10th Anniversary TLDR: Neighbors (2014)
We have to go over there and we have to be cool.
Plot: A couple with a newborn baby face unexpected difficulties after they are forced to live next to a fraternity house.
Direction: Nicholas Stoller has written and/or directed some hits (Captain Underpants, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, this film) and some misses (Gulliver's Travels, Zoolander 2, Night School). You know every single film on his resume and have probably never once heard his name.
Screenplay: With movies like this, you never know exactly where the rhythms come from. It feels very Seth Rogen despite the writing credits going to Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. I do appreciate that Seth vibe, as it doesn't feel like we're meandering from comic setpiece to comic setpiece. Instead, the plot is surprisingly functional and the funniness happens within it. That sounds obvious, but it happens less in comedies than you think.
Performances: I wish I had less in common with Seth Rogen in this movie. Aside from the fact that I want to be married to Rose Byrne. Zac Efron should have an Academy Award for his work in The Iron Claw. Ike Barinholtz just shows up in stuff. And then there's a whole list of comedian who's-whos: Lisa Kudrow, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jerrod Carmichael, Hannibal Buress, Jason Mantzoukas, Natasha Leggero, and the Lonely Island guys.
Fun Fact #1: This happened to me once.
Fun Fact #2: The baby is played by twin babies, Elise and Zoey Vargas. Now, that's not a fun fact. We all know that's how it works in movies. The real fun fact is that when you pause this movie on Prime Video and the cast comes up, the same headshot is used for both girls. We will never really know who was who.
Best Moment: The fraternity's Robert De Niro party, particularly Jerrod Carmichael as Sam Jackson in Jackie Brown. The most frustrating part for Seth Rogen is not that there's a frat party next door, but that Jerrod starts doing the "Path of the Righteous" speech which is, of course, from the wrong Sam Jackson movie.
Worst Moment: Seth Rogen milking Rose Byrne like a cow.
Random Accolade It Actually Received: This poster won Best Comedy Poster at the 2014 Golden Trailer Awards. Couldn't have been a competitive year.
Everything is too long! Is it too long? 97 minutes is great. Did it need another 92 minutes with a sequel? Probably not.
Rating: But yes, I'll probably check out the sequel anyway.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.
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