For debate: Judd Apatow killed Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell.

[PatrickStar]

Can we get some more classic Kevin Smith please? Thanks.

[Cathan]

I don't think I lean toward any of the 4 choices put up for vote. I would vote cyclical if any but my feelings are that if Sandler or Ferrel made one of their best movies tomorrow it would still do exceptionally well. I like about half of each of their movies.

Sandler to me made himself a truly great actor in Punch Drunk Love and Reign over Me. I'll always love Happy Gilmore though as my pick of his comedies.

Ferrel... He's been incredible as the lead or just a supporting actor in so many movies it's a longer list. I still laugh inside just thinking about A Night at the Roxbury... Old School was classic on release. I never really cared for Anchorman but I loved Taladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Even his short part as Chaz in Wedding Crashers was great.

I think if you put Ferrel or Sandler with the right team and a good script/director then you have another hit.

I like the Apatow movies but I think they are going to get old a lot quicker than the "goofy" movies. It's been fun watching them with their "real life" feel but the outlandish acts in the better movies by Ferrel and Sandler rate them higher than anything Apatow has done. 15 to 30 years from now I'll still laugh about Bob Barker kicking Sandler's ass but I doubt I'll remember much about Forgetting Sarah Marshall other than frontal male nudity and that crazy arrogant singer...

[kedwyn]

These things are cyclical. Thats why you see fashions, TV shows, movies, kids toys etc.. repeating in cycle. People get burned out on one particular thing, then move to the next. Reality TV right now is hot but starting to get played out. Game shows, next best idol, band, dancer, etc are all "in" right now but IMO are starting to get played out. Who knows what the next best thing will be but my guess is a rip off of the unbeatable Banzuke / Ninja Warrior thats starting on ABC (I think its them).

Movies are the same way. When they lack an idea for something new they mine the old IP and make a sequel or prequel. Star Wars was sorta the first of the recent trend, we have seen the whole super hero thing with Batman, Hulk etc. Indiana Jones, Rambo etc.. All remakes of old IP. Onces thats played out they'll move to something else, probably the newer IPs and mine them for stuff until that gets old and so on.

So while that sort of goofy comedy is played out right now, we'll probably get back to it before we know it. In 5-10 years some new goof ball will come out with some twist on the Ferell / Sandler movies and we'll all be lining up for tickets because what we are getting now will be played out by then and we'll be ready for something the seems different.

[Kaige]

I didn't think Superbad was too spectacular either, the only parts I really liked were the cops with Mclovin and the part where the one guy falls over drunk and headbutts the chick he likes by accident.

[Cantatus]

I don't think Apatow "killed" the goofball comedies so much as he's just picked up the baton from them. Farrell and Sandler have been pretty hit or miss for several years now. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry? Kicking and Screaming?? I think their problem is they essentially play the same character in every movie, and there's only so far you can go with that before audiences get bored. Jim Carrey is another example of this, except he seems to have taken a hint and has started expanding to other types of roles years ago.

Apatow has just come at a time where the typical "goofball" stars have started fizzling out with no one to replace them. About the closest I can think of that is attached to movies as "star vehicles" in recent years is Steve Carrell, but he pretty much launched his movie career with Apatow and hasn't had much success with movies that Apatow isn't involved with (Little Miss Sunshine notwithstanding, but that was obviously a different type of role for him).

Originally Posted by Kaige

I didn't think Superbad was too spectacular either, the only parts I really liked were the cops with Mclovin and the part where the one guy falls over drunk and headbutts the chick he likes by accident.

Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of Superbad either. After watching the movie, I couldn't understand what all the hype was about. I thought maybe Apatow movies just weren't for me, but then I ended up catching Knocked Up, and I'm glad I did. That movie is much better and much funnier. Same with 40 Year-Old Virgin. After watching other Apatow movies, I'd definitely rank Superbad at the bottom.

[Millie]

I thought Superbad was highly overrated. Granted, I didn't get to see it until well after it had come out on DVD and I'd heard all of the hype from just about everybody on the planet. So it couldn't have lived up to my expectations. Then again, absent the hype, it was still pretty so-so. It had a couple of decent laughs, but it had a lot of dead air in between them. I heart Michael Cera, though. Everything that kid touches turns to funny. I enjoy Jonah Hill, too. I remember back in my high school days when he was Jonah Feldstein. LOL.

[Willz]

Speaking from a younger point of view (I'm only a nerdy 18 year old) the humor is still ok, but it's hard to find something original. I definitely agree with everything being cyclical, with all the superhero movies etc. I actually find that the less hyped up a movie is; the more enjoyable it is. If you hype it up ala Superbad, most of the funny moments were in the commercials/trailers, which really lets the rest of the movie down. I mean I'm assuming Superbad was tailored to the teenage audience, and I really didn't find it that great either. I mean there were some decent jokes, but everyone is so stereotyped now. Most of the funny moments in the goofball comedies are the really random ones. The asian kid in Superbad doing the cat impression, the gang fight in Anchorman, those just come out of no where.

Edit: Unfortunately I'm hypocritical in the sense that I did like the new Harold and Kumar because it was SO stereotypical and the movie pretty much just played on it.

[Locithon]

I've never understood the love for sandler. He wasn't funny on SNL and he isn't funny in his movies. He acts like a retard and makes funny voices, that's it.

[Agraza]

What or who is funny Locithon?

[spronk]

For the past few years TV comedy shows have vastly surpassed movies in quality and content. For whatever reason comedies have not been of very good quality on the big screen, maybe too much trying to please too many people.

I think on my 2 terabyte media PC the only comedy bluray rips of the past 3-4 years I have are Borat and Superbad. By contrast I'll watch old school stuff like Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, any of the Pink Panther movies, etc over and over. My TV comedies directory is chock full of recent stuff like Chapelle, Russell Peters, 30 Rock, Office, Its Always Sunny, Ali G show, etc.

[Pinchandroll]

Wasn't Apatow a writer for the Zohan movie?

[Agraza]

You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) - Full cast and crew

yes

[Pinchandroll]

...hmmmm the topic of this debate confuses me, then. Am I missing something?

Edit: Ahh, I see this was mentioned earlier, on page 1.

[Burf]

Slightly off topic, but wtf happened with the end of 40 Year Old Virgin? It's got the same type of ending as Blazing Saddles and Holy Grail. It's like they got about 5 minutes from the credits and went, "Shit....how do we wrap this up? I know! Let's have them randomly dance around and sing!"

[Pinchandroll]

I don't think it's comparable to Holy Grail; 40 Year Old Virgin resolved its story, while Holy Grail ended before you got any resolution.

I think 40 Year Old Virgin just wanted a funny way to transition from the conclusion into the credits.