He is also named the Dionne Waiters Award winner and is not in the movie that much; too much Chris Elliott is floated, with Elliott called really funny and arguably the third lead. — Bill Simmons
Rick Ducommun is a that guy remembered from late-80s HBO stand-up specials, deferred to a later category. — Bill Simmons
The pick is made unless someone talks it out, and the reply is "I'm on board." — Bill Simmons
The "I'm Your Weatherman" theme song is called terrible; the hosts say it was written for the movie and co-written by Ramis. — Bill Simmons
It is called one of the last theme songs about a movie's lead, tacky and early-90s in a bad way compared with grunge, West Coast hip hop and Beck, though maybe right for a corny small Pennsylvania town. — Sean Fennessey
One view says the movie feels too late 80s, as if it could have come out in 1989, with Chris Elliott a cliched 80s choice though good; for one participant it was ground zero for Chris Elliott. — Bill Simmons
Also a nit: no scene explores why he never stays up all night past 6:01 a.m.; a 13-year-old version of a host pushed this on friends who told him to shut up. — Sean Fennessey
Nothing in the movie is explained, like It's a Wonderful Life; it is a teaching device to be taken as fantasy. — Sean Fennessey
A host's 15-year-old daughter, the least nitpicky viewer, asked why he did not just stay up all night, so it is judged a pretty big flaw; maybe a scene was filmed and cut. — Bill Simmons
Otherwise the movie is said to have aged really well and to be timeless without phones or internet; one of a couple of small dated things is the satellites joke about long-distance lines being down. — Sean Fennessey
Living in L.A. makes winter and the groundhog's shadow irrelevant, so global warming has ruined Groundhog Day, which is called fair; in 25 years at 111 degrees the movie will seem 300 years old. — Sean Fennessey
The soundtrack: generic, predictable songs that are perfectly executed and make sense with the plot, not a Dazed and Confused soundtrack but what guys going to Vegas then would be listening to; the music under the blackjack scene with the numbers is smart, and the T.I. song Live Your Life was huge and still is.
A tangent on which songs from this century have joined the wedding mix: Heya (as transcribed) by Outkast, probably the T.I. song, Bruno Mars, Adele, and 1901 by Phoenix heard at 18 weddings, pitched as a Ringer piece.
Todd Phillips' taste for hard rock, the Danzig song at the start and the Metallica in Old School; the Dan Band has also aged well, with future generations asking why they never played the Super Bowl halftime show, and the 'just the tip' setup turning inappropriate fast.
Rachel Harris as the girlfriend from hell is an incredible character, every stereotype put on steroids to make her the worst character of all time; the 'you fucked a waiter on a cruise' bit and Galifianakis's 'what did she say' after Helms walks away are singled out.
The elevator scene with Todd Phillips' cameo; his habit of going down on a woman in his own movies is his version of Hitchcock walking across the frame.
Alan reading the letter on the roof with 'that's why they call it Sin City'; the subtle cut where he is finishing a description of the Ted Danson and Magnum PI movie as they head to Heather Graham's hotel; and the 'it's not illegal, it's frowned upon, like masturbating on an airplane' exchange ending in 'thanks a lot, Bin Laden', the hardest one host laughed.
'Alan, you're the man' answered with 'you are too, Phil' shows he has no idea how to be one of the guys; his aping of Phil throughout is well done; the two made-up songs are enjoyed, and Ed Helms' piano song while they wait for the tiger to fall asleep was apparently ad-libbed.
Old-school, last-decade Vegas; every Alan line, especially 'this isn't the real Caesar's Palace, is it? Did Caesar live here?', and the pitch-perfect reaction of the woman at the desk.
How high Alan ranks in the pantheon of comedy characters: the criterion is someone who was not the star but stole the movie, so Frank the Tank, John Candy in Stripes, Bill Murray and Ted Knight in Caddyshack, Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters, Matt Dillon and Chris Elliott in There's Something About Mary, Michael Keaton in Night Shift, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in Anchorman, McLovin, the Wedding Crashers character as the backfire case and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids as the perfect example.
Galifianakis belongs in that conversation as the breakout; John Candy in Stripes was like that for a host who knew him only as Ox and never watched SCTV; Galifianakis is named the big winner.
The movie stood up in total for a host without as much of a rewatchable relationship to it; the actual plot of what happened to them is well done, with Jade, Mr. Chow and the roof payoff; the brevity, about an hour thirty-five with no wasted section, makes it the last comedy before the two-hour-ten Apatow era.
The DVD's deleted scenes were anticipated; the end credit sequence has held up as a convention, 'they pretty much invented Marvel right there', though another host had it for what aged worst.
