12 December

Waiting~~don't $#@% with someone who handles your food!

Waiting is funny. That's my review hahaha.

ok ok I will elaborate...it's Damn funny!
that sums it up. sigh.. ok here is the real review.
Lets start with my story that explains why I can relate to this film... (it's not too boring I promise)
When I lived in Orlando in the early nineties I worked at several high volume big chain restaraunts similar to the fictional one depicted in Waiting. Now my best freind at the time I will call him Spud, he would tell the manager that i was really good at restarant work, and so of course they would hire me, and throw me in the kitchen right into the line of fire. I sucked at the job, and truly was miserable. My favorite memory was when I was told to clean shrimp, peel, and devain them. There was a big barrel filled with them. I had no earthly idea what the hell I was doing, so the boss comes up to me and says "I told you to clean the shrimp not marry them!" hahaha I always thought that was soooooo funny. So I mostly was a prep cook, and did salads.. The waiters were the elite, we were the grunge dogs. Spud was a top notch cook. He would crank out the food, but if a waiter brought back a steak (for instance) and said the customer was a real asshole, Spud would take out a bottle of visine he always kept in his pocket, because of his excessive partying habits, sprinkle a few drops on a new plate, slap the steak on it, and send it back. Visine ingested will give you the runs, tennesee trots, hershey squirts, green apple splatters.. well you get the idea..So the moral of this story is don't fuck with the people who handle your food.
well anyway to sum up... haha I hated those jobs, but this movie is super funny having had the actual experience. p.s. I did get to work on the clean up crew at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando, and got to touch, and clean all of the memorabilia. FUN...Oh back to the movie...

Whos Who:
Monty (played by Ryan Reynolds the star of Just Freinds, Amytiville Horror, and Blade Trinity, and will be seen in the upcoming killer flick "Smokin Aces") Monty is the top waiter at Shenanigans, who is quite happy chasing cute young girls, and being topdog.

Dean (played by Justin Long – Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Breakup, Dreamland with John Corbitt another great actor, and now Justin is most famous for being Mac on the Mac and Pc commercials), Dean is starting to hit that wall where you realize working at the same job for years, and partying everynight is not what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Mitch (played by John Francis Daley – Freaks and Geeks). Monty is asked to train Mitch, so he introcduces Mitch to the world that is Shenanigans:

Serena (played by Anna Faris – Lost in Translation, and all of the Scary Movies, and of course Just Freinds with Ryan Reynolds) Is another of the wait staff. She used to go out with Monty but now is just freinds with him (hahaha)

Dan (played by David Koechner comedy genius who was oh so brilliant in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and stars as T-Bones, in the upcoming tv series "The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show" ) is the typical boss, played to comedic perfection bye Koechner, just watch the hilarious scene where he tries to run the wheel, confused and sweaty, screwing up everyones order!

Raddimus (played by Luis Guzman - Carlito's Way: The Beginning, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, and was really great in The Count of Monte Cristo, which is of course a Kevin Reynolds film, who is one of my favorite directors) is the head cook who explains to Mitch the intricacies of what is called "The Game" – A very funny and partly true game based on some experiences that

Rob McKittrick the writer director of Waiting had, when he worked as a waiter. Simply put you expose yourself to your fellow employee when they least expect it, and when they look you get to give them a swift kick in the ass. This is funnier than it sounds...

Look at the Batwing bitch!
Bishop (played by the very talented Chi McBride - he was in The Frighteners one of my favorite all time movies of course directed by the mega talented Peter Jackson, Chi played the Chief in Undercover Brother, a cop in I, Robot, and starred in Boston Public)

Bishop is a very intelligent analytical phychologist who helps all the people he works with when he isnt washing dishes.

Amy (played by Kaitlin Doubleday she is in the movie Accepted with Justin Long) Amy is Deans girlfreind, and she is sooo sweet you know that Dean needs to get his shit together or he will lose her.

Calvin (played by Robert Patrick Benedict who was in a ton of episodes of the tv series "Felicity", and he was in Kicking & Screaming) He comes close to stealing the movie as the waiter who can't piss in a public restroom, shy bladder haha for some guys this is very much a reality. The scene where his co-workers cheer him on is one you won't forget anytime soon. soooo funny

Naomi (played by Alanna Ubach who was in Legally Blonde, one and two, Meet the Fockers, and an episode of Monk, whats funny is almost everyone in this movie was in an episode of Monk.. wow)

Alanna playing Naomi really does steal this movie. She is so f' n funny as the stressed out waitress, who has worked one shift too many. She so totally rocks in this role, and she is really pretty wow. When she isn't totally stressed out that is haha.

Natasha (played quite nicely by Vanessa Lengies she has been in waiting, and stick it, and a ton of tv shows)

Tyla (played by Emmanuelle Chriqui who was in Detroit Rock City, Snow Day, and Entourage! man she rocks)

uh wow.

Floyd (played by DANE COOK) if you dont know who Dane Cook is then get your googles a going and find out, or watch his fantastic comedy special on HBO

remember my story about the visine, well this is a variation on that theme.

here is a pic of Vanessa Lengies again hahaha

The movie takes place all in one day of the Waiters lives and has a really great short story arc that culminates in one of the funniest scenes I've seen in a long time.


this picture is pretty self explainatory. Everyone loves when your out to eat, and all the waiters come sing you the birthday song.
Here Rob Mckittrick lets us in on what fun making a movie can be..

When I wasn't getting progressively more stressed out, I was having a blast directing my first film. There was just sense of discovery... And there was always a new member of cast joining the fray every few days, which helped keep everyone excited. The first couple days was all about Ryan and Justin, with a sprinkling of the lovely Kaitlyn Doubleday... Then there was the big argument scene that precedes the dinner rush, where Ryan and Justin got to witness first-hand Rob (Patrick) Benedict's ad-libbing brilliance. Justin in particular was beguiled by RPB's ability to comedically convey awkwardness, and they bonded in a big way that day. Then the next day everyone (my giddy self included) got to watch the ball-O'-fire that is Alanna Ubach absolutely fucking CRUSH her scenes. As Naomi, the bitter, alcoholic waitress, Alanna just went for it every single take, and it was always hysterical... The next week came David Koechner, who is the funniest person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. The next week brought in Jordan Ladd and Emmanuelle Chriqui, which certainly upped the "mother-of-fucking-Christ-they're-hot" factor on the set. And then the last week saw Luis "Best Practical Joke Ever" Guzman, and Chi "Coolest, Biggest, Blackest Man Ever" McBride...
When I wasn't having a blast directing my first film, thanks to the sense of discovery and newness of actor performances, I was stressing the fuck out again...It’s been pretty good. I’ve got a couple other projects over at New Line. Lion’s Gate is definitely interested in exploring the possibility of a sequel, so we’ll see what happens with that but, yeah, it’s been really good."

ok about Ryan Reynolds! This guy rocks. He is truly funny, and has the greatest command of facial expressions. He is a master of the reaction shot, which is a large part of comedy, and comedic timing. He buffed up for Blade Trinity, and is making the transition to action star, but he is too clever to fall into the Rock trap (crappy half ass sort of good bad movies) Ryan will become a mega star just watch... (well i think so anyway haha)
The movie took a long time to get made, and was released long after it had been shot. here is part of an interveiw with Ryan...

What attracted you to Waiting back in 2001?
It was really in line with where I was back then. I mean, all I wanted to do back then was be politically incorrect. That was kind of my own private little rage against the machine, I suppose.
Do you feel like you've changed a lot since then?
Well, it's like if you see a snapshot of yourself five years ago, you go, "Wow, I was in such a different place back then." Sometimes we evolve so rapidly, that can even happen with a two week thing. Nothing captures a moment in time better than film.I loved Waiting because it was 3 years in the making and perhaps one of the funniest most off-color, politically wrong films I've ever worked on."
Did writer/director Rob McKittrick tailor your role specifically for you? It seems right up your alley.
No, he didn't at all. He was really specific about the whole movie. This is a real vision that he had for a restaurant--an accounting of his experiences in a restaurant. So he was actually shockingly specific about everything he wanted. And I really have to heap all of the praise and/or blame onto him for everything. [laughs]

here is a part of an inteview for Just Freinds which i will review soon ...

Q. You pick quite a wide variety of roles, so how does preparing for this sort of role compare to preparing for something like The Amityville Horror?
A. Usually when it’s a drama I work before. When it’s a comedy I’m like let’s do it! The dramas require a lot more preparation. Having said that, The Amityville Horror was more of a genre movie so it didn’t require too much research, it was basically stepping into a footstep. Smokin’ Aces, my next film, was months and months of living with FBI guys, hanging out with them. I spent two months with an SAS agent who is now just a private contractor going to Iraq and back. He taught me all the weapons training. My fingers will never be the same, they’re all screwed up now from working those guns.
Q. And I suppose working with an ensemble cast like Smokin’ Aces – which includes Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia and Ben Affleck – helps to raise your game as an actor?

A. You always have that little moment of doubt when you’re driving to work that first day when you go “okay, I’ve got this big huge scene with Ray Liotta today, wow, I don’t think…” But it’s sort of like playing baseball or something, you suddenly hit one out of the park and realise you can play in this league. And then you get into the real sort of creative depths of it. But when you work with great actors or great directors it elevates everything. It changes everything too. Sometimes you have to pick movies so far in advance that by the time you actually get to shooting you don’t want to anymore because you’re so changed from each experience. So after Smokin’ Aces I really re-thought everything about how I approached my career and my work. So that experience has been really special. I think Joe Carnahan is going to be the new great amazing director.
Q. So it’s very good fortune for you that he dropped out of Mission Impossible 3?
A. God I know! This never would have happened if he hadn’t bailed out of that.

go here if you would like to see the trailer for Smokin Aces, man this is a must see movie!!!!
Smokin Aces trailer boowicky

this is not finished please come back i will add lots more to this review...