It is Time for Will Ferrell and Adam McCay to Make Up and Make Great Entertainment Again

Over the past couple of weeks, and months for that matter, my wife and I have been watching Adam McKay and Will Ferrell movies. We love these movies. They are so funny, they fit what I adore about comedy, they are very niche and they are good, despite what the critics say.

We watched "Anchorman" 1 and 2, "The Good Guys", "Talladega Nights", and most recently, "Semi Pro". We had our date night this past Saturday, it was my turn to pick the movie and I wanted a funny sports movie. "Semi Pro" more than fits the bill. I loved this movie when it came out. I saw it in the theaters with a group of friends when I still did that. My wife came with me, except we were only dating back then. That's right, "Semi Pro" came out fourteen years ago, which blew my mind. The critics were tough on this movie, but, to me, it is the quintessential Ferrell and McKay movie. It is goofy, well made, has a ton of great comedic actors and they got to base it on basketball, a sport both of them love. All the other movies I mentioned are great, but "Semi Pro" is the best thing those two ever did.

After watching the movie my wife and I got to talking about how much of a bummer it is that they do not work together anymore. I know that Ferrell wanted to do his own thing and that McKay wanted to make more serious movies. But I was holding out hope that they would get together every now and then to do a silly movie. But the more we talked about their split, the more bummed I got at how minuscule it truly seemed. As I said, they each wanted to do their own thing.

More news has come out recently, with McKay even commenting on record why they actually split. McKay has a new basketball show coming out soon on premium cable, and I cannot wait to watch. I am not a Laker fan at all, but this show looks amazing. And when I saw the casting I was pumped. There are a good amount of unknowns, but there are some big name people in it as well. McKay has gotten to a level where he is a guy that actors want to work with. He has some pull now. And when they showed John C Reilly as Jerry Buss, I was stoked. But this seems to be where most of the trouble with McKay and Ferrell bubbled over. I guess they had someone else in mind for Buss, but when that actor pulled out, McKay gave the role to Reilly. Seems simple enough. Well, according to McKay, Ferrell was really upset that McKay didn't even ask him to play Buss. Ferrell is a lifetime Laker fan, and it seemed like he was destined for this role, especially considering McKay was making the show. Well I guess McKay never asked him, just gave the role to Reilly, and this pushed Ferrell over the edge.

That stinks. I get it. Ferrell probably dreamed of this role, probably assumed he had it, and then it was given to a good friend of his by another former friend of his. But I also feel like it is a bit juvenile to end a friendship and a partnership over something so trivial. I am not there either. I am not in the room, I have no idea what may have gone down with the two of them behind closed doors, maybe they have some bigger beef that they aren't releasing, I don't know. But it kind of bums me out, as a fan, that they simply refuse to work together anymore. This means no more silly, goofy and great comedy movies from two brilliant comedic minds. They have both done great stuff since they split, but nothing that holds the weight of "Anchorman" or "Talladega Nights" or "The Good Guys" or, especially "Semi Pro" for me. I hope they can get together and figure this all out sooner rather than later because the fan in me would love to see them work together again. They were so great as a duo, made some great movies and great content for Funny or Die, and I just really miss their style of comedy. They were unmatched as a team. They were my generation's great comedy team. But now it is just gone.

Again, that stinks. Hopefully, it will change. Hopefully they reconcile. My fingers will be crossed until then.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Will Smith Needs to Focus on Being a Great Actor Again

Bad title puns courtesy of the editor

Yesterday I watched the movie "Focus".

You may, probably not though, remember this movie. It came earlier this year and it starred Will Smith and Margot Robbie. The movie was pretty blasé. It was a paint by the numbers heist movie with way too many moving parts. When you figured out who the mark was and who the thief was, boom, they shifted to two other people, that in my case, I'd forgotten about.

Now this movie could've been great. The first part, that takes place in New Orleans, is halfway decent. There's good dialogue and a cool montage of the thieves doing their thing. Then, inexplicably, they flash forward three years and now the two main characters are in Buenos Aires. This is where the movie falls off the rails. The story becomes way convoluted for its own good. There's too many twists and it doesn't work. Not for me at least. Margot Robbie and Will Smith do have pretty good chemistry and they almost make this movie watchable. Almost.

This brings me to what I really want to talk about today. What happened to Will Smith? He was, he still kind of is, a pretty damn good actor. Watch his performance in "Ali" or "The Pursuit of Happyness" or even "Fresh Prince of Bel Air". He's pretty good at the drama, and I really like him in comedic roles. His bit part in "Anchorman 2" as an ESPN broadcaster at the big news team brawl is quite funny. But, why does he take roles in movies that are down right terrible? "After Earth" I kind of understand. His son was the star and he wanted to help him on set, but that movie is horrible. Why did he make the terribly melodramatic movie "Seven Pounds" a couple years ago? That movie was a slap in the face to dramatic movies. It seemed like it wanted you to cry, but it was just a stupid, stupid movie. Why did he appear, as Satan I might add, in the movie "Winter's Tale"? That movie is an abomination and his role is garbage.

Even big budget movies like "Independence Day" and "Wild, Wild West" he can't save. I know a lot of people adore "Independence Day". It's one of my wife's favorite movies, but that movie is a turd. Will Smith is good in it, but that script and that director had no idea what they wanted to do. I loathe that movie. I guess, in Will Smith's case, this was his first big time starring role, so I understand a little bit why he took it. But, "Wild, Wild West"? Come the hell on. Not only is this one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but it's terribly, horribly racist. I can't believe that script didn't get rejected a thousand times. And the giant spider is a monstrosity.

Now, I don't mean to bad mouth Will Smith. Like I said before, I really like him. He's charismatic and you can't take your eyes off him him when he's on screen. He commands your attention. I'm more upset with the choices he's making lately. I just don't get it. "Focus" should have, and could have, been a really good movie, but the script was too loaded and didn't come together. I wish Will Smith would go back to doing smaller movies like "Pursuit of Happyness" or "Six Degrees of Separation". He's phenomenal in "Six Degrees of Separation". Go watch that movie and marvel at how well Smith acts in that movie. Considering his role and where he was at that time in his career, his performance is truly incredible. So, please Mr. Smith go back to the smaller independent movies and stop making big budget flops.

You're a better actor than that and you deserve better.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He has hopes for Will Smith, yet in Ty's eyes DJ Jazzy Jeff has had a great carrer. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.