I want a Thunder Buddy like Ted

Ted was one of the movies I was dying to see this summer.  The two trailers, I saw for the film were hilarious.  Not to mention, Ted is Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s first feature film so my curiosity and expectations were high.  I’m proud to say that Ted doesn’t disappoint and is one of the year’s funniest movies.  Fans of Family Guy, 80s pop culture, and Flash Gordon will love this film.  There are so many funny references and nuisances. 

Photo courtesy imdb.com & Universal Pictures

The plot of this movie is fairly simple a lonely young boy makes a wish on Christmas night for his new Teddy Bear to become alive.  Well the next morning the wish is granted and John’s Teddy Bear has come to life.  We fast forward twenty some years to see an adult John played by Mark Wahlberg, living with Ted voiced by Seth MacFarlane himself and John’s girlfriend Lori played by Mila Kunis.  The main plot of the story is Lori wants John to grow up and reduce his friendship with Ted so they can move on with their lives, but John has a difficult time leaving his best friend behind.

The movie really shines with Wahlberg and MacFarlane playing off each other.  They bring together believability that John and Ted have been best friends for their entire lives.  Both Wahlberg and MacFarlane are excellent in this movie and have great comedic timing.  MacFarlane does a great job of bringing Ted to life and you believe that underneath the crude humor, pot smoking and stuffing that Ted has a real heart and soul.  I think this is also my favorite role Mark Wahlberg has been in since The Departed.  He is really good in this movie as the person torn between his girlfriend and his best friend. 

Video courtesy of Universal Pictures

Later in the movie there’s an epic fight scene between John and Ted that was so brutal at times reminded me of the infamous They Live fight scene between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Keith David.  Given MacFarlane’s love of 80s culture I wouldn’t be surprised if that scene inspired the Ted fight scene.

It was interesting seeing this movie with a preview audience who mostly was between the ages of 18 to 20. There wasn’t a lot of laughter at the subtle 80s references, but I guess I’m just old enough to get those jokes.

Ted is one of raunchiest comedies I’ve seen in a long time but it has a big heart and was a good time at the movies.  After seeing this movie you will believe that a Teddy Bear is Real.

Justice League: The Movie. I’m Officially Concerned

So you knew it was going to happen, given the fact that The Avengers had made over $1 billion dollars worldwide.  A few weeks back, Warner Bros announced that they have a Justice League movie in development.  The Justice League for those who don’t know is DC Comics’ answer to Marvel’s The Avengers. They consist of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.  Out of this group only Batman has had the most recent successful movie adaption. Which leads to the main point of this blog post, as a fan of this superhero team, I’m really concerned that Warner Bros is going to massively drop the ball here.  Look at their track record.  Last year’s Green Lantern was a total train wreck.  Ryan Reynolds a good actor when used correctly, but was given bad direction by Martin Campbell (the film’s director).  Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns was a major misstep that was trying to reach back to the character’s late 70s/early 80s film series glory.  Next year, Watchmen director Zack Snyder gets his shot at Superman with the Christopher Nolan produced Man of Steel.  What I’ve seen and heard about this film, it’s my opinion that Snyder may not be right choice for that film and I like his other films (300 and Sucker Punch).  Wonder Woman and Flash have been stuck in development hell for years and a JLA film may be the only way those characters see the big screen. 

Are they ready for the big screen?

Photo courtesy of DC Comics

Moving on from that what would be the plot of a Justice League movie?  Alien invasion is out because it will be hard to top Avengers. As much as I would like to see Darkseid on the big screen, given how Avengers ended, I don’t see Warner Bros and DC getting their stuff together to make that happen before Avengers 2.  So maybe we’ll see The Legion of Doom, that’s a fanboy’s dream match up.  I’ve been waiting patiently for Brainic to make his big screen debut.

 My favorite Superman Villain

Photo courtesy of DC Comics and Warner Bros Television

The big question is who will be in the Joss Whedon mold to bring DC’s dream team to the screen?  Well here’s my suggestion and this duo has enough comic book nerd cred that it would be a step in the right direction.  I suggest Warner Bros bring Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. It’s a radical idea but both have experience with these characters.  Timm has produced Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond Series, Justice League: The Animated Series and Green Lantern: The Animated Series, plus he produced all of DC’s direct to video animated feature films including the fantastic Justice League:Doom. Dini was the writer for the acclaim video games Batman:Arkham Asylum and Batman:Arkham City.  In addition to writing episodes for the previous listed cartoons, he has also written comics and was a writer for the TV show Lost.  They wouldn’t be the first people to go from animation to live action film making.  Brad Bird made the successful jump with last year’s successful Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  

What do you think?  Am I overreacting? Would a Timm/Dini team up be the next best thing to having Whedon direct it?  Let me know in the comment section below.