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Film
Even a werewolf won't give these guys bite
By Steve Persall
Published January 25, 2007
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer must have the easiest screenwriting jobs in Hollywood, poking fun at movies they apparently aren't capable of matching in originality. They have already teamed on a scattershot romantic comedy spoof (Date Movie) and no fewer than four Scary Movie satires, with another in the works. Their brand of imitation isn't flattering to other filmmakers or to moviegoers whose tastes they are skewering. Friedberg and Seltzer's new comedy, Epic Movie (PG-13), takes aim at pop culture movie phenomena, cobbling elements of such films as The Da Vinci Code, Nacho Libre, Snakes on a Plane and the X-Men trilogy into a silly plot. Four orphan refugees from those scenarios band together for a visit to a magical chocolate factory (take that, Charlie) and discover a wardrobe that serves as a gateway to the land of Gnarnia (the "G" deflects any lawsuits). There's also a pirate named Capt. Jack Swallows (Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond), a wicked witch of Gnarnia (Jennifer Coolidge) and assorted wizard academy students. Meanwhile, the duo's Scary Movie 5 may find inspiration in Blood and Chocolate (PG-13), a teenage werewolf movie based on Annette Curtis Klause's novel. Agnes Bruckner (Blue Car, Venom) plays a lovesick lycanthrope torn between her heritage and love with a human (Hugh Dancy). Neither movie was viewed in time for review in Weekend. Steve Persall, Times film critic
[Last modified January 24, 2007, 11:55:22]
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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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