Acoustic cover of "Party in the USA"

Check out this sweet music video of my group, The Little Brown Brothers, doing an acoustic cover of "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus.

Movie Review: Clerks (1994)

CLERKS. (1994)

Director / Writer: Kevin Smith
Producers: Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier
Director of Photography: David Klein
Dante... Brian O’Halloran
Randal...Jeff Anderson
Veronica...Marilyn Ghigliotti
Caitlin...Lisa Spoonhauer
Jay...Jason Mewes
Silent Bob...Kevin Smith
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 92 minutes

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Despite being made for only about $27,000 and being funded by family donations, paychecks from a local convenience store, and money made from selling a comic book collection, writer/director Kevin Smith's debut film, Clerks proves that you don’t need a big budget or high-profile actors to produce a great film. Thanks to Smith's knack for writing clever, off-color dialogue and his remarkable ability of mixing profane, yet intelligent humor with raw and authentic human drama, Clerks helped transform Kevin Smith from a film school dropout to a well-established indie auteur.

The film centers on a 22-year-old Quick Stop clerk named Dante (Brian O'Halloran) who is called into work on his day off. To make matters worse, he deals with angry, agitated, and sometimes bizarre customers, gets into a heated argument about his girlfriend, Veronica’s (Marilyn Ghigliotti) sexual history and then finds out that his ex-girlfriend Caitlin (Lisa Spoonhauer) is engaged. To help pass the time, Dante is constantly visited by his openly sarcastic best friend Randal (Jeff Anderson), who works at the video store next door. Much of the film follows Dante and Randal as they interact with customers, debate about Star Wars, play a game of hockey on the roof, get kicked out of a funeral, and discuss the dilemma in Dante's love life.

Due to Smith's extremely modest budget, Clerks was shot in black and white with a 16mm camera over the course of 21 days. Because of these limitations, the film certainly has a few flaws including the film's rough editing and some noticeably amateur acting performances. However, these minor flaws are easy to overlook thanks to Kevin Smith's inventive and wildly hilarious screenplay. Smith's use of shockingly explicit dialogue and politically incorrect humor feel authentic and natural when delivered by the characters in the film, and the use of pop culture references help make the film hip and relevant without ever over-doing it.

With its hilarious one-liners and bawdy sex jokes, it is easy to misinterpret Clerks as a one-dimensional "raunch-comedy." However, Smith brilliantly manages to incorporate serious underlying messages about love, friendship, and self-determination into the film without altering its overall tone. Much like the film itself, there's more than meets the eye with the film's two protagonists. Despite the rough-edge exterior of Dante and Randal, there is actually much heart underneath the surface. Though Dante may initially come across as an overly dramatic down-on-his-luck slacker, he's really just a frustrated romantic attached to his past relationship. And while Randal may seem like an uncaring wise-ass, he proves to be a protective companion genuinely devoted to helping out his best friend. Despite being rather unseasoned actors, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson display great on-screen chemistry and perfectly capture the boredom and frustration of life as a store clerk.

Overall, Clerks is a raw and intelligent indie comedy that proves to be an impressive debut from an inexperienced filmmaker. Over the years, Clerks has reached cult-classic status and is now considered a staple in independent film-making.

Trailer:

Movie Review: Dude, Where's My Car?

DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? (2000)

Director: Danny Leiner
Writer: Philip Stark
Jesse...Ashton Kutcher
Chester...Seann William Scott
Wanda...Jennifer Garner
Wilma...Marla Sokoloff
Christie Boner...Kristy Swanson
Nelson...David Herman
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 83 minutes

Rating: 1 out of 4 stars

Often times you will hear people make the argument that a movie was "so stupid that it was funny." While this concept may be true for some movies, it is much more likely that the movie was just plain stupid. Such is the case with the horrendously unfunny comedy, Dude, Where’s My Car? While the filmmakers were fully aware of the film's outrageous plot, they were unable to capitalize on the slightest potential of its absurd humor and ultimately failed to deliver anything worthwhile.

Ashton Kutcher (TV's That 70's Show) and Seann William Scott (American Pie) star as two senseless stoner buddies named Jesse and Chester. After a night of hardcore partying, Jesse and Chester wake up with no recollection of what happened the night before. After realizing that Jesse's car is missing, the two stoners go on a quest to retrace the events of the previous night and retrieve the missing car. Along the way, the guys find themselves on a crazy adventure involving a pot-smoking dog, violent ostriches, nerds in bubble-wrap jumpsuits, and teams of strange aliens in search of a mysterious device known as the "Continuum Transfunctioner."

Despite being only 83 minutes long, Dude, Where's My Car still seems to drag on for way too long. Parts of the film seem more suitable as a 2-minute SNL skit or as a scene from a TV sitcom, but even in those formats they would fail to deliver laughs. Even with a PG-13 rating, the film manages to be overly crude and distasteful. Throughout the film we encounter an array of offensive stereotypes including obnoxious Asians, manipulative "hot chicks", a perverted blind boy, power-hungry jocks, an angry transsexual stripper, dumb, donut-loving cops, twins who speak in unison, and of course two brainless potheads. Writer Philip Stark seems to have no motivation or underlying purpose for including such characters other than an attempt at scoring a handful of cheap laughs.

In what is supposed to be one of the funniest scenes of the film, the guys discover each other's back tattoos (one says "dude" while the other says "sweet") and proceed to get into an angry back-and-forth banter of confusion about what their respective tattoo says. Rather than making me laugh out loud, this scene made me honestly fear that this scene will go down as our generation's unfunny, half-baked derivative of Abbott & Costello's classic "Who's on First?" routine.

On a brighter note, Kutcher and Scott do display great on-screen chemistry throughout the film. Unfortunately, this is likely because both actors have mastered the art of playing the exact same loud-mouthed moron in virtually everything they are in. Unlike the well-executed films of this type of comedy (i.e Wayne's World or Dumb and Dumber), the two protagonists of Dude Where's My Car are neither funny nor likable. As viewers, we can't help but ask, "Why should I care about these two pathetic losers?"...or better yet, "Why did I just sit through this god-awful movie?"

Trailer:

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009)

Director: Spike Jonze
Writers: Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers
(based on book by Maurice Sendak)
Cinematography: Lance Acord
Music: Karen O and Carter Burwell
Production Designer: K.K. Barrett
Costume Designer: Casey Storm
Max…Max Records
Mom… Catherine Keener
Boyfriend… Mark Ruffalo
Carol…voiced by James Gandolfini
KW…voiced by Lauren Ambrose
Douglas…voiced by Chris Cooper
Ira…voiced by Forest Whitaker
Judith…voiced by Catherine O'Hara
Alexander…voiced by Paul Dano
MPAA rating: PG
Running Time: 100 minutes

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Adapting a popular children's book into a feature film can be quite a difficult task for most filmmakers. But when you take one of the most beloved classics in children's literature like Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and put it in the hands of a smart, innovative director like Spike Jonze, the result is a fantastic work of art that proves to be one of the best films of the year. Jonze successfully stays true to the spirit of the source material while still adding his own artistic vision; taking bold liberties both visually and narratively that really bring Sendak's story to life. The film captures the playful, imaginative aspects of childhood as well as the raw, sometimes painfully emotional side thanks to the outstanding performances from the entire cast. Overall, Where the Wild Things Are is a perfect blend of breathtaking visuals, exciting adventure, and powerful emotional themes.

The film follows a rambunctious little youngster named Max (Max Records) who feels neglected and misunderstood by his older teenage sister and his struggling single mother (Catherine Keener). After being sent to his room for misbehaving, Max escapes to an island inhibited by strange creatures with realistic, child-like personality traits. He quickly wins the affection of the 'Wild Things' and they crown him as their leader. Max promises to create a place where everyone can be happy, but soon discovers the difficulties of trying to please everyone and finds himself yearning to return home.

Some of the strongest aspects of the film come from the changes to story made by Spike Jonze and screenwriter Dave Eggers, such as the decision to give names and distinct personalities to each of the Wild Things. Jonze brilliantly uses the individual creatures to symbolize the different sides of Max's personality. Among them are the short-tempered and smothering Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), the wild, free-spirited KW (Lauren Ambrose), and the young, insecure Alexander (Paul Dano). Despite being made of large animatronic suits with CGI faces, the Wild Things prove to be just as real and complicated as the film's human characters.

Spike Jonze, who is best known for his idiosyncratic style, takes a much different approach with this film. His previous films (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation) were very analytical and unconventional, whereas Where the Wild Things Are is rather simple and straight-forward, yet still a little bit edgy. It is important to note that this is not your typical family film. While most family films these days feature action-packed 3D animation, talking dogs, or crime-fighting guinea pigs, Where the Wild Things Are is much more raw and dramatic. Like the recently popular Disney/Pixar films like WALL-E or Up, this film features emotionally complicated material that might be difficult for younger kids to really understand. Nevertheless, I believe that people of all ages can appreciate Where the Wild Things Are in one way or another, whether it's the beautiful imagery, the outstanding acting performances, or the powerful, heartfelt adventure of Max's journey.

Trailer:

Hermit's TV Debut!

So my last post was actually an extended version of a movie review I did for a student-run group here at the University of Illinois called JAMS. Every month they put on a production called "JamSessions" for UI-7, a local university television channel. JamSessions features a movie review segment known as "Movie Corner." This week I was asked to review the film, "The Invention of Lying." This was the first time I ever filmed anything in a professional TV studio before so I was a little nervous, but overall I thought it went fairly well. Please check out my segment from the show below and feel free to share your feedback!