DP/30: Bad Teacher, director Jake Kasdan

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14 Responses to “DP/30: Bad Teacher, director Jake Kasdan”

1. LexG says:

   June 22, 2011 at 12:56 am

   Sounds EXACTLY like his awesome old man, and starting to look like him too; Saw this guy on the panel of at least one of those Apatow soirees they have at the Museum of TV constantly, seems like a great dude…

   Just, you know, as with Reitman Jr., kinda burns me up that I’d be Stanley Kubrick right now had I had an industry connection with even 1/10000th of their A-list entree into the biz.
2. jesse says:

   June 22, 2011 at 9:32 am

   I think Kasdan’s take on Zero Effect awareness is a little closer to reality than David’s, unfortunately. I vaguely remember that movie coming out, and wanting to see it, but it was gone within weeks. I caught up to it — still on VHS at that point — months later and LOVED it, and knew others did, too, but I feel like it was a pretty slow grower. I don’t get the sense that this was a groundswell starting in, like, February 1998, though.

   At the risk of sounding like some dude who always likes the first movie/album/etc. best, Zero Effect is still my favorite of his, and one of my favorite movies of the past 15/20 years or so. But his work on that and Freaks and Geeks and Walk Hard earns more or less lifetime interest from me.

   So even if it doesn’t do that well, Bad Teacher is going to be his highest grosser in a walk, right? His biggest hit so far is Orange County with its 50something gross. And maybe his weakest movie? Although I do have some affection for it; it’s gone of the better Wild Jack Black performances, and lots of good performances on the sidelines.
3. storymark says:

   June 22, 2011 at 9:44 am

   Really like Zero Effect. Should watch it again.
4. General Butt Fucking Naked says:

   June 22, 2011 at 10:00 am

   He mistakenly cites “Anchorman” as an R-rated comedy (it was PG-13).
5. Mike says:

   June 22, 2011 at 11:05 am

   Loved Zero Effect (also in my top 20 movies), but haven’t really liked much of his stuff since.
6. Peter says:

   June 22, 2011 at 11:43 am

   Watching Bad Teacher tonight. Hopefully it’s as funny as Bad Santa.
7. actionman says:

   June 22, 2011 at 12:17 pm

   The TV Set is BRILLIANT
8. Hopscotch says:

   June 22, 2011 at 2:59 pm

   Walk Hard is his weakest effort. Such great potential, but there’s about four funny moments and an hour of dead time and recycled jokes.

   The TV Set is just ok. Just re-emphasizes the same theme over and over. I was really hoping to like it, but I found it pretty blah.
9. jesse says:

   June 22, 2011 at 3:42 pm

   Walk Hard is great. A few too many running gags, sure, but a spot-on spoof comedy, and one of the only spoofs you could say that about in the past 15 or 20 years. Any movie that feeds Tim Meadows awesome lines to nail is worthwhile. Silly stuff, yes, but often laugh-out-loud funny. Bought the DVD new, which I’ve done like ten times ever.
10. Peter says:

    June 22, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    Saw the movie, it’s funny, not the same level as Bad Santa though, but then again that’s a high standard.

    I have issues with the last 5 minutes, otherwise it’s pretty fun. Not sure if this will do well in the boxoffice though.
11. Mike says:

    June 22, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Can I just say that Jake Kasdan should not be trying to pull off the bedhead-thing look. There’s a time, place, and certain kind of person who can pull it off, and Kasdan is not one of them.

    It’s like when I walk into a business meeting with a bunch of people in suits and the one guy in his 40s wearing jeans and the bedhead thing. I just want to go up to him and say, “Really?”

    But maybe that’s just a D.C. thing and not an L.A. thing.
12. JKill says:

    June 22, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    Out of his feature work, my favorite is honestly ORANGE COUNTY. ZERO EFFECT is an awesome movie with a great screenplay and performances from Paulman and Stiller, and WALK HARD is killer funny, but I love how nice and affectionate OC is, especially how it marries an off-kilter tone with genuine drama. It’s the kind of Ashby-esq, shaggy 70s style comedy that we don’t get a lot of.

    Looking forward to BAD TEACHER.
13. Kevin Schoonover says:

    June 23, 2011 at 8:16 am

    My wife doesn’t believe me that we saw ZERO EFFECT when it came out. It’s a constant source of semi-friction between us whenever it comes up. I liked it enough but have no desire to re-visit it just to prove to her that she’s seen it (especially ’cause she’ll probably still not remember it and still insist it was a previous girlfriend with whom I saw it).
14. yancyskancy says:

    June 23, 2011 at 8:34 am

    Kevin, does she hold that over you? –

    “Hey, Honey, let’s go see a movie this weekend.”
    “No, let’s not.”
    “Oh, come on. BAD TEACHER looks funny.”
    “No thanks.”
    “Pleeease?”
    “Why don’t you take your old ZERO EFFECT girlfriend? I bet she’d go with you.”