Am I Wrong About R.I.P.D.?

by Joe

We went and saw R.I.P.D. the other night and loved it. The movie was strange, but not over the top. It was hilarious, but all the jokes had a point. The plot was fairly simple, and I think that worked to its benefit. I'm sick of big budget blockbusters using convoluted plots to try and make the movies sophisticated (see: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3, Oceans 12). From my perspective R.I.P.D. did not do that. Like Pacific Rim they knew what kind of movie they wanted to make. They knew the kind of audience they wanted to see it and they catered it to them. Yet, it is getting destroyed from the critics. As of now, it has a 10% on Rottentomatoes.com.

Am I wrong about this movie? Was Jeff Bridges not downright hilarious? I've read some of the tidbit reviews on the RT website, and not once was I bored or annoyed. The sentimental scenes between Ryan Reynolds (as a Chinese man) and his wife were touching and effective. Or so I thought. I mean, I feel like one of the Americans who loves all of Adam Sandler's new movies. Is this who I am, or are all the critics looking too far into a movie that is in the same category as Men in Black?

Can someone help me out here?

Adult Movies for Children

by Joe

I watched a lot of things I shouldn't have watched when I was little. It wasn't that I went around my parents rules and found movies that were forbidden, but I had a fairly free reign on the types of entertainment and art I could ingest. When I was in elementary school I watched Kids, American History X, A Perfect World, Boogie Nights, Sleepers, and the list goes on.

It's not so much that I saw horrific images--because it seems like a lot of kids will stumble upon images and stories that are too gruesome for their age--but rather, I was expected as a viewer to understand the themes and motivations of the characters. And like acclimating to language, I eventually started to pick up on what things meant. The directors and actors don't think about an eight-year-old sitting cross legged in front of the TV screen. Their main concern (as it should be) is putting an authentic story on the screen. The concern is to make something that matters. A true portrait of the human condition.

This could ruin some young minds. When you're young you're supposed to have complete faith in humanity. Supposed to. I can't condone showing these movies to children, but I like to think this over indulgence in mature-themed movies helped shape the person I am today. I learned empathy from being able to watch these movies with all of myself invested in the characters. Kids are easy targets to follow the good and avoid the bad, and that allowed me to fully envelop my feelings into the protagonists.

Now, there is a slight disconnect. I still watch a plethora of movies, and this has unintentionally created a hunt for a movie that will make me learn more about being a human who cares about others, regardless of the walk they find themselves in life. I've read and seen enough to know that I have a lot to learn. Because of the content I watched when I was young it makes me want to seek it out.

So I continue watching the new and the old because I think watching everything I did when I was young helped mold me into I am today.

Cross Promotion

I guess this video is fine. It's got some good celebs in it. It's kind of funny. But didn't we get enough of this with Skyfall? I mean, I know this has been happening for decades (like why did one of the characters get thrown through a Coke billboard?), and then you have the Coke commercials with the Keaton Batman in the batcave. I don't know, maybe I just need to bitch today. I'm also curious to know how much money Man of Steel got from companies for promotion. I hope there is a scene where he spends five minutes trying to shave, then some heroic Nickelback comes on and he sees a Gillette razor.

The Place Beyond the Pines: A Review

Follow the link for my review in this week's Pacific NW Inlander:

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-19312-to-the-pines.html

Room 237: A Review (link)

Hello internet,

Follow this link for the review I wrote for Room 237 at The Pacific NW Inlander.

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-19254-the-overlookrss-maze.html

Thanks!

Joe

A Chat about Zach Braff and Kickstarter

Earlier in the day I had been complaining about the new project Zach Braff is trying to fund through Kickstarter (even though he previously had financial backing). I said that Braff is an asshole because of this, and Jeff (being the life-long fan he is) jumped in to defend the actor/writer/director. Hours later, I got a text from Jeff:

Jeff: Apparently Zach Braff put some of his own money into the Kickstarter. Apologize to him.

Joe: No.

Jeff: Yes! You were wrong.

Joe: He's a prick.

Jeff: You're such a hater. Did you even read the dang article?

Joe: No.

Jeff: He put his money and help from others so that way he had complete creative control without a studio telling him to change stuff.

Joe: He's a dickbag.

Jeff: You're a dickbag and you're wrong.

Joe: Real mature, Jeff. Are we adults? Are we?

Jeff: Well one of us is, the other is a giant man child who can't admit he's wrong. (I'm the man child).

Joe: So you do think Zach Braff is a prick.

Jeff: No, I don't think it's okay that he made a kickstarter when he could probably afford it, but I understand the sentiment.

Joe: Go to Videogum.com and read their article.

Jeff: This is a super biased article.

Joe: Because they state an opinion? Get over yourself, media!

Jeff: Hahah I thought journalists were supposed to report the facts without giving their own opinions.

Joe: Who said bloggers are journalists?

Jeff: Makes sense then.

Joe: And why shouldn't journalists speak their mind? It'd be a hell of a lot more refreshing than them burying their agendas. Just be honest.

Jeff: I don't think journalists should speak their minds because I think human beings are already stupid and if they listen to opinions of other's thinking it's then the "correct" opinion, and then people will be even more misinformed than they already are.

Joe: That's fair. But isn't that what's already happening? Look at Fox and CNN.

Jeff: I don't watch Fox due to their Republican agenda, don't watch CNN. I usually read USA Today and that's it. About Kickstarter, these celebrities are using Kickstarter and taking fan's money.

Joe: Oh, yeah. Veronica Mars has opened a Pandora's Box.

Jeff: I have a feeling it could become big name companies to use Kickstarter to be like, "HELP FUND THE NEW...ZOMBIES VS CHEETAHS FILM."

Joe: It's not good. Kickstarter was started so people like us could have potential financial backing. Not so successful entertainers can make dream projects.

Jeff: Yeah, I agree. It's understandable Zach Braff wants to maintain creative control, but it's not fair to expect his fans to help pay for a movie they are later going to pay to see.

Joe: Agreed. And really, how much more creative control can he get? After Garden State I have a hard time believing anyone would want to get in his way that much.

Jeff: You could talk about this with Mark and do a new JOE TALKS MOVIES update.

Joe: Haha. I don't think so. Maybe I'll just transcribe this and put it on the blog?

Jeff: And then talk about it ON AIR [TearJerker Podcast].

Joe: No way.

That's the discussion. Sorry it kind of meta towards the end there, but I thought I'd go ahead and plug the podcast I started doing with Mark. You can find it on iTunes and Podomatic, or find us on Facebook: Mark and Joe Tearjerkers.

What do you think about Zach "I'm a prick" Braff and Kickstarter?

Cool Trailer!: R.I.P.D

First, take a look at the trailer:

We can all agree that this looks exactly like Men in Black. Even if it's based on different source material (that I haven't read, so I'm not sure if that's the specific novel the movie is taking from), the movie looks just like the creature feature with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. But everyone liked Men in Black because it was new and different and fun!


Now, a big difference between MiB and R.I.P.D. is that the comedic force is coming primarily the mentor instead of the apprentice. I think this small change will be the key to a much funnier action/creature feature. On top of that, Bridges is basically just playing Rooster Cogburn from True Grit. He's an old cowboy and he's teaching the new guy the ropes in the most hilarious ways possible. Instead of getting hip jokes from a young guy, we're getting these ridiculous pieces of advice from a crazy old man.

Also: I realize it's a lazy joke, but I really loved that Bridges is a smoking hot girl and Reynolds is an old Asian man. It killed me.

What do you guys think?