Hope Springs

Admit it-- you never, ever thought you'd see Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep in a bedroom scene together. That's not just because of Hollywood's well-documented aversion to love scenes between anyone under the age of 30, though that's part of it too. But while Streep has spent her 50s and early 60s as a vivacious and legitimately sexy screen presence in the likes of It's Complicated and Julie & Julia, Jones has stepped behind his jowly scowl to grump his way through his work-- whether in something fluffy as Captain America or serious as No Country For Old Men, he's had the weight of three worlds on his shoulders. So it's a revelation, in Hope Springs, to see Jones so much as smile, much less feed Streep chocolate-covered strawberries by the fire.

And when David Frankel, who directed Streep in The Devil Wears Prada and also brought us nonsense like Marley & Me, puts his glossy commercial sensibilities on hold and lets scenes like that play out between his lead actors, Hope Springs becomes pretty special, a deep and often unflinching look at how the spark can snuff out in even the most amiable of marriages. The story is dead simple but not entirely predictable, and Steve Carell's presence as a very strait-laced marriage counselor is a mystery, but Hope Springs gets by on the constant magnetism of its leads, even when the best it does by them is get out of their way.

The script from first-timer Vanessa Taylor makes some very excellent moves-- letting Streep silently play out a failed seduction, for example-- but plenty of bad ones, establishing Jones's Arnold as a dried-up grump through clanking cliches, or saddling Streep's Kay with a conversation with a friend (Jean Smart!) that says out loud everything we already know. Then again, Hope Springs is a movie all about saying things out loud, as Kay wrangles Arnold into a week of marriage therapy at the picturesque Maine office of Dr. Feld (Carell), the smarmy-looking guy in blazers and sweaters who wrote a marriage self-help book. There's a cynical version of this story in which Dr. Feld turns out to be a charlatan-- that's a much more typical Steve Carell plot, come to think of it-- but this guy really is there to help, and sits the unwilling Arnold and shy Kay down on his couch to talk out all the reasons their marriage is in a deep freeze.

Normally that's where you cue the montage and take the easy route to a happier union, but Hope Springs lingers forever in the steps toward getting there, from an exercise in which they're forced to merely hold each other in bed to a painfully awkward session in which Arnold admits he wouldn't mind some oral sex once in a while. Frankel doesn't quite know how to handle the potential awkward comedy here, leaving some scenes-- like an aborted nooky session in a movie theater-- are left to die. But the lack of comedic direction also makes it harder to distance yourself from Arnold and Kay's troubles, and as the two of them peel back the layers of complacency and address what's real, the audience is forced to shoulder some of that burden too-- and all while gussied up as a late summer rom-com, no less.

The poster for Hope Springs features Streep and Jones against a white background, no Carell in sight, with the vague promise of flirtation between them. That's pretty much the best the movie has to offer too, the chance to watch these two veterans stake out a very real relationship on screen, while muddling through a film that doesn't offer a whole lot beyond them.

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Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift isn?t a bad movie. In fact, it?s better than I expected. The animation is vibrant and just the right level of detailed. Directors Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier have a way with angles, always choosing just the right perspectives to make the pictures pop and the action frenzied. A hurried sense of danger runs like an undercurrent through the film, and the plot works fairly well as an adventure story. Unfortunately, what Continental Drift lacks, apart from a single wow moment, are laughs and moments of joy.

The Ice Age series has always worked best when it balances good one-liners and zany shenanigans with chaotic excitement. Continental Drift makes the occasional joke, but none of the humor feels particularly fresh or memorable. As a result, the tone is a bit off. Too many quips are mailed in, and too much dialogue is earmarked for proving a moral lesson or advancing the story arc. That?s not to say the premise doesn?t work. It does. It?s just absent that likeable quality that made fans want to return to the first installment. If the goal was to create a watchable hour-and-a-half of material, Continental Drift is clearly a success, but if the goal was to create a product anyone older than ten would want to watch again, the film has to be considered a disappointment.

The story begins with our old friend Scrat, who, not surprisingly, is hunting for acorns. Due mostly to incompetence, his misadventure winds up taking him to the Earth?s core where all his shuffling sets off a series of earthquakes that rip Pangaea into the continents we know today. Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo) and Diego (Denis Leary) all wind up on a floating iceberg, while their family and friends seek shelter on one of the continents. Promises to see each other again are shouted as the makeshift raft drifts into the unknown, and our heroes set off to meet new characters and engineer schemes to get back home.

The ocean is a new playground for the Ice Age animators, and in pirate ships, abandoned islands and ferocious animals, Continental Drift finds inspiration. It?s during this stretch the film overtly works. We?re introduced to the deadly Captain Gutt (wonderfully voiced by Peter Dinklage) and his band of goofy pirates. One-by-one, he saved each of their lives. In return, they swore their allegiances, and now, he?d like to add Manny, Sid and Diego to his crew. They refuse and destroy his ship in the process, turning from potential friends to hated, bumbling foes in an instant. Eventually, our three heroes? quest to find land and Gutt?s promise for vengeance intersect, creating a somewhat interesting third act that?s arguably worth the price of admission.

Coming up with a reason for a sequel is always difficult. Making a fourth installment seem worthwhile is borderline impossible. Oddly, Continental Drift actually accomplishes that task. Once Manny and company are set adrift, it?s obvious there?s enough action and adventure to warrant a new film. Unfortunately, the film doesn?t follow through with the easy part and write enough jokes to make the experience fun. Since the adventure isn?t quite adventurous enough on its own, there?s just not enough here to call Continental Drift a good movie. It?s just passable, which might be worth it to hardcore fans but won?t be enough to satisfy the rest of us.

There?s already been talk of a fifth installment. Given how well the film is performing, I think it?s likely we will get another Ice Age movie. After watching Continental Drift, I?m not opposed to that idea. I just hope to Scrat everyone involved makes a concerted effort to have a little more fun while making it. Theatergoers need reasons to smile and jokes to laugh at. An animated movie has to be more than pretty exciting, and this one just isn?t.

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Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection

In many ways, Madea (Tyler Perry) is the least important character in her movies. She might be the main draw to bring fans into the theater, but for a crazy old woman prone to shooting off her mouth, acting impulsively and threatening harm, she is remarkably consistent. She always brings the same mix of energy, humor, charisma and moral jugment. Consequently, it?s the characters around her who determine whether each film is above average or below average, and in Witness Protection, those supports leave little to be desired.

Madea has always played best when she?s been a foil, the most ridiculous person in the room called in like a ringer to provide an instant spark and a whole lot of laughs. Unfortunately, the scenes without her or her brother Joe Simmons in Witness Protection feel lifeless and easy. They lack any kind of spark or humor, which makes Eugene Levy push his typical, awkward, middle-aged white dude to an unrealistic and uncomfortable extreme in an attempt to generate laughs. When that doesn?t work, the film even gets a bit gimmicky, introducing a male authority with a really high voice and a female authority with a really low voice. It?s not the worst thing in the world, but it?s not particularly good either. Altogether, it amounts to a dozen or so funny scenes featuring Madea and/or Joe and a dozen or so scenes that swing and miss en route to advancing a rather generic plot.

That story arc involves a Ponzi scheme unintentionally run by George Needleman (Levy). Our protagonist is a hapless yes-man who was only promoted from accountant to CFO because his boss (Tom Arnold) needed someone to bury when it all came crashing down. The avalanche begins in Witness Protection?s first scene. Charities have been defrauded. Mob money has been laundered, and all the high level employees have taken off, leaving George and some pissed off authorities to clean up the mess. They transfer him and his family to Georgia to escape mob hitmen, and while there, he, of course, stays with Madea and Joe.

They offer the Needleman?s shelter, but more importantly for us, they offer laughs and a renewed purpose. George is a spineless pushover. His wife Kate (Denise Richards) hates conflict. Her teenage step-daughter Cindy (Danielle Campbell) is a complete bitch, and her half-brother Howie (Devan Leos) is miserable at baseball. Along with George?s dementia-stricken mother (Doris Roberts), the four are taught lessons, screamed at and pushed back together by Madea and Joe?s hilarious and overbearing hands. They might not work as characters out in the real world, but in Madea?s house, they?re serviceable vehicles to absorb both wisdom, punishments and buckets full of water.

Perry?s biggest fans will definitely find enough reasons here to smile. Watching Madea go through airport security and Joe make a list of his most Joe-like qualities are hilarious and endearing high moments, but all too often, Witness Protection just overtly doesn?t work. There are too many scenes with people singing in falsetto voices in elevators and characters pretending to be French to number this among Perry?s better films. It?s a passable attempt but not a result worth watching over-and-over.

For the past few years, the director has perfected his talent and started making the type of movies that indicate he could eventually produce something special. This is a bit of a step backwards, but it?s not a failure. If you haven?t seen any of the Madea movies, don?t start here. If you?ve enjoyed all the prior efforts, go ahead and pay to see this one. You?ll leave with at least a few funny memories.

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Wrath of the Titans [Blu-Ray]

When I heard that a God of War movie is actually in the works, I got super excited. Not only because I?ve been thoroughly invested in the game?s story since the very beginning, but because I also knew that if it?s good, it could possibly put an end to these damn Clash/Wrath of the Titans movies. Hopefully, this one will be the last.

The Movie:

You know what? These Titans movies have been so much better for me to watch at home, because I certainly can?t watch them in the theaters. Twice I?ve gone to see them on the big screen, and twice I?ve fallen asleep in my seat with spilled popcorn all over my shoes when I woke up. That?s probably more my fault than Hollywood?s since I was the one who was tricked twice by lavish trailers that promised awesomeness, only to reward me with garbage. But at home, at least I can pause it and take a snooze when it gets to the boring parts. At least this Blu-ray is good for that.

To this film?s credit, at least it?s better than the first one, which isn?t saying much. But at least this film actually has a titan in it, unlike the first one, which had a title that didn?t make any sense (Clash of the Titans? What titans?). This film focuses on the titan Kronos, who is the father of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Hades has hatched a plan out of spite for Zeus to release Kronos from his prison in Tartarus, and Perseus (Sam Worthington) is brought in to aid the gods and stop him. It?s a nice progression from the last movie, which was more a remake of the original 1981 version than anything else, and it?s a slightly stronger picture for it. There?s a lot more actual mythology this time, and it helps, but it only helps so much.

Cyclopes, a chimera, and a minotaur all make an appearance in this film, and it adds a great deal to the movie as the mythology that backs them up is great. But the problems of the first film still plague this one, with its hero being problem numero uno. Sam Worthington is not an action hero. I know Hollywood has tried to make him out to be one, but he?s not. He?s a terrible actor and he doesn?t carry the story along well. You never really care what happens to him, and he just has that look of a guy who you know is going to make it to the end with barely a scratch. He just doesn?t work.

The action is also awful. Like the first movie, it?s boring and features people constantly dodging being crushed at the last second. If anything, it?s like an ancient version of Transformers with loud explosions and no pay-off. I want to be excited when a god like Ares leaps down to Earth, not bored out of my skull. And there?s just something about how the action is filmed in these movies that?s lackluster. Stuff is flying all over the place, but you don?t care. It?s probably because you don?t care about the characters. Yeah, that?s probably it.

Overall, if you loved the first movie (and I know there are some of you out there), then you?ll love this one. It?s bigger and there?s more mythology involved. But if you loathed the first movie (and I know there are even more of you out there), then you won?t enjoy this one either. As long as Sam Worthington is the lead and lame near-misses count for excitement, then this series will always be mundane. Just play God of War 3 again if you need your Greek mythology fix.

The Disc:

Surprisingly, the special features on this disc kick ass. As an immense fan of Greek mythology, the special features delve into it deeply, and it almost makes me appreciate the movie more. "Almost," I said. ?Maximum Movie Mode? allows you to watch the film over again (groan!), but also allows you to follow the path of man or gods (Yay!) where you basically get two in-picture commentaries discussing the gods in Greek mythology, and where mankind fits into all of it. If you?re a teacher (as I am), then this mode is a history lesson all in itself. Just pop this baby in and you?re getting writers, actors, producers, and even a professor talking about mythology and en where this movie fits into academia. It?s seriously worth buying this disc. I?m not even joking. The movie sucks ass, but this feature is exceptional.

?Focus Points? focuses on the special effects and scenes in the movies and how they were pulled off. We learn about the script and the characters, and a great deal of other behind-the-scenes stuff, and if you?re in the camp that loved the movie, then you?ll adore this feature. For all others, it?s interesting, but you won?t get the same out of it as the fans. It expands the film, and I don?t know if everyone wants that. Lastly, there are the ?deleted scenes.? Again, if you?re a fan, you may enjoy these, but they really feel like so much added fluff and only make an already bad movie even worse. But again, that ?Maximum Movie mode? is worth the price of this disc alone.

Wrath of the Titans [Blu-Ray] DetailsDistributor: Warner Bros. Home EntertainmentStarring: Sam Worthington, Bill Nighy, Ralph Fiennes, Liam NeesonDirected by: Jonathan LiebesmanProduced by: Basil Iwanyk, Polly Cohen JohnsenWritten by: Dan Mazeau, David Leslie Johnson

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The Dark Knight Rises

Batman returns to Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises, but don't get too used to him. There are a lot of other moving pieces in this, the capper to Christopher Nolan's run of dark and enormous Batman films, and just as he was in The Dark Knight, Batman is probably not even the 8th most interesting character in his own movie-- at times he's outshone by characters not even listed in the credits. Nolan makes a lot of nods toward the emotional development of his hero, but never quite connects with him, and doesn't do much better with the motives of the film's villains, represented largely by the hulking Bane (Tom Hardy) but, of course, a little more complicated than that.

There are action scenes set at the stock exchange, talk of power returning to the people and Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) purring that it's time for people like Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) to give something back to "the rest of us"; The Dark Knight Rises is clearly born from the time of Occupy Wall Street and financial despair, so much that even Bruce Wayne winds up broke. In the 8 years since Harvey Dent died and Batman fled Gotham has become not just safe, but complacent, so much that when a young inquisitive cop named John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) questions the details of Dent's death, even Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman)-- who knows the truth-- brushes him off. But as Selina (a.k.a. Catwoman, though that name is never mentioned) promises, there's a storm coming; when we meet Bane in a stunning aerial sequence that opens the movie, we know it's only a matter of time before he comes looking not just to break Batman, but to bring Gotham to its knees.

The plot is relatively simple, as Gotham endures Bane's hostile takeover while Batman-- and, working separately, the intrepid John Blake-- tries to figure out how to fix it. But as ever with Nolan's Batman movies, which he co-writes with Jonathan Nolan, there are so many damned details to get through to even understand what's at stake, and who's threatening it. Bane's goals are maddeningly unclear for a long section of the movie, as is Batman's motivation to jump back into action, and while the fight scenes between them are electric, neither character feels like the true heart of the movie. That role falls to Gordon-Levitt, who humps around Gotham doing the kind of detective work Batman might do in a smaller story, setting himself up as the clear-eyed hero in a more complex world. He's the best thing in the movie, sneaking just ahead of Hathaway's slinky and witty Catwoman, and at times it seems even Nolan would rather spend time with John Blake than with the Bat.

With the exception of one lengthy detour, the action mostly sticks with Gotham this time around, and the fictional city-- an amalgam of New York's skyline, Pittsburgh's rivers and Chicago's highway tunnels-- comes alive more vividly than ever before. The dazzling IMAX photography certainly helps, using both wide aerial shots and ground-level street scenes to plunge the audience into the grandeur and mounting unrest in the city that's so obviously worth saving. Even Bane says that he is Gotham's reckoning, not Batman's, and populated as it is by such interesting people-- Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox, Michael Caine's Alfred, and Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate also being part of the equation-- it's easy to be invested in Gotham's salvation, even when the man in the bat suit charged with saving it is less engaging than he's ever been.

As the conclusion to a genuinely game-changing trilogy The Dark Knight Rises is appropriately big and ambitious, and it's unlikely we'll see anyone make a superhero movie with Nolan's sense of scale and devotion to old-school, captured-on-film razzle-dazzle. It has moments that are captivating and special, but also lines of dialogue impossible to swallow, plot developments that meander, and a commitment to real-world political overtones that don't quite line up with the story. It's sprawling but undeniably engaging, not quite the blast of clever mayhem The Dark Knight was, but no slouch either.

Batman will live on beyond Nolan, and hopefully with a filmmaker who finds him a bit more interesting, but the world he inhabits will never look quite the same, and short of someone letting Nolan make his series of Gotham movies without the Bat, it's probably the best we'll ever see this city. No one goes into a superhero's movie to explore the world he lives in, but Nolan dares us to do it anyway, and his willingness to challenge his own genre makes The Dark Knight Rises, like all of his Batman films, unmissable.

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Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition [Blu-Ray]

With the Curiosity rover recently landing on Mars, it seems like the red planet is a hot topic again. So what better movie is there to watch than the mind-bending classic, Total Recall, which is Arnold Schwarzenegger?s best film of all time? You?re right, there is no better movie. So Total Recall it is! God, I love this film.

The Movie:

Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver, and Total Recall are my three favorite movies of all time. And while Total Recall never gets the respect that the first two films receive, it should, since it?s one of the smartest movies Hollywood has ever produced. And while you may think that that comment alone throws all of my credibility as a film critic right out the window, you need to stop. The only reason you think that way is because it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, who most associate with lines like ?Get to da choppa!? and ?I?ll be back.? Sure, the movie does verge on being outright silly, with Arnold S spouting one-liners like ?Consider dat a divorce,? but that doesn?t keep the film from being a heady wonder, rivaled only by a film like Inception in the past few years.

What makes Total Recall so good is its ambiguity mixed in with its suspense and action. Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) is a construction worker on Earth who dreams of a life of adventure on Mars. Most people would have to be content with their dreams, but in the world of Total Recall, which was loosely based on Phillip K. Dick?s short story ?We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,? there?s actually a way to live out those dreams, and that way is through a company called REKALL. The company will implant memories of pretty much any experience you could want, and Quaid opts for an adventure as a secret agent. But something goes terribly awry, and all throughout the film, you're left to wonder if Quaid really is a secret agent, or if he's simply living out the experience Recall implanted in his mind. There are hints that suggest either possibility (unlike in the abysmal recent remake, but I won?t get into that), but the ambiguous ending refuses to give you a simple answer. In fact, it makes it all the more perplexing. This is a thinking man?s picture. This is not Red Heat or Commando. This is a work of smarts! It?s a masterpiece of bullets and brains.

That?s why Total Recall is amazing. It?s as thought-provoking as it is action-packed. There seriously isn?t a more violent film I can think of that left me totally spellbound at the end. Along with Robocop and Starship Troopers, director Paul Verhoeven really hit his stride with these films, and they?re probably the most cerebral motion pictures of the '80s and '90s. I?m dead serious. And Total Recall is the best out of the three. So, what are you waiting for? ?Get your ahss to Mahs? and pick up this excellent picture.

The Disc:

I love Total Recall so much that I probably would have given the special features four stars even if they only consisted of a scene selection. But fortunately, these special features are pretty damn good. Unfortunately, though, most of them are from the previous DVD release. So really, I don?t know what?s so "mind-bending" about it. Perhaps it?s the fact that the only truly new feature that I can see here is the ?Restoration Comparison.? Other than that, I?ve seen pretty much all of these before. A few more additions would have been nice, but oh well. It?s a 22-year-old movie. What more could I really expect?

The highlight is definitely the commentary with director Paul Verhoeven and Arnold Schwarzenegger. They basically describe every single thing that?s going on in the movie at the time that it?s playing, so it?s hilarious. It?s also interesting to hear them discuss whether they think the movie is a dream or not, with the director definitely leaning in the ?It?s a dream? direction. ?Interview with Director Paul Verhoeven? is just that, and it?s pretty candid, with him even saying that while Arnold wasn?t all that great of an actor during filming, he had a lot of charisma, which is all they needed to get by at the time. A ?Making-of Featurette? shows just how special the effects were back in 1990, and ?Models and Skeletons: The Special Effects of Total Recall? goes even more in depth with some of the more amazing scenes in the film. They look simplistic today, but they were also more organic back then, which makes it better in my eyes.

?Imagining Total Recall? is a great documentary talking about how hard it was to get the movie made, as it was once plagued by a terrible third act that took forever to get fixed. The ?Restoration Comparison? mentioned earlier shows just how far Blu-ray can push a disc. Rounding it off is the trailer and a photo gallery. It?s all good stuff, but I just wish more of it was new. Overall, it?s a great disc, but reconsider if you already have the movie on DVD.

Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition [Blu-Ray] DetailsDistributor: Lionsgate Home EntertainmentStarring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny CoxProduced by: Mario Kassar, Andrew G. VajnaWritten by: Ronald Shusett, Dan O?Bannon, Gary Goldman

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The Watch

Something strange keeps happening in The Watch, a new Ben Stiller-Vince Vaughn comedy that?s apparently sponsored by Costco, Tide and MAGNUM-brand condoms. Residents of a bucolic Ohio suburb discover that their safe haven has been infiltrated by extraterrestrials, yet they react as if they?re being told a new Starbucks is opening at the corner of Main Street and Grand Ave. Though faced with the threat of extinction due to the impending alien invasion, Vaughn would rather stalk his teenage daughter?s Facebook account and Stiller still frets over an infertility problem that?s preventing he and his wife (Rosemarie DeWitt) from having their first child. Would such personal problems still matter if the end of the world were near? Must we still pretend to care?

Such is the crippling identity problem of The Watch, a movie that desperately wants to be Ghostbusters -- where funny actors confront supernatural happenings -- but doesn?t understand what made Ivan Reitman?s classic tick. Director Akiva Schaffer dresses down his A-list comedians in their best ?Average Joe? impersonations, then pits them against an out-of-this-world opponent. Yet no matter what direction Ghostbusters veered (and it often bobbed and weaved in search of the right joke), every punchline was rooted in the search for and battle with ghosts. The Watch, however, picks up, plays with, then quickly drops its alien conceit every few minutes. It?s never quite sure what do with its sci-fi premise, so it winds up doing very little at all.

Perhaps it wouldn?t matter, anyway. So many extenuating circumstances secretly conspired against The Watch over the past few months, you could reasonably conclude that God was opposed to the movie ever reaching theaters. For starters, the film had to change its title (and rethink its marketing campaign) after the tragic shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin at the hands of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. As if that wasn?t bad enough, a week before The Watch opens, a lunatic opens fire in a Colorado movie theater, making it difficult to belly laugh at currently insensitive jokes about gunplay, shootouts and campaigns to stop the senseless murders in our suburban community. ?Our society has rules,? Stiller tells a crowd after an unfortunate killing in the film?s first act, and we wince at the bad taste of a joke that?s the victim of poor timing.

The Watch would have to be fall-on-the-floor funny to overcome the obstacles outside events have placed in its path. It?s not.

That?s not to say there aren?t amusing moments in The Watch. It?s just that few of them can be traced back to the four leads. Will Forte plays an arrogant small-town cop who?s an outstandingly bizarre foil to Stiller?s straight-guy routine. R. Lee Ermey milks the umpteenth spoof of his deranged Full Metal Jacket drill sergeant, yet still musters a chuckle simply by swearing and imposing his will. And Billy Crudup saunters out of left field to steal a handful of scenes as Stiller?s mysterious new neighbor. We?re supposed to suspect Crudup?s character of being an alien. The reality of his situation provides a much funnier payoff (and allows director Akiva Schaffer?s The Lonely Island colleagues to make a gratuitously gross but humorous cameo).

Everything funnels through the four-man Watch team, and two guys can?t pull weight. Richard Ayoade guards a secret with his deadpan delivery, and Jonah Hill switches gears to play a borderline psychotic eager to patrol in this suburban ?militia.? Vaughn and Stiller, however, turn out carbon copies of characters from their past. The latter has been playing the put-upon dweeb for so long, he at least discovers a new shade to exploit for The Watch. Vaughn, though, retreats right back to the rapid patter and false bravado he first introduced nearly 15 years ago as Trent in Doug Liman?s Swingers. Vaughn has become a parody of himself at this point.

Schaffer is a talented filmmaker responsible for some hilarious skits and segments with The Lonely Island colleagues Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. His claim to fame probably remains Lazy Sunday, the digital short he created for Saturday Night Live. But unless you worship at the altar of Hot Rod (which is possible), Schaffer has yet to transition his creative eye to a feature-length effort, and those hoping The Watch finally was going to be his breakthrough comedy will be forced to keep waiting a little while longer.?

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