Everything Must Go Everything that Larry Crowne is not, Everything Must Go is. Here is a man many on TD can relate to: an alcoholic; accused of sexual harassment; left by wife for being a cheater; wandering aimlessly through this life. I picture several OT members specifically, though I will not name them. But you know who you are. The gravitas and soul searching left out by Hanks is filled, surprisingly, by Will Ferrell. Many have said this is Ferrell's Bill Murray breakthrough, showing that he can act more than dufus roles. I'm proud of Ferrell because behind his comic appearances, I think there is a Nick Halsey there. The most warming relationship in the movie is the one he shares with the young kid on the bike. Moments of levity spice the movie when the sadness of loss and despondence weigh heavily. 8/10

The Fighter A really enjoyable movie that grows on you the more you think about the performances. It is entirely character driven and the two leads are exceptional. The movie isn't about boxing - it's about family, brothers, conflicting allegiances, and triumph over weakness. The boxing scenes are bad and a waste of time. 9/10

Footloose An adequate remake of a classic about the dangers of parental protection and adolescent rebellion. It tries too hard to make a moral point, even worse than the original. It is, nonetheless, a fun, sing-a-long, tap-your-feet-in-the-aisles romping good time. 5/10

Glee the 3D Movie Concert Earlier this month, three Mandeville teenagers planned an attack on their schoolmates and teachers. The plan was to murder others and then murder themselves. While it is an extreme case, it illustrates a major social problem we face: exclusion which pushes people to do anything for acceptance. Some people act with meanness to gain acceptance by the group, as we saw in socialites in The Help; others turn to vice, such as doing illegal drugs and posting threads that debase women like WOWHI threads. Everyone in this world yearns for acceptance. The Christian doctrine of justification is essentially a description of this deep desire within us to be accepted, not just by others but by God.

Glee 3D is essentially a cheesy pop-culture retelling of that doctrine: a movie of acceptance despite, and perhaps, because of our flaws. In that sense, it was, in this world of such high standards of beauty and talent, quite a refreshing surprise to watch. I had never seen the show before, so I went into the film only knowing it was a concert movie about a TV show about singers. Unlike the J.B. Never Say Never movie where I walked out a full-fledged Belieber, I don't know if I'm ready to count myself part of the Gleek membership. It might be because the producers of Glee 3D essentially stole the Never Say Never movie format and put in their cast instead of J.B.

Although the movie is an emotional high from start to finish, I felt that the stories, while strangely beautiful, were also contrived and manipulative with the audience's emotions. Speaking of manipulative, the guy in the wheelchair doesn't need a wheelchair? What? I just didn't get that sequence or why he was in a wheelchair in the first place. For me, the highlight of the movie was the opening scene: Don't Stop Believe In. From there, the songs were good, but did not match the intensity and fervor of that first song. The 3D was rather unnecessary, with the majority of the 3D being scenes of the crowd to make you feel like there were fans in front of you. I must say, however, that at times I forgot I was in a theater and thought I was at a concert.

The overall message of the movie is positive, if not a little pop-culture, self-help preachy. Essentially it tells us that it's okay to be a loser. We'll love you anyway, indeed, because you are a loser. Very similar to the idea of God accepting us while we are still sinners, and the Church being a collection of sinners. Glee replaces the idea of sinner with the idea of a loser. The Christian understanding is much more realistic because it teaches people that there's something we must do after we realize our sin. Glee teaches that we should be happy to accept being a loser. We are accepted and nothing else matters. There we find the version of hyper-justification: being accepted is all that matters. Life stops with acceptance. In a society of laziness, it's a very tempting alternative to the notion of justification/acceptance giving us meaning and energy to become better. Just because we have flaws, IMO, does not mean we should be content to live with them. Perhaps, though, due to our society that is so exclusionary and turns normal people into monsters who seek acceptance, this hyper-justification has a place. 6/10

This post was edited on 11/16/11 at 7:27 am

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Posted by TulaneLSU

Member since Aug 2003

Member since Dec 2007

13298 posts

Posted on 11/16/11 at 7:21 am to TulaneLSU

The Green Hornet with the proliferation of comic book movies these days, you'd think the producers would have a standard pattern of success to follow. The Green Hornet moves away from any standard and tries to make a cutesy, Hangoverish comedy comic. It fails miserably. The lead of the show, Rogen, isn't remotely funny and his presence makes the movie fail from the very beginning. Why is this man a movie star? He's horrible. The co-star is low English speaker who is supposed to be made in the image of Bruce Lee. An hour into this goofy movie I was ready to leave, but I was tortured for another full hour. The only remotely interesting thing about this movie was the use of car weapons. Cameron Diaz is past her sell by date. 3/10.

The Green Lantern Is it possible to spend so much money to make something so ordinary? The makers of The Green Lantern have to get credit for spending prime filet prices on an Outback sirloin. The special animation was not very special; the characters were not interesting; the story was stale. Using a beautiful female in the role she had is like putting wasabi on the Eucharist wafer: totally unnecessary and self-defeating. 4/10

The Guard If you ever doubted that the people of the British Isles love their Westerns, do not look past The Guard. Listed as a comedy, it is better understood as a nod to the American Western. Yes, it is set on the west coast of Ireland. Yes, neither of its leads ever hop on a horse, though, there is a horse scene. Yes, there are no ropes, dust, tumbleweeds, or cowboy hats, save for the one worn by a former member of the IRA. Missing are the accidentals of the cowboy genre, but accidentals do not make something one thing or another.

So the question then becomes, what makes a cowboy movie? I would argue several essential characteristics: mysterious, morally ambivalent protagonist(s), a quest for something good, bad guys, reticent but concise language, a supporting cast ruled by suspicion of authority but by and large well intentioned, and ambuscades and a showdown. This movie has all of the above, so we can disregard the patina of comedy and look at it as an addition to the Western genre. That isn't to say the movie isn't funny; it's probably the funniest movie I've seen this year. But its humor is a smart humor, not like the trash that sophomoric Americans laugh at (thinking specifically of Hangover-Horrible Bosses poo-penis-drug humor). But humor doesn't drive the movie and its not a good lens through which to view it. The layering of humor through the movie is nearly perfect, like a steady wind that never offends. Its humor serves as a counter weight to the protagonist, a man who, out of uniform, loves hookers and blow, but a man of ideals and character in uniform. But no matter what he wears, melancholy is always close to his cuff. Heroic or stubborn, arrogant heroes often hide their melancholy with humor, and Sergeant Boyle is no exception.

I'm sure many viewers will see the question of this movie as "You're either really dumb or really smart," a once repeated description of Boyle by Cheadle's character. But that's not the question. The question we want to know is which mask does Boyle wear: the comic or the tragic? And we're left believing it's the tragic, and his comedy is only comedy because of his sadness. Like good Westerns, The Guard will leave you thinking about the flawed hero. So far, the best Western of the year. 7/10

This post was edited on 11/16/11 at 7:28 am

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Posted by iwyLSUiwy

I'm your huckleberry

Member since Apr 2008

34488 posts

Posted on 12/13/11 at 12:54 pm to TulaneLSU

quote:
Everything Must Go Everything that Larry Crowne is not, Everything Must Go is. Here is a man many on TD can relate to: an alcoholic; accused of sexual harassment; left by wife for being a cheater; wandering aimlessly through this life. I picture several OT members specifically, though I will not name them. But you know who you are. The gravitas and soul searching left out by Hanks is filled, surprisingly, by Will Ferrell. Many have said this is Ferrell's Bill Murray breakthrough, showing that he can act more than dufus roles. I'm proud of Ferrell because behind his comic appearances, I think there is a Nick Halsey there. The most warming relationship in the movie is the one he shares with the young kid on the bike. Moments of levity spice the movie when the sadness of loss and despondence weigh heavily. 8/10

The Fighter A really enjoyable movie that grows on you the more you think about the performances. It is entirely character driven and the two leads are exceptional. The movie isn't about boxing - it's about family, brothers, conflicting allegiances, and triumph over weakness. The boxing scenes are bad and a waste of time. 9/10

Footloose An adequate remake of a classic about the dangers of parental protection and adolescent rebellion. It tries too hard to make a moral point, even worse than the original. It is, nonetheless, a fun, sing-a-long, tap-your-feet-in-the-aisles romping good time. 5/10

Glee the 3D Movie Concert Earlier this month, three Mandeville teenagers planned an attack on their schoolmates and teachers. The plan was to murder others and then murder themselves. While it is an extreme case, it illustrates a major social problem we face: exclusion which pushes people to do anything for acceptance. Some people act with meanness to gain acceptance by the group, as we saw in socialites in The Help; others turn to vice, such as doing illegal drugs and posting threads that debase women like WOWHI threads. Everyone in this world yearns for acceptance. The Christian doctrine of justification is essentially a description of this deep desire within us to be accepted, not just by others but by God.

Glee 3D is essentially a cheesy pop-culture retelling of that doctrine: a movie of acceptance despite, and perhaps, because of our flaws. In that sense, it was, in this world of such high standards of beauty and talent, quite a refreshing surprise to watch. I had never seen the show before, so I went into the film only knowing it was a concert movie about a TV show about singers. Unlike the J.B. Never Say Never movie where I walked out a full-fledged Belieber, I don't know if I'm ready to count myself part of the Gleek membership. It might be because the producers of Glee 3D essentially stole the Never Say Never movie format and put in their cast instead of J.B.

Although the movie is an emotional high from start to finish, I felt that the stories, while strangely beautiful, were also contrived and manipulative with the audience's emotions. Speaking of manipulative, the guy in the wheelchair doesn't need a wheelchair? What? I just didn't get that sequence or why he was in a wheelchair in the first place. For me, the highlight of the movie was the opening scene: Don't Stop Believe In. From there, the songs were good, but did not match the intensity and fervor of that first song. The 3D was rather unnecessary, with the majority of the 3D being scenes of the crowd to make you feel like there were fans in front of you. I must say, however, that at times I forgot I was in a theater and thought I was at a concert.

The overall message of the movie is positive, if not a little pop-culture, self-help preachy. Essentially it tells us that it's okay to be a loser. We'll love you anyway, indeed, because you are a loser. Very similar to the idea of God accepting us while we are still sinners, and the Church being a collection of sinners. Glee replaces the idea of sinner with the idea of a loser. The Christian understanding is much more realistic because it teaches people that there's something we must do after we realize our sin. Glee teaches that we should be happy to accept being a loser. We are accepted and nothing else matters. There we find the version of hyper-justification: being accepted is all that matters. Life stops with acceptance. In a society of laziness, it's a very tempting alternative to the notion of justification/acceptance giving us meaning and energy to become better. Just because we have flaws, IMO, does not mean we should be content to live with them. Perhaps, though, due to our society that is so exclusionary and turns normal people into monsters who seek acceptance, this hyper-justification has a place. 6/10