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Garden State (2004)
One measly semi decent scene
....is painful and almost not worth the effort of sitting through approximately two hours worth of utter dribble to get to. It was when Andrew had that talk with Sam about not feeling like he belonged to the hometown anymore ever since he moved out.
If only the whole film worked on the tone of that lost-ness instead of focusing on how stoned out his childhood friends were. I understand the stoned out friends are there to establish how much Andrew has moved on from that place but it took up what felt like 2/3rd of the film which was precisely 2/3rd too much.
Braff tried too hard to be quirky and hip. This was evident in making one of the most likable actresses (in my book anyway) into such an insufferable character. Ooohey lookit she's in to see the shrink coz she's so darn quirky too (ok she has epilepsy or something of the sort. My apologies for not paying better attention. I was too distracted by how bad Saarsgard was at this point and I have liked everything else I've seen him in).
Ooohey lookit she's forcing Andrew to create such a different, special memory in her room. Oh wow she ice skates in an alligator costume. Tres original!! My apologies again for being such a positive polly. I suspect my expectations got the better of me (only because the three leads could have delivered so much more).
This film is best watched either right after high school or college graduation. That **cked up period in most of our lives where we felt so lost and un-belong. I'm 26 and yet to hold a steady job after my degree and this film annoyed the crap out of me.
I suggest The Graduate and Beautiful Girls or even Home For The Holidays if you're looking for similar films. Much more enjoyable and less forced than this one, cheers = )
She's the Man (2006)
Pleasantly decent
The only thing I knew about this cast was Bynes did some work on Nickelodeon and Tatum had a string of teen flicks, neither of which I've watched before. Had a pretty low expectation given the genre so it was pretty pleasant to find out it wasn't as horrible as I anticipated it to be.
Bynes was amusing enough (borderline annoying if your threshold is pretty low) during the whole OTT girl went undercover as boy disguise mission. Her mannerisms were similar to that of Bullock circa Miss Congeniality although I find Bynes being better in the silly department whereas Bullock excels better in bringing the romance into romantic comedy lead.
Tatum made great eye candy although 'twas pretty painful to watch him go through the more serious scenes - like him telling Viola (as Sebastian) off in treating woman badly. He fared slightly better during silly scenes - like whenever he had to act all nervous every time he talked to Olivia.
The supporting cast really shone here. I've always had a fondness for Jones so I'm thrilled anytime I see him (doubly so here since I didn't know he was cast). Cross did a great job along with Torti as well as Viola/Sebastian's crew in supporting her/him with the transformation and Duke's silly frat entourage.
I could enjoy this a lot more if the subplot of Duke and Viola hooking up didn't feel so artificial and forced but alas, (i) romantic (/i) comedy sells better than straight up laugh in your face humour especially whenever we have a female lead. After all, it (i) was (/i) based on the Shakespeare's Twelfth Night play
Crash (2004)
Underwhelming
My first Haggis film was In The Valley Of Elah. That fact coupled with the stellar cast had me going in with higher expectations than I'd usually like to set for any given film. Having said that, I don't think foregoing both reasons may have made me like it any better. The script was so filled with cusses I seriously thought it was meant to be funny at one point (when Howard was stopped by the police the second time, while being comically robbed by Ludicrous - which reminded me of another I would think unintended wtf scene - when Howard gave Luda's gun back to him. Yeah sure. That's the first instinct of any sane real person - just return a criminal's weapon back to him all the while quite nonchalantly telling him off he's an embarrassment to his whole race).
I guess that pretty much summed up my whole disliking of the film. It tries to portray real life but the characters were too unrealistically exaggerated. I just couldn't take the scene when the Persian (not Arab you asshole!) guy started to went off the Mexican guy accusing the latter of being a liar seriously. I know some foreigners (apologies for the blatant stereotyping but usually those from Eastern Europe, Middle East and South Asia descents) have similar xenophobia as the Persian guy but by God was he irrational or what? The sequence of events in his case was a one in a billion chance happening in real life.
Seeing as I'm off on a rant trail here, let's add Dillon and Bullock's ultra convincing portrayals of racists to the list. Newton was surprisingly bad but I would disregard it due to the horrible script again. Fraser should stick to his B-movies as that's what he shines in best. He will always be etched as Rick O'Connell in my mind. The only saving grace in this lukewarm mess were Cheadle, Esposito, Peña and Devine
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Still magical
Rewatching this as a 26 year old, some of the classic Disney wonders can be lost on you. As much as you've mentally prepared yourself to take things at face value, you still can't help to wonder the more realistic aspect of things. Forget the improbability of mermaids turning into people. Forget even the mere existence of mermaids and mermen for the sake of beliefs being suspended. We can still draw some of the plots unto our own stories. The biggest one personally for me is Ariel's eagerness as a teen (was it common for 16 year olds to get married back in '89?) and interests in a world different from her own, then having not so much as qualms to leave the only world she has known behind for her one true love.
This may seem a bit crass but I found it quite amusing that Disney proposed a mute heroine for the first time (I'm a female in case that's a merit for such finding). Maybe some men would find a very attractive red head who can't speak as the perfect package but Eric prefer his princess to be the singing kind. This point was totally lost on me as a 10 year old but one thing I vividly remember from the film was the heroine as 'she is big eyes, she is nice hair, I sure like that and wouldn't mind to look like her when I grow up'.
Putting all that aside, the film proved to be just as enjoyable as the last time I saw it (at least 16 years ago). A little backstory with Ariel and her sisters seem to have some potentials but I guess Disney has already explored that with Cinderella. Ursula still came across as intimidating especially after she did her voodoo and took over the crown and the All Power Holding Spear.
I've always thought the biggest part of Disney's charm is its unique ability to turn saccharine lyrics and arrangements into something magical and this is no exception to the general rule. Part Of Your World manage to sound appealing despite it being suited to a younger audience. As far as the voice talents are concerned, Disney has the trick down to a knack. This is what The Little Mermaid is all about - a Disney classy classic class.