Wednesday, January 02, 2008

A New Year movie review

I hope you all enjoyed your New Years Eve and New Years Day. Mine was low-key this year, as it has been the last 2 or 3 years now. What is it about New Years Eve? I've been celebrating it for 10 years or so now (and by "celebrating", I mean drinking boat-loads of Jack Daniels, as well as that one year when I took on Red Bull and vodka), and as I look back, there's probably only been 2 or 3 of them that were truly memorable. And yes, the Red Bull and vodka night was one of them, minus the morning after when it felt like I had been hit in the head with a hammer. There's something to be said for the guy who decides to make it a Red Bull and vodka night. It's really a 3-day commitment. Those of you who have had a Red Bull and vodka night know what I'm talking about. Those of you who have not, you're probably better off.

Anyway, Jill and I decided to shake off our hangovers by making our New Years Day a movie day. I've been wanting to see "Juno" since I read this line from Roger Ebert's column when it first came out: "this is one of those rare movies that you want to watch by yourself with your shirt off while eating a block of cheese." No shirt? A block of cheese? All by myself? I'm sold. Okay, he didn't really write that, but he made it his top pick of the year, so I was excited. And he was right, it was great. Terrific performances all around. I have a feeling that every Ellen Page and Michael Cera movie for the next 5-10 years will continue being must-sees, as long as we don't begin reading stories about either of them hanging out in L.A. clubs with Lindsay Lohan. Is there someone we can get in touch with to make sure this doesn't happen?

For our evening pick, we weren't as fortunate. We got home, ate some pizza, and ordered "I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry" on PPV. I didn't have high hopes going in, but I also wasn't expecting 1 hour and 57 minutes of suck. Turns out it was 1 hour and 57 minutes of suck. The other 3 minutes of this 2-hour suck-fest was the partially naked Jessica Biel scene. That was pretty cool. Actually it wasn't; even that scene was lame. There was nothing about this movie that I could recommend to anyone. It was racist, gayist (I still don't use the term "homophobic" because it doesn't make any sense. Then again, neither does "gayist". We need a better term for something that's anti-gay. How about "anti-gay"?), sexist, and I'm sure a bunch of other "ist's" that I can't think of right now. Do not under any circumstances pay money to see this movie. Wait until it's on HBO, then call up your cable or satellite provider, cancel HBO for showing this crap, and then wait until it's on TBS.

My final tally - Juno good, Chuck and Larry bad.

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous Says:

    I think Juno is hot in a I hope Chris Hanson isnt watching kind of way.

  2. Erin Says:

    I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry was absolutely as heinous as you say. My brother and I rented it thinking it would just be some cheesey laughs and came close to turning it off -- which i never do. I'm also totally not the person who cries about things being racist or "anti-gay," but it was definitely all those things, too! It was one offensive stereotype after another sans the quality humor that usually lightens the blow. Definitely one of the worst movies I've ever seen.