The Feel Bad Movies of 2009

"Observe and Report" is quite an odd, disturbing flick. Like "Adventureland," it was heralded via a deceptive trailer that was tailored to a few broad comedy moments lifted from the Judd Apatow playbook. S.N.L. cast members, hipster music cues and wacky physical comedy hi-jinks abound.

The actual films are quite different animals.

"Adventureland" is a nice throwback to 80s teen movies but instead of the usual emo-centric homage to John Hughes (i.e. "Can't Hardly Wait") - "Adventureland" is a bit grimmer and comes across like a mopey Cameron Crowe work, a downcast descendant of "Say Anything."

The over-cooked critical consensus is that "Observe and Report" is a dark comedy take on the revenge, anger and alienation themes of "Taxi Driver." Director Jody Hill points more accurately to another Scorcese flick; "King of Comedy" as an apt inspiration. Whatever animal "Observe and Report" might be, it's not something you see everyday. My less hip taxonomy would position its strange, dark flavor closer to the much-maligned Belushi/Ackroyd vehicle "Neighbors." A comedy marketed to mainstream crowds, featuring bankable actors that runs a lot closer to the dark side than most studio films are allowed to go - especially comedies.

And the full-frontal, male nudity envelope keeps getting pushed *ahem* harder. Fingers are pointing in the direction of trailblazer Harvey Keitel and his drunken Johnny Ace wiener- ballet in (best-movie-ever-made) "Bad Lieutenant" the starting line of a path that leads to Harvey's swingin' medallion in "The Piano" to the sausage party of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" to the glowing blue tube steak of "The Watchmen" - brothers and sisters, we are now (firmly) in the golden age of swinging dicks.

Amen to that.

Make of that, what you will but I can't imagine what Sacha Baron Cohen is going to do penis-wise in his forthcoming "Bruno."