Friday, August 22, 2008

Six Reasons To Love Anna Faris

JA from MNPP here. Aren't y'all excited? Inevitable powerhouse cinematic achievement for the ages The House Bunny comes out today! Set down your Oscar prognosticating pie-charts and graphs - the race is over. Finito. Meryl who?

Seriously though, I love me some Anna Faris. Over at my home blog, we're often singing the praises of her and I know Nat has weighed in with appreciation of her before. The majority of moviegoers are probably aware of her from her turn as Cindy, the hapless horror-show main character in the Scary Movie movies.... but there are other reasons why I love Anna Faris. Here are six:

Lashawn in Brokeback Mountain - The most memorable moment of sunshine in the second half of Brokeback - hell, maybe the only moment of sunshine in that second half, once the weight of the world has torn Jack and Ennis' love down - belongs to Faris, as the non-stop chatterbox Lashawn, who's too busy spouting nonsense to take note of her husband's... new friendship.

Kelly the actress in Lost in Translation - I don't care if Sofia Coppola stays mum on this topic forever - Faris was delivering one ruthless Cameron Diaz impersonation here.

Samantha James in Just Friends - This terrible movie has two things going for it... two things that've made me sit through it mroe times than I can count. One, it has Ryan Reynolds, and I have sat through so much crap just to stare at him it could probably be classified as criminal negligence with respect to my own life and the alloted hours I have left on Earth. And two, it has Anna Faris' whacked-out-of-her-mind role as Sam James, Faris' hilarious riff on pop tarts like Britney Spears.

The deliriously profane lesbian Polly she played in the under-appreciated 2002 horror gem May. "Maybe we can hang out... eat some melons."

Smiley Face - Without Faris, this movie wouldn't exist. There is no discernible plot, or reason for even existing, besides to act as a platform upon which to marvel at the hilarity Faris can wring from an astonishing galleria of extremely-stoned facial expressions. And the movie gets funnier the more times you watch it. Trust me. I have watched this movie many times.

That part in the trailer for The House Bunny where she tries to act out Marilyn Monroe's iconic subway-grate skirt blow-up... with horrifying results.

Unsurprisingly, the film's not doing too well review-wise, but isn't late August the perfect time to revel a lil' bit in some broad dumb comedy? (Or do I mean "dumb broad" comedy?) Plus it's got Kat "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" Dennings and Emma "Superbad" Stone in it - they're hip with the kids, right? At least it does appear that even the less-than-kind reviews are giving good notices to Faris, which makes me happy. I've been cheerleading her forever now, and I will not stop until she's making the sorts of money that Will Ferrell makes. Faris forever!
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21 comments:

Billy D said...

She's both hilarious and quite an interesting psychological case, if you think about it. Actually, she seems to have gone the way of so many other classic female comedians (I'm thinking of Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers) who always thought of themselves as the ugly girl, used comedy as their defense mechanism, made their fortunes, and then completely destroyed their faces/bodies with plastic surgery in order to become the pretty girl. I just hope the Restalyne wears off and she recognizes that comedic talent holds far greater long-term financial and personal rewards than the hot girl image does.

Billy D said...

PS: Why do the funny ones always have to pose in Bikinis to get noticed? I guess it's an extension of the complex I tried to describe above, but you'll never see Natalie Portman on the cover of Maxim (inside, maybe). It's as if being funny somehow masculinizes them (or empowers them) to such an extent that they have to say "Hey, remember, I'm still an object!" in order to make men feel safe.

J.D. said...

No one is better. No one, never, nuh-uh. She's the Alpha and the Omega as far as I'm concerned.

Jason Adams said...

I don't know, billy, I see what you're saying, but in refernece to Anna I think she did a lot of the current tarting-herself-up for the role. If you read any interviews with her about the film, she goes on and on about how much she absolutely hated the working out and tanning and so on that she had to do for this movie. I was reading an interview with her yesterday (can't remember where) where she talked about how much she wants to make female-centric comedies about normal girls that everybody knows like the Apatow brand of comedies... we'll see if anyone ever finances that, though. Damned sexist movie industry.

Billy D said...

But she's been messing with the face for a few years now. Look at the picture from BB Mountain and then the earlier ones...

Anonymous said...

she's really cute in the movie "Mama's Boy". You gotta check that mess out.

elgringo said...

She. Need. To. Learn. How. To. Close. Her. Mouth.

Faris is on the "won't watch it if she's starring" list for me. Can't stand her "I'm in shock 24 hours a day acting style." What is that?

Charlie said...

Personally I like her, her movies are horrible for the most part but shes very funny.

Reel Whore said...

"Forgiveness!" - Her turn in Just Friends is awesomely funny.

I really dug House Bunny, it's a good dumb comedy. Mama's Boy just arrived in the mail last night so I can't wait to crack that open.

We love you Anna! (well, except for elgringo)

Anonymous said...

The House Bunny would be unwatchable without her. FYC Best Actress!

NATHANIEL R said...

I have avoided most of her movies but she makes me giggle when I see clips and I L-O-V-E her in Lost in Translation especially. Wowee that was a perfect biopic role for her.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that she has had work done, I just think the make-up work in The House Bunny is designed to make her look that way. After all there is no way a 27 year old Playboy Bunny would have been able to get to that point without some plastic surgery.

Jason Adams said...

She might've gotten the requisite touch-up work that I imagine every person in Hollywood has gotten, but yeah, I don't see heaps of work... especially since she's so damned expressive all the time. Like I said, the slack-jawed range of expressions she pulled off in Smiley Face just recently is damned amazing, and I don't think she'd have been capable of that feat if she'd gone all Nicole Kidman on herself. And she looks fine in pictures and interviews I've seen lately, so I'm gonna agree with anonymous that it was make-up for House Bunny.

Glenn Dunks said...

Also, think of this: Anna Faris has been in more Best Picture nominees than:

Charlize Theron
Reese Witherspoon
Gwyneth Paltrow

And many other actresses who are far bigger stars.

Anonymous said...

this girl is awesome. i want to date her! She is fun!

Anonymous said...

I say without hesitation that she is the best comedic actress working today.

rosengje said...

Is this a joke? I find her "I'm a bimbo- laugh at me!" style of acting horribly offensive. Excluding her turn in Lost in Translation, in which she was essentially parodying another actress with a similar shtick, I specifically avoid anything she is in.

Anonymous said...

Yeah! YEAH! YEEEEEAAAAH!
i love anna faris und i'm so so so glad about this post!
she is truly great, bla bla bla!

I say
MORE ROLES FOR HER, judd apatow-like but with women would be great...
anna faris as a female drug dealer!!!

Jason Adams said...

If this were a joke, rosengje, you obviously wouldn't get it.

Joe Reid said...

Snaaaaaaaap!

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XONs7QaL--g

Check out some of these clips from her movies she is awesome