#donscardino

[vicsage2005]

"It was the worms." - Squirm (1976) #donscardino #petermaclean #patriciapearcy #jefflieberman #saturdayfrights #horrorcommunity #squirm #horrorpodcast #horrorgeek https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcA6cQlbQj/?igshid=aopoz1yugd0u

[adafine]

Pretty sure I bought this at Big Lots years ago, lost it for years and then found it again when I moved. I’ve heard it’s somewhat like a giallo and that Tom Hanks is in it. That’s about all I know. #heknowsyourealone #donscardino #tomhanks #armandmastroianni #firsttimewatch #dvd (at El Apartamento De Sweeney) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAabwz-AC67/?igshid=p37jktrcv0ke

[theenthusiasticcinephile]

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

1 hour 40 minutes

Rated PG-13 (Sexual Content, Dangerous Stunts, A Drug-Related Incident and Language)

Directed by Don Scardino

Starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini, and Jim Carrey

1.5 out of 4 stars

ON DVD NOW.

Steve Carell is funny in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. Jim Carrey is not. In fact, I think this is Carrey's worst performance of his life as well as one of the worst performances of 2013. The comedian is renowned for acting insane in movies. I laugh my ass off when he beats himself up in the bathroom in Liar Liar and when he has a tantrum on the air at Niagara Falls in Bruce Almighty. Here his craziness is replaced with an annoying, incredibly creepy character who does acts so disturbing I had to partially cover my eyes. That's not good. Of course, he's supposed to play a wild, borderline insane magician here, but he's not "outrageous." He's just intimidating. Carell gets to act his good old goofy self in Burt Wonderstone, but the movie is a complete stupidity fest. The plot is predictable and boring, and though the dim-witted humor is occasionally funny it's a bad, completely forgettable comedy.

Burt Wonderstone (Carell) had always dreamed of becoming a magician. As a child his biggest idol in the world was veteran magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin) who stunned audiences with his weekly TV show. Burt was a loner until he met a fellow classmate, Anton (Steve Buscemi), with the same dream as him. Years passed and the two got to become professional magicians (with bad wigs, I might add) of their own cheesy Las Vegas magic show. Their friendship is going through a rough patch, however, because Burt has turned into a misogynistic, pompous jerk. When their female assistant quits Burt hires a production assistant, Jane (Olivia Wilde), who also dreams of being a magician, to be her replacement literally right before they're about to go onstage. Burt, of course, just assumes that Jane (whom he calls Nicole because that's what all he used to call his past assistants) will soon sleep with him.

Him and Anton's show is in danger of losing ticket sales when they hear of a new street magician taking storm. His name is Steve Gray (Carrey) and his magic show, titled Brain Rapist, is garnering popularity. When they first see the maniac he performs a trick where he takes someone's card, makes it "disappear", and then cuts a hole in his cheek where the card has been hidden. Gross. Burt and Anton have been doing the same tricks every show so they try to do something new and shocking. One afternoon they lock themselves in a plastic cage that hangs from the ground for the audience to see. Anton takes deep breaths to calm himself. Burt, on the other hand, has a panic attack and his rapid movements cause the box to fall to the ground. Anton is fed up of his partner's ego and quits, along with Jane. Burt's life spirals downhill as he tries to do his show without his friend. Alone and in debt, it's up to him to get Anton back and defeat Gray's popularity.

So, what does Carrey do in the movie that's unspeakable? Well, there's one scene where he shows off to his fans how he hasn't blinked in a few days. Someone then decides to spray pepper spray in his eyes and all Gray does is scream in pain while keeping his eyes open. There's another moment where he decides to lay on burning coal and intermittently scream in agony to calm himself down. So maybe this reads "hehe" on script. Onscreen, or at least, with Carrey doing it, it's a catastrophe. There's never anything remotely funny about it. It's just flat-out disturbing and unwatchable. I've read critics' reviews and surprisingly they all seemed to enjoy Carrey's antics. I'm not one of them. Of course, the magic in Burt Wonderstone is gleefully silly and over-the-top. I liked how it's clearly not meant to be taken seriously (unlike in Now You See Me, this year's other magic movie where we're supposed to marvel at "cool" tricks).

Still, this is just too dumb. Make a dumb movie with a compelling story, at least. And better yet, get rid of Carrey. Or, put Carrey in but stop trying to make him act so creepy because it’s not at all funny.