Rogue Economists have also been known to trample their keepers and gore pen mates

I have this theory about research-based non-fiction books making for sh*tty movies.  You take a thought-provoking bestseller like The Blind Side and put it through the Hollywood meat grinder (also your mom’s nickname) and  you end up with a movie where Michael Oher was good at football because they taught him to pretend the quarterback was his new momma (because he scored in the 98th percentile in “protective instincts”, you see).  Problem is, they take a book that doesn’t look like a movie and go, “Hmm, how could we make this look like a movie? What does a movie look like?”  And the next thing you know, they’ve turned all the interesting insights into 50 f*cked-out clichés and it looks like every sh*tty movie ever.  This is my way of telling you that Freakonomics is going to be a movie.  Now for the pleasant surprise: it’s a documentary.

Like the book, the film examines human behavior with provocative and sometimes hilarious case studies, bringing together a dream team of filmmakers responsible for some of the most acclaimed and entertaining documentaries in recent years: Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Casino Jack and the United States of Money), Academy Award® nominees Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp), Academy Award® nominee Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) and Seth Gordon (The King of Kong). [/Film]

The Enron documentary kind of sucked.  I watched it to find out how those guys conned everyone out of so much money and f*cked the economy, not learn about their corporate retreats.  I don’t know why everyone talks about that and not Gonzo, which Alex Gibney also made, which was much better.  Anyway, the film closes out the Tribeca Film Festival next month.  Here’s some of what you might expect:
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Director Morgan Spurlock (Viking porn name: ORGAN SPURCOCK!) will be adapting his 2004 documentary Supersize Me into… a graphic novel?

The book, “Supersized: Strange Tales From a Fast Food Culture,” will feature bizarre stories about the U.S.’s obsession with fast food that weren’t seen in the film while still hoping to make a point about health and nutrition. Spurlock will write the stories, with a mix of established and up-and-coming artists scripting and drawing the book. It is set for publication in the spring.

Spurlock said after his movie was released that he was inundated by calls from people who wanted to share their tales from the fast-food underbelly, including the story of a fat man whose cremation made a mortuary smell like French fries and the man that built in his garage a museum of McDonald’s food that never aged. [THR]

You think the fast-food underbelly is bad, you should see its muffin top, or fupa.  But seriously, you really think you can get an “eating healthy” message to the people who really need to hear it by using a comic book?

…Crap, that actually makes complete sense. (more fun pics below)

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This is the review portion of FilmDrunk. It’s a lot more wordy and not as funny as regular FilmDrunk, but then… so’s your face.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden was released on DVD yesterday, and I watched it. Hooray for me! Just like in his hit debut, Super Size Me, director Morgan Spurlock uses the gimmick implied by the title as a jumping off point. However, Super Size Me‘s premise has a little more power. We expected to see a guy suffer through month’s worth of junk food, and the movie delivered. In Osama, anyone with half a brain understands at the outset that this guy isn’t actually going to find Bin Laden (no groundbreaking news story was ever delivered with a question mark at the end). What Spurlock does find turns out to be compelling, but it also makes you wonder if he needed the gimmick in the first place.

Spurlock spends the first 15-20 minutes of the movie basically justifying the premise, that he knows from watching Jerry Bruckheimer movies that it’s always one lonely guy who saves the world, and blah blah blah. He goes to a survival school to prepare and there’s even a Spurlock vs. Osama video game parody interlude, all set to some puketastically literal background music. It’s all very cute. Morgan Spurlock is cute. I mean, his name’s Morgan for Christ’s sakes. You want to wrap a blankey around his rosey little cheeks and stick him in your bike basket. That said, this is just filler. We know you’re not going to find Bin Laden. Get to the point. Read the rest of this entry »

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The produced-by-Judd Apatow tag doesn’t mean much anymore now that he produces roughly 600 movies a year, but this one actually looks funny.  Still, I can’t help but wish Kristen Bell’s boobs were bigger.  What can I say, I’m a romantic.

Forbidden Kingdom
Jackie Chan and Jet Li – together!  Still can’t tell if this is going to be good ol’ fashioned Chan stunts, or lame ass wire fighting.  But either way Asian dudes are gonna punch each other.

Pathology
Some sexy pathologists play a sexy game in between sexily sexing each other.  There also seems to be a lot of potential for nerophilia, which is something I always look for in a movie, as well as a soul mate.

88 Minutes
Al Pacino stars in a film many are calling one of the worst films of all time.   I haven’t seen it myself, but Ryan from the O.C. is in it so it’s definitely terrible.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden
Super Size Me‘s Morgan Spurlock goes on the hunt for the world’s most famous criminal.  In related news, I’ve stolen the hearts of many.  Okay, I’m exaggerating, it was actually just their underwear.  I’ve stolen the underwear of many.  But, bottom line, I play by my own rules.

Zombie Strippers
I can’t believe Jenna Jameson stooped to this.  How degrading.

Today we’ve got the first five minutes (watch it after the jump) of the latest Spurlockumentary, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden.  It includes a video game parody in which an animated Osama whacks Spurlock with his turban and Spurlock garrotes him with his Fu Manchu while shouting “Mustache ride!”  Seriously.

I’d probably bone this movie, but I’m a little pissed at Spurlock’s parents.  When you have a last name like “Spurlock”, the awesome action movie name possibilities are endless.  “Rex”, “Remington”, “Brock”, “Turbo”, hell, even "Dave" – all acceptable.  “Morgan”, on the other hand, is the most effeminate male name in history.  The name “Morgan” is so gay that it’s at least 50% gayer than the name “Gay”.

Unless you’re an older black man, in which case it just makes you more distinguished.