BY KELSEY CROUSE

“Hall Pass” comedic efforts feel forced, predictable

What could be funnier than two married men in their late thirties, trying to pick up girls half their age? After watching “Hall Pass” I am here to tell you anything else would be funnier.

Directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly (who directed Dumb and Dumber, Shallow Hal and Stuck on You) have not improved much with age. “Hall Pass” is a collection of every obvious comical situation that has ever been in a movie, from eating “special brownies” to over-the-top vulgarity to Kruger’s and the oh-so-famous crazy guy friend that thinks his friend and a girl are in a relationship.

Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) are best friends who have a similar problem of checking out women that are not their wives. Grace (Christina Applegate) and Maggie (Jenna Fischer) finally get so fed up with their husbands’ gawking at women and with overhearing countless conversations about their husbands’ ideal women that they give their husbands a week off from marriage.

Rick and Fred think it’s a trap, but it turns into a challenge to prove to their wives that they can attract other women. It is a shame that this was not a better movie. The plot itself is wonderful and could have been used in almost every genre. In fact, this movie could have made a great comedy. Instead, the plot was watered down with recycled humor and a predictable storyline.

A comedy is much like a horror film. A scary movie is not scary if you know when the killer is going to jump out. It’s the same concept with a comedy: it is not funny if you see the joke coming.

So if you feel like you need a good laugh, pick anything other than “Hall Pass.” It is a Red Box “don’t.”

“21 Jump Street” a hilarious remake of old TV show

“We’re reviving a canceled undercover project from the 80’s and revamping it for modern times. The people behind this lack creativity and they’ve run out of ideas, so what they do now is recycle projects from the past and hope that nobody will notice,” says Deputy Chief Hardy from “21 Jump Street.”

I love when a production makes fun of itself; if you were unaware, “21 Jump Street” was a T.V. show in the 80’s starring Johnny Depp. This is not the average remake however, the difference being that it is good — perhaps better than the original.

Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, known for “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” have created the funniest and most entertaining movie that I have seen in a long time. Not often can you have both uncontrollable laughter and an amazing storyline. No matter how old you get or how far you move away from home, you will never forget high school, and this movie emphasizes that in a whole new way.

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) were complete opposites in high school. Jenko was the typical popular dumb jock/ bully/prom king. Schmidt, on the other hand, wasn’t. He was on the honor role, had a membership to the juggling squad (I mean the juggling society, but it’s fine, it’s fine), dressed like Slim Shady or ‘Eminem’ and couldn’t even get a date for prom.

After high school, Schmidt and Jenko find themselves in the police academy together and discover they need each other to pass.

Schmidt and Jenko are sent back to high school to bring down a drug ring in the school. However, the social trends have completely changed. “Okay, those are Goths. Those are nerds… I don’t know what they are (looking at Hipsters)… I’m so confused right now.”

Everything they thought they knew about high school has been flipped upside down. Going green and trying makes you cool while bullying and sports make you fascists? Schmidt gets to experience what it’s like to be the cool kid while Jenko finds himself befriending the nerds, and he starts to feel like he is losing his friend.

Hill and Tatum are outrageously funny; Channing Tatum has not been this funny since She’s the Man in 2006. This movie will make you laugh until you cry and keep you laughing long after it’s over. “21 Jump Street” is definitely a Red Box “do.”