…Jon Heder.

Yes, Napoleon Dynamite.

Did we really let this guy into our homes for the past five years?  Did we really need to see him star in other movies like the Benchwarmers and Blades of Glory?  While those are undoubtedly terrible movies that couldn’t be made any worse by his involvement, what exactly made people think that we’d want to see this guy in anything else?  Wasn’t Napoleon Dynamite enough?  Isn’t that a fad that we’re all glad is over with and done for?

America, please learn from your mistakes.  Don’t let this happen again next decade.

Please.

–Cap’n Blackjack

I can honestly say I’ve seen commercials for Sonic, “your ultimate drink stop” for a solid 5 years now. My sister and I would watch, practically salivating and complaining about how all we wanted was one of their slushes or delicious breakfast burritos. Living in Central New Jersey, we were never lucky enough to have one of our own… until now.

Recently, a Sonic Drive-In opened in North Brunswick, and another is being built in Greenbrook. There are already a few out there, one in north west Jersey, another in Waretown, and one in Forked River. For the most part the already opened locations were too far a drive to justify for a drive-in fast food joint. The newest member to the Sonic family, however, oozes convenience. So much so, that I’ve gone two days in a row.

The first time I went was in Pennsylvania with some friends. I was overwhelmed by the menu, and stuck to a cherry slush and chicken wrap with tots, of course. The next time I went, I tried the breakfast burrito, which was AWESOME. I then tried the bacon cheeseburger on Texas toast, which was amazing when I first ate it, but not so great a few hours later.

Yesterday, I tried the California burger and a blue coconut slush. These were both delicious though I could have gone for more Thousand Island dressing on my burger. Instead of the regular tots, my boyfriend and I split the chili cheese tots; best decision ever. Today, after watching the Travel Channel’s “Hot Dog Paradise” I went for the chili cheese dog with regular tots, and a cherry limeade with a shot of vanilla. SO GOOD!

The food really is so much better than your average fast food joint. Throw in ordering from your car and having them deliver it to you on roller skates, I can’t think of a better scenario. I can honestly say I don’t think there is a single thing on the menu I wouldn’t try. Just their drinks alone are mind blowing.

This is absolutely a place you need to find, and eat at. Most of them don’t have indoor seating (though I think a few do), and some have outdoor seating. They have quite a few drive-ins, and most also have a drive-thru. Even if you just hit it up for something more than your 7-11 Slurpee, (between 2 and 4 every single day is happy hour, with half priced drinks!) you’ll be glad you did. I can’t help but think of Napoleon Dynamite every time I order tots, but I’m more than okay with that.

So keep ‘em coming Sonic, us New Jerseyans have seen your commercials for years, and we’re hungry for the deliciousness!

Fans of Vanessa Williams will enjoy "A Diva's Christmas Carol"

Happy Tree Day Eve everyone! I thought I’d post some quick reviews for a few more movies I watched this past week:

Mixed Nuts — An 1994 movie starring Steve Martin and directed by Nora Ephron. I have seen this movie three times now and it’s one of my favorites. The first time I saw it I thought it looked terrible (Steve Martin is known for physical comedy and I hate physical comedy) but it was actually pretty hilarious. Every cast member is funny from Rob Reiner to Juliette Lewis. Daily Show fans will enjoy seeing Jon Stewart in a (very) minor role. Adam Sandler fans will not be surprised by the character he plays (or the silly little song he sings in the movie).

Don’t go into it thinking it’s amazing though, my sister had heard my brother-in-law and me rave about this movie and thought it was boring (it is a bit low-key) but when I went into it thinking it would be boring, I thought it was awesome. You know how that is. I hated Napoleon Dynamite when I saw it because everyone had told me it was amazing and to me it wasn’t.

A Diva’s Christmas Carol — I previously said that I hated “A Christmas Carol” remakes and stopped watching this after a few minutes, but I actually ended up watching the whole thing. And it was surprisingly very funny. It is worth it to see Vanessa Williams + Chilli (from TLC) + some other lady in an ’80s R&B band complete with tacky dance moves and outfits. Hilarious! Be warned, though. You may become very bored of the song the group wrote for the movie and you may wonder if Vanessa Williams will ever play anything other than a mean lady who ends up not being so mean after all ala Ugly Betty.

An Accidental Christmas – Basically a “Parent Trap” on Christmas only with uglier kids and a dad who comes across as gay (but isn’t supposed to be). This movie was okay. Not great, not completely terrible.

Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe — Starring Jenny McCarthy. This was very boring. I ended up playing facebook games at the same time and fast-forwarding when I couldn’t take it anymore. Definitely did not live up to the first movie.

Image by Save the Children / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Before you start launching comment grenades in my general direction, there are three very important things to consider regarding the following list of my 40 favorite films released between 2000 and 2009:

(1) There are a TON of likely fantastic movies I still have not seen yet, even from several years ago;
(2) As the father of two youngsters, I am subjected to a PAINFULLY inordinate amount of kid flicks; and
(3) My list contains a RIDICULOUS number of low brow comedies, because mentally, I’m still pretty much 15

So, that being said, here’s my list…

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou? – The moment I realized it was futile to hate George Clooney.

2. WALL-E - It took an animated trash compactor to thaw my cynical heart, if only for two hours.

3. Napoleon Dynamite - The single most quote-worthy flick since Caddyshack.

4. (tie) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
4. (tie) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
4. (tie) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The greatest trilogy since the original three Star Wars films.

7. Remember the Titans - Call it cheesy schmaltz if you must, but it fires me up every time.

8. Step Brothers - POW! POW!  Indeed.

9. Superbad – Never has the male genitalia played so prominent a role outside the porn realm.

10. Frailty - Manages to be extremely disturbing and terrifying without lazily relying upon gratuitous gore.

11. Tortilla Soup - Not too many cooks in this kitchen; an absolutely fantastic ensemble!

12. Mulholland Drive - Trademark Lynchian weirdness and confusion abounds, but you literally can’t avert your eyes for a second.

13. Wet Hot American Summer - A smarter, edgier and sometimes even funnier Meatballs.

14. Snatch - The British Tarantino draws incredibly manic performances from his brilliant cast.

15. Slumdog Millionaire - Not only lived up to, but exceeded, its lofty Oscar-driven hype.

16. Gran Torino - One of Eastwood’s finest performances both in front of and behind the camera.

17. Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino’s WWII cartoon is lifted to great heights by an all-time performance from the previously unknown Christoph Waltz.

18. Old School - This 21st century take on Animal House provided a much-needed respite to all of us facing the otherwise grim prospect of a mid-life crisis.

19. The Bourne Ultimatum - Damon’s Gen-X Bond really hits the mark in this outing that recalls such great paranoia classics as Three Days of the Condor.

20. Nacho Libre - Jack Black may fancy himself more of a tubby troubadour, but this wrestling Mexican monk was truly the role he was born to play.

21. Unbreakable - Still the only good movie Shamalamadingdong has ever made.

22. Anchorman - A fantastic concept flawlessly executed to hilarious results.  The gang fight may be the single funniest scene of the decade.

23. No Country For Old Men - The Coen Brothers manage to maintain maximum tension throughout.  Well done, Friendos.

24. (tie) Kill Bill Vol. 1
24. (tie) Kill Bill Vol. 2 - Uma Thurman’s finest hour(s).  I’m still holding out hope for a Vol. 3 at some point in the future.

26. Fantastic Mr. Fox - Unequivocal proof that Wes Anderson’s trademark brand of indie quirk comes across much less grating when delivered by animated animals.

27. Sin City - I loved every single thing about this movie, except for the lighting during Carla Gugino’s scenes.

28. The Simpsons Movie - Kudos to Groening and company for successfully turning their half-hour cartoon sitcom into a legitimate 90-minute movie and not just three loosely intertwined episodes of their show.

29. Charlie Wilson’s War - Hanks and Hoffman both at the top of their game, with Hanks actually playing a flawed guy, for once.

30. Up - Leave it to Pixar to somehow make ED ASNER lovable.

31. Iron Man - Great effects and action anchored by the best superhero backstory yet.

32. Vanilla Sky - Most people hate this movie, but it really got to me, especially the scene scored by Todd Rundgren’s “Can We Still Be Friends?”

33. Cloverfield - Some real chilling edge-of-your-seat moments, provided you can fight off the vomit reflex triggered by the shaky cam.

34. American Psycho - A tour-de-force performance by Christian Bale, who demonstrates a unique ability to multi-task (impressively operating a chainsaw while crtitiquing the output of Huey Lewis and The News).

35. Shrek - A fresh take on a fractured fairy tale driven by pitch-perfect voice work from Myers and Murphy.

36. Tropic Thunder - Robert Downey, Jr. absolutely carries this one on his shoulders, with a minor assist from a wonderfully bizarre cameo by Tom Cruise.

37. The Royal Tenenbaums - A delightfully unorthodox take on a severely dysfunctional family, led by one of the most inspired performances of Gene Hackman’s career.

38. The 40-Year-Old Virgin - Nobody makes losers more lovable than Steve Carell.

39. Big Fish - Tim thrives taking these tall tales to theaters.

40. Monsters, Inc. - Crystal and Goodman make a great team, even when covered in fur.

There you have it - not too many trendy art house darlings to be found, but I likes what I likes.

Here are 5 things that made me laugh pretty hard during the past 10 years:

In no particular order:

I found the series of GI Joe videos during my 4th year of university, when Ebaumsworld was big. My friends wouldn’t stop saying “Porkchop Sandwiches” or “Help Computer” for a really long time.

While this particular clip probably isn’t one of the funniest clips of the past decade, it is representative of Anchorman as my choice for funniest movie of the past 10 years. As this also came out during my senior year of university, I had to move into the library under Schmon Tower at Brock University to get anything done. I sang “Afternoon Delight” at at least one party. In no way is that depressing.

Definitely the funniest folk parody duo of the past 10 years, the Flight of the Conchords produced some of the most smartly written singing comedy that I had ever heard. They even inspired some of my own work.

Arrested Development is my choice for funniest show of the past decade. I personally find George Michael to be the funniest character, but it’s pretty hard to choose.

And finally, love him or hate him, there was this:

Agree? Disagree?

Honourable Mention

Dwight Schrute, Dick in a Box, Robert Goulet, Superbad, Total Eclipse of the Heart, End of Ze World, Clone High

Sports high school movies (Remember the Titans, Friday Night Lights) aren’t actually high school movies so much as sports movies, and won’t be included here. But for the record, Friday Night Lights is one of the most realistic high school movies I’ve ever seen. Also, high school movies where the high school is not in the movie all that much (I’m talking to you, American Graffiti! And you, Ferris Bueller!) aren’t going to be on this list. Also, I usually stay away from high school movies like the plague, so I haven’t seen what critics think are unappreciated classics like Rushmore and Heathers and Clueless.

Realistic fare:

• American Pie. As sophomoric, stupid, lame, generally not funny, cringeworthy, etc. this movie is, it has moments of stark realism. The concept of the movie: guys trying to get some sex before leaving high school so they won’t be virgins in college. I have a hard time imagining that this has never happened before. I have a hard time imagining that this isn’t based off of a true story. Fortunately, even though this fits in the ranks of the oddly realistic high school movies, Alyson Hannigan and Seann William Scott, and Eugene Levy are the only people in this movie who have careers anymore. Who’s fallen the farthest? Tara Reid, who has captained a team on Wild ‘N Out, the Nick Cannon improv show, known in some circles as “Whose Line for Black People.” How do I know this? My roommate, Iron Mike, will leave MTV2 on all night. You could judge me. I think you should pity me instead.
• Stand and Deliver. There are two reasons that this movie goes under the realistic category. 1) It’s based on a true story, which leaves little room for the Andy Garcia Memorial Prosecution: ”Aw, they made this up, they’re cheating.” 2) That combover that Edward James Olmos almost shamefully sports in that film? Yeah. Teachers don’t have any fashion sense. Now, if I become a teacher without being fashionable, does that mean that I will be wearing Christmas sweaters all the time when I’m sixty? It’s possible.
• Mean Girls. Yes, I know. Just because I love it and know all the lines doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily realistic. And I think once Lindsay Lohan decides to become good again, it loses quite a bit of the realism. But I really do believe that, just like in revolutionary France, there is a great deal of social tension riding between the fight between the Second Estate of Attractive, Well-Dressed People, the Third Estate of Everyone Else, and the First Estate of Teachers Who Don’t Actually Remember High School. Golly, imagine if they guillotined Regina instead of just pushing her in front of a bus…
• Fame. When you put a theater high school in New York, you’re usually not making a recipe for a realistic movie. Fame happens to be one of the most realistic high school movies ever. “Empire State of Mind” can push itself off the Brooklyn Bridge for romanticizing Times Square. This movie deals with the Bronx in the ’70s. There is very little romanticization. These are realistic kids, with totally unrealistic dreams in an unrealistic profession. And they manage to make it through this movie, for the most part, with dignities intact. A really underrated movie.
• Napoleon Dynamite. I really hate to put this one on here, because, well, we hates them, Precious. We hates those filthy, nasty Hobbitses, Napoleon and Pedro. Ignore the lame phrases that become quotes later on. Ignore every family interaction that Napoleon has. Ignore Lafawnduh. And you’ll find the ennui of high school in Idaho. And oh, dear sweet baby Jesus, will you ever find the ennui of high school in Idaho. It really does depict that incredibly boring aspect of high school really well. You go every day, you do the same thing every day; if you don’t have friends, you can drive yourself up the wall drawing ligers…sigh.
• The History Boys. Before Domenic Cooper was in Mamma Mia!, he was in The History Boys. An absolutely gorgeous movie. Probably should have asked for it for Christmas. Homosexuality abounds in this movie about really intelligent guys trying to get into a really good college so they’ll have really good lives. It’s hard for me to describe just why it’s so true to life. Go see it.

Movies that just aren’t realistic. An interestingly large number of these will be musicals. I apologize.

• Black kids and white kids don’t interact in a high school in New Jersey in 2009. So to say that in 1962 Baltimore that it could happen is well, stupid. In some other ways, Hairspray is an almost realistic high school movie, especially in parent-to-kid relations. In all others, it’s not. But it gave Matthew Morrison his start. Providence.
• Carrie. You know, Brian De Palma was actually doing a pretty good job until he decided to throw that entire telekinesis thing in the movie. I mean, what’s that all about? Nobody burns down the Prom because she’s angry, and she definitely doesn’t do it with her mind. It’s a shame that people think of this as a good high school movie. Realistic it ain’t! This is one of the great failures of cinema.
• Grease. People change to become popular, and sell their souls to do it. That’s realistic, and it’s excellently stated. People also get pregnant in high school…woo-hoo. People also drop out of high school…woo-hoo. There are also dumb jocks in high school…woo-hoo. I mean, it is realistic, but it doesn’t do anything about it. Grease had a unique oppurtunity to make some very fine social commentary, and then it laid the groundwork but didn’t build on it. Carmela DiFlorio almost singlehandedly made me interested in this musical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-eNmS_QMiI When she sang this, I almost changed my mind about Grease. And yes, Martine McCutcheon was in Love Actually. If anyone reading this is at Eastern, please giver her my best. And ignore that I’m discussing her in a moderately creepy fashion in a blog. Just leave that part out.
• Dead Poets Society. The word to describe this movie is a word that Pauline Kael used to describe it. It’s “slick.” This movie is overwhelmingly slick. At the end of the movie, I was sort of hoping one of them was going to fall off his desk and break his leg. If you’re looking for a male boarding school movie that does a better job, watch The Emperor’s Club, starring Kevin Kline and a really young Emile Hirsch, and also a really young Paul Dano. Patrick Dempsey and Embeth Davidtz are in here too. Man, everyone is in this movie! Anyway, it really does a great job with the pressures people feel in school, with a special emphasis on honor.
• The Breakfast Club. It may be the best pure high school movie out there, but no one can call it realistic. You stick five kids together in detention. They decide to bare their souls, and four of them have dates at the end of the movie. They learn about themselves. They become best friends. The final scene is iconic. But a better final scene that would really screw the realism in? They ignore each other on Monday, just as  Molly Ringwald thinks they will. That’s what would do it for me.
• High School Musical. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL37snqMJx8 Too easy.

“I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices.” Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

i want that.

look at how pretty!

i know this is completely crazy but i think this is on the top of my xmas list this year.  don’t know what it is?  it’s 500 pencils.  500 DIFFERENT COLORED PENCILS.  isn’t that the best thing you’ve ever heard?  each pencil has a special name and story (ex: lobster bisque, mermaid’s gown, tea with milk, etc) it’s like having 500 children that never screamed or pooped all over your sofa.  and if you lost one, you wouldn’t get in trouble with child protective services!  it’s perfect.  it’s a dream come true.   if i had 500 pencils i would color my entire apartment.  i would break them all in 2 and end up with 1000.  i would draw a multi-colored line around the earth 10 times.  pencils!  pencils!  pencils!!!

If there’s one thing my friend Michelle and I know for certain, it’s that getting Hung to check you out at the supermarket foreshadows a very lucky day.  There’s also Tit who does mostly stock work.   A sighting of her is like spotting a unicorn riding over a rainbow and, obviously, brings a year’s worth of good fortune.   But our favorite is, of course, the aforementioned lucky charm.

When Michelle first noticed his name tag, which reads,

“Hi, I’m

HUNG”

I think she might have peed from laughing right there by the bubble gum and gossip mags.   I’m not even sure how she made it through check out.  I, myself, would have tried (probably unsuccessfully) to hold a normal conversation while checking out — using his name in each sentence rather unnecessarily.  “How are you today…Hung?”  or “I’m cold; are you… Hung?”

Now every time Michelle checks out with Hung, I get a phone call from the car to alert me of her good luck status for the day.  She’s on fire, too!  I swear I get a call three out of four weeks in a month.  And, I’ve only even SEEN Hung once, nonetheless checked out with him!  Some Irish luck I possess!

Then, there’s my luck.

The other day, I had about eighty-five items in my cart, two kids who were melting down,  and limited patience when I unloaded the cart, looked up and noticed him.  He was not only a Napoleon Dynamite look-alike, but an act-alike as well.  Now, I found the movie annoying.  I c a n n o t TELL you how irritating the main character is in real life.  He had a mournful comment on every item he scanned.  EVERY item.  The kids were pulling each other’s hair out, I was losing my shit, and Napoleon was asking me what I use baking soda for. 

As we pulled away, I noticed Sebastian had spilled a bit of water on the floor.  It wasn’t a lot.  But enough to mention.  There was no one in line behind me, however he managed to huff and sigh loudly saying, “OH.  Now I had to stop everything I’m doing (what exactly?) and clean this up.  UGH!”  In the time it took him to groan, I could have grabbed the fucking paper towels out of his hand, ripped half a sheet off and cleaned up the capful of water myself. 

Napoleon Dynamite is definitely bad luck.  He is certainly not Hung.  He’s the anti-HUNG.

Deb: “Are they still letting you run for president?”
Pedro: “Yes. I don’t understand… they say you’re not allowed to have piñatas that look like real people, but in Mexico, we do it all the time.”

Napoleon Dynamite est un film super fun et lunaire. Il m’arrive d’être saisi par un plan du film, comme ça au réveil. Dès lors je suis comme posséder, et je relie les quotes, je me remémore les scènes et je tombe dans une boucle abyssale, puis je pense à une piñata.
Je crois que la chose que je veux le plus là, c’est faire une piñata et la briser.

What is it?

This seems that someone put “Ghost World”, “Napoleon Dynamite” and an after school special in a blender with just a touch of “The Gilmore Girls” and came out with the kind of delectable diner treat you wish your local 5 star restaurant would serve.

Juno (Ellen Page) is a 16 year old girl living with her dad and step mom. With all the other problems of being a middle of the social ladder teen aged girl, Juno is pregnant. As all public high school educated teens are taught, she first considers abortion. She then decides to give it up for adoption to a couple who are unable to have children of their own.

Whatever this character driven, dialog heavy style of movie making is, I believe Juno makes it an official genre and someone with more clout than me will need to name it. (And once it’s named it can be beat into the ground until we all long for the days when we were not sure how to describe films like “Trust” and “Napoleon Dynamite”).

How was it?

With small town feel, quick witty dialogue, and a track team of maroon and gold clad skinny guys that just all run by every once and a while, this film has great texture and superb story telling.

It is rare to find something fun to watch, though still very emotional. I was unaware that Jason Batman was making a comeback. (I have not seen him since “Teen Wolf Too”) but he is excellent as the cool half of the adoptive yuppie couple (with Jennifer Gardner as his better half). There is a lot here that just seems like general silliness, but has big plot and symbolic payoff, later in the film. Each part is played superbly, the light banter never trivializes, and a cast of odd ball characters never seem distant or made up.

Was it good for Kids?

I did not find this film offensive for the sake of being racy, but no one bothers to take the edge off any of subject matter or the word choice. There is a lot of cussing, though it doesn’t “feel” like “that kind of film”. The consummation scene is very tastefully done and never shows any images that are in themselves wrong to look at. Still it is quite clear what is going on and in what state of dress the characters are in. If, by some chance, you missed it, characters explain it repeatedly later on.

If you are considering this film for your kids, please read what Screenit.com has to say about the content.

What about Spiritual Issues.

When Juno tells her parents that she is pregnant and going to give her baby up for adoption, her step mother (Allison Janney) says that the baby, for this family, will be a miracle “from Jesus”. It may be just thrown in to make her seem odd, but by this point in the film, we are so comfortable with the idea of taking these characters seriously, the line seems to just mean what it says.

When going for an abortion, Juno is met by a fellow student (Valerie Tian) who, in broken English, explains that God does not want her to kill the baby. It all seems silly on the way in, but after she realizes that what is inside of her is alive, all the warnings move from quirky banter to a poignant cry for life.

There is also a joke about adoption and Mosses. They use Mosses as an example of a closed adoption though technically it was accidentally open.

Other than that, there is no direct reference to spirituality, but there are many themes that should make Christians and moralist very happy.

The major theme here, seems to be, responsibility and understanding of your roll in your phase of life. When you add up everything they show us –  sex is fun and has a lot of emotional results, but it’s for married adults and makes babies. Abortion and condoms are shown as pathetic solutions that only trivialize the issue and could only truly be endorsed by the “far gone” among the teen population. Juno does act maturely in dealing with the situation, but this is not “Papa Don’t Preach”. Juno even tells her dad (J.K. Simmons) that she has spent the day, “Dealing with things way beyond my maturity level.” So she looks for loving adults to raise her baby. She goes to her parents for advice. The one time she blows off her step mom’s warning she finds that it was a mistake not to listen.

If all this was not amazing enough, we also find that adults who decide that they want to revert back and act like teenagers are likewise in the wrong, and may do even more damage than kids who mess up by trying to take on adult life to early.

I cannot remember the last time I left a movie theater having been told that if you are a kid messing with sex is not good for you and if you are a married adult it is your responsibility to stay with your spouse even when it is hard because you are acting like a spoiled child to run out when the going gets tough. OK, I cannot think of any movie that had all that.

What Is Your Recommendation?

This is a great movie that is hard to recommend. Though all the messages I talked about are there, I question whether the intended audience will pick up on it and clearly see the values it promotes. On top of that there is a lot of crudities and unsavory language to get through to get to the amazing message. Though most of the language comes from teens who are supposed to be shown as immature, will kids and teens be able to make that leap?

My recommendation is to know that this is not the “family” film that some are touting it as, but if you do chose to follow Juno for 9 months in only 92 minutes, you will have plenty to talk about, and a lot of great things to discover starting with a nice example of a family that talks to each other.

VERDICT:
8/10 Ligers

Strange as hell, but freakin’ hilarious.

Napoleon Dynamite is pretty much about the life of a painfully nerdy, socially awkward High Schooler/fashion victim as he tries to help his best friend become class president over the most popular girl in school. He also has to find a date to the prom, he also has no skills to impress the ladies, and he also has to deal with his jerk uncle who’s moving in because Napoleon’s grandma is in the hospital after suffering a freak dune buggy injury. Life is tough for Napoleon Dynamite.

Yes, it’s different, but it’s also the closest thing we’re getting to a Revenge of the Nerds reincarnation in this decade, and that’s one hell of a compliment if I do say so myself.

Going off of the totally erratic synopsis, the thing about Napoleon Dynamite is that there’s not much of a story here to begin with. I guess it’s a character study more than anything else, but even that’s kind of a stretch. Director Jared Hess’ vision here more or less breaks down to, “Hi, folks. Meet Napoleon. He’s weird, but I think you’ll like him. Welp, see ya later!”

This kind of mindset usually works against most directors, but for some reason it works here. You don’t really end up caring about the lack of story because the characters are so freakin’ bizarre and the script is so damn funny that the formula of just watching them all go about their everyday lives ends up being more than enough to thoroughly entertain.

But the characters really are the selling point here, or rather the actors behind them. To call them eccentric would be to do them a favor, but let’s go down the list of the more memorable ones, shall we? Great, we shall.

So, this is Napoleon Dynamite. What a stud. Kinda hard to narrow down what makes Napoleon so peculiar, some might say it’s the obsessions with mythical creatures, “numbchucks”, and tater tots, but I like to think its because of Jon Heder. After catching the end of Blades of Glory on TBS last night, it quickly occurred to me that Jon Heder should stop being in movies. I remember when this first came out, everyone was wondering whether he was actually that nerdy in real life or whether he was just extremely convincing. Lucky for him it was the latter, but either way, Jon Heder will be trying to escape this role for the rest of his days until he finally snaps and finds himself bunking with Dustin Diamond on The Surreal Life: Season 28.

But lucky for us, he rocks from start to finish. One of the all-time great movie nerds.

And then there’s Napoleon’s cousin, Kip, played by some guy I’ve never heard of, Aaron Ruell. Kip is essentially a meeker version of Napoleon that has aspirations to be a cage fighter and is involved in a serious long-distance online relationship with a woman named Lafawnduh. He’s another interesting addition to the family and has some great lines going for him, too.

Thirdly is Napoleon’s uncle, Rico. He’s stuck in the ’80s, the only thing on his mind is how his life would have been so much different if his coach had let him play QB in the big game against state, he’s a dick, he’s a sleazebag, and he’s probably my favorite character out of them all. The whole time machine bit and him talking about how he could throw a football over a mountain range, then proving it by throwing a full steak into Napoleon’s face is just too good. Actor Jon Gries is also probably the only cast member here who managed to be hilarious without dooming himself to the this role for all eternity being that I’ve seen him turn up in Lost and some other shows and movies since. So way to go, Jon Gries. Glad to see you’re doing alright for yourself, man.

And Pedro is good, too. I like when he says, “Hot.”

I’ve heard a couple people call this movie mean-spirited, viewing it as a “Let’s watch this nerdy kid get shit on and make an ass of himself for two hours,” kind of experience, but I don’t get that. By the movie’s end, I didn’t find myself pitying or feeling bad for Napoleon and his odd little circle of family and friends, I was glad I got to know them. It’s their quirks that make them special, that make them endearing without making them look pathetic. It can be hard to strike that balance and not have your characters serve as helpless whipping posts for the brunt of every joke, and Hess avoids that pretty well.

But even so, the script here is just great. The humor is fantastically subtle, the dialogue is quotable to the point of frustration (God forbid you find yourself wearing a “VOTE FOR PEDRO” shirt in public nowadays – that is so 2004, you wannabe hipster, you), and who in the hell saw that dance routine coming? Talk about random, but whatever, five years later and that is still totally awesome. I sure as hell can’t do that.

I once heard the Farrelly brothers singing this movie’s praises in regards to how hard it is to write a movie this funny while keeping it PG, and you know what, those guys are spot on. Napoleon Dynamite is just a great, simple little comedy and I don’t think Jared Hess had any idea what kind of bar he was setting for himself when he set out to make this thing.

Nacho Libre…yeesh.

100% Hits – Best of 2009

Disc 1

David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland – When Love Takes Over
Flo Rida – Right Round [feat. Ke$ha]
Lily Allen – Not Fair
3OH!3 – Don’t Trust Me
Jet – She’s A Genius
Eskimo Joe – Foreign Land
Green Day – Know Your Enemy
Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day
Evermore – Hey Boys And Girls (Truth Of The World Pt.2)
Shinedown – Second Chance
T.I. – Dead And Gone [feat. Justin Timberlake]
Alesha Dixon – The Boy Does Nothing
Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers
Sidney Samson – Riverside
Agnes – Release Me
Carolina Liar – I’m Not Over
Saving Abel – Addicted
September – Can’t Get Over
Wiley – Wearing My Rolex
deadmau5 & Kaskade – I Remember
Coldplay – Lovers In Japan

Disc 2

Katy Perry – Hot N Cold
Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People
The Ian Carey Project – Get Shaky – Radio Edit
Lady Sovereign – So Human
Ricki-Lee – Don’t Miss You
Tommy Trash – Need Me To Stay
Eric Hutchinson – Rock & Roll
Lisa Mitchell – Coin Laundry
Jamie T – Sticks ‘n’ Stones
Kaiser Chiefs – Never Miss A Beat
The Sundance Kids – Drive Away
Paul Dempsey – Ramona Was A Waitress
Secondhand Serenade – Fall For You
Jason Mraz – Make It Mine
The Galvatrons – Cassandra
Biffy Clyro – Mountains
The Kooks – Sway
The Potbelleez - Trouble Trouble
Steve Angello & Laidback Luke Ft Robin S – Show Me Love
Royksopp – The Girl And The Robot
Sneaky Sound System – 16
The Veronicas – Popular
Pet Shop Boys – Love etc.

Evidently the above listing makes up 100% of the hits of 2009. I have done the math and I think “0.3% Hits, 99.7% Liquid Browns” is slightly more accurate. Now don’t get me wrong, there are bursts of sweetness on this album in Lisa Mitchell, Kaiser Chiefs and Jamie-T. But don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining. We all know The Man put those artists on there not for our benefit but to reach the target “alternative” market. You know the ones, they buy the “Vote For Pedro” t-shirts. Who’s the listener out there that’s an avid Ricky Lee fan and is partial to some Jamie-T and Pet Shop Boys? I would love to meet this person, maybe get him/her to pose next to Santa and put that photo in the “Historical Yet Fictional Figures Yearbook”.

But this whole thing is like a game of ‘Spot The Odd One Out’. And I found it: Coldplay. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t they release that La Vida Loca album back when hypercolour tees were all the rage? Yet a track off said album makes an appearance on a 2009 compilation CD. Sounds to me like someone had some space to fill. If it was a choice between ‘Lovers In Japan’ (??) or Bon Jovi’s ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’, well they picked the wrong track. I would be happy to fiscally support any compilation CD that uses any track off the great Slippery When Wet album.

Oh and good on them for sneaking in that ‘Rock & Roll’ track. I was like “Hmm, don’t know that one. Better YouTube it”. Turns out that’s exactly what they wanted me to do. It’s a song that I’ve heard on the radio on the hour every hour since early this year and had managed to avoid identifying. Until now. So hey, thanks 100% Hits and Ashton Kutcher. I got Punk’d.

You may say “It’s all well and good to identify a bunch of non-existent problems like a whiny-molefaced mole, but what would you do in their situation?” First off, calm down. You’re getting too worked up. Secondly, the solution is simple: I would limit the release of all compilation albums titled ‘100%  ANYTHING’ to cassette as surveys show that the only people who still by these things have access to an AKAI boombox. This same study has shown that they may have slight ’tard tendencies as if they have access to the aforementioned boombox, a blank cassette, SA FM and some spare time they could turn on the radio at any given point and recreate their own “100% Hits” almost to a T. All from the comfort of their trailer. See what I did there? Trailer joke. Subtle. Go back for the re-read.

If that idea failed I would then launch a “Name And Shame” campaign similar to the online sexual predator list but no where near as deviant. This would involve the cooperation of major retailers whereby when the purchase of a compilation CD occurs they would get the names and addresses of buyers and post the details online. Then concerned citizens could be alerted to the fact that Steve, the butt-pirate from next door, is an endorser of ear rape.

Kind people of the internet, we do not want these freaks near our kids. We want the children of tomorrow to grow up in a society free from unwarranted compilation CDs. “Are there warranted compilation CDs?” you may ask. Gee I don’t know, does 101 Greatest Beer Songs Of All Time fit into that category? You tell me. At least we know cold, hard, long necked research went into that project.

CAUTION: WATCH ME TAKE OUT TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE
Nickelback are so bad, they make me appreciate the fine art that is Shinedown. And vice versa.
Amazing folks. How did I do that?

Hey, sorry for being MIA again. Had a holiday long weekend with extended family. Then upon returning to civilization, there was all that laundry, unpacking, and oh yeah, first of the month bill paying, calendaring the family appointments, and all that fun stuff that keeps me from blogging. I usually have the nanny, the housekeeper, and my personal assistant do all that crap but I gave them some time off this year.

Oh wait….I don’t have a nanny, housekeeper, or personal assistant, do I? I must’ve fallen asleep at the keyboard again and been dreaming of my Perfect Life. Wow, what a rude awakening. Do you know how to get sleep slobber off a laptop keyboard, by any chance?

Oftentimes, I look around my messy life and say, “Gaw, someone really needs to clean the bathroom!” Or “Dang, I can’t get in the laundry room anymore…Someone should really do a load or 10. Like, hello??” Then I realize…um, yeah….I’m “someone,” ain’t I? Shooks. (<- In my hood growing up, you say that like "shoot" but with "ks" on the end….shooks. Get it?)

So, I'm back to bloggy land now and ready to rumble! Let’s talk about scrappers background noise, shall we?

When I started my scrapbook room makeover, I took the TV out of my scrap space, and moved it to another room so the kids could hang out in there and watch movies. This particular TV is our #3 television and has no satellite or even antennae hookup, just a VCR and DVD player for watching movies. I honestly didn't think I watched it that much in my scrap room and was sure I wouldn't miss it being in there.

However, as with many things in life, I was wrong.

I miss it. I guess I popped an old-school video in there while I scrapped more than I realized. Some favorite movies to scrap by were: Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet's Society, Top Gun (oh man, Tom Cruise playing shirtless volleyball…he was so yummy before he went psycho…) … Wait, what? Erm, where was I?

Oh. Yeah. Movies. Um, I think my all time favorite movie to watch while scrapping is Napoleon Dynamite. Makes me laugh, and I get to hear all those quotable lines again so I can regurgitate them to my family for days afterwards in every feasible conversation. ("Did someone say 'skills'? Yeah, I got skills. You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills… Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills." I mean, the lines from that movie are SO applicable to daily life.

Seinfeld and Brady Bunch quotes are too, if you haven't noticed. Pretty much any situation you will come across in life can be addressed by either a Brady Bunch quote ("She always says, 'Don't PLAY BALL in the house!'"), a Seinfeld line ("No soup for you!" or "He's nice, a bit of a CLOSE TALKER."), or a Napoleon Dynamite quote ("Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!").

So, yeah, I’ve missed having the TV in my scrap room. I have a little stereo hooked up and I play K-Life on that sometimes (Christian music, which is cool to scrap by). Other times, I play music on my laptop. I’m probably the only American who has never purchased an iTunes song, but I’ve built up a nice little collection of free songs from all music genres, and I’ve downloaded several of my CDs, too. I like to put my iTunes on random and just chillax to whatever music comes up.

But what I most often listen to while I scrap, or work in my scrapbook room, is PANDORA.COM. Sometimes I mention this on message boards and a lot of scrappers have never heard of Pandora, so I’m gonna ’splain it to you….

Pandora.com is free up to 40 hours per month, then you pay a small fee if you want to listen longer than that. They have a huge music library. You can start as many "stations" as you like, with music of whatever genre you want, like 80s, country, Christmas, jazz, or whatever. I have one station called Everything Radio (original, huh?) that I listen to every day while I work. It has country, modern rock, spiritual, Celtic, you name it (I have eclectic taste, what can I say?). I have one called Journey Radio that plays Journey and other 80s rock.

Basically, you give Pandora some songs or artists to go on, and it gives you similar music on rotation. You can give a thumbs down to songs you don't like and they'll never play again. It's really cool…I can't believe it's free!

Tonight I started a Pandora station called Old School and added a bunch of artists: Harry Connick Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Norah Jones, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Holiday, Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble’, Frank Sinatra, etc. I just adore that kind of music. It’s relaxing and fun at the same time…great music for me to work by or scrap by or even pay these dad-gum bills by.

One thing I love about my Everything Radio station is that anytime I hear a new song or artist I like, I just enter ‘em right into Pandora and I can hear their music on rotation. I’ve found a lot of new artists I love this way, by hearing their music on blogs, on TV shows like “So You Think You Can Dance”, or on the radio. I have a cool iPhone applicaiton called SHAZAM where you let your phone “listen” to any song and it identifies the artist and song for you.

So this way, I have found artists like ZEE AVI (thanks, ANGIE!), JAMIE CULLUM, GLEN HANSARD, and BETHANY DILLON.

With your Pandora.com account, you can Tweet your songs or stations on Twitter, e-mail your songs/stations to friends, even create a station FOR a friend. It’s pretty stinkin’ cool. There’s even a free Pandora app for your iPhone, so you can listen to free music any ol’ time. I just cannot say enough good things about Pandora.com. I hope you will give it a try and if you do, let me know what kind of music stations you’re making. I love ALL music and I’m so curious what other scrappers listen to

You know who has super cool music on their blog is EMILIE. Sometimes I just listen to her blog music, or I pull artist ideas from her. Right now she has Christmas songs on her player, so if that ain’t your thang, check her out after Christmas, lol. ‘Cuz Emilie has wicked good musical taste; just one of the many things I love about her.

So that’s what I listen to when I scrap. How about you? Do you prefer silence, a radio talk show, or maybe some TV in the background while you work? What are some movies you like to watch? Do you have a TV in your scrap area? Or do you listen only to music, like me?

Be thou not be afraid…

And Dan’ll be back in less than an hour and Armine’ll be back at 4! JOY.

Also, I saw Napoleon Dynamite last night and was surprised to find out Tina (as in “Tina, you fat lard!”) is a llama. I really liked the film but at the same time got the impression that its aim is to make people enjoy it by showing you how horrible lives can be and that yours is actually pretty good by most standards.

OK so this past weekend, I attended an event at the USC film school. I attend panels, network away, yet constantly get distracted by this guy… I can’t place it, but he looks SO familiar. Something about the eyes?

I see him again and again, and we keep making eye-contact (or so I think it’s eye contact) so before I leave, I just go up to him and say “Heyy…do I know you?” to which he responds, “I was thinking the same thing!” First I ask if he went to SC. Negative. I ask if he was sure. Again, he was sure we didn’t go to school together. He ask me where I worked. I say TV Guide Network. He says that may be why… and asks if I do red carpet interviews. CLICK! We conclude that I must have interviewed him at some carpet. We begin trying to figure out exactly which carpet… and well, call me crazy, but I have a photographic sort of memory, and throw out the Acts of Love Autism event, back in November 2008. ..and was right! That’s when “Hi, I’m Austin”/”Hi I’m Samia” happens.

Austin Butler, My Long Lost Friend? Nov 2008.

So after Austin Butler and I discover that we’re long lost friends (sort of?) he introduces me to Sean Covel, who just so happened to a be a speaker on one of panels I attended.  Why is Sean Covel a big deal? He graduated from USC’s film school and well, produced a film that at least 50% of you readers have quoted at some point – “Napoleon Dynamite.”

Uh...freakin idiot!

Anyway, as I talk them, I discover “fun facts” like how Sean, though he’s seen the film a million times, has blocked the lines from his memory, and actually gets the lines from the film wrong when he DOES try to quote them.

Austin was on the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101 (co-starring Britney’s sis, Jamie Lynn Spears,) and in a film called Aliens in the Attic (which he was promoting when we first met last year. has been busy in Canada, shooting a new CW series called “Life UneXpected.” had a week off in LA, and decided to pay a visit to his buddy Sean. They actually know eachother because Sean is engaged to actress Alexa Vega, who’s worked with Austin.

Anyway, as we’re parting, the highlight of the convo happens. Do we say “Nice meeting you?” Not quite. Since we’ve met before, the cliche-carpet-line, “Nice to see you!” seems appropriate. Problem? It’s cliche, it’s stock, it’s…well, long story short, it’s a commonly heard line on the carpet, that both stars and publicists use so they don’t offend someone they have/haven’t met. Me, Sean, and Austin joke/banter about this, and conclude that the next time we cross paths, we’ll use a “Hey You!!” or something to that effect.

Anyway, my friend is getting antsy, so I wrap up convo with the guys and… what do I say? “Nice seeing you again.” :-/

The guy in the wetsuit and scuba gear strums his guitar and sings: “If I was a great white I wouldn’t bite you. But I’d swim right next to you.” And right behind him in the blue depths, swimming along apparently uninterested, is this enormous, white-bellied, 40-million-year-old apex predator. Clearly a great white shark.

The audience at the Montrose Pavilion for Mountainfilm’s annual tour show, a near sell-out of about 600 people, gasped as one, then held its breath as if for the safety of the bubbling troubadour.

You couldn’t hold it for long, though, because The Great White Shark Song got funnier, and deeper, and more macabre as it went along. When in the lyrics a human pulls out a harpoon and wants to shoot the great white, he sings: “. . . Then I’d realize how f*cking really hungry I am right now. Sorry about your leg. I’ll be back in a while. For the rest. Don’t stress. My sister will be back to clean up the mess. Relax. Kick back. It’s only a great white shark attack.”

The seriocomic genius behind the four-minute movie has the unlikely name of Andy Brandy Casagrande IV. He’s a producer and underwater cinematographer for National Geographic. And the film has its Nat-Geo message side: “. . . If I realize that you don’t care about the sea, well that means you don’t care about me. Oh, well. That’s fine. I’ll just bite you in f*cking half this time.”

This is classic Mountainfilm: quirky, brilliantly-conceived entertainment that makes you think. There were 10 other shorts on the program including Look To The Ground, a visit with a blind mountain biker; Pickin’ and Trimmin’, about the rich life of a small-town barbershop in Drexel, North Carolina; and The Good Fight, a portrait of pioneer environmentalist and Grand Canyon river runner Martin Litton, who, after rowing a dory through Lava Falls—he was 89 the last time he did it—likes nothing more than to light up a stogy and do Winston Churchill impressions.

There’s something about short films. (The longest in Montrose was 23 minutes; the shortest—a gorgeous, white-on-white, mid-storm evocation of powder skiing in the Japan Alps—was barely four minutes.) Somehow they set an audience free. It’s like a table of heavy hors d’oeuvres: Eat ‘em up, enjoy each bite-sized morsel, there isn’t going to be a main course.

Someone recently turned Ellen on to Wholphin, “a DVD magazine of rare and unseen short films.” It’s a great idea: Four times a year a group of San Francisco film buffs put together a DVD of shorts from around the world and send them to subscribers in a slick packet with photos and interviews and other extras.

Before we opened the first package Ellen kept saying, “Wholphin.” And I kept saying, “What-fin?” Turns out there has been one documented case of a captive false killer whale mating with a bottlenose dolphin (they were at Sea World in Hawaii) and the result, a cross-species girl baby, is called a wholphin. (You mean Napoleon Dynamite’s childish drawing of a “liger” wasn’t so crazy? I guess not; there really are ligers, too.)

I guess I can see a link between a wholphin and outside-the-box filmmaking. A slim one. But that is another beauty of shorts. They don’t always have to connect, to make perfect sense; they are free to leave you with a small slice of life, tantalizing, incomplete.

One of the best on Wholphin #9 was a how-in-the-world-did-they-make-this? documentary about a hotly-contested beauty pageant inside a women’s prison in Columbia. Another featured a very brave monologue, from the bathtub, by a polygamist sister-wife (she and her younger sister are married to the same man) in Utah. You desperately want to know the rest of the story.

Then there were three very short shorts by Spike Jonze, each one featuring the voice of Maurice Sendak. Jonze has been in the news of late for his controversial feature-length interpretation of Sendak’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are. These shorts were wacky, gory, funny—not for kids but childlike in their wild freedom of invention. “But then I realized,” Jonze says in the accompanying interview, “we’re all totally crazy: The way we relate to each other and imbue everything with our own emotional perspectives on everything is insane.”

Like a guy playing guitar and singing underwater in the company of great white sharks.

Do you have what it takes to stay and watch the credits when a movie ends?

There are two kinds of people in the world. 1) Those who leave the movie theatre when the credits start to roll and 2) those who stick around to actually read the credits. Obviously, I’m part of the latter group.

It all started for me circa 1985 when the 1982 comedy The Toy constantly aired during a free trial period of HBO. I loved that movie, without good reason. All I remember about it now is that at the end a kid shoots a guy in the forehead with a suction-cup dart gun. And that’s the end of the movie.

Then the credits roll. At the very end, the last thing to rise up on the screen was the symbol for The Motion Picture Association of America. At that point, I would scream with excitement, “Ball, ball, ball, ball!…”

I think the reason I was so ecstatic was because it reminded me of one of the enemies from an Atari game I played all the time. And that taught me to stay tuned to watch the credits at the end of movies. To see The Ball. At some point, my motivation stopped being to see The Ball and instead to find out actors’ names and the location of filming.

It’s always interesting to see when a movie is filmed somewhere other than Los Angeles or New York.

Plus, there’s always a possibility of a hidden scene after the credits- most perfectly executed in Napoleon Dynamite.

(not house because my parents are still awake and I didn’t want to answer the awkward “Jane why are you carting around the most unusual stuff we own,” question.)

A yellow construction hat for when I dressed up as Mrs.Bob the Builder for a theater awards ceremony. (None of my peers recognized me but someone little brother did chase me around singing the theme song from the show)

A sign that says Angel (not legna). For the record I think the sign recognized that I do not deserve the title of white wing wearer and punished me by shooting some of the blue feathers straight up my nose. It was not pleasant.

A small collection of stone animals with creepy smiles on their faces.

A small gold statue of Buddha that quite possibly randomly appeared on my bookshelf on day. I am not sure what Buddha was trying to tell me with his random appearance, but unless he was asking for an appearance on my blog, I feel that I might have missed the point.

And a statue of Napoleon Dynamite, because my life wasn’t embarrassing enough already.

<3 Keep Blabbing

Jane

Hey Bears don’t think I won’t bag on you also.  Take a shot at Uncle Rico.  I don’t have his stats from back in ‘82, but I’m sure they were pretty sweet!  Sorry about the video quality.

ლორდის პოსტმა შთამაგონა დამეწერა ეს პოსტი. მინდა გაგახაროთ, რომ ეს არის ჩემი ბოლო პოსტი, რომელიც ასე თუ ისე ეხება კინოს. ბოლო პოსტებს რომ გადავხედე სულ ფილმებია შუაში, თავში ან ბოლოში. ამიტომ გადავწყვიტე, რომ საკმარისია, წიგნების დროც დადგა. რამდენი ხანია საყვარელ და საინტერესო წიგნებზე არაფერი მითქვამს, ბოლო ზარატუსტრა და ოსტატი იყვნენ თუ სწორად მახსოვს. არადა მინდოდა დამეწერა ორიოდ სიტყვა დანაშაულზე და სასჯელზე, დორიან გრეის პორტრეტზე, დაკარგულ სამოთხეზე, ამაოების ბაზარზე, კლოუნის თვალთახედვაზე, აურზაურზე არაფრის გამო და კიდევ ბევრ რამეზე. მაგრამ ამის მაგივრად ვაკეთებ იმას, რასაც არ უნდა ვაკეთებდე და ვჯღაბნი ათასგვარ სისულელეს. ვდებ პირობას, რომ ასე აღარ მოვიქცევი :დამნაშავებავშვისსმაილიკი: (სულ იმის ბრალია ეს ყველაფერი, ოთხშაბათობით  დილის და პარასკევობით ღამის 12 საათზე რომ ვნახულობ და სხვაზე ვეღარაფერზე ვფიქრობ მერე მთელი კვირა). მოკლედ, ეს არის ბოლო პოსტი, რომელიც ეხება კინოს. პოსტი Lord Vader-ის აი ამ პოსტმა შთამაგონა და გადავწყვიტე გამეხსენებინა საყვარელი მუსიკა ფილმებიდან და მუსიკა საყვარელი ფილმებიდან. აი ისინიც (რაც გამახსენდა ის არის, რიგითობა უმნიშვნელოა)

სხვებსაც დავტაგავ თუ არ ეწყინებათ  <img src=”http://www.pic4ever.com/images/34efamg.gif” border=”0″ >

ვთაგავ:

კაპუჩინოს

ეკუსის

ქეთის

kevana-ს

Lord Vader-ს

თუ რა თქმა უნდა არ დაეზარებათ :დ

Gentlemen Broncos, c’est l’après Napoleon Dynamite (2004). Enfin, ce n’est pas la suite du film bougrement décalé qui avait fait acheter à mon ami Marc-André des moon boots qu’il porte encore, mais c’est le nouveau film de Jared Hess, co-écrit avec sa femme; entre les deux en 2006, il y a eu le Nacho Libre où luttait Jack Black.

On reconnaît ici le Jemaine de la désopilante série-pastiches de Flight of the Conchords, et le look 90’s redux cher au couple Haress.

Il y a aussi dans le film l’une des meilleures actrices américaines pour jouer les blondes nunuches, Jennifer Coolidge. Elle joue ici la mère de l’ado aux prises avec le plagiat d’un écrivain sci-fi sur le déclin; elle coud des robes de chambre affreuses et fait des sculptures en popcorn pour arrondir ses fins de mois.

Tout ça carbure à l’ironie et au désepoir de fin fond d’Amérique, jusqu’à la fin justicière. Mais, là où Napoleon était frais, ici, le kitsch sent un peu le sûri.

En gros, entre Bronco et Pedro, VOTE FOR PEDRO.

En salle vendredi.