 3 for the tedious second half + .3 for the decent music – .5 for the full frontal = 6.8

This must be brand new, the ability to embed directly into the post! Exciting…Will have to play around with this more tonight.

Movies which I think are best on this coming week. Bold are movies I have not seen but intend to watch.

Saturday 21st Feb

• Schindler’s List – Sky Movies Drama – 8pm
• Vera Drake – channel 4 – 9pm
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story – Sky Movies Premiere – 6pm
• There Will Be Blood – Sky Movies Premiere – 9.45pm
• Heavenly Creatures – BBC1 – midnight

Sunday 22nd Feb

• Vanilla Sky – channel 4 – 10.50pm
• The Rainmaker – BBC1 – 11pm

Monday 23rd Feb

• Pollock – BBC2 - 12.30am
• As Good As It Gets – Sky Movies Drama – 8pm

Tuesday 24th Feb

• American Beauty – Sky Movies Dram – 10.20pm

Wednesday 25th Feb

• From Hell – Five – 10pm-12.20am

Thursday 26th Feb

• Freedomland – Five – 9pm-11.35pm

Friday 27th Feb

Andrew, this one’s for you.

Having never seen Walk the Line and having a general distaste for films of the musical biopic genre, it would have taken and did in fact take my artistic mentor to force a screening of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. My predispositions being the case, it turns out that Walk Hard went down easily and not without a chuckle. Coming down somewhere between poking fun at and mocking Johnny Cash and Ray Charles movies, this movie rode the line between mockumentary and shameless goof-fest. This isn’t to say that it didn’t fall down a number of times – this is anything but an exercise in well-balanced cinema – but at least it broke out of the toilet-humor kind of mold that, I would think, defines all those Scary/Date/Epic/Etc. Movie movies. It’s nice not to see John C. Reilly taking himself as seriously as he did in Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson movies, but this Will Ferrell-turn in his career is a bit sad to watch. The phallic title meets its match in various close-ups as the pop-comedy genre continues to make its return to the late-70’s-early-80’s naughtiness of Airplane!, Stripes, and Caddyshack. Seems at this point that my words are generally restrained or negative. Sorry, Andrew, they’re not meant to be. I would imagine this is more fun to watch with you than by myself on Netflix Online.

There was a stretch over the past several years where I went without a good laugh.

I don’t mean I went without laughing.

I don’t even mean I went without a hearty laugh.

I’m talkin’ ’bout one of those full-on, super-vigorous, tears streaming, can’t-hear-anything-else-going-on, if-you-were-drinking-something-you’re-not-now-because-it’s-flowing-out-your-nose, put-the-world-on-pause-for-a-few-minutes laughs.

Yeah, I hadn’t had one of those in a while.

That was until last July. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to experience not one, not two, but three of them.

What’s more is that two of the three have come in response to the comedic stylings of John C. Reilly.

(The other was by way of SNL.)

Now, I’d never thought too much of John C. Reilly until I sat down and did the math. Then again, I hadn’t seen too many of his movies. Only the ones ending with the word “Nights.” All both of them.

I did get some chuckles from him in Talladega Nights, but from what I knew of him, I didn’t expect that I’d have two major hysterical laugh fits by his prompting.

Then came July. I saw Step Brothers.

It seemed silly enough for me to go check out at the theater. I mean, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly were good together in Talladega Nights… this had to be funny, too, right?

Check. Absolutely check.

Throughout the movie I strung together constant minor laughs, as well as a heartier one at the prompting of the gem that is the “Boats ‘N Hoes” video.

But there was one moment so subtle, yet so over-the-top obviously ridiculous, I completely lost it:

It was the moment the camera revealed John C. Reilly, calmly sitting on a bed, and holding a relatively normal conversation with Will Ferrell. While wearing a Chewbacca mask.

I don’t know what it was about that moment. I mean, I don’t even like Star Wars. Other people in the theater were laughing, but I was seriously trying to suppress my laughter because [1] I was missing the dialogue, and [2] I was so far gone I thought people were gonna think something was wrong with me.

And maybe there is. Okay, there is. But that moment, and much of the rest of the movie — but especially that moment — did much for the cleansing of my system. It was like a humor colonic.

I think.

Because, umm, it’s not like I’ve ever had one of those before or anything.

Ahem, so anywayz…

The second of the John C. Reilly-prompted volcano-like laughter eruptions came during the PCP rampage scene during Dewey Cox’s drug years in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

I was fortunate enough to be watching that one on my DVR, so I was able to pause it until I settled down. I still don’t know what it was about that scene, but I completely lost control. The laughter started sorta slow, quickly built into a hearty laugh, and just kept escalating until I was doubled over, unable to do anything but continue laughing.

And that whole movie was funny, too. Well, to me anyway. I’m glad I’ve not seen any of the movies Walk Hard was parodying, because I may not have liked it as much as I did. For me, it was enjoyable ridiculousness strewn together with some very good singing by John C. Reilly, even if the songs were also pretty ridiculous.

Well, many of them, anyway.

But even the ridiculous ones are good. I mean, I’m perfectly willing to consider “Life Without You (Is No Life At All)” as the first dance song at my wedding reception for me and whatever woman’s willing to take me on as her husband. Well, not whatever woman — because, hey, I still am sorta picky, y’know (that can’t be lasting much longer, though… plan accordingly, ladies I’ve previously shown no interest in) — but you know what I mean.

I mean, I’m completely willing to look past the “Sharpen up your knives / Stab me in the eyes” line because the song just sounds so darn pleasant and no one will hear anything but the chorus anyway. Besides, it won’t even matter: during the first dance the ladies in attendance will just be standing there with their hands over their hearts and their heads tilted to the side saying “Awww…”, while the dudes’ll all have a beverage in their hand as they’re looking around, making small talk with the other dudes there about sports and trying to figure out in their head how much longer it’ll be before their wives let them leave.

Sigh.

I can’t wait.

My wedding reception will be the best.

On that note, I’ll leave you with that song:

(I’d have embedded clips of the Chewbacca mask scene and the PCP rampage scene if I could’ve found them. Apparently, though, no one thought them as worthy as I for pirating on youtube. ‘Tis a shame… )

((Oh, and also, it turns out John C. Reilly’s from Chicago. That alone pretty much obligates me to be a fan. Good thing he’s funny. Because I’m tired of being a fan of Chicago celebrities I’m not a fan of.))

År: 2007
Genre: Komedi
Skådisar: John C Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig

Handling: Parodifilm om ett par av dom senaste musikfilmerna som kommit.

Kommentar: Kunde kortast en halvtimme och en del av skämten var väl lite för överdrivna men den var faktiskt rolig så se den om du gillar parodifilmer. Rekommenderar även att se Walk The Line först.

Betyg:

Au lieu de regarder un film, je vous parle des derniers que j’ai vus. Oui, je suis fou !

Birds Of America C

Les parents de Morrie sont morts quand il était jeune. En héritage, il a eu la maison, les dettes et des frères et sœurs à éduquer. Aujourd’hui, il vit toujours dans la maison, et il est prof. Ça fait sept ans qu’il lèche le cul de son voisin, et supérieur hiérarchique pour obtenir sa titularisation (ou un truc du genre). Il est sur le point de l’obtenir quand la famille débarque.

Comme vous le savez, le ciné indé US adore les familles dysfonctionnelles. Ici, on a donc Morrie et sa femme Betty qui se retrouvent avec Jay qui est légèrement fêlé et Ida qui l’est autant, voir peut-être plus, difficile de décider. À cette galerie de personnages, il faut donc rajouter Paul et Laura les voisins. Petit film, petit budget, mais big casting : Matthew Perry est Morrie, Lauren Graham est Betty, Ben Foster est Jay, Ginnifer Goodwin est Ida, Hilary Swank est Laura et Gary Wilmes est Paul.

Un film qui a du potentiel, mais qui est chiant. L’histoire ne décolle pas et le réal n’a aucun sens de la comédie. Je dis ça, car on sent le potentiel comique de beaucoup de scène, mais jamais on ne rit, c’est frustrant. Un bon gros gâchis. Regardez plutôt Smart People, au moins vous pourrez plus vous marrer. Les deux étaient à Sundance, et parlent de famille dysfonctionnelle, d’où le rapprochement.

Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story B

La vie de Dewey Cox qui réalisa son rêve, devenir une légende de la musique.

John C. Reilly est Dewey Cox, le légendaire Dewey Cox… Je commence par ça, car, comme d’habitude dans ce genre de rôle Reilly est purement génial, enfin, si on aime son style, ce qui est mon cas. Avec au scénario Judd Apatow, on n’est pas très surpris d’avoir un film de deux heures, car il semble aimer de faire de longue comédie. On retrouve aussi sa touche humoristique qui n’est pas toujours de bon gout.

Bref, présenté comme une sorte de parodie de Walk The Line, ce film m’avait beaucoup tenté avec sa bande-annonce. Après l’avoir vu, je ne suis pas surpris du mauvais accueil que lui a réservé la presse. Je dis que j’ai compris, mais ça ne veut pas dire que je suis d’accord. En fait, le principal souci, c’est le mélange un peu disgracieux de différents types d’humour. On passe de l’absurde à l’humour référentiel, en passant par les blagues de cul basique, et j’en passe. Au final, on ne sait jamais à quoi s’attendre et certains passages ressemblent plus à de l’assemblage de sketch qu’à un film.

J’ai eu un peu de mal à entrer dans le film durant la première moitié. En fait, je crois que c’est le trip avec les Beatles qui m’a vraiment accroché. Jusqu’à ce moment-là, il y avait du bon, du mauvais, du lourd, mais peu de consistance. Je n’ai pas encore vu Walk The Line, mais j’ai l’impression que c’est quand on s’éloigne de la parodie de ce film que Walk Hard prend son envol.

Ce n’est donc pas mauvais, mais ça aurait pu être bien meilleur. Je ne regrette pas le visionnage, et je pense que je le reverrais même plus tard, car Reilly est vraiment génial.

Due to Judd Apatow’s involvement with Walk Hard, I really had high hopes.  I’m afraid those hopes were dashed.  Walk Hard was an exercise in gratuitous vulgarity that totally doused the few truly funny moments that existed. 

While the lyrics to Dewey Cox’s songs were uncouth, they were so creatively dirty you couldn’t help but laugh.  But that’s where the creativity ended.  Unfortunately, they decided to go overboard with the easy profanity, sex-jokes, and visual crudity so often I was rolling my eyes at the sheer stupidity of it all.

And that sums up Walk Hard pretty well.  They just tried to do too much and took the easy way out too often.  It got to the point I was watching the clock because I was bored out of my mind with the movie, and that’s never a good thing.

Avoid this movie and spare yourself the pain.

“What do we think of when we think of Cox?”

Frequently hilarious satire of musician biopics, in particular Walk The Line, covering the turbulent life of American rock star Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) from ages 14 to 71. Though there’s an impressive array of comic actors supporting him, Reilly is really the whole show here, even singing his own songs, which are inspired, dead on parodies of Johnny Cash, Elvis, Roy Orbison, the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan, among others. (The Dylan parodies, written by Dan Bern, are my personal favorites, though “Let’s Duet” and “Black Sheep” are pretty priceless, too.) Walk Hard hits most of the notes you think it’s going to hit comedy-wise, detailing his rock star excesses, failed marriages and repeated trips to rehab, but some of the most memorable moments are when it drifts into the absurd or the random, as with the childhood incident that haunts him or a running gag involving male nudity. Though it’s R-rated for good reason, most of Walk Hard is good natured fun, and easily one of the funniest movies of 2007.

MONKEY RATING: ONE MONKEY (AND YES, IT HAS THE GOOD TASTE TO FEATURE A MONKEY IN A STARRING ROLE)

(For a brief explanation of the Monkey Review rating system, click here.)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a late 2007 comedy that picked up a Golden Globe nomination for its lead actor, John C. Reilly. Reilly, typically a co-star prior to this film, is certainly the highlight of the film as he portrays fictional musician Dewford “Dewey” Cox. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was directed by Jake Kasdan, the director of the 2002 film Orange County and the 2007 film The TV Set. Judd Apatow, the director of Knocked Up, wrote the film along with Kasdan. Kasdan and Apatow worked together on Freaks and Geeks and also on Undeclared. Kasdan is the son of famed writer/director Lawrence Kasdan, who directed The Big Chill and Silverado.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is essentially a parody of the music film genre. It parodies several music legends, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and most notably Johnny Cash. Reilly stars as Dewey Cox, a musician who has skyrocketed from humble beginnings in Alabama. He begins to struggle with his popularity and experience the typical trappings of fame, including marriage, divorce, drug habits, and difficulty overcoming his troubled past. Cox eventually becomes somewhat of a legend in the music industry and takes to the stage one last time at a concert in his honour. The story is told mostly through flashbacks that cover the various phases of Cox’s life.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story also stars Jenna Fischer, best known for her work on the hit television series The Office. Fischer plays Darlene Madison, Cox’s backup singer and eventual second wife. The film features a number of comedic performances, including Tim Meadows, Kristen Wiig, Harold Ramis, Chris Parnell, and Matt Besser. There are a number of brief cameos, too. Jack White plays Elvis Presley in a rather amusing segment, Frankie Muniz plays Buddy Holly, Paul Rudd plays John Lennon, Jack Black plays Paul McCartney, Justin Long plays George Harrison, and Jason Schwartzman plays Ringo Starr. Apatow stalwart Jonah Hill also shows up as the ghost of Dewey’s brother. Eddie Vedder, Jewel, Ghostface Killah, Jackson Browne, and Lyle Lovett also show up as themselves.

Kasdan came up with the idea for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story after noting that most music biopics tended to have the same plot. After watching Ray, Walk the Line, and La Bamba, Kasdan took the idea for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story to his friend Judd Apatow and they began writing the film together. Apatow and Kasdan began writing the film immediately, filling it with all sorts of stories of rock lore and legend. The idea was to create an over-the-top superstar of music in Dewey Cox, but still to treat the idea seriously as though working for an Oscar nomination. Eventually, the pair decided that John C. Reilly would be the perfect fit and the film came together.

A key component to Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story is the music. The music was put together by a group of songwriters writing specifically for the film. Marshall Crenshaw, the American singer-songwriter, composed the title track to the film, which wound up getting a Golden Globe nomination for Best Song. The music is certainly entertaining, as many of the songs are rather funny. A favourite of mine was the tune “Let’s Duet.” 33 total songs are featured in the movie and the cast and crew of the film came up with a total of 40. Dan Bern and Mike Viola wrote the majority of the songs and Van Dyke Parks was along for the ride, as he wrote the 1960s psychedelic track “Black Sheep.”

There is a good amount of humour in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, but it begins to wear thin after the first half, as is the case with most modern comedies in my experience. The songs are fresh and funny, for sure, and Reilly does a nice job at channelling various rock stars, but something about the film as a whole fell flat for me. I found my mind wandering off throughout the film’s second act and the 96-minute runtime felt a lot longer than it actually was. It may well turn out to be one of those films that are funnier to discuss than it is to see, like so many other modern comedies. Alas, I was disappointed with Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story despite being pleasantly surprised by some of the songs.

Judd Apatow and his gang of freaks and geeks are certainly making a dash for the box office as of late. With Superbad, Knocked Up, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin on the platter, this Apatow written and stamped comedy falls a little bit short of those other three. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story does get marks for inventiveness and style, but there’s a punch lacking in this film despite sudden penises, hilarious Beatles send-ups, and a weird amount of debauchery. The whole thing, sadly, left me kind of blank.

4.1/10

Trailer:

According to my sources, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story only pulled in 4.1 million dollars opening weekend. Now that’s just un-Judd Apatow-like.

Mr. Apatow’s most recent films, box office smashes like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad were all wildly successful and although it should be noted Apatow didn’t direct Walk Hard (he co-wrote and produced), he’s still got his “from the people who brought you Superbad, Knocked Up, and The 40 Year Old Virgin” all over it.

It should also be noted that Walk Hard is receiving good reviews. The-rock-star-biopic-parody has been previously unexplored territory (unless you count the unintentionally funny classic, Rock Star) and it would at least seem that this type of “genre” piece would sell some tickets.

So what have Apatow Productions, MTV Digital and a lil’ internet marketing company called M80 done to try and boost those box office numbers? Besides trying their damndest to find as many internet lifelines as possible: see blogs, advertisements, viral videos — they’ve also launched Everybody Loves Cox.com, a website devoted to trying to get you and me and everyone we know to see the film while it’s still playing at your local megaplex.

www.everybodylovescox.com has your AIM buddy icons. It’s got your downloadable singing bobble heads AND your holiday cards.

So I guess we’ll see what happens at the box office this weekend… I’ll be there.

While we’re at it, here’s the Walk Hard music video:

–DT