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'17 AGAIN'
GO BACK REWIND THE CLOCK
By Sean Chavel
My biggest regret about 17 Again is that I've been tapped to think about the movie again after I've seen it. I'd rather have never been bothered to think about it again at all. I'd rather be cataloging my music collection right now or organizing my sock drawer. But I'm supposed to review this movie so I better come up with something. (An hour later) I'm back and think I have come up with something to say about this newest out of body comedy.
Hmm, "17 Again." The movie is condescending and insulting to the intelligence. And yes, I can be swept into the magic of a similarly drawn fairy-tale like "Big" with Tom Hanks or even the girly-tailored "13 Going on 30" with Jennifer Garner. When I say insulting to the intelligence I am talking about the quality of the jokes, the situations, the character development…
The opening scene peeved me where Mike O'Donnell circa 1989 (Zac Efron) walks off the basketball court to embrace the young pregnant Scarlet he loves. Most guys like me would consider ditching an important sports game like that as sacrilegious considering there was a college scout in attendance. But then it occurred to me that young female viewers might consider that very romantic. I'm sure the movie is designed to attract younger impressionable females, so I might have been able to forgive the scene if the rest of the movie hadn't sent me off my rocker.
We cut to twenty years later with Matthew Perry as the 37-year old Mike O'Donnell. The scenes with the reluctant older O'Donnell having it rough and miserable are scripted with such torpid inaptitude - ex-wife Scarlet in disdain, dissatisfied at work, kids don't respect him. The movie commiserates with such earnestness that we're miserable too because we're starved for some honest insight into O'Donnell's life situation. But the writing is all done so witlessly, from start to finish, in this uninspired (it's your turn to fill in the blank).
Substituting for a genie the story consigns a magical janitor who is able to rewind the clock for O'Donnell. O'Donnell reclaims his youth again, via the world's worst employed special effects, that transforms him back into his 17-year old body. It's like the moviemakers solicited for a stock image of a whirlpool bath and pasted a floating image of Efron on top of it so Perry can dive in and Presto! Anyway, now that O'Donnell is back in his teen body, nobody from contemporary times is ever going to recognize him. Yeah, right.
O'Donnell wakes up to an immediate hostile situation. Scene with friend Ned (Thomas Lennon) beating up Efron around his own house is noisy, aggravating and pitiful - you mean he doesn't see the resemblance to the Mike O'Donnell he knew while he was young? Efron hangs around his own son, his own daughter, his own ex-wife. What? Nobody in the family ever saw a picture of the young Mike O'Donnell and recognized that that's what young Dad looked like? Especially ex-wife Scarlet (Leslie Mann) who must have attention-deficit disorder, early stage dementia or perhaps had a memory transplant in the interim years from high school where she met O'Donnell and her adult years which would explain why she can't see that it's indeed the very same O'Donnell she's spent half her life with. To confuse people, of course, O'Donnell uses the lame excuse that he's Ned's kid. This is after, of course, Ned accepts Mike for who he says he is and agrees to become a surrogate guardian.
The plot theoretically exists so (you must have seen this coming) O'Donnell can have that second chance to make everything right again with his ex-wife and distancing kids. Efron, who is like a tanning-bed version of pre-Risky Business Tom Cruise, is not such an unappealing actor - he's got moonbeams for eyes and a mile-wide smile that could upstage Seacrest. It's easy to see why the high school girls like him. But Efron is saddled with a substandard sitcom script that requires him to say something out of 17-year old character - oops! - and have to explain why he just said what he said. He keeps forgetting he's not 37 anymore. I wanted to buy the character a 24-hour thinking cap or perhaps a magic marker so he could write down notes on his arm as reminders.
In the rare scenes of smart humor the movie repeatedly will follow-up by explaining the jokes to you. For example, Ned stands-in as Mike's father when they go in for high school enrollment. Ned has the hots for the principal (who doesn't have the hots for Melora Hardin?) Principal Jane Masterson looks on quizzically at Ned's unctuously leering behavior. Mike explains that his father is not used to meeting school principals who are both smart and attractive. Efron by choosing to play the scene with a sense of maturity and self-aware embarrassment, has good comic delivery when rising to the defense of his would-be father. But the script requires Masterson to say to Mike, "Well that's flattering but very inappropriate." It's as if the script didn't trust that the audience understood that it was an awkward and inappropriate moment (God forbid the film's director let actress Hardin underplay the embarrassment). It also squeezes the juice out of the scene when Masterson should be scowling at Ned, not Mike. There are dozens of other examples just like this where an extra snippet of explanatory dialogue treats its audience like boneheads.
If you've ever seen a body-swapping or body switcheroo movie than you must have an idea of how this all turns out (Yes, Matthew Perry returns in the third act). Scarlet lets down her defenses. The kids become more self-confident and less prone to making mistakes of their own. And there you have it. Whew, I'm done! I had a Coke and a Snickers bar while I wrote this review (funny how I treat my body like garbage while I think about a garbage movie). I think tonight I will fix myself a gourmet fondue and watch a really cool movie from my video library. Perhaps "Memento," that ultimate masterpiece about a short-term memory man who jots reminders on his arm. I'll be more than happy to invite Zac Efron over to watch it with me. Even though it would probably benefit the screenwriter of "17 Again" more.
'STATE OF PLAY'
NEWS GAMES
By Sean Chavel
The one role you would never expect Russell Crowe to take on in a movie is a journalist. Crowe doesn't like journalists, in fact, he despises them. But it's really entertainment journalists he doesn't like. Crowe takes on the role of Cal McAffrey, a Washington Globe newspaper star reporter engaged in politics, crime and world affairs. McAffrey uncovers a conspiracy in which he has personal stakes involved. The ever-daunting actor never caves in, although the movie does.
When Crowe is in the film he shows up everyone else with his imperious, domineering cool. He cuts through the B.S.and shrewdly extracts classified info yet he's a guy that knows how to tap onto the bottom line. Crowe makes you believe that this is the way it is done. Crowe inside and out respects his role of McAffrey and it is hard to not respect his performance.
A brainy yet beautifully enticing young woman is killed after she falls under a subway train which is deemed a potential suicide (that doesn't make much sense to McAffrey). She was tangled with married congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) which lights up a sex scandal frenzy. Collins, in the meantime, is a detractor at a hearing of PointCorp, which is a profiteering but untouchable industrial-military defense contractor. Collins is told not to raise his voice at the hearings because he is advised it would be professional suicide, especially while his public image is at its most vulnerable.
As luck would have it, Collins was McAffrey's college dorm roommate and the two of them share the same interests in exposing the malfeasance of PointCorp. McAffrey also summons Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) to assist his investigative reporting, much to the distaste of chief editor Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren, ruthlessly playing a queen bitch). But while McAffrey is very inclusive of Miss Frye, he's also telling her perpetually how to do her job. Of course, between the two of them, there is a lot of ground to cover. The arrival by Jason Bateman as a soused PR man for PointCorp is a highly welcome entrance, hence, the guy who ties up plot's loose ends.
The movie's theme is that tabloid gossip drowns out more important current issues, but a running joke is just as reverent: the idea that newspapers are dying in the age of the Internet. The visual style of the film suggests the rattling urgency of people working around the clock to cling on to their jobs. And the Washington Globe offices are frantic, chaotic and borderline unsanitary. "State of Play" certainly has a feel for how prize-winning newsrooms operate.
The movie did a good job with being interesting. But anytime you sacrifice realism for sensationalism the credibility of a movie is lost - especially when it comes to the topical political thriller genre. The third act is spoiled by too many laborious role reversals concocted to generate thrills. But hollow thrills with no authentic grounds are not thrilling. Abandonment of sincerity is deadly for a movie like this, and as a result, its value of relevance disintegrates instantaneously. None of this should be blamed on Crowe who holds himself well.
This is the second film this season to go overboard with twists-and-turns following "Duplicity" but that film at least survived on sex appeal and as a demo on sharp, playful dialogue. "State of Play" dissolves entirely because it's a serious film that decides it doesn't care to keep it real and so there is no reason to take it seriously.
More than often, unnecessary plot piling and role reversals just make their films worse. Great Russell Crowe performance, sell-out movie.
Observe and Report
By Scott Mendelson
Observe and Report may be the smartest dumb comedy since Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. That 2004 comedy classic used its stoner comedy trappings to tell a sharp, incisive tale about modern race relations and ethnic identity (we'll ignore the terrible sequel). Observe and Report begins as simply another story about an underachieving, but big-dreaming little guy who gets a chance to redeem himself and win the girl of his dreams. By the time it is over, we realize that we haven't just watched a comic variation on Taxi Driver, but also a satire of the very concept of American-style ambition and nationalistic superiority. In an era where hopes and dreams are being squashed left and right by forces not entirely of our own making, Observe and Report comes close to asking us how we began to feel entitled to our uniquely American optimism in the first place.
A token amount of plot - Ronnie Barnhardt is a mall security guard who dreams of bigger and better things. After a random flasher assaults several women in the parking lot, including the cosmetics employee who occupies Ronnie's fantasies, the obsessive mall cop sees this as an opportunity to fulfill his dreams of becoming a police officer. Can Ronnie achieve his dreams of becoming a police officer, as well as win the heart of Melanie at the cosmetics counter? Or will the police catch the flasher first, sounding a death knell for Ronnie's hopes and dreams?
Technically, this is a vast improvement on Jody Hill's low-budget, somewhat undisciplined debut feature The Foot Fist Way, and he has certainly become one of the most promising comic talents out there. The film is tighter and more organized, despite both films running about 85 minutes. There is genuine maturing as a filmmaker on display. While the plot is relatively conventional, the film quickly becomes a dark, psychologically disturbing trip into the mind of a genuine psychotic who believes that he has been put on this Earth to watch over the rest of us. The film will have audiences questioning just how much humor they are supposed to take from this obviously damaged individual, with many a joke being followed by a nervous chuckle. Everyone knows someone like Ronnie, and he's not very funny in real life.
In a genuinely brave performance, Seth Rogen sheds his frat-boy comic styling and delivers an unflinching portrayal. He refuses to wink at the audience and never subconsciously apologizes for Ronnie's casual racism and often-deplorable behavior. The supporting cast is equally game. Anna Faris is equally daring, delivering a razor-sharp and hilarious put-on of her usual ditzy blonde characters. Faris delivers a 'dream girl' who is stupid to the point of being repulsive, without any charm or kindness to offset the sheer nothingness on display. In a offhand way, she ends up becoming a spoof of the 'idealized fantasy girl' who appears in so many male coming of age stories (think Garden State). Ray Liotta, looking younger and healthier than he has in ages, has a blast playing off his tough-guy persona as the local cop in charge of investigating crime at Ronnie's mall. Only Michael Pena falters, as Ronnie's partner and trusted friend. Pena's highly cartoonish Spanish accent rings false in a film that strives for a certain authenticity.
While casual audiences can certainly enjoy the film for its bawdy punch lines and quasi-comic violence, there is much underneath the surface. First of all, the film plays as a pretty hard rip on the 'empowering' clichés found in so many movies that deal with male fantasy. But the film eventually becomes something deeper and more profound. Like most Americans, Ronnie believes that he is unique, a killer bee amongst the ant colony. By virtue of his birthright, he believes in his own moral superiority as well as his divine right to a greater destiny then that which has been bestowed upon him. The picture is a case study of both a garden-variety delusional thug and the bitter disillusionment of an entire nation. That this stark and uncompromising portrait is able to exist in a genuine comedy is something of a miracle.
Like The Foot Fist Way, this is a darkly comic character study of an obsessive, violent underachiever who thinks he's just a step away from greatness, only to realize that he was always doomed to walk among the masses of 'average men'. The film, while flawed (it sometimes moves in fits and starts) is surprisingly unflinching in its vision of a frighteningly common type of person. Moreover, it uses that archetype to paint a portrait of an America slowly coming to terms with the idea that it might not be as special as it thought it was. If Paul Blart: Mall Cop is the hero we want in these times of great strife, then maybe Ronnie Barnhardt: Head of Mall Security is the 'hero' we're stuck with.
Hannah Montana
By Frank Elaridi
The teenage audience composed of friends, families, and couples erupted in applause when Miley Cyrus first appeared on the big screen at the El Capitan movie theater in Hollywood, CA. The energy in the dark room was high, and everyone seemed to be completely mesmerized by the teen idol, who switched back and forth from normal kid, Miley Stewert to Pop singing sensation, Hannah Montana.
"Life is a climb, but the view is beautiful" was a common thread throughout the movie. In the beginning, Hannah Montana enjoys her life as the most famous teenager in the entire world. She performs for her adoring fans, but backstage, she is still Robby Ray Stewert's little girl, and he does not let her forget it, reminding her that it is her night to do the dishes. She truly has "the best of both worlds," but sometimes Hannah Montana gets in the way of Miley Stewert.
After getting into a comedic brawl with supermodel Tyra Banks, over a pair of shoes at a boutique, Miley is followed by a tabloid writer, and can't take off her disguise. So, she is forced to show up at her best friend Lilly's birthday party as Hannah Montana, stealing all the attention off of Lilly on her big day. Lilly, feeling betrayed by her best friend, tells the tabloid reporter, Oswald (played by Peter Gunn), what small Tennessee town Hannah Montana is really from. Like true friends, Miley and Lilly forgive and forget, but the damage is done, and Oswald, in search of a big story, goes to Tennessee to get some dirt on Hannah Montana.
At the same time, Miley's dad and manager decideS (against the will of her publicist, played by Vanessa Williams) that Miley is forgetting who she is inside. Afraid that she is caught up in "Hannah Montana," he tricks her into going to her hometown of Tennessee, to recapture the country girl she was before. At first, Hannah is mortified at having to leave her glamorous lifestyle for a country town she barely remembers. With the help of some hometown musicians, played by Rascal Flats and Taylor Swift, she is inspired to write a couple of new songs.
Of course, no teen idol movie is complete without a love interest. On her two week journey of re-discovery, Miley Stewert falls in love with a charming southern boy, who prefers simple Miley over the glamorous Hannah Montana. She helps him build his chicken coup, which seems like a lot of work, and that is when he teaches her that "life is a climb, but the view is beautiful. " Miley tells him that she knows Hannah Montana, and he later puts her on the spot, asking her to ask Hannah to do a charity concert for their little town. Hannah is the town's only hope of raising enough money to stop a wealthy company from building malls and apartment complexes on their vast natural lands. Miley reluctantly agrees, and finds herself having to go back and forth from Hannah to Miley in her hometown.
Once again, Hannah gets in the way of Miley's life, and ruins her new relationship with her cowboy crush, when she has to ditch him at dinner for a formal dinner with the mayor. When he mistakenly finds out her secret, he says that he is done with her, for lying to him. After crying and feeling helpless, Miley stays up all night, and finishes the chicken coup they started together. The next morning, Miley is forced to continue with the charity concert and take center stage as Hannah Montana. Her cowboy crush sees the coup and is so touched, he goes to her concert.
After one song, she reveals her true identity to the enormous crowd, telling them that she can no longer pretend to be Hannah Montana. After performing a song she wrote, as Miley Stewert, the crowd yells words of encouragement, explaining that they love her and will protect her secret. There is just one problem. Oswald has a picture on his camera that could reveal Miley's secret to the entire world. Fortunately for Miley, Oswald's two daughters are there as well, and when he sees how much they adore Hannah Montana, he decides to trash his story and the pictures.
In the end, Miley Stewert re-discovers herself and her family, finds love, balances Hannah and Miley, has her best friend by her side, and truly lives "the best of both worlds!" Through out the entire film, teenage girls scream with Miley, they laughed with her, and even cried with her. Without a doubt, she had captured the hearts of the world's youth, and is the most famous teenager in the world.
GREEN IS THE COLOR
By Richard Kaplan
Actor and musician Corey Feldman and friends, presented by BMI, put together an enlightening evening of global environmental awareness and some hot live musical performances to help benefit Global Green USA.
The event at the Key Club on Sunset Strip kicked off with Kevin Vickery who is the co-producer of the award winning provocative documentary "Fuel" which examines Americas addiction to oil and emphasizes the immediacy of energy solutions. In his brief presentation Vickery did create a lighter moment when he referred to an environmentalist sex act as "green tea bagging."
The evening moved on with veteran environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. setting the tone for the importance of creating an atmosphere of learning and engaging in a communication about the many dire environmental issues challenging our world. He also informed the audience remarkably that in 1970 he went electric with a car and became a vegetarian. Begley also auctioned off a few items including a Fender Squire Stratocaster guitar signed by Corey Feldman and his band Truth Movement.
Next on stage came actor/musician Greg Cipes who appears in the current box office hit "Fast and Furious." Cipes whose band is called Cipes & the People jump started the party with some reggae pop-funk. Cipes also resonates with the aspirations of the Global Green objectives. One of his lyrics for the evening pretty much sums up his affection and reverence for mother earth as he sings out. "The sky is our blanket and earth is our bed." Cipes has also been a vegan for the majority of his life.
And then, suddenly the stage began to vibrate with the pulsating melodic Pink Floyd influenced music of Corey Feldman's Truth Movement band. The laser light show emanating from the stage in rhythmic harmony with the music which began to electrify our senses and with all eyes on the stage a lone figure approached the microphone wearing what looked like a hooded grim reaper robe. As he sang and narrated the spoken word into the florescence of the stage light it was symbolic of the precarious state in which we mortal earthlings currently find ourselves in. Is the grim reaper here to lay claim to us ? Or, will we rise up together as one to save our planet from imminent demise.
Just then the grim reaper throws back his hood to reveal himself to be Corey Feldman at which time the audience erupts into a cacophony of screams and yelps of approval. Feldman told me in a recent conversation that he has actually been working on music for almost twenty years and was very lucky to become friends with many of the Floyd members.
Corey's new Truth Movement CD called "Technology Analogy" was actually designed by Storm Thorgeson who designed what many say is the greatest album cover of all time. Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon." And, as a testament to Feldman's dedication to going green the CD is packaged with 100% biodegradable material and printed with soy inks.
Feldman's presence on stage and his unique approach as a vocalist who augments with narrating spoken word is completely captivating. Clearly his recent off-Broadway lead role in "Fatal Attraction" which garnered Feldman positive reviews strengthens his knowledge and command of the stage.
While bathing suit clad characters frolic on stage with a giant beach ball Feldman asked the audience to picture ourselves on a remote island on some beautiful tropical beach as the band rocks us into a great little jam called "Breezy Day." Another high point in the Truth Movement performance came with a scorching rendition of "Coming back around." Featuring Mark Karan from "Rat Dog" whose guitar licks soared with fury and grace.
In a tender moment Feldman sat down with a slide sitar on his lap and played the poignant song. "Green is the Color." which is quickly becoming the Green anthem for our era. Simply put Feldman asks. "Just think of the world your children will miss… we need green."
All and all Feldman has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry and a man of his time who is throwing his weight behind the new world age of creating a positive and healthy environment which can sustain us into the future for our children. The Truth Movement new album "Technology Analogy" is a must have and you
can purchase it directly at coreyfeldman.net