Excited for Some Old School Bro Movies

What ever happened to the old-school, rough and tough image of a man? I mean seriously, you see more guys out there going tanning, getting full body waxes, and wearing jeans tighter than any pair their girlfriend owns.  When did body hair and sweat go out of fashion? And what's with all the no carb diets, and for that matter diets altogether? I miss the days when being a badass man was what women found sexy.  A grissled, badass, impolite, rough-around-the edges man.  Well friends, I need a reminder so I took it upon myself to get my bro on, and I netflixed The Getaway with Steve McQueen, the ultimate mans man.  Society sometimes makes you doubt the way you carry yourself, and friends, I need a reminder that it's alright for men to still be men and not overly pampered, metro-sexual androids. Expect more reviews on movies featuring badass dudes. 

Why was I Fooled Again?

This weekend I watched Wrath of the Titans, the not-so-stellar sequel to the other let down, Clash of the Titans (2010).  I believe I slammed this movie in a previous post, but I'm currently too lazy and dedicated to this post to look back and see.  In case I didn't already criticize Clash of the Titans, it's a movie that represents this new Hollywood blockbuster philosophy that if you throw enough A-list stars into a movie (Liam Neeson, Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes) and add enough action and explosions into a two minute trailer, you'll have a blockbuster that will net you at least $200 million (in this case $493 million, c/o imdb.com).  The result of course is a poorly written and poorly directed movie that leaves you yearning for so much more based on the trailer.  I call these untrue trailers many things, and today I'll dub this movie an example of "Trailer Fraud." Trailer Fraud (N): A movie that falsely represents itself as excellent through a two-and-a-half minute preview trailer, when in reality it falls far short of expectations.

What's worse than me falling for trailer fraud with Clash, is that I fell for it again with Wrath of the Titans.  For some ridiculous reason I had a gut feeling that Wrath of the Titans would be one of those rare sequels that actually overshadows the original.  Once again I'm wrong, and wasted another hour and a half of my movie watching time when I should have known better.  What's that old proverb that my dad loves to throw into conversations whenever he can, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."  That's about right.  Bottom line don't waste your time with Wrath of the Titans.  This movie features nothing exciting, and even the acting is marginal.  Hopefully I'll learn from this mistake in the future.  And below, a great example of trailer fraud:

 

A Pleasant Surpise

For months I've secretly wanted to see Rock of Ages, and last week I finally took a chance on it.  The trailer for this musical-turned-movie had excellent promise, plus a star-studded cast featuring the likes of Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, and Tom Cruise (amongst others) provided the ingredients for a great movie.  I'm not usually one for musicals, with the exception of Grease, but Rock of Ages really surprised me.  I expected an OK movie, especially since the critics didn't give very favorable reviews, and I was shocked at how much I loved this movie.  The 80s music and hair may have distracted me more than I would like to admit, but I can't deny that I absolutely loved this movie.  Possibly the most surprising element of the movie was the acting and singing ability of the two leads, Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta, who aren't extremely known for their acting abilities in major motion pictures.  They both did an excellent job and held their own amongst their A-list counterparts.  The only reason not to see this movie would be if you hate 80s music.  I happen to love 80s music, and if you share my sentiments then go rent this movie immediately if you haven't already. 

Watch New Girl Now!

A while back my good friend Kyle recommended that I check out a show on Fox called New Girl starring Zooey Deschanel.  I normally trust Kyle's recommendations, and I'm glad that I once again took his advice.  New Girl made me laugh out loud from the first episode and never ceases to amaze me with its simplistic yet hilarious antics.  Zooey Deschanel is the perfect combination of a quirky and awkwardly funny female lead, who while making you laugh out loud on a regular basis also has a strange sex appeal. 

The other character's do a great job at complementing Zooey's character Jess as she attempts to navigate life post a six year relationship.  Jess decides to move into a loft with three guys who each bring their own special element and comedic relief to the table.  I love this show because it's simple and hilarious.  Many of the situations faced by the characters are applicable to real life, and none of the cast members are ridiculously good looking (except for Hannah Simone, love Cici) giving the show more of a real world feel than some of the other network shows out there.  Usually I only watch shows that air on premium channels or FX, but I've been pleasantly surprised by this gem on Fox.  Check it out if you haven't already.

A Couple of Disappointments

I've recently been extremely disappointed on two separate occasions.  The first let down came from J.K Rowling's first attempt at adult novels, The Casual Vacancy.  Let me preface this review by stating that I love J.K Rowling and the Harry Potter franchise, but this story fell far short of my expectations.  The novel is well written, as one would expect from J.K, and the character development is consistent and complex enough for an interesting plot, but to me, this story was just ordinary.  Nothing from Casual Vacancy really separated it from other similar novels that I've read, and nothing about the story intrigued me enough to the point that I felt a strong urge to continue reading.  I honestly just finished the book out of respect and love for J.K, but overall Casual Vacancy fell far short of my expectations.  Do yourself a favor and skip this one. I still love you J.K.

A recent movie choice equally disappointed me.  Lola Versus starring Greta Gerwig had an excellent trailer that led me to anticipate a work of indie-hipster gold.  Based on the trailer, I expected a funny and witty romantic-esque comedy with plenty of relatable themes and scenes.  Instead, the movie, like Casual Vacancy, turned out ordinary, with nothing exciting or worthwhile.  In this case I fell victim to what I like to call "An all-inclusive trailer," which basically means the trailer shows all of the best and funny parts in the movie, so when you actually see the movie none of the scenes are all that funny because you've already seen them.  I didn't really like anything about this movie.  Weak writing, character development, plot, and ending.  Skip this one for sure.  I'll put the trailer below so you can enjoy all this movie has to offer in two minutes and change.  

So Glad I Saw the Perks

A few weeks ago I saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and it lived up to my very high expectations.  Some of you may be more familiar with the young adult novel, and the author of that novel finally adapted it into a screenplay.  Let me preface my breakdown of the movie with my theory on why this movie matched all of my expectations as a huge fan of the novel.  Stephen Chbosky, the author of the novel, also wrote the screenplay, produced, and directed the movie.  I believe that the author's significant role in every aspect of the movie led to its booming success.  I find that movies based on books so often fall short of expectations, and can do more disrespect than homage to the stories they are meant to portray.  In this case, the fact that the author took an immense amount of time to create his story in a new medium, led to one of the best film adaptations of a novel that I have ever seen.  It makes me wonder why more director's don't incorporate the original writer's in the film-making process.   Then again, most novelists probably do not know a great deal about film making or the screen-writing genre, but who knows.  It would be nice if great books weren't butchered when made into movies.  I guess the bottom line here is that Stephen Chbosky is a ridiculously talented and artistic individual to have accomplished this feat as original writer, screen writer, producer, and director. 

And now to the movie.  Perks represents a young man's struggle to adapt to the high school social scene.  Charlie, an awkward yet intelligent ninth grader, finds himself very short on friends due to some unfortunate circumstances.  After a couple of tough weeks Charlie finally makes two friends in Patrick and Samantha, who introduce Charlie to a fast and fun social scene filled with parties, get-togethers, and even some rocky horror picture shows.  While Charlie becomes closer to Patrick and Sam, he experiences many difficult situations with drugs, alcohol, and a few different love interests.  Along the way Charlie has the guidance of his English teacher (played by Ball Rudd) who while enriching Charlie's education by providing him additional novels and assignments, also gives Charlie some very important advice on life. 

For me, the movie is a cult classic for someone who grew up in the 90s and 00s.  Anyone can relate to a number of the characters in Perks, while also feeling nostalgic remembering the awkward and fun moments in High School.  All of the main characters put forth masterful performances.  This isn't surprising being that Chbosky waited years until he could find the perfect cast to bring his novel to life on the big screen.  Make sure you see this movie if you enjoy coming of age stories of the difficulties of high school.  Great movie.

I Want to See this Girl Attempt to Walk