17 Again, Crank: High Voltage, Fast & Furious, The Soloist
**So behind**
17 Again
I am not ashamed to say that I love Zac Efron...okay maybe just a little ashamed. I worried about the potentially high levels of teeny-bopper-ness in this movie. But what ultimately made my decision to go was knowing that Leslie Mann was in this. I felt I could trust the comedic taste of Mrs Judd Apatow. And overall, it was a win. Yes, the feared Tiger Beat levels were pretty high. In the first five minutes you had a sweaty, shirtless Zac Efron shooting free throws, followed by a dancing Zac Efron (yes, they found a way to squeeze that in). But also in those five minutes, you find out his character (at this point is 1989 actual young Zac Efron/Matthew Perry) has gotten his high school gf knocked up--not exactly something I'd expect to be the plotline of the next High School Musical. And before you yell at me, that wasnt a spoiler cause it was essentially the basis for the plotline, or at least why he gave up his future, which is why he was unhappy, which is why he magically becomes 17...again.
Anyways, I had a lot of fun. While I tend to be a sucker totally buying into body-switching type of plotlines, I did have some trouble believing Efron was supposta be in his 30's. However, I still feel this was a good move for him. Child stars tend to follow one of two paths after their break out his: they stay stuck in kiddie movies forever or they pull a Dakota Fanning in Hound Dog and are on the receiving end of a child rape scene. This was a good middle ground. Fun family friendly flick with some adult-er themes mixed in.
As expected, loved Leslie Mann. However, a lot of her scenes with Efron were too awkward. Obviously they're supposed to be awkward, but it got to the point of creepy and killed some of the belivability movie magic. Though I think I blame the writing more than the acting there. Points for the token nerd shunning his high school life and making millions, played by Thomas Lennon. His subplot was kinda predictable, but I liked the extra geeky twist thrown on it. And that's all the info you're gonna get from me on that.
Overall, very fun. Not destined to be a classic or anything, but for me it was worth the watch.
Crank: High Voltage
I freaking LOVE the original. Such a fast paced, intense, stylized adrenaline rush. This one also had those qualities, but it also had the usual sequel fail where they can't find the balance between keeping stuff from the first one and bringing in original stuff. A lot was too much like the first flick and a lot was obviously trying too hard to be new. In particular, the artsy feel of the whole thing was too forced this time around. Also, the belivability factor was waaaay low. Yes, I understand that half the fun of it is how implausible the story is. And as far as the main storyline, Jason Statham needing to keep shocking himself to stay alive, I'll go with that. As redonkulous as some of what he does might seem, I'll still buy it. But when they stretch the impossible factor in other areas, um no, sorry.
Im not saying it was bad. I did have a blast watching it. Still freakin' love Jason Statham, and I love him best in this type of role. I even liked Amy Smart this time around. Normally, I can't stand that blonde bimbo, but it really worked this time. She just bought an extra fun element. Was also happy to see that they found a place for Efren Ramirez. He was one of my favorite parts of the original, and I wasn't sure he'd be in this one. Although, one of his character's traits is one of the aforementioned probability problems. And I liked that the side characters got a little bit of solo attention here and there. Granted, I still cared most about Statham's storyline, but the additional details were nice. Oh and rockin' hilarious cameo from Linkin Park's Chester Bennington.
Fast & Furious
As if Crank wasn't enough of an adrenaline thrill ride for one day, I somehow ended at Fast & Furious immediately after. Well I know how the somehow happened, but it was unplanned. Jesus, it took me forever to calm down that night after how fast the combination had my heart racing.
I'd originally written this movie off as dumb and hadnt planned on seeing it. But April being April, movie picks were slim and I had a free ticket I needed to use soon. And it turned out well. I think this prolly turned out to be my favorite of the franchise. I found the first one boring (though it was a while ago, so it might warrant another view), second one dumb, third one fine but second rate. This one I enjoyed.
Basically, you know what you're getting into with one of these movies. You're not gonna be seeing it on any awards lists come winter (except maaaaaybe for something technical). But within the limits of how good or bad it could be, I felt it was about as far on the good end of the spectrum as possible. Yes, the boys still cant really act (even though I think they mighta picked up an acting class here and there in the past few years, cause it wasnt painful). Yes the plot's kinda iffy. Yes, there's flaws. But you go to this movie for the fast cars and the pretty boys or girls, depending on your preference. And there, they delievered. And the dialogue didnt make my ears bleed, the acting improved ever so slightly, no one who annoyed me was around for too long. So yeah, for what it was, it was about as good as it coulda been.
The Soloist
Mixed feelings on this one. A lot of that was probably due to overanticipation for the film. Been seeing trailers for it since this past summer because of the constantly moving release date. I think ultimately this was a good time for it to come out, cause it probably would get lost in the shuffle of award movies if it had come out in the winter. Also, if Robert Downey Jr hadnt been attracting buzz for this movie, he might not have gotten the Oscar nod for Tropic Thunder. Ya'll know how excited I was about that, just because of what it means that that type of flick can get a major award nod. Right, rambling now. Moving on.
The good: the cast. As expected. Love love love Robert Downey jr. And this was a very good role for him. It was cool seeing his signature style in a more serious role. He's done serious, but not with the same Robert Downey Jr flair he has in lighter comedic work. Jamie Foxx was wonderful as well. Found just the right level of crazy without being over the top. also points to Catherine Keener cause she's just always great.
My biggest issue was the structure or somewhat lack thereof. This was more of a character piece than a narrative. That's an okay thing to do, but it can be really difficult to pull off. And in this case, they coulda done better. There were lots of times where I was left thinking "Okay, now what?" or "Is this going somewhere?" or other similar thoughts. It was almost like a whole bunch of disconnected pieces of a movie. Things would flow for a few scenes, but every 20 min or so it just felt like there wasn't anywhere else for them to go. And then it'd pick back up again and end up with the same feeling a little while later. Also, it did get a bit preachy. We all know that's a big annoyance of mine in movies.
Mostly just glad that I finally got to see the frickin' thing--cause just about anything with RDJr makes me happy.
17 Again
I am not ashamed to say that I love Zac Efron...okay maybe just a little ashamed. I worried about the potentially high levels of teeny-bopper-ness in this movie. But what ultimately made my decision to go was knowing that Leslie Mann was in this. I felt I could trust the comedic taste of Mrs Judd Apatow. And overall, it was a win. Yes, the feared Tiger Beat levels were pretty high. In the first five minutes you had a sweaty, shirtless Zac Efron shooting free throws, followed by a dancing Zac Efron (yes, they found a way to squeeze that in). But also in those five minutes, you find out his character (at this point is 1989 actual young Zac Efron/Matthew Perry) has gotten his high school gf knocked up--not exactly something I'd expect to be the plotline of the next High School Musical. And before you yell at me, that wasnt a spoiler cause it was essentially the basis for the plotline, or at least why he gave up his future, which is why he was unhappy, which is why he magically becomes 17...again.
Anyways, I had a lot of fun. While I tend to be a sucker totally buying into body-switching type of plotlines, I did have some trouble believing Efron was supposta be in his 30's. However, I still feel this was a good move for him. Child stars tend to follow one of two paths after their break out his: they stay stuck in kiddie movies forever or they pull a Dakota Fanning in Hound Dog and are on the receiving end of a child rape scene. This was a good middle ground. Fun family friendly flick with some adult-er themes mixed in.
As expected, loved Leslie Mann. However, a lot of her scenes with Efron were too awkward. Obviously they're supposed to be awkward, but it got to the point of creepy and killed some of the belivability movie magic. Though I think I blame the writing more than the acting there. Points for the token nerd shunning his high school life and making millions, played by Thomas Lennon. His subplot was kinda predictable, but I liked the extra geeky twist thrown on it. And that's all the info you're gonna get from me on that.
Overall, very fun. Not destined to be a classic or anything, but for me it was worth the watch.
Crank: High Voltage
I freaking LOVE the original. Such a fast paced, intense, stylized adrenaline rush. This one also had those qualities, but it also had the usual sequel fail where they can't find the balance between keeping stuff from the first one and bringing in original stuff. A lot was too much like the first flick and a lot was obviously trying too hard to be new. In particular, the artsy feel of the whole thing was too forced this time around. Also, the belivability factor was waaaay low. Yes, I understand that half the fun of it is how implausible the story is. And as far as the main storyline, Jason Statham needing to keep shocking himself to stay alive, I'll go with that. As redonkulous as some of what he does might seem, I'll still buy it. But when they stretch the impossible factor in other areas, um no, sorry.
Im not saying it was bad. I did have a blast watching it. Still freakin' love Jason Statham, and I love him best in this type of role. I even liked Amy Smart this time around. Normally, I can't stand that blonde bimbo, but it really worked this time. She just bought an extra fun element. Was also happy to see that they found a place for Efren Ramirez. He was one of my favorite parts of the original, and I wasn't sure he'd be in this one. Although, one of his character's traits is one of the aforementioned probability problems. And I liked that the side characters got a little bit of solo attention here and there. Granted, I still cared most about Statham's storyline, but the additional details were nice. Oh and rockin' hilarious cameo from Linkin Park's Chester Bennington.
Fast & Furious
As if Crank wasn't enough of an adrenaline thrill ride for one day, I somehow ended at Fast & Furious immediately after. Well I know how the somehow happened, but it was unplanned. Jesus, it took me forever to calm down that night after how fast the combination had my heart racing.
I'd originally written this movie off as dumb and hadnt planned on seeing it. But April being April, movie picks were slim and I had a free ticket I needed to use soon. And it turned out well. I think this prolly turned out to be my favorite of the franchise. I found the first one boring (though it was a while ago, so it might warrant another view), second one dumb, third one fine but second rate. This one I enjoyed.
Basically, you know what you're getting into with one of these movies. You're not gonna be seeing it on any awards lists come winter (except maaaaaybe for something technical). But within the limits of how good or bad it could be, I felt it was about as far on the good end of the spectrum as possible. Yes, the boys still cant really act (even though I think they mighta picked up an acting class here and there in the past few years, cause it wasnt painful). Yes the plot's kinda iffy. Yes, there's flaws. But you go to this movie for the fast cars and the pretty boys or girls, depending on your preference. And there, they delievered. And the dialogue didnt make my ears bleed, the acting improved ever so slightly, no one who annoyed me was around for too long. So yeah, for what it was, it was about as good as it coulda been.
The Soloist
Mixed feelings on this one. A lot of that was probably due to overanticipation for the film. Been seeing trailers for it since this past summer because of the constantly moving release date. I think ultimately this was a good time for it to come out, cause it probably would get lost in the shuffle of award movies if it had come out in the winter. Also, if Robert Downey Jr hadnt been attracting buzz for this movie, he might not have gotten the Oscar nod for Tropic Thunder. Ya'll know how excited I was about that, just because of what it means that that type of flick can get a major award nod. Right, rambling now. Moving on.
The good: the cast. As expected. Love love love Robert Downey jr. And this was a very good role for him. It was cool seeing his signature style in a more serious role. He's done serious, but not with the same Robert Downey Jr flair he has in lighter comedic work. Jamie Foxx was wonderful as well. Found just the right level of crazy without being over the top. also points to Catherine Keener cause she's just always great.
My biggest issue was the structure or somewhat lack thereof. This was more of a character piece than a narrative. That's an okay thing to do, but it can be really difficult to pull off. And in this case, they coulda done better. There were lots of times where I was left thinking "Okay, now what?" or "Is this going somewhere?" or other similar thoughts. It was almost like a whole bunch of disconnected pieces of a movie. Things would flow for a few scenes, but every 20 min or so it just felt like there wasn't anywhere else for them to go. And then it'd pick back up again and end up with the same feeling a little while later. Also, it did get a bit preachy. We all know that's a big annoyance of mine in movies.
Mostly just glad that I finally got to see the frickin' thing--cause just about anything with RDJr makes me happy.