Nov 15th Reviews

This week in reviews, two movies I had very little interest in seeing but did anyway, Easy A and The Crazies.
Easy A Brief:  "The Town" is the tale of four men -- thieves, rivals and friends -- being hunted through the streets of Boston by a tenacious FBI agent and a woman... A young, clean-cut, straight-A high school girl takes advantage of the rumor mill to upgrade her social standings, all the while trying to avoid having it all blow up in her face. My Take:  Disclaimer: I have an odd bias when it comes to high school movies. I was home schooled through most of high school and basically skipped straight into college. I don't understand cliques or any of the ensuing drama that apparently occurs because of them. Thus I have an odd disconnect when it comes to movies and shows that revolve around the "typical" high school. I didn't particularly want to see this film, but went along with friends because they did... and it was free. I enjoy Emma Stone and the idea seemed relatively unique enough that I didn't think I'd be overly bored. As it turns out, the film actually does have several amusing bits and does a few things well enough that I wasn't ripping my hair out. For example, any scene involving the main character and her family were hilarious. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson both played very well together and felt the closest to "real" people in the whole movie. Unfortunately, the realness of the characters is also my biggest gripe about the movie. No one is even remotely realistic. On top of the confusing (for me) nature of cliques, each and every character is a caricature of someone you might be able to relate to... many of which are pretty offensive if you take the movie seriously. Christians especially need to wear their sense of humor hard hats to get by, as the Jesus freaks (an apparent clique at this school) are just plain freaky. On top of all of that, the movie is based on a typical "Woe is me, I'm so plain no boy will look at me" opener, the fuel for the wildfire of lies and rumors that spread everywhere. What's so wrong with that? This "woe is me" line is delivered by Emma Stone. Not, bespectacled, uni-brow or pre-makeover-montage Emma Stone, Emma as she normally appears. Even if you don't think Ms. Stone is the hottest thing since sliced bread toasted to a golden brown with a thin layer of butter and jam (I'm apparently hungry), she is one of the last people that should be delivering that line. I may not have gone to high school, but I was that age once. I... would have noticed. Anyway... With this somewhat dubious setup (a caricature-driven high school with a smart, beautiful-yet-invisible girl begrudging her low social standing), Olive (Emma Stone) inadvertently starts a web of rumors all centered on one thing. She's a slut. No, really, that's the rumor. She pretends to sleep with unpopular guys, which boosts their popularity and puts her in the skanky spotlight. At first she likes the attention and embraces it by embroidering a red 'A' on all her clothes (a la The Scarlet Letter), but then starts to get overwhelmed as she discovers that the rumor mill is ruining her life. She is surprised by this. At this point, I just started waiting for Stanley Tucci to appear again and steal the scene. Overall, the movie follows the typical high school formula (the unpopular becomes popular, only to discover the popularity isn't all it was cracked up to be and they were really okay to being with), attempts to break the mold with ridiculous sometimes hilarious, sometimes offensive caricature/stereotypes while trying to balance between intelligent and just plain silly. The movie had really hilarious moments, but as a whole just did nothing for me. Again, this could be my "unschooled" bias or simply my maleness showing through, but I found the only real saving grace was that I didn't have to pay to see this. Should You See It: There were a few saving graces to the movie, but not enough to overcome the negatives. The cons may not bother everyone, but I can't recommend this movie to anyone. It wasn't awful, but unless you're really into teenage high school comedy/dramas (or have a girlfriend who is), avoid this. Should Kids See This: No. While the sexual content follows the more "rumor over actual deed" theme, it's talked about. A lot. I saw this without any idea of what the rating was and often wondered if they were going to cross the boundary into R. They never did, but I felt it could happen at any moment.
The Crazies Brief:  Set in a small, quiet town in the Midwest, the locals have started to act very strange. Madness appears in the most unlikely place and appears to be spreading. Caught in the middle of growing, mysterious epidemic, those still sane must attempt to survive their rampaging neighbors, the heavy fist of the military trying to contain the problem and their own paranoia.  My Take: This film actually has a lot more potential than the trailer conveys, but unfortunately doesn't deliver much more than your were originally expecting. While I've never seen the original Romero film from the 70s, this update doesn't feel all that new or fresh. There were moments where I thought the premise was absolutely brilliant, especially when the survivor's nerves were so raw it was difficult to distinguish who was actually crazy (more extreme symptoms are not really apparent), but unfortunately the more psychological elements were underplayed for outright violence and jump scenes. The pacing is also rather strange, as it will take sharp turns from one chapter to the next, jolting from idyllic with overtones of creepy to all-out panic and paranoia with no transition at all. Performances are mostly solid, but didn't do enough to get me attached to the characters. Again, there was a lot more promise in this film than I originally thought there would be, but the final product was still a rather average horror-thriller flick. Should You See It: Feel like a few simple thrills and have a couple of hours to waste at home? Go for it. The film isn't great by any means, but is entertaining enough for a quick horror-thriller fix. Should Kids See This: No. This is basically a zombie film without the cannibalism. Gore and tension abound.