Late Bloomer - Sundance Festival Short Film

This will be my first post/review of a short film, especially one released at Sundance Festival. I urge you all to watch this, it is only 13 minutes long and conveniently uploaded to Youtube.

Late Bloomer is a genius skit. It is based off of an H.P. Lovecraft tale, also called "Late Bloomer" as it follows a 7th grade class in the midst of their sex-ed lectures. What results is very true, but presented in a heinous dark manner. One student is narrating what he is seeing; which just so happens to be monsters out of various genitalia, as well as what he describes as a ritual with his teacher at the helm. I really liked the direction it took where the narration used the same dark diction that H.P. Lovecraft's tales usually take, but how they were coming from a young boy. Gave it a more sinister appeal.

So if you have a few free minutes, I urge you to give this a watch. You'll never look at sex ed in the same way, I'll guarantee it. 

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Summer Movie Trailer Bash!

For today's post I'm going to post a few trailers for movies coming out this summer and my comments on them.

First up; Everything Must Go

This movie seems golden. Features Will Ferrell as a man who loses everything. His job and his wife. Craziness ensues as he lives on his front lawn and eventually seems to come to terms with himself. 

Release Date: May 13th

Secondly; Bridesmaid

Not too sure about this one... On one hand it's a Judd Apatow movie, that right there is almost enough reason to see it. Also it features some hidden surprises (Erin from The Office mainly). Overall from the trailer...my impression is a not as funny or crazy Hangover movie. But eh... we'll see how it turns out.

Release Date:  May 13th

Lastly for now; Our Idiot Brother

This one features a cast of great faces. Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel and Rashida Jones to name a few. Based off of Paul Rudd in general is enough for me though. Based on the trailer it seems Rudd's character is busted for pot and forced to live back with his family. Seems hilarious as tensions clash with all his family members. 

Release Date: August 26th 

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Happythankyoumoreplease

Watched this movie for one reason really. Josh Radnor. If you don't recognize the name...well he's not that big but he's the star of the hit show How I Met Your Mother, one of my personal favorites. So even though based on the trailer this movie looked like a typical chick flick I gave it a shot for him.

The movie kind of went better than expected. I expected, again, a typical chick flick but instead I got...well not sure exactly. Essentially the plot of the movie is three different story lines. My favorite was the one with Radnor as he finds a kid lost on the subway and takes him in. Very touching, the funniest of the three and most relatable. The others focused on a cancer patient who finds unlikely love, and a couple facing a tough job decision with the onset of a baby.

I will admit this movie started out super slow with the only redeeming quality being Radnor and the cute kid he found...but luckily the other story lines soon picked up and became fascinating as well and brought more actual realism to this movie which lots of movies unfortunately lack. One of the best things personally to me about this movie was the setting. Downtown New York. I have always wanted to live in a downtown area whether it be New York or Chicago, love the scene and this movie brought that lust back and in high fever.

So anyway, if you like indie chick flicks to watch with your girl, I say give this a shot. If you like Josh Radnor...give it a shot. 

6.5 out of 10

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30 Minutes or Less

Another trailer for you guys, this time a comedy. 30 Minutes or Less features two of my favorite actors, Jesse Eisenburg (of Social Network) and Aziz Ansari (of Parks and Recreation). It is a comedy centering around a pizza boy who while delivering pizza gets captured and a bomb is strapped to his chest, they then force him to rob a bank or else he'll explode. While this is a comedy it is loosely based off of a real life story where a pizza man was forced to rob a bank with a bomb strapped to his neck. Anyways, this looks hilarious and can't wait for it's release in August.

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Stakeland

What do you guys think of this trailer? I think it looks pretty good, lots of action, albeit typical. Although it does seem to go in a new direction as I saw some "zombies" with crosses on them so it may cross into another supernatural dimension. But I can't quite shake the Zombieland image out of my mind, especially since the name is Stakeland... Plus the character dynamics. Kid paired with an elder, meet girls, etc. But hey, I loved Zombieland so maybe Zombieland without humor won't be so bad. Either way I'll be in line to see this.

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Harper's Island

Here today to talk about a little known show that aired a few years ago in 2009 on CBS. I remember it vividly as I thought the idea was a fresh spin on the usual staleness of television. Harper's Island was a Summer long mini show that was only going to be one season. The hook was it was a murder mystery style show in which one character died each week and I believe they had online betting matches and such for people to place bets on who the killer was and who would die each week.

Very unique in terms of television if you ask me, and I thought the overall show was great. The storyline was a couple who used to vacation and had family on this island were going to have their wedding on the island. So they got all their friends and family here. Of course, things go wrong and people start mysteriously disappearing and eventually they find out the people are dying and it turns into a surprisingly scary thriller. As the characters eventually know they are being hunted one by one and since the island is in off season, the killer is most likely one of them. The show continues to throw big curve balls at you to mix things up, such as eluding to the fact that a famous serial killer from the island thought to be dead might be back, and other such things that really get your mind spinning.

Harper's Island was a great show though under appreciated at the time. I strongly encourage if you see the DVD for it in some store to pick it up. I doubt it'll be expensive and it'll be more than worth it.

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Mean Creek

Metacritic and Rottentomatoes both had very high scores for this movie and after being suggested it I decided to give it a shot. It starts off with a scene starring Josh Peck, aka Josh from Drake and Josh. Honestly, I almost stopped it there... Him? In a serious sounding role? This could not end well... Or could it?

Luckily it did. For those who haven't heard of this movie it revolves around a bully (Josh Peck) and his "victim", Sam. Sam wants to get back at him and enlists his brother and his brothers friends. They devise a prank that involves getting the bully, George, onto the river, daring him to strip naked, leaving him and making him run home naked. Of course as you can see by the poster...things turn dreary.

This movie was honestly one of the hardest movies to watch I feel. So excruciating to watch as you know what they are planning to do, humiliate this bully. At first you feel bad for Sam as he got beat up, but then you get to know George and see that he actually just wants to be friends with them all and he has a learning disability and such. So watching them plot, scheme, and lie to his face knowing that he eventually is going to be hurt... so painful to watch. It gets even more painful when the climax occurs and the "accident" happens.

The rest of the movie after the climax is just as painful to watch and just as emotionally draining. It follows the same characters, sans George, as they have to make huge decisions in their life and face the consequences. What makes this movie so good is the fact that as you are watching it you can easily put yourself into their positions and that turns this movie into a whole new perspective. You feel their distress, their sadness, their anger, their motives. You are Sam, you are George, you are every single one of those characters at once and feel all what they are going through. This movie will leave you in shambles.

9 out of 10 

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