Apr05

Frat Boy At the Movies: Adventureland

by tonyd on April 5, 2009 at 1:00 am

Adventureland is an 80’s retro movie about a college kid working at a run down amusement park in Pittsburgh and finding true love.  Since I worked in a run down amusement park in the 80’s, this movie really spoke to me and pushed all my nostalgia buttons.

Our hero, James, is an overeducated, potential journalism grad that’s forced to take a job at an amusement park when his dad gets demoted and is unable to pay for his trip to Europe.  The carnies at the park are an assortment of oddballs and losers, including Matt Bush as James’ ex-best friend, Frigo.  (Frigo is fucking hilarious.)

The movie is slow, but steady, and mostly focuses on James growing love affair with another carnie named Emily.  Emily, played by Kristen Stewart, is a tortured girl full of angst, struggling with a dysfunctional home life and having an affair with an older married man, played by Ryan Reynolds.   The soundtrack is full of 80’s hit, the screen is awash in 80’s clothes, hair and style.  Director/writer Greg Mottola did his homework and I suspect probably worked along side of me on at least one shift of the Bumper Boats (at least in spirit anyway.)  Even characters like Reynolds pathetic, cheating Brad come off as fresh.  The Missus and my buddy thought the movie was a little slow, but I didn’t mind the pace because I felt I was learning more about the characters in every scene.  And when I wasn’t learning more about them, Bill Hader or Frigo did something funny.

I would put this movie on par with the recent, I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the whole Judd Apatow crowd.  And no, Seth Rogen is not in this one.  I give Adventureland an admittedly biased 8 keggers out of 10.  Your mileage may vary slightly unless your also a geezer that worked the rides back when Husker Du was still cool.

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Apr04

Frat Boy At the Movies: Monsters vs. Aliens

by tonyd on April 4, 2009 at 2:31 am

Not much to say about MvA.  It’s pretty watchable, amusing and funny, but incredibly derivative.  You sort of know that going in and the fact that I missed the 3-D showing may skew this review somewhat.

Monsters vs. Aliens feels very much like a high concept movie.  Something brewed up in a studio think tank that bounced around for a few years until the “right” creative team was choosen to put it together.  There are a lot of writers on this movie and because of that, I think,  the movie has a very stripped down feel.  Yeah, each monster is a parody of a classic monster:  Bob is the Blob, Link is the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dr. Cockroach is the Fly, Susan is the 50 ft tall woman and Insectasaurus is Godzilla.

The basic plot:  Susan is about to get married when she’s hit by a meteor.  She grows to 50 feet in height and a secret army task force shows up to put her in jail with the “other” monsters.  It’s kind of abrupt and there’s no sense of the plan beyond locking poor Susan up.  Of course, suddenly, the aliens arrive and the monsters are recruited to fight them.  When they win a minor victory early on (spoiler) they are simply freed, which flies in the face of the reason they were put away: to keep them secret from the general public.  Just as abruptly, the alien overlord comes and he destroyed his own planet and now wants Earth and Susan’s power.  Why?  He’s just plain evil, I guess.

Stephen Colbert does a great turn as the president and a few other well known celebrities make their voices known.  It’s a pretty fun ride, but could’ve been better, sharper.  There’s really no message here and feels a little light on the plot.  The ending is satisfying, but it almost makes it feel like an episode of a TV show, rather than a feature.

Overall, an okay theater experience, probably better in 3-D.  On cable or rental, it would probably be more worth you buck.  I’m going to give Monsters vs. Aliens 6 keggers out of 10.  That’s probably lower that most of you would give it, but I’m pretty jaded when it comes to this subject matter.

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Apr02

Who Should Eat a Dick

by tonyd on April 2, 2009 at 1:00 am

sf-chris-avatar.jpg  with Chris Moreno

Every Thursday, Chris Moreno lists individuals whose behaviors are so deplorable that they should eat a dick.

— For his phony on-air crying jags, Glenn Beck should eat the Devil’s weeping dick in Hell.

— The Shoreline Middle School administrators who banned all physical contact between students in the wake of recent “invasions of personal space”, which included a groin kick, should each eat a dick… and then get kicked in their respective groins.

— Whoever leaked a work-print of the new Xmen Origins: Wolverine film should eat Hugh Jackman’s adamantium-coated dick. SNIKT!

— Sandra Herold, the Connecticut woman whose anti-depressant-fed pet chimp bit off her friend’s face, should eat Donkey Kong’s, King Kong’s, and Don King’s dick, and then have her face bitten off.

— Ria Ramkissoon, the Maryland cult member who starved her son to death, believing he’ll be resurrected, shouldn’t eat a dick. Rather, she should be locked in an empty basement, chained just inches short of a plate full of dick, and starved to death.

Think someone needs to eat a dick? Email suggestions to dicketer@gmail.com or post in the message board.

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Apr01

Sluggy Freelance Attacks!

by tonyd on April 1, 2009 at 6:20 pm

Hey bros:

Our good friend, Pete Abrams, just put me and Chris Moreno in a Sluggy Freelance strip you can view HERE. We get killed and its very funny.  Pete has thrown down the gauntlet!  Check out the response starting tomorrow!

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