The Science of Sleep – Viewers might not notice that Sleep is Michel Gondry’s first feature that wasn’t penned by über-crazy screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation).  That’s because Gondry’s follow-up to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is just as daringly original, and it even deals with the extremely fertile idea of invading the brain of the film’s protagonist.

This time around, the subject is Stéphane (Gael García Bernal), who has all sorts of trouble differentiating his real life from the escapist world he creates when he’s asleep, where he’s the host of a show called Stéphane TV.  Stéphane’s father has just died, and he’s left Mexico for France because his mother has lined up a sweet job as an artist at a company that produces calendars.  But the job turns out to be a dull dead end, and Stéphane develops a crush on one of his mother’s apartment building tenants (Charlotte Gainsbourg), but faces the two-headed problem of not knowing much French and being afraid of Stéphanie (seriously) finding out he’s the evil landlord’s son.

Gondry’s effort here is much more reminiscent of his earlier music video work.  It shows viewers a childlike world full of inanimate objects that come to life and defy basic physical principles (via cheap-o stop-frame animation).  Sets are made from corrugated cardboard, and large portions of the film appear to be re-dubbed for no other reason than to look cheesy.  In other words, Sleep ain’t anywhere near as slick Mind, and that’s something that will turn a lot of people off.  Sleep could also be viewed as a knock-off of Mind, but those experienced with Gondry’s pre-Hollywood work will recognize it as something that might even be a more pure look into the filmmaker’s mind.  PSB says 7

Open Season – I hate Martin Lawrence, and I pray there’s a special spot in hell reserved for Ashton Kutcher.  That said, the fact that I didn’t hate Open Season – the computer-animated film that features both of their voices – is way bigger a compliment than I’d ever dream of doling out to this movie.  Still, Season is not recommendable, and yet another example of a CG film that focuses on animation and snagging A-list voice talent more than it does creating a good story.  I think this is the seventh animated film in a row that’s about a bunch of animals on a death-defying journey from Point A to Point B.

Season is either about the complacency of the black man while he was in whitey’s captivity, and the struggles he endured when freed; or a giant Grizzly named Boog (Lawrence) who has been domesticated and trained, but then set free into the woods on the eve of hunting season.  Boog finds a sidekick in a hyperactive deer named Elliot (Kutcher).  There are scores of other endlessly cute animals and, of course, all of the prerequisite farting, puking, defecation (turns out bears can’t shit in the woods), bestiality, and songs that practically scream, “Nominate me for an Oscar!” that you would expect from a non-Pixar family film.  PSB says 6

Employee of the Month – I can’t figure out this Dane Cook character.  He is, apparently, the best-selling standup comedian ever and is about to host Saturday Night Live for the second time in less than a year, yet I’ve yet to meet a person who either likes him, or will cop to buying (or even downloading) any of his albums.  I’ve done the downloading bit, and find his humor extremely safe and vanilla, which is surprising since his target audience skews way young.

If you’re in the boat with me regarding Cook’s boringness and overall lack of charisma, you’ll still be surprised to learn he’s even more boring and less charismatic in Month, which is based on a concept that might, on a good day, be strong enough material-wise to fill a standard SNL skit.  But a movie that pushes the two-hour mark?  It’s like being trapped in a coffin but without having practiced under the cruel, watchful eye of Pai Mei.

Cook plays Zach, a lazy employee at an all-in-one superstore.  He wants to get in the pants of a new coworker (Jessica Simpson) and hears that she’ll only bang guys who win the store’s Employee of the Month title.  Zach tries his best to become a model employee, even at the expense of losing his friends (Andy Dick, Harland Williams, Brian George – any of whom would make a more interesting lead), but still struggles to stand out because of a competitor (Dax Shepard) who has won EOM 17 months in a row.

Month is relentlessly unfunny, and Cook and Simpson have a chemistry similar to the combination of bleach and ammonia.  The strange thing is that Simpson is such a clueless whore, Cook looks like Olivier when the two share scenes.  Too long, and not nearly enough laughs makes this a painful endeavor that will easily rank among the worst of 2006.  PSB says 2

Jackass Number Two – This sequel to 2002’s Jackass: The Movie is flat-out the funniest film ever made.  I hurt from laughing before the movie ended, and there were parts I missed because my eyes were filled with tears.  Granted, a lot of folks don’t find this stuff very entertaining, and that’s fine.  But I do, and I loved this film.

But how do you go about reviewing it?  How does it stack up against a comedy that offers way more creativity than a bunch of homoerotic shenanigans, like, say, Best in Show?  It’s almost the same as comparing apples and oranges.  Actually, that doesn’t make sense because an apple and an orange are both juicy fruits that provide you with delicious vitamin C.  Maybe it’s more like The Simpsons vs. Family Guy – one is an (occasionally) insightful swipe at important issues like religion, science, politics and the environment, and the other is just a bunch of random pop culture references.  But I still watch them both religiously.  PSB says 9

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – See?  This is exactly what I’m talking about.  I laughed my ass off during Learnings, but not nearly as much or as hard as during Jackass Number Two.  Does that mean Learnings isn’t as funny?  Lord no.  It’s a comedy that is slightly more sophisticated, even though it does contain a scene in which two grown men wrestle naked on a hotel bed.  Learnings works hard to earn its laughs via satire instead of inflicting physical pain on its talent.

Borat, in case you’ve missed him on HBO’s Da Ali G Show, is a character created and performed by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.  Borat is a television reporter from Kazakhstan who tapes segments in the US as a cultural learning tool for people back in his home country, but it’s all really just a clever rouse to expose Americans as clueless racist homophobes (yes, this usually occurs in red states).  There are a lot of blue state folks who miss out on that “clever rouse” bit, and are offended by Cohen’s portrayal of Kazakhstan as a backwards country of idiots.  Hopefully, Cohen will find a way to make fun of these fun-hating cretins with his next picture.

In Learnings, Borat and his producer (Ken Davitian) are on a tight filming schedule in the US when our protagonist catches a glimpse of Pamela Anderson in a Baywatch rerun on his hotel television.  This gives Learnings somewhat of a traditional narrative structure (albeit a lame one) as Borat then beelines to California where he hopes to make the buxom blonde his wife.  These are what I like to call the lame parts of Learnings, when you can literally feel the entire mood of the theatre completely change.  Cohen and crew are much better off when they stick to their established material (some of which will seem quite familiar to Ali G fans), like getting hillbillies to admit they want to kill the gays.  PSB says 8