Adventureland (2009)

2009

Comedy/Drama
Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart

Before we go any further I just want to cut to the chase and say I freaking loved this movie. I haven't seen a movie I liked this much in a very long time, basically since I first saw Say Anything, and will probably have to wait a long time for it to happen again. I am giving it 5 ouf of 5 stars. I will try to explain why I liked it so much, but it will be hard, because if you are not me, you probably won't like it as much.

Jesse Eisenberg plays James who in order to make money for grad school is forced to work at the local amusement park, Adventureland. While there he begins to make new friends and connections and begins to form a relationship with Kristen Stewart's character Em. There is more to it to that (Em has a secret she is keeping from James, etc.) but that is all you really need to know.

The main reason I loved this movie so much is because of how much I connected with the main character. He thinks about stuff the way I think about stuff, he reacts how I would reacts. There are situations where he handles things almost exactly how I would handle them. Like when Em is coming onto him and he tries to play it cool but still comes off awkward and slightly out of place. Scenes like that rang so true. It is nice to see a "coming of age movie" where the character is technically an adult and not concerned with high school cliches like prom or getting into college. James is a virgin and much more interested in finding love and an emotional connection than he is in just getting laid. This type of male character is almost always ignored in favor of the "just trying to get some" mantra from other movies (American Pie).

I have never really seen a movie with Kristen Stewart in it so it was a nice suprise that she was so good in this role. I started to fall in love her just the way James did, and much the same way I did with the love interests in ...Say Anything and Garden State.

This is the second movied directed by Greg Mottola. The other movie is Superbad, which is my all time favorite movie. So he has directed 2 movies so far, and I love both of them. There is nothing impressive or fancy in his directing but he knows how to inject genuine feeling into all scenese. Out of nowhere he has become of my favorite directors. I just hope he keep directing the same kind of movies, because he does it so well. Unlike with Superbad, he also wrote Adventureland based on experiences from his own life. When it first came out people criticized it because it was advertised as a comedy, but wasn't as overall funny as Superbad. I agree that it is not as funny as Superbad, but it still has plenty of laughs. Scenese like when James and Em discuss their history with "intercourse" are hilarious both for their awkwardness and their truth. Martin Starr (of Freaks and Geeks, and Knocked Up) is one of the main sources of comedy. He manages to funny while at the same time being realistic and sympathetic. There is another character, Frigo, who exists solely for comedic relief and that is okay because it does not distract from the realism of the movie at all. Because some people have friends who always hit you in the junk because they think it's funny. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are funny in small roles as the managers of Adventureland. They have some funny lines, Bill has an awesome mustache and Kristen somehow manages to not annoy me as normal.

I even liked the soundtrack of this movie. Which is impressive considering I don't really like the kind of music featured in it, which is basically mid 80s indie rock. Yet here I am a day later listening to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground songs from the soundtrack. This movie is set in the late 80s and the music does the best job of capturing that mood without relating to overdone "in the 80s they did this stupid thing" jokes movies like The Wedding Singer were based around. Many of the characters wear stereotypical 80s clothing but they don't look stupid. They just look like they lived in the 80s, which they are.

I could keep rambling on about this movie, adding more stuff to this post, but I think I will stop now. Just rent it already to discover everything it has to offer. I, as already previously stated, loved Adventureland. After only watching it once I know I will consider it a favorite for a long time to come. It captured the essence of Say Anything, presenting what it is like to be nice guy looking to fall in love and wondering how to explore life. Others probably won't enjoy it as much as me, and that is okay.
Excuse me, for I am now off to find an Adventureland "Games" t shirt to purchase.

5 Out Of 5 Stars

District 9 (2009

2009
Sci Fi
"There are a lot of secrets in District 9."

Hey look I finally went and saw a movie in a theatre and not on DVD!
District 9 is one of the most talked about fims of the summer. It has also gotten near all positive reviews. And all that adoration is well deserved. This is a fantastic sci fi film that takes place in a fully realized world that helps to pose moral questions we can ask about our real world. Of course if you like your movies with a little less moral questioning and more people blowing up, District 9 is still the movie for you. It works great on both levels, either as a movie that gives you something to think about, or one that gives you a bunch of moments where you go "Oh shit, that was awesome."

For those that don't know the movie is about a broken down alien spaceship that comes to Earth. It is stranded here so we as humans have to figure out what to do with all the aliens on board. So we set up a camp for them in South Africa, that slowly turns into a slum. The parallels to South Africa's real life past are pretty obvious, but never really mentioned in the movie. Most of the human characters in the movie, forces tasked with moving the aliens to a new settlement, treat the aliens horribly. Though I feel that is probably realistic. The main character starts off sort of naive about the whole thing but after a key plot point begins to sympathize and work with the aliens. If anyone cares the aliens look like big grasshoppers, and they love cat food.

What amazed me most about District 9 was how real it felt. This is for two reason. The main being that it is mostly shot in a pseudo documentary style, like The Office, so you can feel how girtty and dirty the settings are. It also feels real because none of the actors are faces you would recognize, so they are the character, you aren't stopping to think "Hey Ben Affleck is good in this so far." I was probably most amazed that this special effects heavy, explostion laden, movie was made for only $30 million. It really makes me wonder how in the hell movies like Transformers cost $250 million to make. This is the debut movie from director Neil Blomkamp. If this is just his first attempt at directing I think it is safe to say we will be seeing much more awesome stuff from him down the road.

District 9 is one of the better sci fi movies to come in recent years. It was filmed on a small budget, by a first time director, starring a no name cast, but still manages to be top notch in everything it does. It looks great and feels real. Whether you like your sci fi to raise "What if..." questions or just wow you with what is on screen, it more than fits the bill.

4 out of 5 Stars

Halloween (2007)

2007
Horror
Rob Zombie

Over the past few weeks I have been seeing a lot of commercials for Halloween II, the sequel the Rob Zombie version of Halloween. And since that is coming out soon I figured I might as well finally watch the 2007 reimagining of the horror classic that introduced us to Michael Myers.

I had heard really mixed things about this movie, some people said they liked it, while others apparently flat out hated it. Personally, I enjoyed it, but I can see where both sides are coming from. Like the box said, this is a "reimagining" not a sequel. So technically it is not really tied down by what happened in previous Halloween movies. So there are some major differences between this and the original. The most major difference is the audiences connection with Michael Myers' "victims." In the original Jamie Lee Curtis is the main character. We connect with her and ride along with her while this maniac is trying to kill her. In the Zombie version, Michael Myers is the main character, but since he doesn't say a word after the first 30 minutes of the movie, he is more a force of nature than a real character. In many ways the movie is a case study on what it is to be a psychopathic killer. However I can see how some people may not like that since it offers no real answers to the character's actions at all.

Before seeing it I heard a few complaints about the way violence is used in this movie. To be honest I expected a lot worse than it was. I do believe that Zombie on a few occasions just shows excessive gore on the screen just for the sake of showing it. This really adds nothing to the movie at all, but I didn't find it distracting enough to actually bother me. Zombie has directed two other horror movies besides Halloween, but I have not seen them, so I can only judge him based on this so far. Technically, the movie looked great. It had a very nice, gritty washed out look that really helped set the mood.

When it comes to the acting, the standout role is from Malcolm McDowell who is playing the part made famous by Donald Pleasence as the psychiatrist who is the "expert" on Michael Myers. Of course when most of the cast gets killed shortly after they appear on screen, its really not hard to be the stand out role. I would be remissed (is that even the right word) if I did not mention Scout Taylor-Compton who plays Michael Myers little sister, all grown up (even though she does not know it). I need to mention her because she is freaking hot, in real life, and especially in this role with blonde hair and her nerdy glasses (before she gets covered in blood and stuff).

(in the middle, from Halloween)

I have no problem admitting that I now mainly want to see the sequel to see more of her, and her character when she finds out Micheal Myers, the maniac killing machine is in fact her brother.

Rob Zombie's reimagining of the classic Halloween is not as good as the original. So if you haven't seen that, you probably should. I mean you should for sure watch the original before watching this newer version. Though when it comes to slashers recently released, it is one of the better ones. For some reason a lot of people hate it, but I just think they went in with expectations of what they expected to see.

3 out of 5 Stars

I went to the Warped Tour

I went to the Warped Tour when it was in Detroit on Friday. I ended up going by myself since I couldn't find anyone else to go with. That wasn't too bad becuase there really wasn't much time when I wasn't watching a band play.

Here is who I saw (in chrnological order)

whole sets:
Valencia
Hit the Lights
Bayside
Less than Jake
Underoath
Streetlight Manifesto
A Day to Remember
Saosin

partial sets:
Farwell
The Scurvies
Versaemerge
Ivoryline
All Time Low
Senses Fail
In this Moment

Rank of who was the best:
1. Streetlight Manifesto (this was so much fun, awesome)
2. Bayside
3. Saosin
4. Less Than Jake
5. Ivoryline (because there weren't many people there so I was right in front)

- i missed videotaping a guy hardcore dancing to a band with like 10 people watching, it kind of made my day
- the girl from versaemerge is a lot hotter than she looks in pictures
- the girl from in this moment is less hot than she looks in pictures
- a day to remember should have been on the main stage
- why do dumb girls wear flip flops to the warped tour?
- i kept getting stuck behind really annoying people
- I didn't get in any really crazy pits because I was afraid stuff would fall out of my pockets
- it made me sad there were so many people for all time low and devil wears prada (though I like both bands) than less than jake
- I caught about 10 seconds of brokencyde from afar which i recorded, which was more than enough
- i recorded about 5 or 6 songs from different band, but the recordings all suck
- having a Hurley stage and a Hurley.com stage can get confusing at first, same goes for having an ernie ball stage then also having huge ernie ball ads on a different stage
- by the end of the day my back was killing me, I could barely stand anymore
- now all I want to do is listen to the bands I saw when I was there

Don't Make Spontaneous Statements About Your Facial Hair

In my opinion one of my friends is spending way too much time with his girlfriend. For a physical representation of this I came up with an idea. The last time I saw him I told him I would not shave until the next time we hung out. Since I only see him every month or so, the next time I saw him he would go "Whoa you have a mustache I guess I haven't seen you in awhile."

Well this happened over a month ago. And since that time I have not shaved, I have trimmed some spots but kept the main areas of my facial hair untouched. I now realize that I haven't seen him in liked 5 week and I think he is going on vacation for a couple of weeks so I probably wouldn't see him anytime soon. So I need to break my promise and shave it all off. Its starting to feel really itchy sometimes and it's not a good look at all. I also need a hair cut but thats unrelated.

Knowing (2008)

2008
Thriller
Nicholas Cage, Rose Byrne

In Knowing a time capsule is dug up at an elementary school. In the capsule there is a piece of paper covered in random numbers. As it turns out, they are not random as Nicholas Cage's character finds out, they tell the time place and death toll of major disasters from the time it was buried and written (1959) until the present day, and into the near future. When the characters figure this out they scramble to see what if anything they can do with this information to avoid what is coming, which may just be the end of the world.

I never really heard too much positive stuff about this movie. The only reason I rented it was I saw that one reviewer said the disasters shown in this movie look really good, and he was right. In Knowing they probably show the most realistic plane crash I have ever seen in a movie. Not just the impact of the plane on the ground but the aftermath. Flaming bodies and debris everywhere. The disasters in this movie are vey realistic. They do not tone it down. There is a lot of blood and body parts flying around on screen. It is gritty, realistic, exciting, and it all looks fantastic.

This movie stars Nicholas Cage. He somehow is considered a good actor (critically), while at the same time being horrible in a bunch of movies. I think he was perfect for this role. I mean he plays kind of a nervous professor which I think fit him well. Knowing was directed by Alex Proyas, director of the fantastic Dark City. If you haven't seen Dark City, check it out. With Knowing and Dark City under his belt (and iRobot but I haven't seen it) it is clear that he knows what he is doing with a movie. I already mentioned it, but the whole thing looked incredible. I can't wait to see the next movie he directs.

There is a great documentary about doomsday cults and apocalyptic beliefs on the DVD, so if you rent it, make sure to watch that too.

When I said I didn't hear too much positive stuff about this movie it was because most people said the ending sucked. Stuff like "it was okay until the ending." I do not agree. When you look at what is going on in the movie (parnormal things) and everything before it, the ending made perfect sense to me. In fact, I liked the ending.

I say ignore the negative you heard about this movie and rent it. Just be ready for an interesting sci fi thriller that is a little deeper than plane crashes and explosions (though those are probably my favorite parts).

3 out of 5 Stars

Factoid: During one disaster scene there is a shot of the hotel (and the specific room) I stayed at in New York City, blowing up.

Pineapple Express (2008)

2008
Comedy
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride

From Hot Rod we come to Pineapple Express. This is the next movie I am talking about after Hot Rod for 2 reasons: Danny McBride, and I took way too long to see it.

The premise follows Seth Rogen as a process server (gives people summons for court) who is a pot head. After buying some special new weed from his dealer, James Franco, he goes to serve someone with a summons. When he gets there though he witnesses a murder. And the chase is on. He and James Franco are on the run from the murderers because they know they have seen too much. That's the set up. They run into various characters along the way including Danny McBride's Red, Gary Cole, and"that black guy from the warehouse on the Office."

James Franco basically made the movie for me. His character is high and/or burnt out throughout the whole movie, and it's hilarious. He goes on these rambling run offs about random shit and easily gets distracted by anything goin on around him. Basically everything he said made me laugh. Which is sort of ironic because if I with somebody like him in real life I would probably be super annoyed.


Seth Rogen is of course the main character of the movie. He has some funny parts but for the most part plays the straight man for the all the ridiculous situations around him. Danny McBride isn't in much of the movie, but when he is on screen it's great. There is a scene at the end of the movie with three leads having a conversation which made me laugh the whole time it was going on.


Regardless of whether I got the point of across in the above writing or not, Pineapple Express is one of the funniest movies I have seen in well probably forever. Probably my favorite comedy since Superbad. I am so mad at myself for not watching it sooner, especially since my brother had a copy of it the whole time. Even though this was advertised as a pot comedy, you don't have to know anything about marijuana in order to enjoy it.

4 out of 5 Stars