Thought it would be cool to make a thread where we discuss the movies we've recently watched, as opposed to making a thread for every single movie that comes out. Of course, that will still happen, ut this is for new and old releases alike, basically any movie that you just saw.
I just watched The Wackness, a coming of age/dealing with age tale set in 1994 New York City. It stars Josh Peck (Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show) who plays Luke Shapiro, an unpopular (well the most unpopular among the popular; everyone knows his name, no one really knows him), weed smoking high school senior and spends his free time selling weed and listening to music. Ben Kingsley, Famke Jennsen, Mary Kate Olsen and Method man also make up a very solid cast.
I was very impressed with Peck in this, in fact I was pretty much caught off guard with his acting. He's plays his role rather well, and reminded me a lot of a cousin of mine with his laid back bashfulness. He had a mature way about him but at the same time was very naive, especially in matters of love.
Olivia Thirlby (Juno) plays his love interest, Stephanie, who is the step daughter of Luke's therapist/client (played by Kingsly). She also does a fine job as the bored popular girl on the surface is just looking for fun during the summer but in reality wants to escape her world but is pretty much afraid to actually do it. Appearance wise, she reminds me of a young Sofia Coppola; she's a much better actress though.
There were a few things that could have been better I think, namely Method Man's and Mare Kate's acting. Meth played a Jamaican who supplied Luke with his product. The accent was a little, I don't know, hackneyed I guess? Mary Kate basically played a drunker, higher version of her character from season 3 of Weeds. Fortunately, neither play particularly prominent roles in the movie.
Again Kingsley plays Luke's therapist Dr. Squires and is paid in weed. Where Luke is old man in a young man's body, Dr. Squires is the old man constantly reminiscing and trying to recreate his good times as a youth. It's interesting that with the Doctor/patient and Dealer/Client relationship, they are probably each other's best friend as well. When he disapproves of Luke seeing his step-daughter, it would seem like he is being over protective of her, or feeling like Luke isn't good enough. In reality, it's the other way around. He also provides a bit of comic relief in the film.
The soundtrack to the movie is 90's era/New York area hip hop and I have to say it is excellent. You'll be hearing stuff like Nas, Rakim, Biggie, Method Man, Mary J. Blige, Tribe Called Quest, etc. etc. etc. Sometimes I found myself rewinding the movie just to head nod to whatever song was bumping in the background of a given scene. If I didn't already have all the songs already, I'd be trying to find it somewhere. As it is, I'll just make a new playlist from the stuff I have.
Very unheralded, this movie was. It's an independent film so that explains a lot of that, plus it was released at a time where EVERYTHING was overshadowed by TDK hype. I first heard about it on an episode of Attack of the Show, and after that no where else. Still, I think it was probably the second best film I've seen this year behind Chop Shop. Definitely recommend it. 4 out of 5 stars for me.
I just watched The Wackness, a coming of age/dealing with age tale set in 1994 New York City. It stars Josh Peck (Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show) who plays Luke Shapiro, an unpopular (well the most unpopular among the popular; everyone knows his name, no one really knows him), weed smoking high school senior and spends his free time selling weed and listening to music. Ben Kingsley, Famke Jennsen, Mary Kate Olsen and Method man also make up a very solid cast.
I was very impressed with Peck in this, in fact I was pretty much caught off guard with his acting. He's plays his role rather well, and reminded me a lot of a cousin of mine with his laid back bashfulness. He had a mature way about him but at the same time was very naive, especially in matters of love.
Olivia Thirlby (Juno) plays his love interest, Stephanie, who is the step daughter of Luke's therapist/client (played by Kingsly). She also does a fine job as the bored popular girl on the surface is just looking for fun during the summer but in reality wants to escape her world but is pretty much afraid to actually do it. Appearance wise, she reminds me of a young Sofia Coppola; she's a much better actress though.
There were a few things that could have been better I think, namely Method Man's and Mare Kate's acting. Meth played a Jamaican who supplied Luke with his product. The accent was a little, I don't know, hackneyed I guess? Mary Kate basically played a drunker, higher version of her character from season 3 of Weeds. Fortunately, neither play particularly prominent roles in the movie.
Again Kingsley plays Luke's therapist Dr. Squires and is paid in weed. Where Luke is old man in a young man's body, Dr. Squires is the old man constantly reminiscing and trying to recreate his good times as a youth. It's interesting that with the Doctor/patient and Dealer/Client relationship, they are probably each other's best friend as well. When he disapproves of Luke seeing his step-daughter, it would seem like he is being over protective of her, or feeling like Luke isn't good enough. In reality, it's the other way around. He also provides a bit of comic relief in the film.
The soundtrack to the movie is 90's era/New York area hip hop and I have to say it is excellent. You'll be hearing stuff like Nas, Rakim, Biggie, Method Man, Mary J. Blige, Tribe Called Quest, etc. etc. etc. Sometimes I found myself rewinding the movie just to head nod to whatever song was bumping in the background of a given scene. If I didn't already have all the songs already, I'd be trying to find it somewhere. As it is, I'll just make a new playlist from the stuff I have.
Very unheralded, this movie was. It's an independent film so that explains a lot of that, plus it was released at a time where EVERYTHING was overshadowed by TDK hype. I first heard about it on an episode of Attack of the Show, and after that no where else. Still, I think it was probably the second best film I've seen this year behind Chop Shop. Definitely recommend it. 4 out of 5 stars for me.
Also saw Kung-Fu Panda on DVD and it was nice. Oh hand I saw License to Wed - not bad, not great, still fun to watch mostly because of Robin Williams. But Mandy Moore was sure a pain in the a$$ in this movie...
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