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Must See Movie: Get Him to The Greek!

There’s a pivotal scene near the beginning of Get Him to The Greek where main character, A&R Rep Aaron Green ( Jonah Hill ) sits in a pitch meeting with his fellow record label flacks. His boss, label head Sergio Roma ( Sean “P Diddy” Combs ) is badgering the staff to come up with any new ideas that will infuse a desperately needed revenue stream into their flailing faction of the troubled music business. Aaron’s idea is to stage a comeback concert at LA’s Greek Theater for Rock musician Aldous Snow ( Russell Brand ), whose career has taken a nose dive since the release of African Child – an audacious, PC misstep of an album that turns out to be a wildly offensive, commercial and critical bomb. Aaron proposes that a simulcast pay-per-view special, re-release of Snow’s back album catalog and a live DVD of the concert will generate millions of dollars in cash for the label and give disappointed music fans what they’re most hungry for. “There aren’t any Rock Stars anymore,” Aaron argues. “Aldous Snow is a Rock Star!” And, man, is he ever right on about that. Real Rock Stars went the way of the Dinosaur long ago, and watching a movie featuring a handsome and charismatic actor who not only can play a believable decadent Rock Star but also make him hilarious and lovable, and who can fucking sing and perform? That’s almost too much to ask for. That alone is reason enough to see Get Him to The Greek : because Russell Brand is a fucking Rock Star, and this role is going to make him one hot commodity. When Sergio green lights the Greek Theater concert idea, Aaron is charged with the awesome responsibility of retrieving the very much off the wagon Aldous from London and getting him back to Los Angeles within 72 hours and in time for the concert. What follows is a true comedy of errors, with Aaron navigating Aldous through a dense mind field of every possible licentious temptation, none of which Aldous has the willpower (or desire) to resist. Since the character of Aldous Snow was introduced to audiences in the 2008 hit, Forgetting Sarah Marshall , everyone is going to ask, “Is this movie anything like Forgetting Sarah Marshall ?” Let me dash your hopes right now and confess that no, no it isn’t. Sarah Marshall was a basically a romantic comedy with a few fart jokes thrown in. Get Him To The Greek is a completely different type of movie: an all out, hard R-rated raunch-fest that is nevertheless beyond hilarious.  It just happens to have one of the same characters as the film it spins off from (here, Jonah Hill plays a different character than the Aldous Snow-worshipping cabana boy he played in Sarah Marshall ). Hill, who has proven himself to be a gifted comedic actor, is great as Aaron, Diddy is impressive as Sergio (and he has some of the film’s funniest lines) and if you’ve read his outrageous autobiography, My Booky Wook , you will immediately recognize that Brand is playing his pre-rehab self to perfection. Among the excellent supporting cast are Mad Men’s Elizabeth Moss as Aaron’s girlfriend Daphne and Rose Byrne as Snow’s ex-girlfriend and fellow pop star Jackie Q. There are also many very funny cameos by stars like Meredith Viera and Lars Ulrich playing themselves. And the music can go head to head with the greatest hits of Spinal Tap . Rock & Roll! Get Him to the Greek , Directed by Nicholas Stoller, hits theaters everywhere on Friday June 4, 2010

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Must See Movie: Get Him to The Greek!

Movie Review – ‘Get Him To The Greek’

Get Him To The Greek Starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, and Sean Combs Directed by Nicholas Stoller Rated R A better exploration of the excess and dysfunction of rock n’ roll and the music industry than it is an outright comedy, Get Him to the Greek is surprisingly dark, often manic, definitely inspired, and occasionally fantastic. Occasionally. Some of that has to do with the Apatow school of filmmaking, which has a penchant for taking the laughs where they come, but never in place of the actual story. So if this isn’t as funny as the trailers make you believe, that’s because this movie is not completely about getting a rock star on stage at the Greek Theater. The rock star is Aldous Snow ( Russell Brand ). Aldous was a character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall a couple years ago for the same director, Nicholas Stoller . Brand may or may not be extremely limited as an actor, but he sure as hell knocks this one dead. It’s one of the signature rock star performances; there’s not a moment when he is not the tempermental, hard living lead singer of Infant Sorrow. Ten years ago, the band played the Greek, and the resulting album was one of the all-time best-selling live records ever made. In an effort to boost not just his employer, Pinnacle Records, but the slumping music industry in general, record company lackey Aaron Green ( Jonah Hill ) pitches an anniversary show to his boss ( Sean “Diddy” Combs ). Having suffered a public break-up with his girlfriend Jackie Q ( Rose Byrne ) and an equally public flop called African Child – which the press chides as being the worst thing to happen to black culture since the Rodney King beating – Aldous agrees to do the show. Aaron is flown to England to retrieve the singer, guide him to The Today Show , and arrive in Los Angeles a couple days later for the show. Simple enough? Snow is a force of nature, so it’s never as easy as getting on and off planes. There’s drinking, women, drug muling, more drinking, and more drinking. After seven years on the wagon, Aldous crawled back into the bottle after the split from his girlfriend, and based on his constitution, it must have been a doozy of a break-up.

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Movie Review – ‘Get Him To The Greek’

‘Get Him to the Greek’ Film Review

Filed under: Reviews In reprising his role from ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ Russell Brand gets some surprisingly comic relief help from none other than Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs in the spin-off film, ‘ Get Him to the Greek .’ Outside of dating singer Katy Perry, Brand is not an American household name, but with P.Diddy on the scene, playing (what else) a music exec, the film is a very funny, often outrageously take on the music industry. Directed by Nicholas Stoller , Jonah Hill plays Aaron Green, a record company intern looking to raise his status in the company. When sales are down and suggestions are being tossed to by employees to head honcho Sergio Roma (played by Combs) as to what will bring the company fortunes, Aaron talks about doing a ten year anniversary of British rock singer Aldous Snow’s live concert. Sounds like good idea, considering that Aldous could use this as comeback in society after falling from grace for releasing his worst album, including a song and video called ‘African Child’ that many felt was racist. Getting Aldous to leave from London to Los Angeles for the concert is not an easy task that Aaron thought it would be. Aside from arguing with his doctor girlfriend (played by Elizabeth Moss) back home, problems continue to rise as Aldous drags Aaron around town at beck and call, subjecting him to women, booze and drugs. Taking his supporting role ‘Sarah Marshall’ to ‘Greek,’ Brand is just hilarious. In watching these two films, one never knows when Brand’s humor is off. Is his real life persona in this film the same because the guy just makes one laugh out loud? For once, Hill is the guy who tries to keep a straight face, and delivers some poignant scenes with TV’s Mad Men’s Elizabeth Moss , whose dry comedy is quite witty. Given the best lines in the film, the scene stealer and standout is Combs. In his first big screen role since 2001’s ‘Monster’s Ball,’ Diddy is having a ball playing a music exec. It’s almost as if the producers told him to be himself, but with some comedic flair. All told, ‘Greek’ is a buddy flick that works because never runs out of steam or humor.

These Are Your Excuses For Not Watching Mad Men Tonight

Jesus. Will you people please, please STFU about Mad Men , the third season of which premieres tonight?

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These Are Your Excuses For Not Watching Mad Men Tonight