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Youth in Revolt
Directed by Miguel Arteta.
2010. Rated R, 90 minutes.
Cast:
Michael Cera
Portia Doubleday
Jean Smart
Fred Willard
Zach Galifianakas
Ray Liotta
M. Emmet Walsh
Steve Buscemi
Justin Long
Nick Twisp (Cera) is a frustrated 16 year old virgin who’s only joy in life seems to be that his best friend has even less luck with the ladies than he does. That is, until he meets Sheeny (Doubleday), his one true love, thanks to some shady dealings by his mom’s boyfriend that causes the dysfunctional trio to go into hiding in a trailer park. Jean Smart and Zach Galifianakis play the mom and bf, respectively.
A few days later Nick learns he and his makeshift family will return to their home, thus separating him from Sheeny. Before he leaves, the lovebirds decide the only way for them to be together…well, it will apparently take a great deal of effort and involve Nick behaving very badly. The important part is this results in Nick creating Francois Dillinger, his own imaginary alter-ego (also played by Cera). When thinking of Francois, think a subdued version of Eddie Murphy’s Buddy Love from The Nutty Professor but visualize Cera with a thin mustache, wearing a tight white smoking jacket and of course, smoking.
From there, the movie shifts into another gear as Nick tries desperately to be reunited with the girl of his dreams, on multiple occasions. However, even as it does it sticks to its guns and the whole movie has a Steven Wright-esque deadpan delivery. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it were funnier. Actually, there are pockets where it is hilarious, but they’re few and far between. Most of the time, the jokes don’t hit the mark. And the whole alter-ego thing is a waste. We could have the exact same without him.
Nick’s relationships with his divorced parents are a blown opportunity. They could’ve had some wonderful developments or been mined even further, reaching new comic depths, or both. Sadly, they’re neither. Both his mother and father (Buscemi) are given great templates with which to start but hardly enough metal to fill the molds. It’s too bad because Smart turns in a great performance.
YIR wants to be witty and clever but it isn’t on an often enough basis. I’ve seen dozens of movies about teenage boys risking life and limb to get laid. This one fits snugly in the middle of the pack without the ability to separate itself.
The Opposite View: Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
What the Internet Says: 6.8/10 on imdb.com (9/2/10), 68% on rottentomatoes.com, 63/100 on metacritic.com
MY SCORE: 6/10Comment
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Animals
Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski.
2008. Rated R, 90 minutes.
Cast:
Marc Blucas
Nicki Aycox
Eva Amurri
Naveen Andrews
Andy Comeau
Bart Johnson
There are people among us who have the ability to transform into animals, at will. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. Most of them live peacefully amongst us regular folk. Of course, a few ruffians like to tap in to their beastly side on a regular basis and do some nasty things. At least, that’s what the movie tells us.
Jarrett (Blucas) is not one of those people. He’s just a poor, dim-witted schlep who is late for work every morning, hangs out drinking at this buddy’s bar every night and never connects the two. For reasons known only to her, the well-endowed waitress is awfully fond of him, but doesn’t pick up on that, either. By the way, I’m only remarking on her breasts because she makes a particular point of wearing very low cut tops and the director makes sure to highlight them in every shot of her. Let’s get back to Jarrett. Even when a hot, skankily clad blonde practically clubs him over the head and drags him back to his own cave, he almost doesn’t get it. She literally has to spell out what it is that she wants. We’re not the least bit surprised to discover his glory days ended the second he stepped off a high school football field for the last time.
Being the slow sort of guy he is, he falls instantly in love with said blonde. Since this is all part of her master plan, she doesn’t object and moves in…wait…who lets their one-night-stand move in the next day? Our resident mental giant Jarrett does, of course. During the dirty deed, she bites him pretty good and scratches up his back. Of course, we already know two things he doesn’t. First, she’s one of “those people”. Second, and even more importantly, she’s hiding out from her boyfriend who is not only one of “those people”, he enjoys killing people, a lot. He enjoys killing guys that hang around his gal, even more.
You know, this sounds pretty good so far. But hey, this is a straight-to-DVD feature. True to its roots, the execution is horrorble. See what I did, there? All of my former English professors are congregating outside my house right now, with torches and pitchforks in hopes of confiscating the degree I earned in their beloved subject. Hold on a second (walks to barely open window and peeps through barely opened Venetian blinds) “You’ll never take me alive!” Oh, sorry.
Anyhoo, (“Quit all that racket, doctors!”) the special fx are far less than special; unless by special you mean akin to the children you now regret making fun of when you yourself were a child, or special like Jarrett. Our “animals” are neon-lit cartoon dogs, or wolves, or something. The script seems to have been written by whatever poor soul those teachers outside raped and pillaged before coming here. Do English professors rape and pillage? However, it seems someone was aware of these weaknesses because they tried to make it up with lots of screwin. “You like that, teach? I dropped a “g” and didn’t even include punctuation! What!" Ahem…the movie, right? I certainly wouldn’t call Animals good. Then again, I wouldn’t call it bad. It’s beyond bad. It’s so bad, its awesome! Oh, almost forgot...that pic up there is the DVD cover and none of the people you see are actually in the movie. See what I mean by special?
“Come and get me, professors! I have really sharp pencils and an army of e-friends!”
MY SCORE: -10/10Comment
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I'm going to be watching these movies in my American Crime Film class -
Public Enemy
Angels with Dirty Faces
Black Boar Jungle
I'm a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
High Sierra
Maltese Falcon
Key Largo
White Heat
Wall Street
Some Like It Hot
Black Legion
Gun Crazy
The Naked City
Mean StreetsComment
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I'm going to be watching these movies in my American Crime Film class -
Public Enemy
Angels with Dirty Faces
Black Boar Jungle
I'm a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
High Sierra
Maltese Falcon
Key Largo
White Heat
Wall Street
Some Like It Hot
Black Legion
Gun Crazy
The Naked City
Mean Streets
I'd love to know your opinion on any of these.
edit: prematurely hit the post buttonComment
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What does "Some Like It Hot" have to do with American Crime?
I have it on DVR, I just haven't watched it yet. I'm always tapping a bunch of stuff on the TCM and AMC. Takes me a while to watch them thoughComment
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Well, they do get chased by the mob in that film. It's still not exactly about American Crime, though. :dontknow:
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I believe he said he put it on there was to have a "comedic crime movie" or something like that.Comment
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I just watched a 1920's German film called "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". Pretty influential film that inspired a lot of Tim Burtons work and introduced the horror genre to Hollywood. It's about 90 minutes long. Might be worth your time if your interested.I LOVE VSNComment
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I've seen the bolded titles...They're all great, imho. "White Heat" and "Public Enemy" (presuming that's the 1931 movie) are my faves of the bunch. I was a little less impressed with "Mean Streets" and "Angels with Dirty Faces" but still very solid flicks.
Not wrong...but I would say I'm a little surprised you haven't at least heard of more than 3 by accident just because a number of them either show up on TV fairly often and/or have iconic moments that have shown up in other movies and various forms of media.
No problem with that. The problem is there are a lot more comedies more focused on crime but not many, if any, better than "Some Like it Hot". For something a little more modern, maybe "Office Space"? Then again, that's not organized crime like the rest. "Get Shorty," "Reservoir Dogs" (funny to me, but not really a comedy), "Snatch"?
Yeah, I've been meaning to check that out for the longest. Thanks for the reminder.Comment
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Regarding Batman: UTRH, the voices threw me off a bit as well. DiMaggio didn't do the Joker justice since it sounded so similar to his other characters, but that just be me being spoiled by Hamill. Conroy and Hamill are the definitive Batman and Jokers to me.
I just watched Videodrome last night. Really trippy. I need to watch it again before I come to a conclusion about it.
"Sometimes I just want to be with my family and watch movie and eat some popcorn. But when I step on the mat I know there is no other place I'd rather be." - Marcelo GarciaComment
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