andPOP » Judd Apatow

Movie Review: ‘Zookeeper’

Elisheva Baer — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

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Lions and Kevin James and bears – oh my!

A classic tale of a man seeking love, Zookeeper is the story of Griffin Keyes (Kevin James) on his quest to win back the love of his life, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb) with the help of his talking animal friends over at the Zoo. However, among the twists and turns along the way, Keyes realizes he might be running after the wrong girl and does everything he can to make things right. Keyes even finds a lifelong friend in Bernie the gorilla (voiced by Nick Nolte).

Going in with absolutely no expectations, Zookeeper was actually a quite enjoyable movie. While it is incredibly cheesy noticeably geared towards a younger audience, adults could enjoy it as well and could make for a fun family outing. There were many times when you will laugh, and many times when you will cry – I won’t tell if you don’t!

Personally, my favourite part of the movie was the guessing game you get to play, trying to figure out wich famous celebrity voices what animal. And with a cast like Cher, Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stalone, and Judd Apatow, just to name a few, I can assure you that it was extremely fun!

While it might not be winning an Oscar anytime soon, Zookeeper is not all that bad a movie, and I would definitely recommend it to parents who want to entertain their kids for a couple hours with a wholesome, cute, and enjoyable film. For everyone else, wait until it comes out on Netflix.

Zookeeper is out in theaters everywhere July 8.

Just For Laughs Honours Judd Apatow

Eva Lam — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:14:19 +0000

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Freaks and geeks gave way to middle-aged virgins, but Judd Apatow always kept the chuckles coming and this summer the TV producer, writer and filmmaker will be honoured by Montreal’s Just For Laughs Comedy Festival.

Apatow, a former standup comedian, will be bestowed with the title of Comedy Person of the Year during the festival’s inaugural Just Comedy conference on July 18.

“We are very proud to honour someone who started his career in standup and has become one of the most important and dynamic forces in comedy,” Just For Laughs chief Bruce Hills said in a statement.

“Judd is the ideal choice because he embodies the many talents that have made him one of the most successful comedy filmmakers.”

Apatow, a New York native now living in L.A., has earned commercial and critical success in recent years with hit comedies like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.”

His film production company, Apatow Productions, is also behind recent movies like “Superbad,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story ” and the upcoming “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

Before that, he built up a career in TV starting in the early ’90s, including co-creating “The Ben Stiller Show,” writing and producing for “The Larry Sanders Show,” producing the cult series “Freaks and Greeks” and creating the college sitcom “Undeclared.”

The Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, now in its 26th year, will take place July 10 to 20.

The two-day Just Comedy conference, set to run July 17 to 18, is a new event which aims to bring together those in the comedy industry for panel discussions, master classes and networking sessions.

‘McLovin’ Reuniting With Cera, Apatow

andPOP Staff — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:19:36 +0000

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“Superbad”‘s McLovin, a.k.a. teeny actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse, will have the chance to steal scenes once again in the Judd Apatow film “Year One.”

Reuniting with Canadian pal Michael Cera, Mintz-Plasse will play a ” platform-shoe-wearing high priest,” according to Yahoo! Entertainment.

No word yet on what his catchphrase will be this time around.

The comedy, set in biblical times, will also star Jack Black. Vinnie Jones is also in talks to play a palace guard. Harold Ramis will direct. Filming will take place in Louisiana and New Mexico come January.

“Superbad” is now on DVD.