It's time for everyone's favorite show-PMZ! The show that somehow has thousands of followers despite providing no insightful thought or entertainment! Today we've got six people who clearly should question their life choices talking to a smarmy guy looking over a cubicle about pop star Connor 4 Real! Given, they're running a marathon of the 100 greatest films of all time over on the TCM channel- but why think when you can be immersed in celebrity culture?
(PMZ will return after these sarcastic comments.)
I dislike modern celebrity culture. Really, I do. I don't feel the same way other people do when it comes to fawning over popular figures. It's nothing personal- I don't particularly hate any celebrities or have strong feeling towards most mainstream figures- I just don't share the common attraction. But because I have access to the internet, I find myself battered by the unwanted celebrity gossip everywhere I turn. This has given me insight into the smart humor of PopStar, and why it works the way it does.
This film is a look into the private life of the entourage and work of pop star Connor For Real, a former member of the Style Boys (a popular trio) who has made a huge name for himself due to his undying charisma and voice. This is offset by the fact that he is entirely detatched from reality as opposed to other characters. His posse includes his best friend and DJ Owen (a former member of the Style Boys who makes admittedly good music), manager, and interchangable army of tag-alongs. The film is shot in a way that is reminiscent of a pop documentary charting the life and events during a particular time in Connor's life- a time that tests him when his fame takes a dive and his second album turns out to be a complete flop. In desperation, he hires an opening act- but when this opener seems to leapfrog Connor's popularity and his struggles isolate him from his friends, can this pop sensation bounce back from a crippling series of humiliations and reclaim the trust of his team and his friends? And what about the third Style Boy, the one who has faded out of the public eye? Maybe it takes more than two to make a perfect team.
The characters of the story, in the guises of pop sensations, play well on the typical tropes of celebrity ignorance and entitlement: when Connor says something stupid, people will agree because he's Connor. If Connor turns his back to the basketball hoop, the people around him will tell him it went in despite it completely missing it's target because he's Connor. And, when a terrible wardrobe malfunction makes him the target of media hordes, people watch- because he's Connor. It deals with the positives and negatives of stardom, and in a way that plays with both the context and work of the star himself, as well as his relationships and publicity missteps (my personal favorite comes from his song about equal rights for gay marriage, in which he constantly has to bring up that he is not, in fact, gay) . It's a fun picture that messes around with every trope to the last (there's even a TMZ cameo), and while it may not be relevant in the future, it certainly will still be funny.
OVERALL RATING: 8/10
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Do you think people at TMZ ever think about what they're doing with their lives? Are they able to work somewhere else, or is it some sort of prison? Is TMZ Hotel California, a prison we are unable to escape that may or may not be hell? Food for thought.....
Monday, June 13, 2016
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
The Critical Frog: The Lobster
The strange thing about dystopian futures is that when you take a hard look at some of them, it feels as if they aren't too far away. When looking at cinematic universes such as The Purge or today's film, you can see the reasoning behind the dystopia as it pertains to today's logic. The logic behind The Purge, which creates a perfect state 364 days of the year at the cost of one night of insanity, can widely play on the tropes dividing anarchy and perfection, and shows the horrors people are capable of when they have the night to do anything they please. Today's film plays on our society's ideals of romance and couples being a massive aspect of today's media making people feel they are an outcast if they aren't directly involved in romantics with a partner. But coming from a single man, it's difficult to describe this need.
I've never been one for romance or companionship (this has nothing to do with the fact that I'm socially awkward and couldn't have a girlfriend if I tried), but for some reason people see that as a fault on the person's part. The Lobster takes this to the extreme, taking place in a world where coupling up is mandatory. Each person must have a partner at all times in the world of The Lobster- male or female, it doesn't matter- and people who have divorced or are not in a relationship are sent to a special hotel/institute for the sole purpose of finding one. Our main character is David, a recently divorced glasses-sporting everyman, who checks in to the hotel with hopes of finding a new partner. This place has conditions, though: After forty-five days, if he has not found his true love (shown by sharing something simple in common, such as being shortsighted), he is to be turned into an animal and set loose into the woods nearby. David chooses a lobster should he fail, hence the film's title. The head of the hotel also explains cleverly that most people end up picking a dog, hence why there are so many dogs in the world and so few of endangered species. This is what became of David's brother, a dog who accompanies him to the hotel.
Eventually, David meets some friends, but running his time short, decides to fake being a heartless jerk in order to escape transformations. After an unspeakable incident with the heartless woman, he flees into the wilderness to escape the punishment and coupling society. There he meets the Loners, a vigilante group living off the wilderness while constantly evading the nightly hunts of the people of the hotel. But in one world where he will be killed and another where he will be punished for being a couple (in the Loner camp, they slit lips with razor blades for kissing), is there still a perfect girl for Davd out there? And in which world will he meet her?
For the simple plot of a romantic film-date or be an animal- this film is seriously dark. No kidding. There are some pretty brutal scenes of violence and graphic talk (the process of animal transformation is partly explained in a grisly talk, a man gets his hand in a toaster for doing something I' not permitted to discuss here, etc.). But, aside from that, it's pretty interesting and entertaining to watch and think about. It's one of the few romantic films that leaves it's audience filing out with a thoughtful face instead of a smiling one. Throw in a cliffhanger ending and you have a unique idea with a tense story and dystopian future, creating a stand-out, morbid, entertaining spectacle.
OVERALL RATING: 8/10
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Personally, I liked to think more about which animal I'd like to be. Can you guess? ...That's right. Hippopotamus.
I've never been one for romance or companionship (this has nothing to do with the fact that I'm socially awkward and couldn't have a girlfriend if I tried), but for some reason people see that as a fault on the person's part. The Lobster takes this to the extreme, taking place in a world where coupling up is mandatory. Each person must have a partner at all times in the world of The Lobster- male or female, it doesn't matter- and people who have divorced or are not in a relationship are sent to a special hotel/institute for the sole purpose of finding one. Our main character is David, a recently divorced glasses-sporting everyman, who checks in to the hotel with hopes of finding a new partner. This place has conditions, though: After forty-five days, if he has not found his true love (shown by sharing something simple in common, such as being shortsighted), he is to be turned into an animal and set loose into the woods nearby. David chooses a lobster should he fail, hence the film's title. The head of the hotel also explains cleverly that most people end up picking a dog, hence why there are so many dogs in the world and so few of endangered species. This is what became of David's brother, a dog who accompanies him to the hotel.
Eventually, David meets some friends, but running his time short, decides to fake being a heartless jerk in order to escape transformations. After an unspeakable incident with the heartless woman, he flees into the wilderness to escape the punishment and coupling society. There he meets the Loners, a vigilante group living off the wilderness while constantly evading the nightly hunts of the people of the hotel. But in one world where he will be killed and another where he will be punished for being a couple (in the Loner camp, they slit lips with razor blades for kissing), is there still a perfect girl for Davd out there? And in which world will he meet her?
For the simple plot of a romantic film-date or be an animal- this film is seriously dark. No kidding. There are some pretty brutal scenes of violence and graphic talk (the process of animal transformation is partly explained in a grisly talk, a man gets his hand in a toaster for doing something I' not permitted to discuss here, etc.). But, aside from that, it's pretty interesting and entertaining to watch and think about. It's one of the few romantic films that leaves it's audience filing out with a thoughtful face instead of a smiling one. Throw in a cliffhanger ending and you have a unique idea with a tense story and dystopian future, creating a stand-out, morbid, entertaining spectacle.
OVERALL RATING: 8/10
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Personally, I liked to think more about which animal I'd like to be. Can you guess? ...That's right. Hippopotamus.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
The Critical Frog: The Jungle Book
Reboots are a curious thing. They can make a good series bad or a bad series good depending on the way the filmmaking dice roll,or can sometimes draw an entire generation of hate for ruining the old-school charm of a classic. And with the recent outbursts over the new Ghostbusters film, with feminists declaring war on people who have decided against seeing the film (I'm staying out of this one), I figured the only way to counter one reboot is with another. This is what led me into the theater to see the new remake of The Jungle Book- and I have to admit, I was surprised. Not only was it a newer, darker version of the classic story, but it was a well-made one.
I know I'm going to get hate for this,but it needs to be said: I wasn't a huge fan of The Jungle Book growing up (I was more into cartoons like Teen Titans), and
looking back on it now, it just doesn't seem to hold up. The characters are fun,sure, the Bear Necessities is catchy, but the plot can get dull and shaky at times and the villain is nothing but a cocky brat. I realize it was made in a different time- but keep in mind Fantasia was made even earlier. Regardless,it's a fun and harmless filmto keep your little one occupied. The reboot is nothing like it.
Watching this in a theater with small children, I was admittedly humored by the reactions of the angry parents who expected it to be a simple live-action remake of the happy-go-lucky story. But, times have changed. We live in a time where people are more interested in conflict and fright. And so, as pop culture adapted, the classic story had to as well- and the best way to do that was to reinvent the jungle using the wonders of CGI.
I absolutely love the computer-generated animations in this film: every little thing is alive and humming. You can see the foliage rustling and the breath of every animal in the scene. Every character has been wonderfully redesigned to fit the modern ideals of them: Bageera the black panther takes on a more mysterious presence, Baloo the Bear now looks like a real bear, and even former whiny tiger Shere Khan has developed an intimidating presence and voice. My personal favorite change is that of the snake, Kaa (please dont look him up on Google Images), who has not only grown several feet in size, but has received gender reassignment surgery and is now voiced by the strikingly attractive Scarlet Johannson. King Louie, too, is affected by this change, and has grown from being a mere orangutan to a massive Gigantopithecus, now so large that smaller monkeys can use his shoulders as landings. Even Shere Khan, admittedly a bad villain in the original, takes on a more cunning and ruthless nature when given a touch of CGI and the incredible voice of Idris Elba.
There's a lot to enjoy in the film- from the darker new characters to the fast-paced and tense action scenes (when King Louie does get off his throne, he's a massive and imposing figure, capable of causing rockfalls with his massive size). Young mancub Mowgli (who's child actor isn't bad, honestly) uses his human instinct and trickery to emerge victorious from troublesome situations (he creates an admittedly impressive pulley system to gather honey from a cliffside beehive) on his way to follow Bageera's orders and reach the man villiage. But now that the tiger is a genuine threat, can he make it in time? And does he even want to go back? See foryourself in this dark reboot of a classic story, that captures the jungle of the original with it's own unique twists.
OVERALL RATING: 7/10
I know I'm going to get hate for this,but it needs to be said: I wasn't a huge fan of The Jungle Book growing up (I was more into cartoons like Teen Titans), and
looking back on it now, it just doesn't seem to hold up. The characters are fun,sure, the Bear Necessities is catchy, but the plot can get dull and shaky at times and the villain is nothing but a cocky brat. I realize it was made in a different time- but keep in mind Fantasia was made even earlier. Regardless,it's a fun and harmless filmto keep your little one occupied. The reboot is nothing like it.
Watching this in a theater with small children, I was admittedly humored by the reactions of the angry parents who expected it to be a simple live-action remake of the happy-go-lucky story. But, times have changed. We live in a time where people are more interested in conflict and fright. And so, as pop culture adapted, the classic story had to as well- and the best way to do that was to reinvent the jungle using the wonders of CGI.
I absolutely love the computer-generated animations in this film: every little thing is alive and humming. You can see the foliage rustling and the breath of every animal in the scene. Every character has been wonderfully redesigned to fit the modern ideals of them: Bageera the black panther takes on a more mysterious presence, Baloo the Bear now looks like a real bear, and even former whiny tiger Shere Khan has developed an intimidating presence and voice. My personal favorite change is that of the snake, Kaa (please dont look him up on Google Images), who has not only grown several feet in size, but has received gender reassignment surgery and is now voiced by the strikingly attractive Scarlet Johannson. King Louie, too, is affected by this change, and has grown from being a mere orangutan to a massive Gigantopithecus, now so large that smaller monkeys can use his shoulders as landings. Even Shere Khan, admittedly a bad villain in the original, takes on a more cunning and ruthless nature when given a touch of CGI and the incredible voice of Idris Elba.
There's a lot to enjoy in the film- from the darker new characters to the fast-paced and tense action scenes (when King Louie does get off his throne, he's a massive and imposing figure, capable of causing rockfalls with his massive size). Young mancub Mowgli (who's child actor isn't bad, honestly) uses his human instinct and trickery to emerge victorious from troublesome situations (he creates an admittedly impressive pulley system to gather honey from a cliffside beehive) on his way to follow Bageera's orders and reach the man villiage. But now that the tiger is a genuine threat, can he make it in time? And does he even want to go back? See foryourself in this dark reboot of a classic story, that captures the jungle of the original with it's own unique twists.
OVERALL RATING: 7/10
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