It's been getting good reviews thus far.

From A.O. Scott of the New York Times:

"Like most movies of this kind, “Talladega Nights” is as good as its craziest riffs, which aren’t quite strong or various enough to fill out a whole feature. The funniest scenes have some of the improvised, pseudo-vérité flavor of Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show,” but Mr. Ferrell and Mr. McKay are less rigorous than Mr. Guest and his collaborators, preferring easy laughs to carefully turned comic insights. Still, at the high points — when Mr. Ferrell and Mr. Reilly start jawboning, when Leslie Bibb slyly steals a scene as Ricky’s frosty, gold-digging wife, when Mr. Reilly and Michael Clarke Duncan try to remove a fork from Mr. Ferrell’s thigh, or whenever Mr. Cohen opens his mouth — laughs are hard to suppress.

As a cultural artifact, “Talladega Nights” is both completely phony and, therefore, utterly authentic. Or, to put it differently: this movie is the real thing. It’s finger lickin’ good. It’s eatin’ good in the neighborhood. It’s the King of Beers. It’s Wonder Bread."

From Variety:

"The new pic particularly laps "Anchorman" in characterization...Not only does McKay display a strong grip on his actors and camera, he gets the grit, heat and feel of NASCAR racetracks with a near-documentary sensibility. This is perhaps the pic's most surprising dimension, aided by Oliver Wood's ace widescreen lensing, and CG racetrack and car crash effects. It's enough to make Jerry Bruckheimer envious."

And from Kenneth Turan from the LA Times:

""Talladega Nights" is also, like many of the modern crop of guy comedies, hampered by periodic descents into what the ratings board calls "crude and sexual humor." Given that the basic tone here is surprisingly sweet, these forays feel as though they were grafted onto a film that would have been better off without them.

On the other hand, the idea of joining a satire of NASCAR culture with a spoof on self-help psychobabble of the "you have to make friends with the fear" variety is an especially potent one, and not that different in theme from what Pixar set out to do in "Cars."

And not to forget the expert Mr. Ferrell, the master of an abashed, almost sheepish innocence that has roots all the way back to silent comedian Harry Langdon. There is a real sincerity to Ferrell's characterization, as there was in the earlier "Elf," an ability to take silly things so completely seriously that laughter inevitably results.

Ferrell is also generous, and one reason "Talladega" is successful is his willingness to share the screen in mano a mano comedy standoffs with a trio of gifted male costars who can be just as funny as he is. In chronological order they are Gary Cole, John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Cole plays Ricky's reprobate father, Reese Bobby, a man so addicted to speed that his son ended up being born in a stock car. On a memorable elementary school Career Day, the only time Ricky had seen his father in years, Bobby Sr. passes on some words to live by: "If you ain't first, you're last."

Reilly, a gifted actor who rarely does straight comedy, plays Ricky's lifelong friend and driving teammate, Cal Naughton Jr., a selfless soul who would very much like, if it's not asking too much, to win just one little race.

Wackiest of all is British comic Cohen, a man who specializes in getting deeper than deep into his singular characters, people like rogue interviewer Ali G and journalist Borat Sagdiyev, the sixth most famous man in Kazakhstan.

Cohen plays Jean Girard, a champion Formula One driver who is very very very French, to the point of enjoying jazz, wearing black leather, being sponsored by Perrier and reading Camus' "The Stranger" while he drives.

Speaking English with an impeccably awful French accent, Girard also happens to be a gay man who enjoys crepes and has shown up in America specifically to challenge Ricky Bobby's supremacy. This is a clash that will rock the self-described "big hairy American winning machine" to his core and lead to such unforeseen consequences as delivering pizzas by bicycle and driving a car with a cougar for a passenger. Don't even ask.

Though "Talladega Nights" is very much a guy comedy, it has found room for some sharp and amusing female roles. Leslie Bibb is all she should be as Ricky's glossy blond trophy wife, Carley; Jane Lynch stands up for comic sanity as Ricky's hardscrabble mom, Lucy Bobby; and Amy Adams, in a departure from "Junebug," plays Ricky's loyal assistant Susan.

When the last race has been run, however, "Talladega Nights" belongs to Will Ferrell. He's created a voice and a physical look for Ricky Bobby, complete down to a soul patch under his lower lip that is both authentic and comic, and his ability to be amusing even when he doesn't appear to be doing anything is remarkable. For a film that feels like it has nearly as many lapses as the Talladega 500 has laps, a gift like that is irreplaceable."

*crosses fingers*

______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

Use your witchcraft!


----------------------------
A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"

It's the highest grade of pure buffoonery I hope. Outside of satire and verbal wit, is there any humor that doesn't use buffoonery?

I'm seeing it for this man. Hey produces pure comedy gold.

*turns in film geek card*

Seriously, though. I am not a fan of these types of movies and Ferrell and the gang put out. But this is some of their best work.

Most of it is pointless, and if I watched it at home I'd probably not laughed nearly as much. But seeing it for free with a theater full of co-workers, it's hilarious. A lot of the jokes miss the target by a mile, but enough of them hit.

His kids have the best lines, though. And I can't remember one. Except "Don't take away my prison shank!"

RED
http://arrena.blogspot.com

because i said you'd go see this and come back talking about how great it was.

let it have been some black folks coonin' in a race car comedy....

>because i said you'd go see this and come back talking about
>how great it was.
>
>let it have been some black folks coonin' in a race car
>comedy....



RED
http://arrena.blogspot.com

>*turns in film geek card*
>
>Seriously, though. I am not a fan of these types of movies and
>Ferrell and the gang put out. But this is some of their best
>work.
>
>Most of it is pointless, and if I watched it at home I'd
>probably not laughed nearly as much. But seeing it for free
>with a theater full of co-workers, it's hilarious. A lot of
>the jokes miss the target by a mile, but enough of them hit.
>
>His kids have the best lines, though. And I can't remember
>one. Except "Don't take away my prison shank!"

"How much you sellin that weed for old man?"

Red, I feel you on not being a big fan of Will Ferrell. I didn't much care for Anchorman when it first came out (as jigga well remembers) but it grew on my over time. But this joint was hilarious. I was literally crying during the cougar scene, and the saying-grace-for-Baby-Jesus riff was priceless. The kids were great, as was John C. Reilly, but to me, the show-stealer was Gary Cole. Yeah, fine, he played it very broad, but you could tell he was having a great time... Sacha Baron Cohen is fast becoming my favorite comic actor... with this and Borat, he's having a great year. Scriptwise, there were some more funny quotables (though the Girard line where he's shaving his legs and saying "I'm comeeing for YOU, Rickee Bobbee" line wasn't in the film) that some of y'all will be making posts about in about 2-3 days...

"I may be 10 but I'll still kick your ass."

"Is that _______ and ________?"

This is "cracker cooning" at its finest.
______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

and i liked anchorman and most of the other movies they've made...

john c reilly was pretty funny (though funnier in boogie nights), sacha baron cohen was great (but i am biased), ferrell had his moments, my boy blue was funny in his limited moments, but it could've been a lot better...

This movie is very funny, but has more plot than Anchorman. It's not just joke after joke with zero story the way Anchorman was (mind you, I absolutely loved Anchorman). It's a really funny movie that will get funnier with repeat viewings with surprisingly good racing sequencing and a lot of hilarious improv moments.

>and i liked anchorman and most of the other movies they've
>made...
>
>john c reilly was pretty funny (though funnier in boogie
>nights), sacha baron cohen was great (but i am biased),
>ferrell had his moments, my boy blue was funny in his limited
>moments, but it could've been a lot better...

Blue wasn't in this movie

Saw it and LMAO at various points during the movie.

I'm not ashamed of any damn thing. It's a freakin' movie! I was entertained.


----------------------------
A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"

i was very pleased with this movie. what were elvis costello and mos def doing in ali g's backyard? that borat movie looks funny as fuck. they sure played a lot of steve earle, which is cool with me.

Yeah...and it was hilarious that it was just Mos and Elvis sitting there...didn't even say a word. Just...there. Shit was hilarious.

"Is that Elvis Costello and Mos Def?"


http://heavysoul.blogspot.com

Yeah...and it was hilarious that it was just Mos and Elvis sitting there...didn't even say a word. Just...there. Shit was hilarious.

"Is that Elvis Costello and Mos Def?"


http://heavysoul.blogspot.com

you know Mos was saying somethign

*crashes PtP*

*moves*

*watches the cougar move with me*
______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

when you saw the movie, did they cut that seen out at your screening...where he's like 'i can't control my heartrate, there's a live cougar on top of me'? or was that in there...cuz it just cut from his pops telling him to control his heartrate to him coming in the house looking all tore up at my screening.

if my screening was fucked i want a refund or some tickets or something.

some of which made it into the trailer but not the film. I'm sure a lot of the bits will be added in some form to the DVD release.
______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

at THEIR screening?

>at THEIR screening?

Wasnt @ mine. Did you see it @ Cinerama as well? Cuz they @ least showed him about 2 get in the car before he got pizounced.

so on your screening it went from him on the ground w/ the cougar and his pops sayin "control your heartrate" to him walking in the crib?

>so on your screening it went from him on the ground w/ the
>cougar and his pops sayin "control your heartrate" to him
>walking in the crib?

Indeed

Do something else already!

For my $$$ I want some originality. I'd rather watch Old School.

You knew going in that this was going to detail the rise and fall of a goofily cocky character, just like in Anchorman, yet you went anyway, expecting "originality."
______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

when they tried to wedge the knife out with another knife, i was done.

That had me laughing for like 10 minutes.

The Barnyard came in second with about $16 mil, Pirates was third with about $11 mil, Miami Vice dropped 62% to fourth with $9.6 mil, and The Descent was fifth with about $8 mil.

As far as the 62% Miami Vice drop goes (warning: pleas about to be copped), based on the comments Universal executives made last week when it debuted at #1 ("We were pleasantly surprised... we set out to do something different with this remake"), they were clearly resigned to the fact that this movie won't make its money back... the movie was not designed to be an adult thrill ride like Pirates was for kids...
______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

______________________________________________________________________
The Avi? A SLANDERED, forgotten classic. You stone throwers should be ASHAMED!

some gags that worked well, alot that didn't. whatever, i got in free

and was dying. that super dry, sarcastic humor kills me, but if your not into will farrell just doing his thing w/ the camera rolling, you probably will just think its dumb.

That's dumb - Ricky Bobby

also when they were shouting in each other's faces, haha

great movie

i liked the movie

"Hey gramps how much you sellin that weed for?"

>"Hey gramps how much you sellin that weed for?"

I lost it during that line. Great delivery from the kid.

It had maybe six REALLY funny parts and a bunch of not funny, but not stuff too.

I really like his explanation of what 'El Diablo' was.

And was that Mos Def and Elvis Costello??

i think seeing this in a large theater full of laughing people vs watching anchorman alone on dvd helped, as did the fact that this cast was imo more professional and seasoned than anchorman's 'hey dudes, i'm making a movie! wanna be in it?' cast

gary cole absolutely KILLED as reese bobby. "hey ricky! boy, you got big! what's it been, 3 or 4 months?" LOL

_________________________________

you used to be alright
what the hell happened?

that's probably the most i've laughed at a 'dumb comedy' on the first viewing, ever. i didn't really like Anchorman the first time I saw it, but now I love it. This movie was hilarious all the way through the first time.

Gary Cole was great as Ricky Bobby's dad.

SB Cohen played a good 2nd (or 3rd) fiddle. Instead of having two comedic geniuses compete for attention, Cohen was more of a secondary character. It worked well.

John C Reilly was a great comedic sidekick.

making fun of other nationalities for cheap laughs? check

kids cursing out old ass people for cheap laughs? check

running around in underwear for cheap laughs? check

a female cast as a cheap whore for cheap laughs? check

reveling in the main characters' total lack of intelligence? awwwwww yeah...check!

gratuitous homosexuality for cheap laughs? check, mates


I LOVE COONING!!!!!! BEST COMEDY IN THE WORLD!

y'know, to let you know that he's formal, but still likes to party.

Cause I like to party.
_________________________________

you used to be alright
what the hell happened?

>Cause I like to party.

I just wanted you 2 know that I did a spread.

4 Playgirl magazine

And I DO mean spread.

Yep I spread my buttcheeks & stuff.

It was something great.

>It was something great.

No doubt. I plan on seeeing it again sooner than later.

just saw this last night at another packed theater - gonna be interesting to see if SOAP can overtake this...

favorite parts:

the grace scene
the commercial takes! the official tampons of nascar
the intro of gerrard - just say you like really thin pancakes
the qualifications where they're shouting in each others faces
the wreck and injury recovery, esp their motivational speaking and the knife in leg
the kids meeting ricky's old man
molly shannon as the wasted owner's wife
the cougar scene, really the whole "returning to form / overcoming ricky's fears" segment
sarah's motivation and seduction of ricky at the bar - i'm as hard as a diamond in an ice storm right now
the foot race at the end and cal finally getting a win
the outtakes!!! those alone might be worth seeing the movie again

pretty damn stupid movie but that's what i was expecting, and it gave a lot of laughs... this one could get better with time

i'm also thinking about being a crack dealer.....not a mean crack dealer though, just...a nice one. Like....hey guys! want some crack?

Lol

That line right there had me bout to pee myself laughing! Yall might as well put this in the "classics" section. LOL

it made appreciate nascar alot, and michael clark duncan had me and my friends going wild in the theatre no homo

Some of it made me laugh, but for the most part I didn't find it too funny.

...ok not really sucked but....it sucked that it was just ok...

wait for the DVD.....

and why do these movies have to have gay humor these days...it's just unnecessary...and not funny...it's more like...WTF!!?? Especially in this movie......it's like they made it a point to make the gay thing part of the plot..or lackthereof......it's stupid....

..the dude who played his father was the funniest in the flick...

NEW DUMHI ALBUM ALSO ON ITUNES!
http://www.myspace.com/dumhi http://www.myspace.com/dawgeatah
http://www.myspace.com/mycrewisnice

heheh...took the kids too. (i thought it probably shoulda got an R rating though...but my kids are old enough to deal)

that said, we loved it. very funny & fun stuff. Filled with a bunch of memorable lines that folks will be repeating for some time. plus, i don't even give a rats ass about nascar but believe it or not, the race sequences in this movie actually made me think about wanting to go to a race...so go figure.

but the movie is really about funny, and and suceeds there all over the place. If you wanna just let loose and get some good ol' silly laughing going on then you'll enjoy this one.

Frank summed it up pretty nicely already...

"This movie is very funny, but has more plot than Anchorman. It's not just joke after joke with zero story the way Anchorman was (mind you, I absolutely loved Anchorman). It's a really funny movie that will get funnier with repeat viewings with surprisingly good racing sequencing and a lot of hilarious improv moments."

i agree wih that 100%...SPOILER'esque'...

...and I'm NOT just jacked up on Mountain Dew...

I lost it when Ricky Bobby was doing commericals and he said " If you dont like Big Red, then FUCK YOU".

It was in the outtakes of Anchorman too.

but i will beat your ass

maybe its one of those movies you have to see again.. or funnier when you talk about it after..


_________________________________

hellooooooooooooooooooo newman

i felt like another poster did in the facxt that me and another guy were the only ones who seemed to get alot of the jokes.....i think me and that guy laughed thru the whole damn movie.... i KNEW dude was about to start runnin and started laughin early...

Reece Bobby is one of the best characters in a movie this year ..at least...Gary Cole is hillarious guy....


"SHAKE...and BAKE!!!"

Posted this on Okay Sports, but thought some of you might enjoy this as well:

USC's roster is nowhere near as star-studded as last season, but the Trojans still embrace celebrity.

That was evident during a team meeting.

As defensive coordinator Nick Holt tore into the team about a play that occurred late in practice, Carroll burst through a door in the back of the room wearing the Wonder Bread NASCAR racing suit that USC alum Will Ferrell sports as driver Ricky Bobby in the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

Carroll approached the front of the room, but before he got a chance to speak, the similarly attired Ferrell entered through another door and shouted at him.

Players cheered, laughed and then broke for a surprise screening of the film.

"That was pretty crazy," senior center Ryan Kalil said. "Coach Carroll always has a few surprises."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-usc11aug11,1,2299345.story?coll=la-headlines-sports

it had it's moments, but I thought they tried too hard to be funny without results

Mos Def was by far the weirdest cameo in movie ever though

It was the type of dialogue I expected, but it wasnt up to the craziness of Anchorman. It was quite enjoyable though, and had some surprisingly great camera shots....I loved the main 3 characters though(Bobby, Jr, and Frenchy(Sacha Cohen)), didnt really care for the storyline of the 2 kids, but found the stuff with his dad towards the 2nd half pretty funny. Def put a smile on my face, and Ferrel played a far different character than I expected in that he had SOME sense and not just all wackiness like in Anchorman.

Which probably explains why the match cutting was so poor.

Mech

we left before the end of the big race.

Shit was corney to me.

seemed like they just didnt care about the film.
Jokes went on way to long

saw this shit last nite and im STILL laughin....

and i'm not one to throw around that term
but it was

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0-u85aAYg

that was GOT to be one the best movie lines EVER...