Film Review: The Switch

The Switch

Forty-year old Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) decides that she's ready to have a child, regardless of whether there's a man in her life, and artificially inseminates herself. Somehow, the fine Aryan sperm of her 'donor' gets replaced by the sperm of long-suffering Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) who truly loves her, but had been consigned by Kassie into 'The Friend Zone'. Kassie moves away once she becomes pregnant and seven years pass. She returns to New York City with her son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson) who displays all of Wally's social tics and OCD.

Surprisingly topical, smart and hysterically funny, The Switch asks some serious questions about what modern feminism has done to men and women alike, all while following the standard 'stupid man gets the less-stupid woman' romantic comedy tropes.

Movie Rating: 
7

8/28: The Tea Parties get Chaperones

Conservative movements in our country have always been fascinating to me, from the reactionary Know-Nothings to the socially conscious Populists. What makes them so interesting is how they manage to uphold the Man while still sticking it to Him. Liberal social movements, at least by the late 1960s, settled into a familiar shape with an instantly recognizable lexicon.

Film Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim

Popular entertainment, as many know and lament, has at times a strange obsession with youth. The problem, really, is the type of youth which is chooses to represent. We've seen the gilded young things of 90210 or Gossip Girl, the slackers and cool dudes of Ferris Bueller and Back to the Future and the young wizards and hobbits of recent fantasy films. Scott Pilgrim is not about these. Like 2010's other alt. comic book film, Kick Ass, it's about geeks and gamers, cynical, (sometimes) intelligent, underachieving youths.

Movie Rating: 
9

Film Review: Piranha 3D

Piranha 3D

An earthquake releases thousands of prehistoric piranha into a lakeside resort town's waters. Naturally, it happens during spring break -- and a whole lot of T&A is about to get schooled. Starring Elizabeth Shue as the town's sheriff, Ving Rhames as her stalwart deputy, Jerry O'Connell in a hilarious turn as a softcore pornographer shooting a 'Girls Gone Wild' -style video and hundreds of scantily clad babes.

If Piranha 3D were a person, it would be a naked, fat, sweating, hairy man sunning himself in a vinyl lawnchair eating a pepperoni Hot Pocket while making lewd jokes. And then when someone looks askance at him, he would reply, with glee, "What a delightful pig I am!" and laugh, punctuating his statement by taking a monstrous bite out of the Hot Pocket and then slathering on more tanning oil.

This film has T&A in almost every scene, and when the gore starts and the hotties start falling into the jaws of the prehistoric nasties, the gore ranges from laughable (people with their lower extremities skeletonized) to gut-wrenching (a woman with her hair trapped in a propeller blade).

Movie Rating: 
8

EpicWin iPhone App

Finally there's an iPhone app that actually makes me (slightly) consider buying an iPhone. It passed, quickly, but so far this is the coolest 'app' I've ever heard about. EpicWin turns your ordinary, hum-drum, perfectly mundane to-do list into an epic RPG game.

Want to gain XP, level up, earn yourself some treasure? Then get the car washed, do your laundry and get that passport application notarized, Mr. Hero. Then you'll grab awesome loot like a caffe macchiato, or a 100-calorie snack pack, you badass you!

I still won't buy an iPhone, however. It's too 'hipster' for me. I'm kickin' it old school with a pen and paper, yo.

Wattpad: Read what you like. Share what you write.

wattpad

Sup planeteers! Have you written a short story you're particularly proud of, want to share this literary masterpiece with others? Check out Wattpad, it's an e-book community where you can flex your creative muscles.

Film Review: The Expendables

The Expendables

Barney Ross (Stallone) runs a mercenary group known as The Expendables, a band of brothers who are hired by a mysterious Mr. Church (an uncharacteristically humorless Bruce Willis) to infiltrate a South American country and assassinate the banana republic's cocaine-growing tyrant, General Garza.

While doing some recon work in the country, Ross realizes that something isn't right -- his team is being used. They drop the job but Ross is moved when their contact, the General's gutsy daughter Sandra (Giselle Itie), refuses to escape with them and is now likely being tortured for information. Ross decides that he's a mercenary with a heart of gold and rides to her rescue, with his brothers-in-arms in tow, natch.

Movie Rating: 
7

Captain Post-America!

Captain Post-America!

How does Hollywood (not known for its belief in American exceptionalism) bring Captain America to the big screen in a way that isn't so much about America, but really about everyone. Director Joe Johnston was quoted by the LA Times recently:

Quote:

"[Captain America] wants to serve his country, but he's not this sort of jingoistic American flag-waver," Johnston said. "He's just a good person. We make a point of that in the script: Don't change who you are once you go from Steve Rogers to this super-soldier; you have to stay who you are inside, that's really what's important more than your strength and everything. It'll be interesting and fun to put a different spin on the character and one that the fans are really going to appreciate."

Film Review: The Other Guys

The Other Guys

Reckless NYPD supercops Danson and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson) fight crime in Lethal Weapon-style: ramming one Dodge Charger after another through double-decker tourist buses, diving through plate-glass windows and firing off one-liners like "someone dial 9-1-what-the-f***-was-that!?" Afterwards they bask in the glory of a grateful city -- so grateful that a hot dog vendor suddenly declares, "Free hot dogs for life!.... no, no free drink."

Deep in their shadows are NYPD detectives Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), known by all as the 'Yankee Clipper' for costing the Yankees a championship win, and Allen Gamble (Will Farrell), who would rather chase down unlicensed scaffolding erectors than chase a criminal. They're not heroes, they're the other guys -- and the non-dynamic duo get their chance at supercop glory when they investigate the kidnapping of a corrupt Wall Street financier.

Movie Rating: 
8

Greg Gutfeld Has a Plan

Perhaps you've heard of the plan to build a mosque within one block of Ground Zero? I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first. On the one hand, yes, this is a free country and we should be tolerant (there's exactly zero chance that you would be able to build a cathedral in Riyadh) but I finally decided it was in bad taste.

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