Hilarious Hump Day Hidden Camera: Bad Grandpa

BAD GRANDPA:  2013: ++: COMEDY:  As part of their 4th installment, the Jackass crew conceives a new take on their pranks and stunts motif by having a plot.  Bad Grandpa stars Johnny Knoxville in an easy to enjoy comedy full of great scenes that will definitely liven up your boring hump day.  It definitely gave me a full plate of laughs.

The thing that makes this movie memorable is how effective the producers were in making the hidden cameras work.  At first, you might think that there are actors following along with the antics of Knoxville.  This quickly changes as you see how authentic and hilarious the reactions of the people involved are.  I have to admit that it absolutely worked well.

As mentioned, the plot ties the movie together and makes it flow.  Grandpa has to take care of his grandson and bring him to his pot smoking father because his mom is arrested.  OK, so it's not the most complex plot but that doesn't really matter.  You're here to see the pranks and they are priceless.

From the beginning when Grandpa admits that his late wife Ellie has a great ass and then proceeds to knock her over in her coffin, to the part where he is gyrating in a male strip club, this movie will keep you laughing until your side hurts.  Just don't have an accident in your pants as he does in the deli. Yes, that's right.  It's revolting. 


The oh-so-classy funeral scene. 

You really start to realize that the pranks are real when he is having an estate sale.  Grandpa tries to sell his bed to an interested woman and asks her to press the button for the bed so that it changes position.  The bed frantically starts opening and closing while Grandpa is inside, much to the dismay of the woman, who starts complaining of a shortness of breathe.  This scene had me cracking up for awhile.


The bed scene.  This is where you start to realize the pranks are real.

The pranks all tend to be different and combine elements that weren't found in the previous ones, so the movie maintains it's fresh and surprising aspects.  Grandpa hits on every woman in the movie which leads to more scenarios for pranks.  One of scenes has the grandson pushing Grandpa into a drive through while Grandpa is trying to get over a hangover.  Not only does he hit on the girl Lisa, but he admits to wanting "pootang" and asks the attendant where he can get it.


Grandpa is too drunk to drive, so what's the best way to get around?  Grandson power...

One of the interesting elements about this movie is analyzing how the public acts to some of the pranks.  For instance, some of the scenarios are kind of sad, especially when the grandson acts solo while looking for Grandpa, who often leaves him alone.  Most times, the people just ignore him, or basically patronize the young boy instead of providing assistance.  This is especially true when he asks a man to be his father and the guy just leaves him on the street and says, "be safe".  What a douche!

Another funny part was when he runs over a large penguin and the owner, who also looks like a penguin, acts like a tough guy and tries to intimidate grandpa, who doesn't give in.  Why should he?  Knoxville got pummeled by a bull in previous movies, so this guy probably made him laugh.  The scene is hilarious and definitely one of my favorites.


The tough guy tries to intimate grandpa.  What a loser!!

Finally, the scene where he sits on he kid's ride in front of a furniture store made me laugh so hard I had to pause the movie.  Again, the plot isn't why you watch the movie, but it wasn't horrible.  It gave a reason to watch it and tied it together for an enjoyable movie.  Was it better than Borat?  Well, Borat is one of the best examples in the genre of hidden camera movies and a truly hilarious movie.  This movie can hang, but it's not better than Borat.::::83%

Classic Horror for a Snow Storm: The Thing

The Thing:  1982:  +-: HRR:  With the huge snow storm "Hercules" heading to the East Coast and slamming everyone with snow, take a moment to enjoy the warmth of your home and watch this movie.  Not only is it set in the artic, but it's also one of the most gory and visually striking horror movies of it's time.  So forget the cold and shoveling for now and see if you can watch his movie in the dark... 

Although it's an early 80s movie, it still stands up rather well to contemporary horror movies in terms of the effects, makeup, and lighting.  It definitely influenced other movies including Aliens & The Predator as you can see from the pics I posted.  CGI hadn't been invented yet so all the creatures and aliens had to be real actors or animatronics.  That didn't stop John Carpenter from creating an extremely effective and terrifying movie based on the novella by John Campbell Jr.  This movie starts out creepy and then builds momentum to the point where it almost becomes unwatchable due to it's extreme gore.  The interesting plot keeps you sufficiently focused though, even if you have to look away a few times!


Remind you of a certain movie based on Aliens?

The basic premise of the movie is a type of prisoner's dilemma in that the main characters in the movie, one of whom is Kurt Russell, don't know who the alien is controlling due to it's ability to imitate and metamorphose into the form of it's host and emulate it.  This is one of the elements that resembles The Alien franchise because the alien uses the human, or other organic form, as it's host and then dominates it for it's own purposes.  While controlling the host, the victim acts normally for awhile, but then goes completely insane before it becomes a revolting creature.

 

This element creates the psychological suspense that enhances the feel of the movie and makes the mood very tense.  Once it starts to incorporate the grotesque makeup and special effects, the two elements really work well to make this movie memorable.  Critics at the time commented that at times it was "over the top".  Ebert called it "excessive" and gave it poor ratings.  After it was released on video though, the effects and makeup made it a cult classic and it still has many devoted fans. 

 

This was once a dog..

One of the creepiest scenes was when they open up the chest cavity

of one of the scientists and it becomes a mouth.  Also, the scene with the dog was sufficiently evil.  The Thing literally doesn't stop giving you horrifying deaths so if you want to get a sense for what scared people before CGI, this movie will definitely deliver.

 

The extremely gory "chest cavity" scene.  Don't forget to brush after meals!

 

There is also the sense of claustrophobia because the scientists aren't able to spend much time outside of the cramped quarters due to the extreme artic temperatures.  They are only able to take short excursions outside to look for the alien.  So not only are you preoccupied by the sense of doom because of the cold, you are also struck with fear due to the fact that the alien is not completely understood and could be literally anywhere or inside anyone.  I remember watching The Thing before Aliens came out and this premise was really effective.  The "paranoia" effect perturbs the characters in the movie as it does the viewer to make it more engrossing.

 

Before Big Trouble in Little China, another Carpenter movie with Russell.

 

The movie climaxes in a scene where all the scientists are gathered together in order to find who the alien has controlled.  Since you as the viewer don't know who it is, this scene is very effective in creating the "end game" scenario.  I won't give the outcome away, nor give any more details of the movie, because the discovery element of this movie is what makes it special.  The actors, especially Russell, are also effective because they are gloomy and morose, which adds to the suspense and dark premise.  So stay in where it's warm, empathize for the characters in this movie, and watch it on an empty stomach!:::82%

 

Boiler Room VS Wall Street

       VS    

Some people might think that I'm crazy for even putting these two movies in the same sentence, but taken on a character per character basis, some parts are actually pretty similar and at times give each other a run for their ....I know...MONEY.

Anyway, let's dive in.


Boiler Room: 2000: ++: Drama Thriller:  This movie is near and dear to my heart because out of college I actually worked in a place similar to the one depicted in this movie.  You might actually say the firm emulated this movie.  I had to cold call clients selling municipal bonds while cramming for the Series 7 and if I didn't pass, I was out of work.  Period.  I passed and thus started my career, in sales.

 

Starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel (yes Vin Diesel), Nia Long (what happened to her), Ben Afflectk and Scott Caan, this movie actually starred a number of pretty prominent and budding actors. 

One of the stand out moments in the movie, no doubt inspired by Glen Garry Glen Ross, was when Ben Affleck flaunts the keys to his Ferrari.  I also liked the scene where the main character Seth Ribisi played by Giovanni is under the desk making calls so as not to draw suspicion and have his competitors look on. 



The funny thing about this story is that my bond trading friends and I actually watched this movie to get pumped up before making calls.  Ahh, good times.  There is a budding romance, surprise, surprise, and of course the SEC get's involved and the "artificial demand" scheme comes crumbling down.

(When the times are good)


(The classic "you're not crap" speech)

The overall movie is good, and I've watched it a few times.  Can it hold a candle to the quintessential, stock selling movie of all time?  It does have a huge challenge here:::78% 

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Wall Street:1987:++: Drama:  You aren't a true stock broker unless you can name every line in this movie, Glen Garry Glen Ross, & Caddyshack.  For some reason, Caddyshack is in there because believe me, it is every CFO favorite movie for some reason or another. 

This movie, wonderfully directed by Oliver Stone, is so famous that people developed phrases around it. Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, and Daryl Hannah (who apparently confessed to having slight autism), performed so well that this movie is actually documentary-esque.  So many parts of this movie stand out like when Gekko, played by Douglass says, "Lunch is for Losers", and "What's worth doing is worth for money", and of course, "Greed is Good!"

The conflict is actually a very real one when Charlie Sheen, who plays Bud Fox, descends to the level of Gekko, to the point where he sells out his father.  I'm not going to go into huge detail here, because the winner of this movie takes on Glen Garry Glen Ross.  There both movies will receive the proper attention they deserve.

For now Wall Street wins hands down:::91%

Be Sure to Check out my new interactive blog! THE PIXIE AND THE TURTLE

Originally on @memorysight, follow the story and leave comments on what you think the outcome should be.  Write your own story in this interactive experience!


THE PIXIE AND THE TURTLE:  http://pixieandturtle.blogspot.com/

    

Two Powerful Minds Face Off

         VS      

Pi & A Beautiful Mind  were both great movies about geniuses who were at first misunderstood but then appreciated for their worth to the intellectual community.  Which movie captures the essence of being a brilliant, but obsessive personality?  Find out here...


Pi:  1998:  +-: Pscyh Thr:  Having watched Pi  number of times, simply because I love the mathematical numbers theory elements and the heavy use of electronic synths in the music score, (a cornucopia of extremely well known ambient and EDM artists), I still have an itch to watch it now and again.  Every time I watch it I get something else new out of it BUT every time I watch it, I also get a little disturbed.  That's the point.  This movie really gets you into the psyche of a troubled genius obsessed to the point of losing control over this emotion and rational state of mind.   

 

I actually try to retrace the steps of Max Cohen (played by Sean Gullette), who is a brilliant but extremely troubled number theorists who is trying to use Fibonacci sequences and PI to predict the stock market, in NY.  Many of the scenes are filmed in very famous areas like China town and Mid Town and some common subway hubs.  Sean also wrote the story behind this movie. 

Two different groups of people, as diametrically apart as possible, are drawn to Max because they both follow his work and believe it can further their own selfish pursuits.  One is a group of Kabbalahs and one is a Wall Street Firm executive.  Both need the data that Max is working on but for different reasons.  Max accidentally throws it away in garbage bucket and thus the race and search for it drives the movie's drama.  I won't give away why because it's very interesting and a nice twist in the movie. 

 

Since the whole movie is in black and white, it gives it a very gritty atmosphere which fits the mood rather nicely.  The eerie, static, electronic music also does this with repetitive sections.  After awhile, you forget it's black and white though, the mark of many good movies of this type.  Stand out parts are when he is getting chased by the Wall Street woman, when he finds Sol's Go board in the Pi formation, and of course, when he figures out what went wrong with the motherboard and fixes it. 



I also liked the part where he is in the subway and he is getting his picture taken by what appears to be a student photographer but he loses it and chases him.  A memorable part but one I would like to forget is when he drills his..well I won't give this away. 

 

This movie isn't for everyone, but it has music by Aphex Twin, Orbital and other prominent EDB and Ambient artists.  Sometimes the music itself is what drives the suspense as witnessed when he is having his many migraines and the music throbs like a bad head-ache.  This part will make you cringe.  It will definitely challenge anyone who is interested numbers theory, the Torah, and of course, computers and their ability to crunch numbers relating to Pi.  Darron Aronofsky did an amazing job on this one and didn't hold any punches

This won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival directors award and also the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.  Sometimes I wished the parts with the girl who was good in math stood out more as a contrast and made it a little more light hearted, but this is just about telling the story of a troubled genius:::86%

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A Beautiful Mind: 2001: ++: BIO DRM:  In many ways, these two movies are very different.  The first obvious difference is aesthetically, one is black and white, while the other is in color.  The second is that this is an loosely based autobiography, while in the movie Pi, it's based on a conglomeration of mathematicians.   Then the other difference is in the lead roles; one is very dull looking and the other is more of your usual leading-man.

 

Other than that, they are driving at the some point.  Two geniuses who have so much going on in their cerebellums, that they appear, touched, or troubled, or even a bit off the normal path of what society accepts as "sane".  Then again, the trite expression comes to mind, what is sane in an insane world?

Back to the movie.  Russell Crowe plays his usual soft spoken self, until he gets provoked like in the scene where he beats one of the arrogant fellow colleagues in a game of Othello.  Ron Howard does a great job, as usual, depicting the life of John Nash, Nobel laureate in finance. 

There were some instances where he "left" out certain elements that made this movie a little less accurate like when it leaves out his second marriage and illegitimate son.  These are minor gripes though.  Ed Harris and Jennifer Connolly are also in this movie, but Russell is really the one that captures the show. 



The dynamic between the two main characters is forced sometimes, but as the movie progresses and he locks himself in the room full of his notes, it starts to make sense.  Russell Crowe was actually a great choice for this movie, because his stoic facial expressions contrast when he needs to express emotion.  This is especially seen in the moment at the bar when he approaches the young lady who will be his love interest in the movie. 


As the movie progresses it definitely builds up speed, but it never really delivers the visceral experience that Pi deliver.  Actually, it's not even a movie that I opted to see more than once.  Once I saw it, it was over.  The music by James Horner had some memorable parts to it, but overall, it just was "there".  I did like the scene however when the notes get scattered in the room and he has the epiphany. 


I thought that Adam Goldberg was terrible in this movie and I really don't like him very much in any.  I just find him very annoying.  Maybe it's the fact that he dated Christina Ricci, but he just rubs me the wrong way.  Maybe it was his character in Dazed and Confused & The Prophecy that really made me dislike him. 



(Adam Goldberg, being his usual annoying self)

This movie won 4 Academy Awards but again, was a good drama, but not at par with Pi.  In terms of being a more approachable movie, yes, it's better, but in terms of describing and depicting a troubled genius, it's not even close.  I did like the part with Parcher, but that wasn't stressed enough.  It was almost comic relief. This just glamorizes some aspects of mental disorder like schizophrenia in my opinion while Pi  really nails it.:::81%

How Real is Real? A Comparison of Two True Horror Movies

        VS      

OK, so the phrase, "Based on a True Story" get's thrown around a lot!  Which one of these is more horrifying and hard to forget?


The Amityville Horror: 1979, -+. Hrr  One of the most frightening movies based on the "horror house" theme, this one will really make you have second thoughts about moving into an old house with history.  Starring Rod Steiger, Don Stroud, and Murray Hamilton, this movie really gets under your skin.

This is partially due to the fact that the director, Stuart Rosenberg, captures Jay Anson's overall terror factor from the novel he wrote, while also maintaining an element of true horror.  What I mean is that at the end, you are made to wonder if it's the house that was haunted or if the husband just realty went completely crazy.  The horror starts to build when a priest is due to come by to bless the house but gets into a car accident.

I also loved the scene with the flies in the room and the dreadful, "Get Out" uttered seemingly by the house itself while the door slams. 

There is a certain amount of dramatic build- up as well because you start the see the slow deterioration of the husband into a deranged psycho path.  Based on the true story of the Lutz family who moved into a home where there was a mass murder and soon experiences paranormal activity, the husband undergoes a gradual downward spiral until he is completely insane.  First he is sick, and then after awhile he starts getting completely obsessed with chopping wood.

What also made this movie extremely creepy was the tone of the music which really pinpoints the parts of the movie that are pivot points and get the horror kicked up into another gear.  Lalo Shifirin did an outstanding job and many horror movies copied the way in which the music was performed and meshed with the movie itself. 

Memorable parts in this movie are when he starts unraveling and fantasizing about killing and then of course, the ending, where all hell breaks loose.  Literally. 

There are many scenes where he chases his wife around with an axe,...ala The Shining.  This movie is just one of those movies that will stick with you because it didn't have any "cheesy" horror elements like soft-to-loud extremely and fake scares.  It is just scary, period.

Yes, there was a remake, but that just seems to be a reason to show the male in that movie with his shirt off.  There was no reason to remake this movie, it was great and there was little way to improve it.  Perhaps it just made it more recent.  85%

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The Exorcism of Emily Rose: 2005: HRR:  When this movie came out, I was pretty excited about it and made sure that I saw it in it's first week.  While being a fan of The Possession, The Exorcist I & III, and other possession type movies, I found that the format in which this movie was made was sufficiently different and set it apart from it's peers in this crowded genre. 

Based on a failed exorcism of Annelise Michael, who was possessed in 1976 and given drugs while an exorcism was performed, this movie has a terrifying back story.  She eventually died and the priest and family were charged with manslaughter.

(actual pictures of Anneliese, before and after possession)

The production was top notch in this movie and the overall sense of realism pervades without being too obvious.  Jennifer Carpenter was extremely persuasive with her body contortions, many of which were performed without special effects.  Some of them are so odd that they gave me nightmares for awhile.  She won an award from "most frightening performance" and the movie is still among the top 100 scariest movies of all time. 

The movie was primarily shown as flashbacks during the trial in which the priest has to defend his use of the exorcism.  The trial and flashbacks flow flawlessly and it's a testament to Scott Derrickson's direction. 



It got a little bit predictable in the end and the scenes kind of all blended together.  The last scene was the most memorable in the barn.  I thought that this is among the scariest of all the possession movies, but not as scary as The Last Exorcism.  I want to watch this movie again, because I haven't seen it as many times as Amityville Horror.   

The mythology was somewhat intriguing, but the part of witch's hour and conducting the séance the day before Halloween seem cliché, but actually they can't be because these are based on true events. 

Both movies are in different horror movie genres, but I will give the nod to The Amityville Horror, because it laid the framework for so many horror movies in the future, and although it was made 20 years ago, it can still hang with the best of them.   This movie gets and 84%, so it's close.

Amityville Horror wins!  Anyone disagree, feel free to give me a comment..