Weekend-ul ăsta am descoperit cel mai tâmpit film ever…tâmpit dar în același timp genial dacă stai și analizezi perspectiva din care e filmat și prezentat filmul. Secretul e să nu lași prejudecățile și ideile preconcepute să judece filmul.

Astfel, vă invit să vizionați: THE TEN [2007]

• 10 povestiri, fiecare povestire fiind inspirată din una dintre cele 10 Porunci

O comedie plină de ironie care prezintă o societate întoarsă pe dos și în care toate lucrurile anormale [d.p.d.v. al unora] acum sunt perfect normale.

Deci, dacă știți să apreciați ironia, veți prinde și umorul filmului…dar dacă sunteți pudici, plin de prejudecăți și idei preconcepute…nici nu are rost să vă uitați  Oricum sper să nu mă înțelegeți greșit…n-am zis că e un film bun…nici pe departe…e doar un film pentru care merită să-ți pierzi timpul numai dacă nu ai ceva mult mai bun de făcut sau vizionat …a și în cazul în care stai la o bere cu prietenii tăi de sex masculin [devil laugh]

Din distribuție fac parte mulți actori bine cunoscuți, cum ar fi:

Adam Brody, Winona Ryder, Jessica Alba, Oliver Platt…etc.

Aștept părerile voastre!

…și vizionare plăcută!

Later Edit: aici aveți și trailer-ul :

Caught a preview screening of Jennifer’s Body. It wasn’t as awful as I’d read, but I can say that there’s going to be a cadre of folks who are interested in seeing the thing just for Megan Fox’s body. And they’ll be disappointed, because though some of the billboard adverts have given it that bro-skin-flick sheen, that it ain’t. It may have some overbearingly brazen Hollywood affectations (let’s cram as many pop songs as possible in the most awkward situations), Diablo Cody may have gone a bit too over-the-top with her Diablo Cody-isms (though, to be perfectly honest, I know people who speak with the same “quirky” speech affectations), and the humor-horror mixture sometimes trips over itself.

Sometimes. It’s still fairly entertaining, though I wish Cody would’ve explored certain aspects in greater depth (though I can see how it may have been overkill/distracting).

WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead. (Nothing too terrible, but if you’ve seen or read anything about the film, you won’t be caught terribly off-guard.)

At the crux of all the movement is a band called Low Shoulder, who end up performing in the backwoods town that Jennifer lives in and results in a massive Great White-like disaster. (As an aside, I thought the horror take on a club fire was kind of in bad taste… perhaps because it’s exploitative nature that’s eerily like an event that feels so recent/always feels close to home considering the countless teeny spaces I myself cram into for shows could always be a potential nightmare.) In any case, the town and nation are somehow deluded into thinking the band are heroes, with the entire local high school head over heels for the group. A conversation ensues where a Needy (Amanda Seyfried) gets in an argument with a classmate who worships the band based on facts she read over wikipedia and claims that “we need them now more than ever.” It’s this kind of stuff that makes me really respect Cody: she may write a kind of dialogue that goes to extremes of online banter as used in life, but her abilities to display how people react in the most insignificant of situations is uncanny. I found that one relatively sideline scene to be so endearing, the idea that people will seek anything as a source of hope and use the word “hero” for a person who may not well deserve it, a third rate entertainer no less. (It’s kind of funny seeing Adam Brody in another role outside of The Ten where his character is revered for no apparent reason.)

On another, more scrupulous note, Brody’s fake band reveals a certain way people perceive, well, certain kinds of bands, within the context of a film and out of it. Left Shoulder are basically billed as an “indie” band on several occasions in the film, and the watered down song that’s parlayed throughout the film is basically as bland as anything that can be passed off as such. And though the only mention of emo in the entire film is something of a “quirk line” (“puncture wound? That’s so emo.”), some folks are already calling Brody’s faux act an emo band. So sayeth Metromix’s Geoff Berkshire:

When rising emo band Low Shoulder come to town, Jennifer makes it a priority to meet the lead singer (Adam Brody), leading to a night that changes her forever.

The giveaway for the band being remotely “emo”? Probably Brody’s guyliner. As Brody told MTV about his role:

I play this guy named Nikolai Wolf, and he’s a singer in an emo band. He’s looking for fame and fortune and is basically a sociopath who came upon the idea that devil worship and sacrificing a girl is the surefire ticket to fame and fortune. And he has no problem doing that, whatsoever.

….

Yeah, there’s some Jared Leto in there. I threw in a bit of Brandon Flowers. There’s a little Maroon 5. There’s no nail polish, but there’s a little bit of eyeliner.

And there you have it. Gotta love how Brandon Flowers, though he’s previously been outspoken against emo, is probably a greater basis for Brody’s character than Leto: Brody’s stage manner resembles that of Flowers in that over-indulgent, I’m-so-great-look-at-me-slowly-sway kind of way.

What’s more interesting is the band’s supposed evil status. I realize the film is a mixture of comedy and horror, but this is where the mixture doesn’t really work. The ease with which Brody and his band-mates are compelled to commit some heinous act with barely any 2nd guessing (that being the whole “hey, it’s either this or be a barista” argument, which is fairly lame) just didn’t do it for me. Why? Because any band that would have such a brazenly vanilla sound probably wouldn’t be in the same room as anything occult. Nor would they think “that dude from Maroon 5″ is cool. Because no one thinks that guy is cool.

Now I’m just nitpicking…

Jennifer’s Body trailer:

“…viaţa poate fi nedureroasă, cu condiţia ca lucrurile să fie suficient de paşnice pentru ca vreo duzină de ritualuri să se poată repeta la nesfârşit.” (Kurt Vonnegut)

So…ieri ne-am hotarat sa facem un gratar..noi…the Fantastic 4 (Alina, Clau, Mimi si eu) – desi initial trebuia sa fim The Fantastic 6 dar unul dintre fantastici s-a pierdut pe drum si am ramas 5 little piggies (including Bibi). Imi pare rau ca nu am facut poze. Trebuia sa vedeti fatza lu’ Alex cand (i se parea) ca nu se face carnea bine si la timp (btw m-ai enervat la MAXIM ;;) ), Alina care racise si desi toata ziua mi-a zis ca nu ii place sa bea nimic cald (ii facusem un Terra Flu) seara statea cu cana de ceai fierbinte in mana ), Bibi care suferea in tacere ca King Julian (pe care o sa am azi placerea sa-l cunosc )  ) avea prezentare si nu a putut sa ajunga X( , eu care am curatat si taiat la cartofi prajiti cat pentru toata pensiunea de la “Serviti va rog!” (there could  never be enough french fries) si Clau care intre Armin si iPod imi dezinfecta PC-ul (^:)^). Dupa mici, carne, cartofi prajiti si toata nebunia hai sa vedem un film zic. Si ca sa ne “razbunam” oarecum eu si mimi i-am “obligat” sa vada cel mai sec film din toata cinemateca  –THE TEN– deci …deci… cand am vazut prima oara filmul cu Alex am ras cu hohote de doua ori in rest ne-a lasat muti da’ nu stiu cum sa spun sa ma fac mai inteleasa MUTI..adica filmul e de o ironie maxima si seaca. Bineinteles ca nu au rezistat mai mult de jumatate de ora din film >:) (told ya’) . Dar azi trebuie sa iau o comedie buna. Vreau sa râd râd râââd. Aşa că feel free to suggest. Chiar vă rog. Şi în cazul în care vă întrebaţi de ce am scris juma’ de post cu diacritice şi juma’ fără..ei bine mi-era lene să apăs Ctrl+ Shift+1 dar când am ajuns la partea cu “vreau să rÂd” am zis că e cazul. So I’m beggin’ ziceţi-mi o comedie bună şi pe care să o găsesc (adică nu gen doar ce a apărut în afară şi se găseşte doar filmată din cinema şi auzi pe fundal râsetele şi comentariile ălora).

P.S. mă chinui să termin de citit o carte ..da. Nu-mi place. E seacă şi fără sens…adică atunci când mi-am cumparat-o m-am gândit că e o carte bună. E plină de laude pe coperta IV şi e una dintre preferatele lui Gabriel Garcia Marquez..dar mie nu-mi place..poate de la pagina 150 încolo…(“Delir” de Laura Restrepo) Aţi citit-o? Save me..Minţiţi-mă că nu sunt singura care crede asta despre ea sau măcar că de la pagina 150 încolo e mai interesantă pentru că oricum o voi citi până la capăt (am eu o chestie …chiar dacă nu-mi place o carte sau un film TREBUIE să-l văd /să o citesc până la capăt).

So that’s all folks…XoXo )

Once again, I must apologize for not updating this blog for awhile.  But outside of all the busyness mentioned in my last post, I’ve been working damn near fifty hour weeks and coping with some huge events in my life:

1. For the first time, I attended a house party where I was the oldest guest.  (This thoroughly creeped me out.)
2. And also for the first time, I saw a drunken woman I didn’t know piss in the parking lot after a Milwaukee Brewers game.  (This was nowhere near as sexy as it sounds.)

But I digress.

I’m not here to talk to you about getting old or the lack of bladder control among inebriated sports fans with pink baseball hats.  I’m here to talk about the early to mid 1990’s.  It was a simpler time for many.  And in the case of MTV, it was a better time.  A brief period in the station’s existence when music videos were played regularly, none of us could give a fuck who Paris Hilton’s BFF was, and original shows actually offered an alternative to everything else.  I was still pretty young back then, but I was also a lazy little bastard with basic cable, so I can recollect some of this.

Enter The State, although not even MTV’s most popular show of the period, it is arguably the best and most significant original show the network ever aired.  It launched careers that, as far as numbers go, can only be rivaled by Jackass.  Members of The State have gone on to create and star in movies and TV shows like Reno 911!, Stella, Michael & Michael Have Issues, Wet Hot American Summer, and The Ten.  And for the first time, every episode of this groundbreaking show is available in a 5-disc DVD set.

It’s crazy, because outside of a VHS compilation that a friend of mine had, I haven’t really seen the show since it actually was on MTV.  And I must say,  it’s even funnier than I remember it (I guess some of the humor is a little easier to grasp, seeing as I’m not twelve-years-old anymore).  I still laugh out loud when I see the “monkey torture sketch” or the not so rebellious “Doug.”  And as unbelievable as it seems, I actually forgot about “Louie” and his undying urge to “dip his balls” in everything.

I’m sure rabid fans have already picked this one up.  But if you haven’t, check out the videos below to rekindle your love of the show.  Then, go buy the set here and bask in a time when Laguna Beach and The Hills were just considered places, and not everything that is wrong with the world.

I’m well aware that there’s been much ballyhoo about the fact that we’ll see a few movies this year that all have to deal with the Roman Numeral IX.  There’s three - count ‘em, three - similarly named, though completely different, films:

• The amazing looking animated film called 9, which is based on the animated short called 9.
• Rob Marshall’s follow up to Chicago called Nine, which is the musical remake of Fellini’s 8 ½.
• Peter Jackson’s production of District 9, which is a filler product until he can get the video game movie Halo off the ground.

And for the record, we already had a Ryan Reynolds flick (as if he’s a genre) two years ago that was called The Nines. 

What is it about understated titles that these filmmakers and producers find so appealing?  Does it save on toner?  Why couldn’t they have used different numbers, or even letters for that matter?  There are a lot of numbers and letters ripe for the plucking.

In the spirit of beating a dead horse, why don’t we take a look at a gallery of movie posters that kept the titles simple for the hearts and minds and marquee changers of America:

(IN CASE YOU DIDN’T NOTICE: Steven Spielberg has directed three of the above.)

David Wain is so underrated.  In “The Ten”, the gags don’t quite work as well as in 2001’s “Wet Hot American Summer” (also criminally underrated), but he has managed to achieve what many writer/directors before him have not – a feature made up of short stories that actually holds together pretty well.

Just as Woody Allen took inspiration from the chapter titles of “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)” for the segments in his film of the same name, Wain riffs on the Ten Commandments to create ten short stories in “The Ten”.

I’m pretty sure that Wain was thinking of the Allen film when he and his co-writers came up with the idea – one of the segments, “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”, pastiches a New York-set Allen film, complete with jazz soundtrack and Paul Rudd divorcing Dianne Wiest over the phone. 

But unlike Allen’s film, “The Ten” hangs together a lot better thanks to characters that appear in several segments, albeit with delightfully tenuous links: –

A hotshot lawyer gets fired by a tempestuous judge in one segment, only to take up a job as a tour guide at a nuclear power plant in another. 

A reckless doctor kills a patient when he sews up a pair of scissors inside her “as a goof”, ending up in a prison in a later segment, “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour’s Wife”, a prison romance that pushes bad taste right over the cliff.

The nerdy colleague of an uptight librarian finds himself spurned when she goes to Mexico and falls in love with Jesus Christ, in a hilarious parody of European cinema.  The romance doesn’t last and she returns home to marry the nerd, who turns up in the final segment, “Keep Holy The Sabbath”, in which he skips church and invites his male neighbours around to get naked and listen to Roberta Flack.

Although the stories are set firmly in a universe of madcap, some – like “Thou Shalt Have No Gods Before Me”, takes a potshot at today’s ‘famous for being famous’ reality TV culture, in its own inimitably bizarre way: a man who jumps from a plane without a parachute gets stuck in the ground and becomes the star of his own sitcom.

It should be said from the outset that the humour will not be to everyone’s taste – it’s so left field it’s in a parallel universe – but if you loved “Wet Hot American Summer”, his take on American summer camp films of the 1980s, then you’ll know what kind of gags you’re in for with “The Ten”.

You’ll either love it or hate it…let me know what you think.

Well, yesterday was a special day for many people. And by many people, I mean me. Because yesterday was the day that it was announced that The State is FINALLY coming out on DVD. If any of you watched the beloved mid-90s MTV sketch comedy show or anything the troupe have done since then (Viva Variety!, Stella, Reno 911!, Wainy Days, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, The Ten, Role Models, etc.), you know that this is a big fucking deal. Getting this collection together has taken about a decade to complete, but now you commodity fetishists don’t have to foam over fuzzy YouTube clips or iTune files or handle your worn copy of the Skits and Stickers tape. You can cradle, lick, and antiseptic your own DVD collection, effective July 14th (and, if you really love me, you’ll remember that I turn 26 less than two weeks after its release).

It can’t be overstated how excited I am that this is hitting the market. I caught The State at my friend Kyle’s house when we were in the 7th grade and it blew my mind. So funny and weird and not funny and cool. That these people got together while students at NYU was enough motivation for me to leave my little rural southeast Texas suburb after high school. And that I may have been the only person in my hometown to watch their disastrous CBS Halloween special (with musical guest Sonic Youth, circa Washing Machine) was all I needed to know just how limiting my hometown really was. Plus, there was always the prospect of having Michael Ian Black for a boyfriend.

But the person who really rattled me good was Kerri Kenney (now Kenney-Silver), the lone female in the group. She was so hilarious, versatile, without vanity, and completely sexy, but in a very awkward, off-center, elastic-face, Amazon-woman kind of way (if you recall, Jenny McCarthy was MTV’s go-to hottie in the mid-90s which, you know, I have no beef with her but her look is not at all relatable to me). You may know her know as Trudy Weigel on Reno 911! or as Dame Delilah but twelve-year-old me may very well have gotten all snide and third wave self-reflexive and critical from clips like this.

But she also shined as a member of an ensemble, as evident in sketches like “Tenement” and the fantasical “Porcupine Racetrack.”

And, of course, it can’t be overlooked that Kerri was the bassist and lead singer of Cake Like, an all-female, post-riot grrrl rock band she formed at NYU with Nina Hellman and Jodi Seifert. Their songs were really dark and creepy, usually focusing on adolescent female sexuality, parental relationships, and girl germs and shot through with coiled verses and corrosive choruses (remember the Pixies and how they influenced everybody in the 90s with quietLOUDquiet song structures?).

Anyway, Kenney-Silver is rad, and I’m glad that the early comedic work she and her dudes did is finally getting the preservation and attention it deserves.

D. Wain himself

I’ve been on a David Wain kick lately. That name may not sound familiar, but he’s directed this film, Role Models, The Ten (which was the last movie I reviewed), and the short lived Comedy Central show, Stella. Dude is to his friends what Jay Chandrasekhar is to the Broken Lizard (Super Troopers, Club Dread) crew. He writes and directs some of the more outrageous comedies of this decade, which is something I can always get behind. Wet Hot American Summer was his first major film directing job, and I can see why he’s been consistently working ever since.

The film takes place during the summer of what I think is 1976. It is set at a summer camp on the last day of summer, and follows many different characters as they attempt to enjoy their final day of freedom. It has a similar feel to Dazed and Confused, but with less homosexual innuendo, and more just blatant homosexuality. Not to say that this film is all about same sex relations, but there is a gay marriage, male/male sex scene, and Elizabeth Banks making out with some actress I couldn’t name without an IMDB cast list (Marisa Ryan?). If that kind of thing bothers you than lighten up, or don’t watch this movie.

Even Joe Lo Truglio is in this!

Let me go over this film’s cast. You’ve got Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: SVU), Michael Ian Black, Amy Poehler, among many others, most important of which is my newest favorite actor, Ken Marino. For the most part you get the standard fare from these actors, although Meloni (despite his turn in Harold and Kumar) stands out as the lone actor who took his craft a whole new direction. He plays a character who was in “The Nam,” and also cooks for the entire camp, while talking to a can of vegetables (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin). All of the characters are nearly as outrageous as Meloni’s “Gene,” but I expect as much from the rest of this cast.

Showalter, Meloni, Miles

The plot seems rather straight forward at first, but the further into the movie, the more surreal it becomes. Everything from camp counselor’s ditching kids on the side of the road, to motorcycle chases being thwarted by a lone bale of hay in the middle of the street. A boy controls the element of wind at one point, and possibly alters the crash landing of a space satellite by doing so. Does that sound a little confusing? It should, but isn’t when you watch the film. It may not be all that realistic, but who gives a crap? This is a comedy film.

David Wain’s comedy hasn’t changed much since releasing this film, although his most recent directorial effort, Role Models, wasn’t nearly as outlandish as this (or The Ten). He creates a style that is both funny and fantastical, kind of like Spike Jonze with Being John Malkovich. This isn’t a director who took the formula put forth in film school, wrote the same script fifteen times (Seth Rogen?), and started getting the same performances out of all the same actors repeatedly. Wain is a comic visionary, and I await his next release as much as the next Wes Anderson movie.

I know I’m about 8 years late on this, but I’m going to have to go with… Strongly Recommend

PS: Seth Rogen still rules.

Since this movie was released on DVD, my sister has been telling me how great it is, and that I “have to see it.” I’m not sure exactly why, but I put off watching this film until this afternoon, and I must say she was right. The writing was witty and quirky, the comedy played with straight faces, and even the musical number at the end was enjoyable (and I usually HATE musical numbers). I must admit that my intentions to see this film were propelled by the film Role Models, which was funnier than I anticipated, and the fact that Gretchen Mol was a part of the cast. I think Ken Marino is my new favorite Actor/Writer.

The film starts off with one of ten stories focusing on the Ten Commandments. In this story, Adam Brody plays a character who gets stuck in the ground after jumping from an airborne plane without a parachute. If such an outrageous premise doesn’t interest you, then I suspect the rest of this film won’t either. There’s everything from a woman falling in love with a puppet, to a romantic quarrel over whose prison bitch one of the characters is going to be. There’s even a direct homage to Woody Allen films, which was on the money in every way (Setting, direction, dialogue), but that in itself could be seen as offensive by some people. This film isn’t for everybody, and is as lighthearted as it is offensive, which makes for an interesting comedic recipe.

The cast here is amazing, and while you may not know all the names, I’m sure you’ll recognize a lot of the faces, especially if you’re a fan of films like Superbad, Tropic Thunder, or pretty much any comedy from the past five years. Paul Rudd leads the cast, but is probably the most forgettable character in the film. Bobby Cannavale shows up, they got Joe Lo Truglio and Liev Schreiber, even Oliver Platt is in there doing his worst Governor of California impression. I’m not sure how they were able to assemble such a funny group of people, but they all work in their own crazy ways.

I can’t say much bad about this film, aside from the Paul Rudd parts being dull, but I’m one of those people who either really likes something, or really doesn’t like something. The Ten is one of the things that I really like, and I can’t wait to see it again.

Strongly Recommended

Please ignore the green screen.

Has anyone seen this movie, The Ten?  It’s ten short stories based on each of the ten commandments.  I vaguely remember hearing about it before it came out, but I don’t ever remember seeing it in theaters.  There are some good people in this (Paul Rudd, Famke Janssen, Liev Schreiber, Winona Ryder, the cast of The State, etc.) and it was written by David Wain and Ken Marino (both of The State fame), so it definitely has promise.

Anyway, this might convince me to finally sign up for Netflix.

Motherfocker.

Universal is reportedly pushing Little Fockers out of their ass (I will not write birth metaphors for shit), with John Hamburg (sucks!) on current script duties and Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson all in talks to appear. Jay Roach (sucks worse!) wouldn’t direct this one  and offers have been out to other comedy directors.

One of them is David Wain. Yes the genius behind the State, Wet Hot American Summer and undeniably under-rated “Winona Ryder fucks a dummy movie” The Ten. I guess we should have seen it coming, as Wain jumped into more mainstream comedy with last year’s Role Models. MTV got the story and, when asked about it, he says: “Discussions are being had.” 

Here’s what he should have said: “Hell no. I hope they abort that little Focker.”

You could say that I’m just being overly negative. On the bright side, if this did really well, it could allow Wain to make whatever twisted shit is bouncing around in his head. But still…fock this movie.

I dieci comandamenti riletti comicamente. Proviamo a contare e a descrivere (i testi dei comandamenti dovete ricordarveli voi leggendo anche perché nel film non sono nell’ordine classico). 1) Un ragazzo si lancia da un aereo non accorgendosi di non avere il paracadute. Finisce con l’infilarsi nel terreno senza la possibilità di esserne estratto. Diventa una star dei media. 2) Una bibliotecaria studia lo spagnolo perché pronta a partire per il Messico. E’ vergine a 35 anni ma in una cittadina incontra il focoso Jesus… 3) Un chirurgo lascia ‘per scherzo’ una forbice nel corpo di una donna operata che muore. 4) Due figli neri di una coppia bianca osano chiedere alla madre la loro origine solo dopo la morte del padre. Il padre, afferma lei, è Schwarzenegger (!?) 5) Il vicino si compra la macchina per farsi la TAC a casa e lui, che vessa suo figlio, ne vuole una a sua volta. Anzi, di più. 6) Penitenziario. Un detenuto desidera il chirurgo dell’episodio 3. Ma lui appartiene già a un altro. 7) Una donna in luna di miele è perdutamente attratta dal pupazzo di un ventriloquo. Rhino è un rinoceronte che sparla di tutto e tutti. 9) Il narratore ritrova la moglie. Ma si è già risposato con Diane Wiest. Il desiderio però fa strani scherzi. 10) La domenica lui finge di non stare bene per stare a casa nudo. Coinvolgerà anche un amico.

Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/141032556/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part7.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/141030790/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part6.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/141028951/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part5.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/141027359/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part4.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/141025659/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/141023792/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/141022013/The_Ten_-_I_Dieci_Comandamenti_Come_Non_Li_Avete_Mai_Visti__2007_.part1.rar

To be fair, I’ve always had sort of mixed feelings about Stella
So, I vastly underestimated Role Models. I immediately saw a movie starring Paul Rudd and assumed it would be on par with fucking Over Her Dead Body. But hello – Paul Rudd was David Wain’s buddy long before Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen co-opted the comedy spot in my heart. Why did I not even think of him? Maybe it was because I was looking for his last movie, The Ten (which also starred Paul Rudd), but it went straight to DVD or something weird like that. Maybe it was because I never really got what the big deal was about Wet Hot American Summer. But nonetheless, I appreciate David Wain’s place in the world of bizarro comedy, and I was surprised to see his name on the directing and writing credits. Sorry, David Wain. I didn’t mean to forget about you.

That said, Role Models certainly wasn’t great. It’s kind of like if Drillbit Taylor had been really really awesome. From the beginning, you know exactly what’s going to happen. Paul Rudd is unhappy with his life. Given the premise, you know that he’s going to fuck up, do some community service, which will ultimately show him how to be happy in his life again. So you have to deal with an unavoidable blatant cheesy message. So it’s a movie like that, but if a movie like that were brilliantly written. Even if Stella makes me somewhat uncomfortable, I have to admit that the show itself exists on David Wain creating fucking weird situations out of moments and dialogue. And Paul Rudd has always been the perfect straight man to deliver material like this. Role Models channels these skills into a more accessible outlet for Wain, and Paul Rudd does what he does best. So while the movie itself is kind of run of the mill, the ride and the delivery are pretty great.

But the real reason I enjoyed Role Models so much wasn’t just because of my undeservedly low expectations. And it wasn’t just because the script was Paul Rudd and David Wain’s love child. It was because of my love for the show Home Movies. Wain’s absurd humor + Rudd’s everyman delivery = a movie about seriously flawed characters talking to each other in an awkward humorous way = why I fucking love Home Movies.

For instance
Have you guys met my friend Jane Lynch?

I’m sure you have. She had a minor role in The 40 Year Old Virgin, in which her job was to be uncomfortable and therefore humorous. In Role Models she does the exact same thing, but is more present and more spot-on.

Please take this piece of dialogue as an example:

“Do you know what I’d have for breakfast when I woke up in the morning?”
“What?”
“Cocaine. Do you know what I would have for lunch?”
“Um.”
“Cocaine. Do you know what I’d have for dinner?”
“Is the answer cocaine?”

Now, the humor obviously doesn’t translate as well here, but the point is that this exchange is a perfect example of dialogue that would occur between Brendon Small and Coach McGurk. And that’s exactly why Role Models is enjoyable.

Last night as I was walking across the parking lot to a female’s apartment, I had a young man offer to suck my dick and more.  As I parked my car, I saw a young man walking towards.  He asked what I was doing.  I told him passing out w/ a headache.  He asked if he could relieve my pains.  I told him.  He blatantly offered some dome.  I told him that I don’t orgasm during oral.  He proceeded to tell me that he could give me a little something extra too …

Peter Salett is a very gifted musician. He has written, scored, and performed multiple songs for such films as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Ten, Down in the Valley, The Baxter, The Maldonado Miracle, Wet Hot American Summer, Keeping the Faith, and the soon to be released documentary 21 Below. Directors love him because his music compliments and enhances their visions. People like listening to him because his sound is so profound, intricate, and dreamy, a “play it again, Sam,” over and over only to find something you missed listening to it the fifth or sixth time around.

Read Static Multimedia Peter Salett In The Oceans Of The Stars CD Review

The Ten

Made on a shoe-string budget and shot in 2006, those scanning the cast list will likely wonder why it’s only seeing the light of day now, two years later – and on a straight-to-DVD release. Winona Ryder, Liev Schreiber, Paul Rudd, Famke Janssen, and even Jessica Alba grace this 90-minute feature. So why the delay? Funding problems? Creative differences? Studio mismanagement? Sadly, it’s a much simpler reason: the film is bad. Really, really bad. Featuring 10 interrelated stories based on the Ten Commandments, unsuspecting viewers will be expecting a dark satire indicting religious fanaticism. Instead, they get a string of nonsensical sketches that rank closer to low-brow than high-art. It’s anybody’s guess as to what attracted the well-known cast (and it’s a long list) to this project.

Igår tittade vi på en riktigt dålig film. Det var väldigt, väldigt längesedan som jag såg en sån dålig film sist. The Ten hette filmen som är en komedi. Lite höga förväntningar hade man ju på den eftersom den fått så höga betyg av rececenter där de säger att den är hysterisk rolig och det är en hel del kända skådespelare med. Tex är Jessica Alba, Adam Brady, Famke Janssen, Winona Ryder och Liev Schreiber.

The Ten består av tio korta berättelser, var och ett kopplat till ett av de tio budorden. Knäppa, skruvade och ibland fullkomligt ”Family Guy”-bisarra situationer piffar upp den Allsmäktiges urgamla levnadsregler, och tillför de kalla stenblocken lite välbehövlig humor.

Great news today from reunion land, where Shudder To Think will join a growing list of acts banding together to make a little tour. It’s not much, but I’ll certainly take it. It also doesn’t hurt that Boston is one of the few locations in America that the band is scheduled to hit; they’ll be playing at Paradise Rock Club on October 11th.

Shudder To Think provided one of the most interesting sounds on the Dischord roster when they joined in the late 80s. Sure, Fugazi was turning all notions of post-hardcore and emo on their heads, but Shudder To Think was an entirely different beast. They were a band that pulled more and more towards the aesthetic elements of psychedelia over time, though their ethos was still intensely grounded in the DIY punk realm. Their earliest work veered through the quick one-two punch of hardcore drumming before opening up to gaping waves of 60s-flavored guitar-work (see “Chocolate” off of Funeral At The Movies).

The band did refine their sound, as seen on 1992’s Get Your Goat. Shudder to Think did more than simply re-tread the old aesthetic waters of Revolution Summer emo acts. They took the combination of hardcore and pop on a roller coaster to the clouds; it didn’t hurt that frontman Craig Wedren’s eerie falsetto became as controlled, textured, and wholly unpredictable as the band’s sound. Their work mirrored and even impacted their future touring partners, Sunny Day Real Estate (at least according to the Alternative Press article on the 23 bands, where Shudder To Think is name-checked as being one of the DC bands perpetrating the particular style of emo). It’s hard not to see the connections between the two bands. Both made use of intelligently-crafted punk rock, both sought solace in the musical realm of the 60s and 70s, both featured vocalists with unusual singing styles in the realm of punk, and both brought a distinct change in style to the labels they became a part of (although, Sunny Day’s work at Sub Pop was more a rejection of by then typical grunge than it was an evolution of the label’s aesthetic… then again, Dischord had a fluid aesthetic that lends emo a certain sense of flexibility that exists to this day). Shudder To Think’s status as not only a creative, genre-bending band, but a cross-national influence works to establish their importance in the narrative of emo; their eventual connection with Sunny Day is one of many moves that helps to solidify a cross-substantial aesthetic idea of emo, as well as a burgeoning community surrounding emo (touring would become an important part of the Mid Western emo community as many bands that toured with one another shared ideas and friendship through their troubadour spirits).

Shudder To Think would continue to spread the idea of an evolutionary emo sound when they signed to Epic to release the Pony Express Record; they were only one of two Dischord bands to sign to a major label frenzy in the great alternative buyouts in the post-Nevermind music world. But the world wasn’t ready for the Pony Express Record (nor was it ready for most of the bands that were signed in the major label buyouts). Hell, emo wasn’t really ready either. Shudder To Think always had an odd style, but it got even weirder with their major label debut. In an aesthetic style that prided itself on lyrics that were both ambiguous but contained a sense of personal investment to the band and listener, Shudder provided a great thesis in that flexibility and a great revolution against the concept. Pony Express is lyrically obtuse, it’s music strung all over the place. And it’s still positively great, though a little rough to get into at parts. If emo means emotional music over punk rock, nothing fits that idea better than the wailing anthem that Wedren lets out against a sea of guitars on the two-plus minute long chorus closing out “X-French Tee Shirt”.

The rest of the Shudder To Think tale is all over the map. Wedren battled Hodgkin’s Disease while recording their second major label album. And a couple of projects were made under the Shudder To Think name: a soundtrack for the movies First Love, Last Rights (featuring guest vocals from folks such as Jeff Buckley), High Art, and a selection of songs for the glitter-rock inspired film Velvet Goldmine.

Shudder To Think broke up shortly thereafter in 1998. Wedren has been the most visible and successful of the band members since the breakup with a solo career. However, Wedren’s solo work is probably best recognized in the guise of three other guys: Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, and David Wain. Wedren has been the trio’s go-to guy for movies like Wet Hot American Summer (he wrote the song “Wet Hot American Summer” and co-wrote the hilarious track “Higher and Higher”), The Baxter, and The Ten (in which he also played an extra in the chorus of nude dudes).

What will happen with the new Shudder To Think reunion? A new album? Five new albums? Or just a simple tour. Whatever happens, something good is sure to come.

Shudder To Think – X-French Tee Shirt (video)

O que caracteriza um ator/atriz ao ponto de deles tornarem-se canastrões?

Acredito que os seguintes fatores são extremamente inflenciáveis: péssimas escolhas de filmes, atuações inominavelmente ruins, e o esteriótipo adquirido mesmo sendo ruim justamente no tipo de filme ao qual foi esteriotipado desde então.

E o The Ten deste mês é justamente sobre eles… Os famosos canastrões!

The Ten: Canastrões (Atores/Atrizes)

10º – Cassandra Peterson

Mais conhecida por sua personagem Elvira (sucesso na TV que ganhou uma versão cinematográfica nos anos 80), ela é uma atriz canastrona da qual eu gosto.

Porém, admito, ela é uma atriz ruim. A irônia por conta do fato dela atuar de uma forma que no final das contas faz com que o resultado final não seja tão desastroso quanto o previsto.

Recomendação para constatar a canastrice: Elvira – A Rainha das Trevas.

09º – Hugh Grant

Sinônimo de canastrice no meio cinematográfico, esta figura antipática ficou famosa por suas comédias românticas água-com-açucar.

Ele tam lá seus acertos (Um Lugar Chamado Nothing Hill, 4 Casamentos e Um Funeral, O Diário de Bridget Jones), mas no geral, é um péssimo ator.

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: Tudo Pela Fama e Letra e Música.

08º – Pat Morita

Antes que alguém fale: “Pow, mas ele interpretou o lendário Mestre Miyagi na cinesérie Karatê Kid.”, e eu respondo: Realmente, esse personagem é lendário, porém, foi o único acerto dele.

Ele tem projetos imensamente ruins, que fazem até eu esquecer por um momento que ele deu vida ao sábio Mestre Myiagi.

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: King Cobra, 3 Ninjas.

07º – Silvester Stallone

Os clássicos Rocky, Falcão e Rambo poderiam livrá-lo da lista, mas a maioria devastadora de seus filmes são tão, mas tão ruins, que foi impossível ele não integrar este top 10.

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: Pare! Senão Mamãe Atira, Pequenos Espiões 3D.

06º – Lindsay Lohan

Se for para falar mal dela, vai demorar demais! Pois ela não tem um fime que preste (e criticar todos seria uma grande perca de tempo)! E saibam que ela só não ocupa o 1º lugar desta lista porque tem gente muito pior do que ela!

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: Herbie – Meu Fusca Turbinado, Eu Sei Que Me Matou.

05º – Paris Hilton

Arroz de festa, atriz, ex-presidiária, cantora e desocupada nas horas vagas, a jovem conseguiu o seu lugar neste top 10. O único filme pelo qual ela merece algum crédito positivo é A Casa de Cera.

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: 9 Vidas, The Hottie & the Nottie (considerado um dos piores filmes de todos os tempos).

04º – Pamela Anderson

Mesmo tendo ficado famosa por ter interpretado a voluptuosa salva-vidas no seriado de TV Baywatch e uma sexy agente de segurança em V.I.P. (outro seriado de TV) não tem jeito… A loira é canastra demais.

Recomendação para constatar a canastrice: A Justiceira.

03º – Dolph Laundering

Único filme razoável: O Justiceiro, e SÓ!

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: Qualquer outro filme que ele tenha feito.

02º – Charles Bronson

Saldo de filmes bons: ZERO!

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: Qualquer filme que ele tenha feito (porque até então, nunca assisti nenhum filme dele que eu pudesse ao menos dizer que tenha sido razoável).

01º – Chuck Norris

Canastrão com todas as letras e adjetivos que vierem junto.

Aliás, será que algum fã dele (se é que exite algum que seja 100% consiciente das suas faculdades mentais) saberia informar quem foi o infeliz que disse que essa figura poderia atuar (mesmo que restritamente a filmes envovlendo artes marciais)?

Recomendações para constatar a canastrice: Qualquer filme que ele tenha feito.

Infelizmente apenas 10 deles podem compôr a lista, mas saibam, a lista é muito, mas muito longa!

Até a próxima! Um abraço.

To usher in the season, I chose Wet Hot American Summer as the next Sunday Classic. Whether or not you like this movie depends greatly on whether the sense of humor espoused by its creators appeals to you. And if the critical reception to the film is any indication, it’s a type of humor that most people just don’t get.

Wet Hot American Summer was the brainchild of David Wain and Michael Showalter, previously of the MTV sketch comedy troupe The State. If you have ever seen the show, or other projects from State Alumni like The Ten, Reno 911! and Stella (not to mention various other writing and directing gigs like Balls of Fury and Night at the Museum that seem made for a wider audience) then you will sort of get their schtick–humor from randomness and obscure reference. They aren’t trying to make a lot of sense, and in that lies the brilliance.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Wet Hot American Summer satires the camp movies of the late 70’s and 80’s, but also sort of satires satire itself. It’s the last day of camp, and everyone is scrambling around to find a summer hookup or work on sketches for the Big Talent Show or even save the world. The cast of characters is massive and each group has its own hilariously satisfying subplot.

The main character, Coop, played by Michael Showalter, is in love with Kate, who is falling for Coop but still in love with her boyfriend Andy (played to awesome perfection by Paul Rudd). Andy likes to make out with Lindsay (Elizabeth Banks) regardless of whether or not her face is covered in barbecue sauce. Lindsay has been known to make out with the camp slut Abby. And this doesn’t begin to address everything going on.

It may sound like a lot for one movie, maybe too much, but it all works to perfect, hilarious affect. Wain, Showalter, and the other members of the State do their best work in ensemble films and you can really tell with the ease at which all the subplots are handled and paid off.

My favorite character in the film is Gene, the camp cook, played by Law and Order SVU (and Oz)’s Christopher Meloni. He’s shell-shocked from his stint in Vietnam and not only is his best friend a can of vegetables, he also likes to hump fridges and fondle sweaters. Out of context it sounds crazy, I know, and it’s really not much more explicable in context either.

Again, many people will view the movie and, like most of the critics who tried to watch it too literally, just not get the humor. Honestly, I’m not such a huge fan of some of the State’s other works (Stella, namely), but their style really works to best effect in Wet Hot American Summer, from the huge cast, to the unexpected and out-there twists, to the general oddness that permeates through every scene. They had fun making the movie and, if you can suspend your disbelief, you should have fun watching it.