Movie Review - Jackass 3D

"Santa had a few last night so this ain't gonna feel so good..."

After a decade of punching each other in the balls, the boys of Jackass actually have something to be proud of - they're leaving a legacy behind, one that is most likely never to be repeated to the same extent (at least not by any intelligent human beings).

How do you review a movie like Jackass? People know exactly what it is. You know what to expect. It either is your thing or isn't. Me personally? I have a blast watching these boys do what they do best, and it could be a generational thing, but I actually think there is something compelling about Jackass; you can try and try to make a movie about male adolescence, and even exceed admirably - but nothing will ever truly capture the anxiety and naive fascination with the grotesque that are displayed in Knoxville and his team.

It's because of this that there's actually a looming sadness to Jackass 3; these boys aren't really boys anymore. It's very apparent in the movie that these guys are getting "too old for this shit". There's more fear, there's more reluctance to face the danger, and in fact, there's less danger in general and more gross-outs. The guys even point this out at one point - as Steve-O straps into a porta-potty bungie contraption filled with poop - when someone recalls the fact that Steve-O was putting a hook through his cheek and being used as shark bait years earlier. I'm not saying I want to do the toilet thing - but between that and shark bait? You know what you'd pick.

That's not to say there isn't danger; hallways filled with tasers and wild bovine are invited to the party. But there are still more pranks than normal, and they're funnier than ever. I won't spoil anything, but there's one midget-related scene that had me turning over in my seat laughing.

The sequences in this movie are actually much more well shot than normal - better angles, more editing techniques; the stunts aren't just funny, they LOOK incredible. Although the use of 3D is completely pointless and really doesn't serve much to the film, unfortunately, but hey, guess what Hollywood: it never has.

It seems that in Jackass 3, Knoxville and gang are saying goodbye. As I said before, these guys are getting old, and there's a strange feeling when that familiar guitar chord twangs and the movie fades out that it may be the last time. This makes sense, not just because of their age, but because of the obvious question, "How long can they keep doing this?" Jackass will always have a special place in my heart, but it's definitely time for goodbye. With one final punch in the balls, my hat's off to these guys for creating the most entertaining display of male idiocy ever put on screen. These jackasses have actually been pretty fun to have around.

7.8 /10 (Good)

Movie Review - The Kids Are All Right

"Yeah that's uh, that's cool, I uh, love lesbians..."


There are scenes in director Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right that are so incredibly acted, so sharply written, and so well directed that you forget you're watching characters and instead imagine these actors as real people that are walking around somewhere in the world working out their dysfunctions. This is where the heart of the movie lies - this is one of the truest portrayals of an American family you're ever likely to see in a movie.

Anette Bening and Julianne Moore play lesbian partners who are living life just like anyone else when their kids - one 18, about to leave for college, and the other 15 - decide to hunt down their donor dad, plaid by Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo begins a relationship with the family, which eventually leads to events that both tear the family apart and bring them closer.

I don't want to give too much away since some of the events that transpire, while they seem like typical indie-flick quirkiness, actually build up to a truly moving climax.

While the writing is real and resonates, the real stars of the film are the actors, mainly the two leads, Moore and Bening. They play their parts with such emotional conviction that you never doubt their characters for a second. It feels like a real relationship, and that's why the bumps hit so hard and the pleasures feel so good.

Mark Ruffalo is excellent as the donor dad, but I'm not sure where all the Oscar buzz is coming from. Ruffalo is an exceptional actor who is long overdue for a nomination, there's no doubt about that - but at no point in the movie did I feel like this was the one it should happen for.

The kids in the movie, played by Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson, shine as well - particularly Wasikowska, who really gets into the skin of her troubled youth in the midst of growing up. In the end, the movie is truly about them - the kids.

The film definitely hits some bumps along the way; the story loses its way a little bit around the middle as it tries to figure out which characters it wants to focus on, and when it chooses to focus on two in particular that I won't give away, things hit the biggest low in the movie - these events ARE important, but the filmmakers took a little too much time in displaying them.

However, a "low" for The Kids Are All Right isn't all that low at all. The movie starts and ends so strongly, in fact, that the lows don't even matter so much. It's funny, sad, and very touching - this movie isn't taking any big risks or making any big statements, and it settles into this passive niche very nicely. We the audience are really just flies on the wall in the lives of these people, through their ups and downs, watching them hurt, watching them love, and celebrating the fact that through all their troubles, they are indeed gonna be all right.

8.8 /10 (Great)

Movie Review - The Social Network

"I'm sure you're gonna be a very successful 'computer person'. But you're gonna go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a geek. And I am telling you, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole."

The Social Network, David Fincher's new film about the creation of Facebook, begins with possibly the greatest break-up sequence of all time. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg in an Oscar-worthy performance) sits across from his girlfriend, played by future American girl with a dragon tattoo Rooney Mara, discussing the importance of Final Clubs. Zuckerberg dances around the conversation, frequently changing topics and then returning to previous ones without warning, as if he was sorting through transcripts in his head. The scene ends with a heart broken computer nerd, and begins what will eventually turn into the biggest phenomenon of our generation.

Mark returns home and creates a program while drunk that will become so popular that it crashes the entire Harvard computer system. It is because of this that Mark is approached by the Winkelvoss twins (played by the one and only Armie Hammer, another actor worthy of some awards attention) and their companion Divya. The boys approach Zuckerberg to assist them in creating a sort of dating site, but with a catch - it's for Harvard students only, and the idea of exclusivity maintains a major attraction to the borderline sociopath.

However, Zuckerberg instead takes this idea and expands it, and with the financial help of his best friend Eduardo Saverin (future Spider-man star Andrew Garfield in a star-making performance) and his very own computer codes, creates theFacebook.com. 

This of course spirals the boys into all kinds of trouble as they navigate social status and dodge the bullets of their WASPY twin opponents. The situation is exacerbated with the arrival of Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake in the 4th award worthy performance of the film), which leads Mark into yet another conflict, this time with his own best friend.

The movie is comprised of three different storylines - the two separate court depositions Zuckerberg faces from the twins and Eduardo, and the story of what actually happened (which may or may not be entirely true). This gives the structure of the film an extremely fluid motion that will hold your attention for the entire span of its two very short hours.

To say that The Social Network is a masterpiece would be an understatement; it isn't just a masterpiece, let alone the film of the year. It is the movie of our generation - a film that defines our time and serves the best social commentary of an era since Th Great Gatsby. 

Aaron Sorkin, the writer, may have earned himself his first Oscar for his incredibly fast paced, witty, riveting and heartbreaking script. Scene after scene we are set in a room with incredibly interesting and layered characters who are all on some level of genius as the quibble with each other over issues ranging from what party they should attend to how many hundreds of millions of dollars one owes the other.

David Fincher has directed his finest film yet, and that's saying A LOT since I consider his 2007 film Zodiac a classic. His attentiveness to visual splendor may seem odd for a movie that's essentially simple and character based, but the man has proved that he is more than capable of handling any situation and changing a typical debate to a maniacal conflict that pins you to your seat.

The entire movie rests on the shoulders of more than capable acting, but there are four performances in particular that elevate the movie to another level - Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer. 

Eisenberg is electrifying in the lead role; sometimes subtly conveying facial expressions and thoughtful imagining in a way that's so good it's scary, and sometimes spitting out Sorkin's light-speed dialogue like nothing you've ever seen. 

Garfield is quietly heartbreaking as Eduardo; whether he's calmly maintaining the boyish helplessness of his character or letting his talent truly shine in a loud and subtly powerful confrontation with his former best friend, the young Brit is a man to watch. 

Timberlake will rock your socks off as the sly and devious high school dropout Sean Parker, a cunning snake who slithers in and rips out Mark and Eduardo's relationship from under them. 

The role that will most likely be overlooked is Armie Hammer, who truly steals every scene he's in, and on top of that has to play two people at the same time. Employing a body double in Josh Pence and digitally placing Hammer's face on, the film produces an incredible illusion, one that could not have been done without the actor's miraculous portrayal of the twins - while both are similar, they are still two different people, and therefore have different mannerisms, voices, and slight behaviors. It's an incredibly nuanced performance.

In the end, it's the movie's layers that truly stand out the most. This may be a story of our digital age, but its themes are as old as time. It's a story about a guy who creates the most accessible way possible for people to connect, and yet can't connect with anyone himself. It's a rivetingly tragic conclusion, and the movie sneakily hides this within its humor and entertainment value - it gives you this silent feeling that something is wrong, and it haunts you.

To sum up, The Social Network is beautifully directed, brilliantly written, incredibly well-acted, hilarious, entertaining, and ultimately tragic. What more could you possibly want out of a film? It's a movie that leaves you pinned to your seat, not even caring about Facebook itself but thinking about the ways we connect with other people, and that having a lot of "friends" doesn't mean you're not alone. The movie is like it's protagonist - intelligent, fast-moving, and scarily visionary. It's a knockout. 

10 /10 (Classic)

Music Review Roundup

Haven't had a lot of time for music reviews, as Hunter, Matt and I have all been very busy with countless other projects. So I'm gonna give you a quick rundown of albums that have been released recently you should run out and buy, listen to somehow, or skip. I'll rate it the normal style, and then assign it one of those three categories. Here we
go!

Interpol - Interpol
Interpol will always be known for one album. Turn off the Bright Lights. They will never top it. Never. But they could have at least tried. This album entirely lacks the feel of their first two discs, and that's not a good thing. Don't get me wrong, progression is a fundamental concept most bands need to adopt. But it's called PROgression for a reason. You're supposed to get better. Instead, Interpol has released what is a front runner for the most disappointing album of the year. I thoroughly did not enjoy this album, and the most disappointing thing isn't that I paid for it. It's that I expected more from Interpol, and got not much in return. The comparison to Editors needs to stop, because right now the Editors are better.
Final Score: 4.8/10 (Skip)

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns
While Minutes to Midnight wasn't a bad Linkin Park album, it didn't live up to the hype surrounding the band after 2 great albums and a remix album with Jay-Z. Now that can be attributed to a number of things, because everyone knows that Linkin Park are good musicians. At least they were. A Thousand Suns finds Linkin Park abandoning all concept of logic and presumably thinking "Let's make a concept album about the world dealing with a nuclear fallout and the desolation and loneliness associated with such things. Except let's not use solid song structure or good lyrics". Well, as crazy as this sounds, this idea didn't exactly work. Don't get me wrong, there are good songs here. The first single The Catalyst isn't bad, and neither are songs like Blackout and Wretches and Kings. But the album takes forever to get going, contains some songs that don't sound like anything but AM radio static and nails being dropped on the floor, and the concept would have been cool only in the Cold War. I didn't have high expectations for this album initially, and I'm glad I didn't. I would have been disappointed. Linkin Park needs to either go back to Hybrid Theory, or have Mike Shinoda make another Fort Minor album. Please?
Final Grade: 6.8/10 (Worth one listen)

Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops and Hooligans
Bruno Mars, single artist. He can make a hook, but can he make an album? After the greatness of "Nothin' on You", Bruno Mars was at the top of his game. He also co-wrote "Right Round" by Flo Rida, so his penchant for catchy songs is close to unparalleled radio-wise. But Bruno Mars can sing also. His voice is great, especially on songs like "Just The Way You Are", "Grenade" and "Liquor Store Blues". He also sings with an old time feel, and makes you think that you're listening to the voice of a 1960's blues artist rather than an upstart 20-something year old on a debut album. It's a gift, and Mars shouldn't change it. The only issue I have with the album is the cheesy feel some songs have. While Mars sounds entirely genuine on most songs, songs like "First Time" fall flat due to their tired and true subject material that's been done by everyone and their cousin. However, Mars has made a name for himself that people won't soon forget. And a voice they better get used to hearing.
Final Grade: 8.5/10 (Buy it)

Lil' Wayne - I Am Not A Human Being
Free Weezy....so he can make a real album. This "album" is a collection of tracks recorded before Lil' Wayne went to jail, so it's expected that they sound a little outdated. However, they're far from bad. "Gonorrhea", despite it's god awful title, is actually a decent song. Drake is featured on 3 songs here, as well as Nicki Minaj and a few other guests. Highlights include "Gonorrhea", "With You", "I'm Single, "Right Above It" and "Bill Gates". I'm just hoping Lil' Wayne gets out in November and immediately finishes Tha Carter 4. It's what everyone wants to hear, and this helps for just a little bit.
Final Grade: 7.8/10 (Give it a listen)
Maroon 5 - Hands All Over
And finally, the album I'm most conflicted about. It's not a BAD album, but it's not GOOD. And I don't know why. I really can't pinpoint one specific reason. The songs are carefully crafted and the melodies are above mediocre, yet I can't stick with this album. I find myself having trouble listening to one song all the way through before I hit Next and move on. The highlight is definitely the closer "Out of Goodbyes" featuring Lady Antebellum. It's a great song and worth a few listens....if you can make it to the end of the album. Maroon 5 has always weighed its success on the voice of Adam Levine, and while his voice is the same here, the instrumental structure lacks significantly. It makes you finally realize the importance of a band, and that it takes everyone to make a good album.
Final Grade: 7/10 (Your call, skip or give it a listen)