Watch Out! The Frat Pack is here to stay!
9th June 2009, Tuesday
In Hollywood, it is well known that certain directors love to engage the services of their pet actors or staff like how Peter Jackson love Andy Serkis, Steven Spielberg had pedophilia towards Shia LeBeouf, Guillermo del Toro trusted Doug Jones while J J Abrams always had a role for confidant in Greg Grunberg in his project.
We also know how that in the entertainment scene a certain clique of friends would always work together like Kevin Smith and his clique (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Lee etc) as well as Adam Sandller and co. (Rob Schneider, David Spade, Chris Rock, Kevin James etc).
But one force in the Hollywood cannot be disregard... The Frat Pack.
The crew of comedian friends with the core of Ben Stiller, the Wilson brothers (Owen & Luke), Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell had been under the media spotlight for their multiple collaborations for most of the 21st century so far and a derivation of "Rat Pack" & "Brat Pack" was slapped for their clique.
I have always had a thing for Ben Stiller's movies since "There's Something About Mary" & "Meet the Parents".
I just digged his style of comedy in which he played the frantic guy caught up in the most outrageous situation he needed to bail out of.
In many of those films, you'll see Owen Wilson, the big nosed blonde guy who slowly carved a name on his own usually an aloof arch rivals of sort.
Jack Black first caught my eye in "Shallow Hal" and looked like the irritating fat guy type but grew to be really lovable with movies like "School of Rock", "Nacho Libre', "The Holiday", "Kung Fu Panda" etc.
Vince Vaughn looked like a haughty no-good-do-er in shows like "Starsky & Hutch" & "Be Cool", was never really good in my book while Will Farrell's ancension to fame was a bit mind stifling unless you went to catch his underdog sportsman style of comedy like "Anchorman", "Talladega Nights", "Blades of Glory", "Semi Pro" etc.
Of course Steve Carrell had been a favorite of mine since "40 year old Virgin" and then as Michael Scott in "The Office".
I had been beekping tab of the movies by these bunch of guys predominantly Stiller, Black and Carrell but don't really mind Ferrell.
However their influence in the scene had spread so immensely outwards with their connections that the associated members of the pack had made a significant impact in the Hollywood scene since the past year or so.
Once close ally of the Pack is director/writer/producer Judd Apatow who himself is like the rising star in 2007/2008 and maybe stretch for the next few years since the breakthrough of "40 year old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Superbad".
He led a band of close associates and friends such as Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse etc who looked like big players in the comedy scene in the future.
The influence of the Pack might even spread to television since many had roots in Saturday Night Live, the successful factory to generate talented comedians at will.
Therefore the likes "The Office", "30 Rock", "How I Meet Your Mother", "Arrested Development" etc had traces of the Pack despite they were not working on it.
Despite the comedy might be a bit low-brow and uncouth for the masses (and very well-liked by the American viewers), I had a kick out of most.
"Tropic Thunder" is a great example of how Stiller and gang would do a great satrical feature on the good old Vietnam War craze back in those days.
Whenever possible I will try to keep an eye of any upcoming featured films of the Pack or of Apatow and associates.
It was by no mere coincidence that my weekend was filled with films which the Pack left their mark.
I caught "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of Smithsonian" which of course starring Stiller and Owen Wilson but the supporting cast and cameos were littered with friends within their circle of trust. Hank Azaria was the antagonist, the evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah, Bill Hader as the narcissitic General Custer, Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, Jonah Hill as Brendon the Security Guard and a string of The Office crew like Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling and Craig Robinson.
Channel 5 was showing the prequel "Night at the Museum" on Sunday night of course.
As mentioned I rented some DVDs which included Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited".
Wes Anderson was a college buddy of Owen Wilson and therefore by no surprise Owen was in many of his films including Darjeeling.
It made 3 doses of Owen Wilson for me in one weekend.
Another movie I rented was "Role Models" starring Paul Rudd and Sean Scott William. Paul of course was a dominant figure in the Pack and the movie also starred Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the geeky Augie who enjoyed cosplaying as fictional fantasy character.
I wouldn't say I am a connoiseur for comedy but I love to have a regular dosage of laughs and the Pack, Apatow and even Sandler and co. are right up my alley and will be continuing to support them...
In Hollywood, it is well known that certain directors love to engage the services of their pet actors or staff like how Peter Jackson love Andy Serkis, Steven Spielberg had pedophilia towards Shia LeBeouf, Guillermo del Toro trusted Doug Jones while J J Abrams always had a role for confidant in Greg Grunberg in his project.
We also know how that in the entertainment scene a certain clique of friends would always work together like Kevin Smith and his clique (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Lee etc) as well as Adam Sandller and co. (Rob Schneider, David Spade, Chris Rock, Kevin James etc).
But one force in the Hollywood cannot be disregard... The Frat Pack.
The crew of comedian friends with the core of Ben Stiller, the Wilson brothers (Owen & Luke), Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell had been under the media spotlight for their multiple collaborations for most of the 21st century so far and a derivation of "Rat Pack" & "Brat Pack" was slapped for their clique.
I have always had a thing for Ben Stiller's movies since "There's Something About Mary" & "Meet the Parents".
I just digged his style of comedy in which he played the frantic guy caught up in the most outrageous situation he needed to bail out of.
In many of those films, you'll see Owen Wilson, the big nosed blonde guy who slowly carved a name on his own usually an aloof arch rivals of sort.
Jack Black first caught my eye in "Shallow Hal" and looked like the irritating fat guy type but grew to be really lovable with movies like "School of Rock", "Nacho Libre', "The Holiday", "Kung Fu Panda" etc.
Vince Vaughn looked like a haughty no-good-do-er in shows like "Starsky & Hutch" & "Be Cool", was never really good in my book while Will Farrell's ancension to fame was a bit mind stifling unless you went to catch his underdog sportsman style of comedy like "Anchorman", "Talladega Nights", "Blades of Glory", "Semi Pro" etc.
Of course Steve Carrell had been a favorite of mine since "40 year old Virgin" and then as Michael Scott in "The Office".
I had been beekping tab of the movies by these bunch of guys predominantly Stiller, Black and Carrell but don't really mind Ferrell.
However their influence in the scene had spread so immensely outwards with their connections that the associated members of the pack had made a significant impact in the Hollywood scene since the past year or so.
Once close ally of the Pack is director/writer/producer Judd Apatow who himself is like the rising star in 2007/2008 and maybe stretch for the next few years since the breakthrough of "40 year old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Superbad".
He led a band of close associates and friends such as Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse etc who looked like big players in the comedy scene in the future.
The influence of the Pack might even spread to television since many had roots in Saturday Night Live, the successful factory to generate talented comedians at will.
Therefore the likes "The Office", "30 Rock", "How I Meet Your Mother", "Arrested Development" etc had traces of the Pack despite they were not working on it.
Despite the comedy might be a bit low-brow and uncouth for the masses (and very well-liked by the American viewers), I had a kick out of most.
"Tropic Thunder" is a great example of how Stiller and gang would do a great satrical feature on the good old Vietnam War craze back in those days.
Whenever possible I will try to keep an eye of any upcoming featured films of the Pack or of Apatow and associates.
It was by no mere coincidence that my weekend was filled with films which the Pack left their mark.
I caught "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of Smithsonian" which of course starring Stiller and Owen Wilson but the supporting cast and cameos were littered with friends within their circle of trust. Hank Azaria was the antagonist, the evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah, Bill Hader as the narcissitic General Custer, Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, Jonah Hill as Brendon the Security Guard and a string of The Office crew like Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling and Craig Robinson.
Channel 5 was showing the prequel "Night at the Museum" on Sunday night of course.
As mentioned I rented some DVDs which included Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited".
Wes Anderson was a college buddy of Owen Wilson and therefore by no surprise Owen was in many of his films including Darjeeling.
It made 3 doses of Owen Wilson for me in one weekend.
Another movie I rented was "Role Models" starring Paul Rudd and Sean Scott William. Paul of course was a dominant figure in the Pack and the movie also starred Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the geeky Augie who enjoyed cosplaying as fictional fantasy character.
I wouldn't say I am a connoiseur for comedy but I love to have a regular dosage of laughs and the Pack, Apatow and even Sandler and co. are right up my alley and will be continuing to support them...
Japanese word of the day: 派閥 (Clique) Well it's always great to build a chemistry with your friend, especially in the creative field
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