Rocker Sinks Like a Stone

Prehistoric comedy aims low and hits the target

(NEWSER) - The jokes in caveman comedy Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera are prehistoric, say critics, but it's still passable fun for anybody not expecting a comic masterpiece.

• Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "More or less indefensible, but I'll gladly defend parts of it." It won't rank up there with director Harold Ramis' funniest films, but it does have "some pretty funny circumcision jokes."

Wilson repeats big-screen failures to which his sitcom-mates have become accustomed

(NEWSER) - Do The Rocker's poor reviews and sagging ticket sales prove there's an Office curse? Office stars can't replicate that show's success on the big screen, Dan Kois writes in New York, and the evidence backs him up: After The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Steve Carell starred in a series of mostly forgettable flops, and his co-stars haven't fared any better. More»

No targets are safe in Ben Stiller's gross-out war comedy

(NEWSER) - The action comedy Tropic Thunder, a send-up of Vietnam War movies, crosses some lines—intentionally. In fact, Peter Hartlaub writes in the San Francisco Chronicle, "if you're not offended by at least one aspect of this film, then you're probably not getting out enough." But it has a secret weapon, he writes: It's "laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts hilarious." More»

Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation

(NEWSER) - Dreamworks' animal extravaganza Kung Fu Panda isn't packed full of surprises, the critics say, but top-notch visual and voice acting lift it above the standard animal adventure fare. Jack Black gives the lead character, a pudgy panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master, a "slightly abashed suburban-couch-potato sweetness," Owen Gleiberman writes in Entertainment Weekly. More»

Jack Black comedy too experimental for its own good, critics say

(NEWSER) - The Jack Black comedy Be Kind Rewind isn't predictable, but at times it's not coherent either, critics say. The film—about a guy who inadvertently erases a video store's VHS inventory, then, using a camcorder, re-creates popular movies for the store to rent—"never stops experimenting, even when the experimentation works against the movie's best interests," writes James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com. More»