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Discuss this week's Joe Loves Crappy Movies here!

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Love crappy movies but are too ashamed to admit it? Are you a big Rob Schneider fan but you're tired of being burned? Not sure if you want to waste your money on the same old movie? That's why you have Joe.

Joe Loves Crappy Movies is by Joseph Dunn. Joe willingly goes to see the very worst that Hollywood has to offer. Whenever a crappy movie comes out Joe will be there to see it, make fun of it, and actually review it. Nothing is safe, and nothing is sacred. From the big budget action disasters to the low brow fart based comedies, to anything starring Martin Lawrence? Joe will tear it apart.

With each entry you'll get not only a comic poking fun at the movie, but also a detailed review. Joe's not educated in film or cinematography or acting, he's just a guy that draws comics and likes movies. So if you're looking for the everyman perspective and a little joke in comic form... you're in the right place.

Step Brothers

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins

Directed by: Adam McKay

Sony Pictures

The Official Site of Step Brothers

Discuss Step Brothers on the boards!

Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and director Adam McKay became a tight nit trio after working together on the hit NASCAR comedy Talladega Nights, followed by dozens of short videos on their humor site Funnyordie.com. For the most part what they’ve produced as a team has been the kind of laugh out loud nonsense you look forward to buying on DVD and spamming your friend’s e-mails with, but when plans were announced for the three of them to hit the big screen again as a team with Step Brothers, a juvenile battle between two man-children, I was less than enthusiastic.

It’s always great when people have a natural chemistry and the comedy flows effortlessly. You love to see it when a group of people get together and it’s just a perfect fit… but we’ve all seen that turn sour. (Ocean’s Twelve ring any bells?) Even in the face of decent trailers and that crazy “Sears family portrait” ad campaign, I couldn’t help wondering if Step Brothers was going to be a legitimately good movie, or a big budget reason for a group of friends to hang out all day and get paid for it? As nice as the idea of Ferrell, Reilly, and McKay doing a brand new project could be, I was haunted by the fear that Step Brothers would end up being a 90-mintue inside joke that the audience wasn’t in on. That it would be one of those movies that just makes you resent them all, not just as a team, but individually as well.

Step Brothers side-steps this little problem by doing the unthinkable: being funny and giving the audience what they want. It seems like such an obvious solution. It’s all there though. Step Brothers has big laughs, a solid story complete with a watered down message of knowing when to grow up but still being true to yourself, and unfortunately a little male nudity. You have to take a ball or two in stride though with something that turns out better than it should’ve.

Ferrell and Reily play Brennan and Dale, two 40-year-old’s that never progressed beyond age 16. They play video games all day, put cheese on everything, and take their parents for granted. When Dale’s father meets and falls for Brennan’s Mother the two high-maintenance children butt heads. The battle of who’s more of a retarded jackass yields some good stuff, but somehow the movie reaches a completely different level once the two become friends. “Two moronic forces working together are stronger than two moronic forces opposing each other.” I think Einstein said that. I’m not sure. I could be paraphrasing. Either way, the laughs are there and it was nice to see it work on two different levels.

I was especially impressed with Reily who has transitioned form “The Oscar nominee slumming it with the clowns” to “full fledged clown”, or in a less condescending way, “genuinely hysterical and more than capable of holding his own and stealing the spotlight from people that have been making it look easy for 15 years.” Yeah, that sounds better. I’ll admit that I wasn’t especially impressed with Reily’s last comedy Walk Hard, I thought it was a little too ambitious and didn’t completely connect, but the one thing that did work in it across the board was Reily. If he ever gets tired of being pushed around by Scorsese and Anderson, I think it’s safe to say that he’s found a home in comedy where he’ll be welcomed with open arms.

Step Brothers stretches on a little longer than it maybe should, but still manages to evolve and stay interesting, with new kinds of laughs. I was relived because this movie takes every one of my pessimistic expectations and answers them with a joke, a character or a plot point that will have me second guessing myself the next time I see Ferrell, Reily and McKay’s names above a features title and cringe.

Rating: 7 out of 10 - Step Brothers had all the makings of an annoying and aimless waste of time but managed to prove me wrong. It did so with, of all things, a lot of old people yelling at each other – something I normally hate. It’s the reason I never really cared for Everybody Loves Raymond. Turns out though, if you toss in a few F-bombs and a song about boats and hoes, it works just fine.

Before I go on – today’s incentive image features The Dunn Jun Sears family portrait ala the poster for Step Brothers (Groaning noise. Buzz is down until some big relaunch in August just follow this link to see it vote free.. It didn’t come out quite as well as I would have liked (I totally messed up the sweaters) but it’s worth a look. If you’re behind on the recent incentive comeback you can find the archived images here!

I would say the chances are strong but I’ve entered an interesting phase of my DVD buying career. My wife told me I couldn’t do it anymore. She was less matter-of-fact about it, but she appealed to my better judgement and asked me to consider the fact that we’re saving for a home and thinking about kids and that me buying a DVD or two a month adds up quick. And I don’t need the DVDs. Not the way I need my wife to be happy, so I’m happy to cut back for now.

If I weren’t, Step Brothers is one I would definitely add to my wish list, but not snatch up right away. It’s just asking to be bought in a 4 for 20 deal at blockbuster.

I’m thrilled at the response there’s been to the The Gotham Ninjas Athletic T. You guys were willing to support this fictional franchise and I’m very appreciative. The pre-order period is running through August 15th and we have the shirts in both men's and women's cuts. Shoot me an e-mail if you have any specific questions but the plan right now is to have these printed and shipped so that you’ll be sporting them on Labor Day.

In the review for The Dark Knight I promised you guys a comic and write-up for the brand new Watchmen trailer and it has since not gone up. I was getting ready to post it on Wednesday night when Phil pointed out to me that the Watchmen are one of the biggest attractions at this year’s Comic Con, which is being held this weekend. He mentioned how it would be worth it for me to wait until the coverage becomes available on line before I discuss the movie prematurely.

That made a lot of sense to me so I decided to hold off. However, I did promise you guys a comic so if you head over to this thread on the boards you can get an early look at the comic itself. I’d love to know what you all think. For the record, that comic has been on the boards since Thursday of last week, and the one for Step Brothers has been up in the members section since Friday. See what you’re missing if you don’t swing by the boards every once and a while?

Well that’s all for now – oh except twitter. If you twitter – twit (tweet?) me up here. Thanks for reading, everyone! And if you’d like more Step Brothers talk and a mention of the disappointing X-files, be sure to swing by tonight at 10pm for Triple Feature

Joe Dunn's Facebook profile

Live Journal/Myspace/Rotten Tomatoes/Buzz Comix/Top Web Comics/Comics on the Ipod/The Webcomics List/Online Comics/Wikipedia/Comixpedia/JLCM Map!

Joe – The creator of the strip who has embraced giving crappy movies the chance they deserve. Like the majority of the cast he’s obsessed with boobs.

First Appearance - The Introduction

Yeo – Yeo is Joe’s wife and often the voice of reason in the strip. Having her act rational allows the rest of the cast to embrace being in a comic strip which primarily involves randomly punching people, interacting with fictional characters and talking about boobs. Yeo is smart, beautiful and way too good for Joe. Don’t tip her off.

First Appearance - Fever Pitch

Irv – Joe’s movie-going sidekick who’s always down for watching Jason Statham crescent moon kick some thug through a plate glass window and getting some drinks before after and during a Vin Diesel movie. Like the majority of the cast he’s obsessed with boobs.

First Appearance - Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

Agent 337 George Jones – A government Agent that took over for Joe after he was bad-mouthing President Bush in the V for Vendetta strip. George ran the show for over a month bring a much needed sense of patriotism and justice to both the strips and reviews. He eventually got too attached to his work, empathizing with Joe’s plight to give crappy movies a fair shake. In a way he came to love crappy movies as well and was pushed out of the position. He spiraled out of control and ended up in prison. His adventures will be told in the limited series JLCM Presents: 337 Locked Up which is set to début Christmas of 09.

First Appearance - V for Vendetta

Other Notable Appearances: Stay Alive, Ice age 2, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, Slither, Here Comes Guest week, Let’s Go To Prison

Leonidas – The former king of Sparta who has traveled into the future and is having trouble coping with the modern times. Yelling loudly and kicking people into giant holes doesn’t really work the same way it did in the olden days. As time as gone by he’s adjusted but it’s a safe bet that he’s always one bad message away from throwing a spear through someone.

First Appearance - 300

Other Notable Appearances: Four Brothers, Strip# 300, The Golden Compass, Rambo, Untraceable, The Ladies of Max Paybe

Palpatine – Former Senator, Emperor of the Galactic Empire, Sith Lord... He shows up in the Joe Loves Crappy movies galaxy on occasion to let people know that they’re being stupid. No one’s really sure how he shows up in this universe but chances are it breaks all kinds of copywrite laws.

First Appearance - Episode III: The Dark Side

Other Notable Appearances: Four Brothers, Night Watch, Saw 3, Are We Done Yet

Slow Billy – Billy is a sweet kid but he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. If you’re watching him for the day be prepared to explain to him the plot of the movie or how popcorn works or, not so much where babies come from, but what babies are. He’s a complete moron.

First Appearance - Four Brothers

Other Notable Appearances: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Da Vinci Code, Vantage Point, Journey to the Center of the Earth

Kyle the Movie Snob – Be careful what fun facts about movies you tell your friends at a friendly gathering or in line for the latest blockbuster, because if you’re even slightly wrong, Kyle will be more than happy to let you know. He usually gets what’s coming to him though. Poor guy has cracked three ribs since joining the JLCM cast.

First Appearance - Ultraviolet

Other Notable Appearances: 16 Blocks, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Transformers, Journey to the Center of the Earth

Jean-Luc Picard – Another lawsuit waiting to happen is Jean Luc Picard who, towards the end of the strip’s first year, became the go-to background character. If there was ever a seat to fill or a random person to place wandering around in the background, nine times out of ten it was Picard. While Picard has crossed paths with Irv he and Joe have never met. Perhaps they will some day but for now just can an eye on the background.

First Appearance - The Producers

Other Notable Appearances: I’m not telling you, that’s no fun. It’ like Where’s Waldo – go find him!

Ice Cream Sandwich – Delicious and… deadly? Usually when you see someone eating an Ice Cream sandwich, someone else is experiencing a substantial amount of pain. Still, how nice is an ice cream sandwich on a hot summer day?

First Appearance - Saw IV

Other Notable Appearances: Bee Movie, Run Fatboy Run, Saw V