Year One
Genre:   Comedy
Runtime: 97min
Rating: Unrated
Entertainment Score: 4/10
Tech Score: 8/10
IMDB Score: 5.1/10   (11,400+ votes)

Summary from IMDB: Zed a prehistoric would-be hunter, eats from a tree of forbidden fruit and is banished from his tribe, accompanied by Oh, a shy gatherer. On their travels they meet Cain and Abel on a fateful day, stop Abraham from killing Isaac, become slaves, and reach the city of Sodom where their tribe is now enslaved. Zed and Oh are determined to rescue the women they love, Maya and Eema. Standing in their way is Sodom’s high priest and the omnipresent Cain. Zed tries to form an alliance with Princess Innana, which may backfire.

From me: Well this movie was more blue than I expected it to be. Most times that would help me enjoy the flick but not so much this time.

Audio:  10/10. I just watched the movie and don’t recall any music that stands out. The sound effects are nice. They have some dude doing all kinds of farts. Everything was prefect in terms of the audio levels.

Visuals: 10/10. This was by far the best part of the movie. They have such nice looking landscapes and the costume were Oscar quality if you ask me. They progress from cavemen attire to what looks to be Roman garb…which is weird since Sodom and Gomorrah is biblical.

Writing: 5/10. Typical Jack Black movie in the sense that it’s freaking mindless. I was really hoping for some deep gut laughs since it was co-written by Harold Ramis who also wrote a movie I can watch over and over and over Groundhog Day. There are some good lines in it but as a whole it was just eh.

Zed: You could be my right-hand man.
Oh: I’ve seen what you do with your right hand. No, thank you.
—–
Oh: I’m a virgin by choice.
Zed: Ha. Not your choice!
—–
Cain: What transpires within the confines of the walls of Sodom, stays within the confines of the walls of Sodom.

To bad the gold did not melt Ceras jawbones

Acting: 5/10. Ok most times I hate Jack Black as an actor but he wasn’t bad in this flick I could actually put up with him, however, the person I could not put up with is Michael Cera. I mean I know he is was there to play the straight man but still…his monotoned voice and lack of any real emotion did the opposite of what I think they wanted. It really does baffle me how that dude keeps getting work. The movie does have a bunch of names in it but not in any real big roles to give this area a better score than what I already gave it. Oliver Platt,David Cross,Vinnie Jones,Hank Azaria and Olivia Wilde are all in it.

Beauty and the Beast or Year One, I can't tell

Dir/Ed: 10/10. Harold Ramis may not have been the best person to write this movie but he did one hell of a job directing it. For a comedy they do some shots that just make you go “really?” And they work! They work so well because it was also edited very well. Nothing was cut to short or lasted to long. That is such a killer of movies when shots last to long or are cut to short. Some of the stuff I was talking about are Arc Shots, Crabbing Shot and the right amount of zooming.

Bottom line: It’s worth a rent if you’re in the mood for a mindless comedy with some good specials.