I think I’ve covered this thoroughly so far, but in case I haven’t, let’s get this out of the way… I’m a nerd.  Okay, now that that’s over, let’s proceed.  I watch a lot of trailers, when I hear there’s a good trailer out there, I’m on it like something that is really on something (my nerdiness doesn’t cover analogies).  I know there are critics that say you shouldn’t even watch trailers (Roger Ebert has said this on multiple occasions), but that doesn’t stop me.  A really good trailer will never fail to get me completely stoked (on a related note, have you seen the Scott Pilgrim trailer?  Holy Awesomeness, Batman!).  So when I first saw the teaser trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine, anticipation was at… not an all-time high, but it was certainly elevated beyond normal.  What I saw was just so weird and bad in all the right ways.

Then the first actual trailer came out and it was even better… until they started playing it all the time.  Before I knew it, there was a full-on advertising blitz that was threatening to ruin my total enjoyment of the movie.  Fortunately this didn’t happen (although Craig Robinson looking into the camera after saying “hot tub time machine” would have been a lot funnier had I not already seen it a hundred times).  What I found was essentially the movie I was expecting to see all along, a group of guys travel back in time to the eighties and try to replicate everything they did the first time around so as not to wreck the time-space continuum.  Of course things go haywire and hilarity ensues, right?

Well actually, yeah.  Yeah it does.  This movie is hysterical.  Maybe its not as constantly laugh-out-loud as, say, The Hangover, but there’s also more of a story here (yes, that’s right, a movie called Hot Tub Time Machine has a plot).  Sure the depiction of the eighties is a little too on-the-nose and they do resort to more gross-out humor than I require, but there are a lot of nice touches and one great running gag involving Crispin Glover (get it?) and some arm-based humor.

The performances were good all across the board, especially Craig Robinson (who is fast becoming one of the most reliable comedians working today) and Rob Corddry.  Corddry surprised me.  I usually prefer him in very small roles as he tends to get on my nerves when he’s given too much leeway, but here I found myself laughing at him more than anything else in the movie.  John Cusack seemed to be in more of a slumming mode, but he still turns in a more-than-adequate performance, and Clark Duke proved reliable enough for some today-based nerdy humor.

The reviews for this movie were not totally positive, some enjoyed it, but many critics seemed to be suffering from some totally misguided expectations.  I know it seems like an obvious argument, but it’s called Hot Tub Time Machine!  C’mon!  I’ve read a few write-ups that seemed as if they were expecting some high-minded, articulate deconstruction of the comedy genre, when really what they should have been expecting was a bad eighties flick, specifically Ski School, given the location (Ski School was technically made in the nineties, but that’s irrelevant).  That’s what I went in with, and guess what?  I wasn’t disappointed.

There was, however, one part that reinforced my nerdiness and made me weep for humanity (not actually, my priorities aren’t that out of wack, people).  When the guys first start to realize they’ve traveled in time and are hit with a barrage of eighties memorabilia, there is a none-too-subtle reference to Better Off Dead that nobody in the theater other than myself seemed to comprehend.  My cousin who is only two years younger than me later told me she had no idea why I was laughing.  Sigh.

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture

There are movies that set the world on fire, they play on multiple screens for multiple weeks, they break box office records, they occupy an unseemly amount of shelf space once released on DVD, and it becomes almost impossible to find someone who hasn’t seen this juggernaut of a film.  In The Loop does not fall under this category.

This a film which brisked into theatres and brisked back out without making much of a splash.  Once released for home viewing, the local video store had no more than two copies (and those two were not checked out).  Its a film that, so far, has gone largely unnoticed by the general public.  And thats a shame, because if people were to take a chance on it, they would find one of the most intelligent, well-executed, and drop-dead hilarious movies to be released in recent memory.

I was fortunate enough to have checked the local movie listings in the brief window that In The Loop played in Eau Claire, and what I saw was easily (in my opinion) the funniest movie of 2009 (yes, I saw The Hangover, this movie’s better), and I thought that without comprehending roughly half of it.  Which leads me to my first disclaimer, this movie is very British, many of the actors speak very fast with accents that range from “Thick” to “I Didn’t Catch Any Of That.”  It’s not entirely British though, a good portion of the film takes place in Washington D.C. and features many major American characters who are all funny in their own rights, so don’t feel that the whole movie will leave you in the lurch upon first viewing.  There is plenty of decipherable material here, but to get everything will require multiple efforts, I’ve seen it twice so far and still haven’t picked up on everything.

The worst offender in this regard is also, hands down, the best part of the film.  Peter Capaldi plays Malcolm Tucker, a Scottish spin-doctor who has to deal with a series of political mishaps in his own peculiar way.  And for those wondering, his own peculiar way involves spewing a jaw-dropping series of pop culture references, vitriol, and glorious profanity.  Which leads me to my second disclaimer, this film is filthy.  There’s no nudity or violence, but the filmmakers behind In The Loop were clearly busting at the seams with fresh new ways to curse a blue streak.  One of the funniest moments (to me) of this year’s Oscar telecast was the brief clip that played for In The Loop’s Best Adapted Screenplay nomination as it was such a glaring misrepresentation of the film.  But any clip truly indicative of the movie could never be aired on broadcast television.

As much as I loved this film though, I can’t honestly say I’m surprised that it flew under the radar.  It may as well have ”Future Cult Status” emblazoned across its DVD cover.  But to those of you who enjoy intelligent films that make you think (nearly) as much as they make you laugh, and you’re not put off by filthy, filthy language, you’d do well to check out In The Loop as soon as humanly possible.  There’s a line early in the film that would be perfect to end this post with, but, go figure, it involves a very colorful use of the f-word.

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture

The American Film Institute has lists, lots of lists, all having to do (go figure) with movies.  I like movies.  And while its generally accepted that AFI’s lists are not the end-all-be-all, the films that comprise these lists are generally accepted as being really freakin’ good.  Herein lies the problem, I haven’t seen all of them!  I’m supposed to be some kind of film buff, aren’t I?!  How could I not have seen these movies?!

Now granted, a lot of the films are not stone-cold ‘Oh my God, how have you not seen…’ kinds of movies, but still, they’re highly regarded and I should make the effort to see ‘em gosh darn it!  And I’m happy to say that, so far, it’s been an incredible experience, and an eye-opening one at that.  Prior to starting this project, I had never really given a fair shake to any silent films, which I am proud to say is no longer the case (I’ve only seen five, but still, that’s better than nothing).  It also led to me finally watching a film I had stupidly avoided for one reason or another (The Sound Of Music) and another which turned out to be my favorite western ever (High Noon).

Here’s a brief rundown and some thoughts on some of the films I’ve experienced so far:

Gone With The Wind:  What can I really say about this movie?  It’s a classic.  Sure there are those who claim that it hasn’t aged well, that it could be shorter, and I must say they’re not completely wrong.  However, at the end of the day, this is an extremely watchable and entertaining film featuring a great performance from Clark Gable at his Clark Gabliest.  And really, what more could you want?

An American In Paris:  Supremely entertaining, although rather slight in terms of story.  And that ballet, while incredible, does suffer from being ridiculously long.  A really good movie, just not one I’m in a hurry to watch again.

The Maltese Falcon:  Pitch-perfect noir.  And Humphrey Bogart, I mean, c’mon!  Humphrey Bogart!  George Clooney has been called our Cary Grant, Tom Hanks our Jimmy Stewart, and Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be on his way to becoming our Marlon Brando, who is our Bogie?  Can there be another Bogie?  My opinion?  No, no there can’t.

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre:  See above, and replace the noir stuff with talk of an amazing story and desert setting.

High Noon:  Oh. My. God.  I loved High Noon!  So bleak, so thought-provoking, and so, so good!  And that ending!  I won’t spoil it, but that ending was one of many factors that led to this pretty handily becoming one of my favorite westerns of all time (although that’s coming from someone who’s not the world’s biggest fan of westerns).

The Searchers:  Another really good western that I enjoyed a lot more once I realized that John Wayne wasn’t going to be a racist jerk for the whole movie.

Swing Time:  A thoroughly good musical that could have (for my money) benefitted from more song and dance, and less sequences involving blackface (there’s only one, but still).

A Streetcar Named Desire:  Great performances in a movie that I don’t feel has necessarily aged all that well.  I may be way off base here, but I feel that the level of censorship involved was ultimately too oppressive to really successfully translate the source material to film.  I can definitely see where this would be amazing onstage.

City Lights:  Charlie Chaplin.  How amazing was Charlie Chaplin?  Seriously?  If there’s one thing that I’m especially grateful for from this project, it’s that it finally led me to Chaplin films.  In the last two months or so, I have watched City Lights, Modern Times, The Gold Rush, and The Great Dictator and they are all beautiful films with just the right amount of heart and pathos to offset the sheer inspired lunacy of the slapstick that Chaplin is famous for.  Magnificent.

Shane:  This is the only film on the list that I would have to say I did not enjoy.  I thought parts of it were interesting, especially in the way that the moral implications of killing a man are taken into account, which is unusual in most westerns, but that ultimately doesn’t lead to a very entertaining movie.  And I won’t even get into Brandon De Wilde, who provides some of the worst child acting I’ve ever seen.  Oscar nomination aside, that was rough.

There are plenty more, but given that these are movies that plenty of people are already very familiar with, I’m reluctant to take up too much more space discussing them.  I’ve been asked what I plan to do after I watch all the films on the list, and my answer?  Pretty much continue to do what I’m doing now, just with less organization.  But hey!  That’s life.

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture

Judged solely on its own merits (what a novel idea!), Alkaline Trio’s seventh full length album plays as a brisk, hook-laden pop-punk album that could potentially appeal to those familiar with the genre and those looking to diversify their musical tastes.  The album is catchy to a fault and it contains only one glaring demerit, ‘Dine Dine My Darling’ has the dual misfortune of being a pretty terrible song and an awful pun (it’s a play on ‘Die Die My Darling’ by The Misfits, who really deserve better).

However, if you, like pretty much everybody else in the whole wide world, don’t listen to your music in a vacuum, actually think about things, and are reasonably familiar with the Trio’s past work, then maybe “This Addiction” won’t be for you.  The problem lies in the fact that the entire album lacks any personality.  Genericness practically drips out of this album, which is troubling because Alkaline Trio, if nothing else, have never suffered from not being unique.  But it takes until track 4 of “This Addiction” to get to a song that even kind of sounds like it was written by Matt Skiba and Co.

Now a lot has been made of the fact that this album is something of a return to the roots for the band, and I will say that yes, sonically speaking, it does sound very much like a pop-punk album from 10-15 years ago… just not one by The Alkaline Trio.  There are times when you get a small taste of a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire” or “From Here To Infirmary,” but it ultimately just sounds like they were trying to sound like they were returning to their roots, while actually coming off as a bunch of thirty-somethings playing generic punk rock, an unfortunately accurate description.

Does it diminish the old stuff?  No, because like I said, its so far removed from their early work that it shouldn’t even be on your mind.  My recommendation?  Give it a listen, there are hooks aplenty and who knows, maybe this is actually a diamond in the rough and I’m just being mean, but listening to this and “Goddamnit” back to back, it will be pretty clear that the old stuff will win out.  Isn’t that always the way?

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture

Last Friday I got around to seeing Alice In Wonderland (in 3D!!!), and I must say, the result was a resounding… meh. Let me clarify, it’s not as if there’s nothing worthwhile to the movie, the visuals are excellent, there’s at least one performance that I would categorize as quite good, and… well, I’m coming up short on a third. Basically, you’re enjoyment of the film hinges on the answer to this question, can you still tolerate Tim Burton?

Tim Burton has made some truly great films in his time, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd; those are films in which Tim Burton was able to strike the right balance between style and substance.  Alice In Wonderland, on the other hand, is all style, very little substance.

Restraint is key for Tim Burton to be successful.  When he’s left to his own devices, he winds up with things like Planet of the Apes, or Mars Attacks, or (the not worthless) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, movies with interesting aspects, but not necessarily movies that are absolutely worth seeing.  And this, unfortunately, is another film to add to the ‘non-essential’ portion of Burton’s filmography.

I mentioned one noteworthy performance, and that belonged to Helena Bonham-Carter who was hands down the most interesting part of Alice In Wonderland.  She actually created a character with depth, which made her peculiarly unique in the movie.  Even the typically reliable Johnny Depp and Crispin Glover apparently weren’t resigned enough to go beyond their quirky characterizations and find the hearts underneath.  Depp shows an inkling of beginning this process, the Mad Hatter slips into a Scottish accent when he gets fired up, but that goes totally unexplained and is left feeling like something somebody came up with on set and nobody thought about it enough to just say ‘no.’

I suppose I should make some mention of Mia Wasikowska, but unfortunately there’s not a lot to say.  She’s inoffensively bland, agreeable enough as Alice, just wholly underwhelming.  She may find a place in Hollywood, but I don’t think she’ll be setting the world on fire anytime soon.

All this wasn’t enough to make me turn on Tim Burton.  I still believe he’s a talented filmmaker who is just in need of a little creative reinvigoration.  His trip down the rabbit hole turned out like so many other Alice In Wonderland adaptations, competent, but nowhere near perfect.

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture

Welcome! Come on in, make yourself at home. I’m Kyle… this is my blog. For the foreseeable future I will use this space to discuss, well, basically anything (as long as it relates to pop culture, but seeing as how that’s what my life basically consists of anyway, that shouldn’t be a problem). Now you’re probably wondering why you should care what I have to say about pop culture at large, or maybe not, maybe you’re wondering how Silly Putty picks stuff up off of comic books, the point is, I don’t see another blogger around here, so pipe down! (That’s a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang reference, I apologize, but that kind of thing’s gonna happen a lot around here).

I thought I’d start this out by giving you some personal stats to give you a rough idea of just how big a nerd I am (for the record, I’m a pretty big nerd, but there’s always room for growth), so here goes–

• I (as of 4:45 on March 9th, 2010) have seen 188 of IMDB’s Top 250, and I have one more from the library, one coming tomorrow from Netflix, plus I recently purchased a box set containing two others that I haven’t watched yet, so that number is rising constantly.
• I have seen 76 of 100 on AFI’s 1998 list, and 80 of 100 on their 2007 list (my personal project at the moment is to finish these lists, I have 35 movies left, and I plan on covering my progress here).
• Prior to the Oscars this past Sunday, I had managed to see all ten Best Picture nominees, plus every film nominated for acting and screenwriting (except The Messenger, which I was a little too ashamed about).

So that’s a basic idea of where I’m coming from in regards to movies, I admittedly am far less qualified when it comes to music and books, but I won’t be covering those as heavily. Don’t get me wrong now, I enjoy both, but I’ve barely scratched the surface on either. I just read The Great Gatsby for crying out loud!

Alright! First blog post done, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I hope you enjoyed yourself, and I hope you’ll come back for the next one, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel! Or sooner! Or later! I haven’t really figured that out yet.

Posted under Kyle's Adventures in Pop Culture