The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door if a very over the top, raunchy, almost inappropriate movie. The blurred moral line that the movie portrays is the very thing that makes in one of the best gross out comedies since the genre was resubmitted with American Pie and There is Something About Marry.

The movie was released April 9th 2004, so this review or commentary is quite late. However, I just watched the movie again and thought that I should promote it and put my two sense in. The critical consensus of the movie was pretty mediocre. The tomato Meter was at 55%. Two established critics that had strong opposing opinions about the film were

Mick LaSalle

, and

Roger Ebert

Ebert strongly disliked the movie which is kind of funny considering the sheer number of movies that he does like. His primary reason for hating it was the morals in the film were non existent and that the filmmakers were irresponsible in promoting this movie to the American Pie crowed (aka 13-20 something year old boys). He contends that the movies depiction of the porn industry is completely inaccurate and glorifying and therefore the movie is horrible. In some ways this is true, but at the same time, not so much. The porn producer named Kelly is a very charismatic character and therefore sometimes sympathetic and extremely entertaining (he is played by Timothy Olyphant). This character is definitely taken from Risky Business (and much of the movie is influenced by the Tom Cruise flick). This could make the movie bad but I think it adds to the film by taking a different take on the same type character. Kelly almost becomes Matt's friend and is more outwardly crazy then the pimp in Risky Business. Ebert sees the strong influence of Risky Business and many other teen flicks (anything by John Hughs) as a bad thing where I see it as nostalgic and interesting.

Mick LaSalle clams that the movie captures what it is like to be a teenage male, and I completely agree. The situations that Matt gets into are very unbelievable, however the way Emile Hirsch's character (Matt) reacts to the situations makes them seem real. Emile Hirsch's solid acting throughout the movie also helps us believe he is a real teenage boy. In a few scenes the situations become so unbelievable that even good acting cannot make it seem real. But in these circumstances Matt reacts in a way that a teenage boy wishes he could act and therefore adds to films capturing of the essence of teenage boy. Another thing that I specifically agree with Mick about is that the movie contains one of the most inspired first kisses ever to have been in a teen comedy.

The movie is just a piece of fantasy, like any other fictional story. And much of the film seems to be the fantasy of a teenage boy in high school. If you look into the head of any adolescent boy I'm sure you will find the morals to be a little skewed. And this movie captures that thought process almost perfectly.

Update

So the bus strike is still on down here in Santa Cruz, and there is really no end in sight (stupid unions! Just kidding). I really don't understand why we don't have any scabs yet, that would be classic. It would be like 'On the Waterfront' or 'Billy Elliot', it would be sweet. Speaking of movies, I saw two this weekend, 'Wallace and Gromit' and 'Elizabethtown'. Wallace and Gromit was another good animated film like Corpse Bride or any of the CG ones. It was a little bit more childish however with a lot of physical humor. I liked the Wallace and Gromit shorter stuff but I do not think I can handle it feature length. I fell asleep a few times. However, to be fair it was right after I watched 'Elizabethtown' so maybe that made me tired. 'Elizabethtown' was slightly better then I expected, but the primary reason for that was because it was written and directed by Cameron Crowe, whose films I usually really like. Orlando Bloom was probably did his best job acting outside of an elf costume. And Kirsten Dunst was really believable considering her part of the story was not that realistic. The movie was somewhat like 'Garden State' with nothing to prove, which made it worse in many respects, but better in others. So that is it for now, hope everybody is doing well and I will end this blog in a way that I will end every blog until 'Serenity' is out of theaters.

Go see Serenity!!!!

Serenity

I don't know how many of you have seen the tv series 'Firefly' but it was a pretty good show that was very short lived. The movie based on the show came out last week and it is called Serenity. Where they tv show was good Serenity was amazingly awesome. For anybody that likes sci-fi, action or adventure flix this is the best to come out in all of those genres for a long time. The writing of dialog was flawless and the story was very inventive, and those aren't even the movies strongest attributes. The reason people loved the show was for the characters and once again they make you interested in everything that occurs throughout the movie. I do believe that Joss Whedon could be compared with Ridley Scott and James Cameron for the sci-fi world he has created.

George Lucas also comes to mind when thinking about this genre. However, in every realm that the last 3 star wars movies failed Serenity succeeds and even can be compared to the original Star Wars. The one thing that Serenity is not getting at the moment however is a high spot in the box office ratings. Its opening weeks it was second to flight plan and this weekend if fell to number 9 with even the Gospel (don't get me started) soundly beating it. People need to go see this movie. It will make your life better. And by paying to see Serenity they can get the support to make a sequel we may be in for a movie rivaling 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The amount of creativity that went into this movie and the joy that one gets out of seeing it are some of the best things I have experienced in years. Go see it, Now!

you don't have to do that homework

or play that video game

just get in your car or catch a bus to the movie theater, bust out nine bucks, and experience Serenity.

Unless you have already seen it. In which case I suggest you buy another ticket to Serenity and movie hop for an afternoon.

Stuck on Campus

The Santa Cruz Metro Bus drivers union has been on strike since Sep. 29th and there does not seem to be any light in the tunnel for those of us stuck up on the hill at UCSC. Yesterday the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the city was giving away 350 bikes to any SC county resident that needed transportation of some sort. Today apparently is the first time that city officials are going to be with each other (not with the union) to figure out how to resolve this strike. The College Republicans of UCSC are holding a protest against the unions demands today at the Metro Center starting at 2:00pm.

Usually I do not believe I would agree with the "College Republicans" however all the information I have been able to get makes me think that these damn bus drivers are screwing us over. They are one of the top 4 paid bus drivers in the country, and some of the highest paid drivers make just over 74,000 dollars a year. I think that is a lot of friggn' money for a job that is not extremely high skill. At UC Davis students are allowed to get jobs as city bus drivers because the UC owns the whole bus system. I don't think those students are getting paid that much and they get the job done. Even if the cost of living in SC is high these bus drivers could at least come back to work and then try to make a deal later. Its not like they are going to have to burn their dinner tables to keep their houses warm this winter (well maybe they will with the price of heating oil, gas about to sky rocket).

For any student at UCSC there is also a financial problem. We already paid for the bus service in our tuision and now there is nothing. The University is also making hell of money on parking permits and tickets, while at the same time keeping the money they would be paying to the bus system. In the end I guess it is the students and poor people getting screwed again. But at least if there was a hurricane I am on high ground stuck up here on campus.

The Blood In My Veins

Whoa, today was extremely strange. I woke up late for work, then left early due to my aching body, which made me appear to be extremely ill. Got back here, made dinner watched half a movie, fell asleep went to class left early and watched Lost. I then got accused of spreading rumors and I realized that I got played worse then I've ever been played. Now I'm full of rage, anger that’s been building for a while now.
Oh yeah, and someone I knew died a couple days ago. That’s the 2nd person I've known to die in a month. Now what the fuck is that? I've known maybe 2 people who have died my whole life and now these young guys around my age start dying. What does that mean? People around me are going to die and bitches will forever play me for a fool? That’s gotta be pretty close. It's crazy with the guy I knew who died. It happened so fast, one day he starts getting headaches. He goes to the hospital and they tell him he has a tumor and he is dead within a week. Now what do you call that? The strange part is that I'm not reacting the way I thought I would to death. I mean, I always figured I'd be really sad, get depressed or something like that. I'm just getting mad, angrier that this shit happens and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. It's almost like you could just say that about every aspect of life. Shit happens and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Like, girls will fuck with you and you can't do shit. It's easy to think like that, really comfortable. A simple justification to not do the things you know you should. Why should I be nice to that person, they are just going to fuck me in the end? Why should I study for that test? I'm just going to get what I get and there’s nothing doing to change that. I'll meet a nice girl someday, it will just happen, I can't make it happen I just gotta not worry about it. Right? It's all fate. That’s what I've told myself most of my life. That when shit goes wrong its fate that when shit goes right its all my destiny. I even use fate to make decisions in my everyday life. "If they are out of Pepperoni slices I won't get lunch". Fuck that, that gets you no where. If you want something you gotta take it, if you don't your not going to have nothing. In life there are no freebies, you gotta work for everything or you will get shit on. I fucking know. I'm not going to let people push me around and shit anymore. Fuck you crazy mind trip bitches out there, you want a fuck with me, you better think again cuz I ain't playing anymore. I'm out.