Friends With Benefits (2011) Review

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Dylan and his father, pants-less, eating in Newark Liberty Int’l Airport

Friends With Benefits was just an excuse to maximize Timberlake’s on-screen butt time. Will Gluck really sold out. I expected a lot more out of him. Many of you are probably thinking, “Who the hell is Will Gluck?” and rightfully so. Unless you are film fanatic or someone who pays close attention to film director’s resumes, that name probably passed you by.

Sold out sounds so cliche, but it’s what Gluck did to a degree. The director was hired to make a larger budget movie with big name stars. Too many writers spoil the script and in the case of Friends With Benefits, it took 3 people to write the story, and Gluck and 2 other writers to write the screenplay. Seriously? And even with all those writers, it was all just a bunch of romps in the sack.

If a movie company was throwing obscene amounts of cash at me to make a movie exactly the way they wanted it, I’d do it too. Gotta make a living, right? Gotta pay for that new hot tub. Gotta buy that hot new Acura NSX. Gotta build that reputation in order to make more Hollywood crap. You go Gluck! I genuinely loved Fired Up, his cheerleading comedy, and Easy A with Emma Stone, but in terms of freshness I give this an Easy F. His previous films were creative and current, yet Friends is exactly what you’d expect from a romantic comedy…not much.

Friends really wants to mean something to the teens and twenty-somethings of this generation, but it’s ultimately just corporate garbage. It’s another “insert hot young star here,” and “insert another sex scene there.” Why was there 2 flash mob scenes? TWO!!! The film’s finale desperately wanted to be poignant and as memorable as when Lloyd Dobler held up his boom box in Say Anything. There’s a reason why you know that scene even though you may never have seen the movie and that’s because because it was a meaningful scene that reflected the time and has since been parodied to death. Is wooing a girl via flash mob going to be looked at the same way 20 years down the road?

Mila Kunis is certainly hot and Timberlake is truly talented but commingling them didn’t ignite any spark. Much like the embarrassing Love and Other Drugs, if you watch Friends With Benefits in mega high speed it would just look like a series of awkward sex scenes. If your Grandparents saw this movie they’d say “What are ya watchin’, porno ya pervert?!?!” It’s the typical Hollywood formula featuring a hot male actor to grab the girl moviegoers and a sexy young female star to lure in dopey guys like me. They had me at Jackie from That ’70s Show. Boy did I fall for it.

It wasn’t all boner pissing though, Friends with Benefits did deal with some serious issues. Although I had a barf bag next to me the whole time, I appreciate how the Alzheimer’s angle was handled. Unfortunately, it seemed conveniently shoehorned into the script in order to give some human qualities to its characters. The best scene of the movie is when Timberlake takes his pants off and joins his father (who’s afflicted with Alzheimer’s and has his pants off) at a restaurant for a steak dinner in Newark Liberty International Airport. I can watch Mila Kunis stare blankly into space and be content for an hour, but this scene actually had some depth.

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DYLAN: “You have a boat?!?!”
TOMMY: “I live in Jersey and I ain’t takin’ no ferry…unless it’s out to dinner and a show!”

I always enjoy Woody Harrelson and this time around was no exception. He excels in random supporting roles and here he played a gay online sports journalist who constantly advertised his love of men’s genitalia. He also takes his boat across the river back to New Jersey where he lives which kicks ass because he doesn’t have to sit in traffic.

Friends with Benefits should be a sequel to The Breakup where Vaughn and Aniston really do just become friends after their breakup and one thing leads to another and they each lose their jobs at different times while the other is still working and since they aren’t dating anyone they have to angle to get put onto the others health benefits. Listen, it may sound ridiculous now, but when Universal green-lights it in 2 years you’ll be having deja-vu. But, in all seriousness, I spent the whole movie wishing that it turned into the kooky love story of Andy Samberg and Emma Stone who actually appeared in the beginning of the film. It would’ve been so much more Glucking awesome.

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.63: Night Shift

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Sure, the line “Take LIVE tuna fish and feed ’em mayonnaise!” may not be as iconic as “Nice f*ckin’ model,” and definitely not as imitated as “I’m Batman,” but it’s also from a film in the career of an actor who has personified a multitude of quirky and hilarious characters. Many roles Micheal Keaton has chosen are zany and often outlandish, but those are the ones that continue to make me laugh ’til this day.

One of the early films I wore out on VHS was 1983’s Mr. Mom. Jack Butler is still one of my favorite characters ever even though he’s a lot more laid back than Bill Blazejowski in his first major movie role in Night Shift the previous year. Night Shift is right up there with Keaton’s best work. It’s hard to beat the team-up of The Fonz and Michael Keaton as morgue attendants who become pimps and start a brothel.

Keaton’s Billy Blaze was always amped up, humming The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and chock full of so many ideas that he had to dictate them into his handheld tape recorder so he wouldn’t forget them. Sounds a lot like what I do with the notes app on my iPhone. I related to Blaze since I worked the night shift for a few years and it’s certainly a whole other culture.

To pass the time, Blaze was always yapping a mile a minute to his partner Chuck (Winkler). A couple of the stories he told involved his trips down to Atlantic City to gamble. I always love watching movies that were filmed in New York City in the ’80s and the proximity to A.C is what gives this film that extra coolness. As Blaze told his stories I could just imagine him driving across the river and hopping on the GSP all the way down to Atlantic City, humming Stones songs all the way. In the early ’80s A.C was the Northeast’s answer to Las Vegas, but according to Blaze “Vegas knows how to treat you right… cause they got broads…and Wayne Newton…”

BILL BLAZEJOWSKI GOES TO ATLANTIC CITY:

“Chuck, I’m really getting good at remembering these cards. (21 jeez!) Boy I’ll tell ya Chuck…this weekend is it. This weekend I go to Atlantic City and I do nothing but play blackjack straight through. I’m not even gonna get a room I’m just gonna get those wash’n dries…ya know? Did I tell you I thought of them first?”

“You know I’ve been working on my blackjack system, right? All right, so, I get down to Atlantic City this weekend and I’m sitting in the casino with my wash’n dries; Did I tell you I had the idea for them first? Anyway I’m sitting there and I’m playing blackjack right…they bar me, they bar me, I’m out, I’m barred, I can’t get in now, right. You know why? Being too good a player…”

A Jersey Christmas Review

PhotobucketRemember those family gatherings when someone at the dinner table would caution everyone not to discuss politics and religion? Well the 2008 film A Jersey Christmas obviously didn’t heed that warning because its abundant racial and moral commentary spoils this festivus for the rest of us.

My intention is always to give credit to indie filmmakers, not to needlessly rip them like some a-hole critics who know nothing about films anyway. Making an actual film that doesn’t look like it was slapped together accidentally by a 3 year old on his parents iPhone is a huge undertaking, and even if the movie sucks, most young directors and cast deserve an A for effort at the very least. If I was only judging it on effort, A Jersey Christmas would receive and A+ with a possible induction to the National Honor Society. Unfortunately, it boils down to one question for me: Will I ever want to watch it again? The answer is no, although, if some tweaks were made I’d make it part of my annual Christmas viewing tradition.

Clerks influence on indie filmmakers based in New Jersey is apparent since the story centers around a group of Christmas store employees. Kevin Smith would have a field day writing a film about this place because it’s way more diverse than the local Quick Stop. Coincidentally, mostly all of The Xmas-O-Rama employees don’t celebrate Christmas because of their various religious backgrounds. There’s a Jewish guy, a reformed Jewish girl, an Indian girl, an Arab, and a former Christian gay male who graduated from Rutgers with a masters in American Literature because he “likes to read.” The gist of the story focuses on how Christmas is viewed in the eyes of non-Christian twentysomethings. The group discovers that even though they express jealousy and frustration about the holiday, they are all brought together by the Christmas spirit.

As described on IMDB, “degenerate gambler” Mike Malcolm (James Villemaire) is in deep debt (or shit as we say here in Jersey) and owes a couple of thugs a lot of money. He runs a Christmas store to try to recoup some cash to pay his debts, but winds up screwing his employees out of several weeks pay. The action takes place on Christmas Eve when he demands that the store stay open until midnight to intercept last minute shoppers. Malcolm escapes to a poker game to try to win back some of his losses while the diverse crew at the Christmas store works late and hashes out their differences in religion, thoughts on Christmas, and even share some romantic moments.

I guess I was expecting something with a little more wacky hijinks. Often, the film teetered on the verge of being fun, but never officially made the jump. Sadly, the dialogue is so dumbed down and the characters refer to being Jewish and Arabic excessively. A Jersey Christmas would’ve benefited from making the racial/religious differences a minor theme instead of the main attraction. Regardless of these flaws, the cast is surprisingly natural and talented for a bunch of predominantly unknown actors. Anitha Gandhi and James Villemaire’s performances resonated with me.

Villemaire, who seems to be attempting to channel a young Mickey Rourke or Bruce Willis in this film, also co-directs with Eric Weber. Weber wrote the film, but I think it should’ve stayed on paper rather than been brought to life as a movie. This is the type of film that could be shown in college classes studying religious or racial tolerance; not so much the light hearted Christmas movie based in Jersey that I was hoping for. Ultimately, there really aren’t any similarities to Kevin Smith’s Clerks, but there should’ve been. I for one wouldn’t mind seeing a Christmas styled knockoff of Clerks. In that case the racial and religious references would be welcome. Snoogans.

What keeps me from ripping A Jersey Christmas is the fact that the film isn’t necessarily funny, but it’s not heart wrenching or dramatic either. Being middle of the road is it’s best attribute, since it would’ve totally lost my attention if it got bogged down in too much drama. This is one film you should only sink your time into if you just dig indie movies, or you have a serious obsession for all things Jersey like The Sexy Armpit does.

Since the production company, Tenafly Films, is named after a city in New Jersey, they not only filmed  on location in Bergen County, NJ but they also infused plenty of Jersey shout-outs into the movie. Among others there were mentions of Garden State Plaza Mall, Kearny, Hackensack, and the Elmwood Park Diner.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-irEXVALD8]

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments 62: Christmas Evil

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I hope you’re not planning on asking Santa for a lifetime subscription to Penthouse magazine or you’re in for it. Released the same year as To All a Good Night, Christmas Evil is the true classic of Christmas horror films. If Psycho and Halloween are looked at as pioneering films in the genre, Christmas Evil holds the same honor when it comes to Christmas horror movies. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Silent Night, Deadly Night, but the majority of Christmas Evil was actually filmed right here in New Jersey. Originally released as You Better Watch Out and also known as Terror in Toyland, this largely overlooked horror movie offers dark humor and a creepy, yet yuletide atmosphere.

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Can you dig it? Santa traded in his sleigh for a custom van!

It’s a familiar story, one that has been copied numerous times after the release of both Christmas Evil and To All a Good Night. At the time in 1980, these two films just seemed like cheap throwaway horror film gimmicks, but to many horror film buffs they are classics now.

You can read about Christmas Evil all over the Internet, but the basic gist of it is that on Christmas 1947 little Harry loses his shit and starts cutting himself after witnessing Santa Claus getting naughty with his mother. When Harry realizes it was his father under the Santa suit he grows up wanting to be like the Santa he thought existed. Fast forward to his adult years, Harry has become straight up obsessed with Christmas and becoming Santa. He even keeps a book of all the good and bad kids around town. Dressed as Santa, Harry begins to go on a rampage around town to right all the wrongs he’s witnessed in various ways. The difference about this film and other Santa slashers is that Harry is actually playing a moral judge, he’s just not going around hacking up everyone in his path.

In the horror sub genre of Christmas or Holiday horror films, there aren’t too many that are worth revisiting. Christmas Evil is the type of perennial classic that you can go back to in the same way you re-watch A Christmas Story and How The Grinch Stole Christmas every holiday season. Every time I watch it I wonder why it hasn’t been labelled the quintessential Christmas horror movie yet. Is Silent Night Deadly Night better? I don’t think it is and neither do my fellow bloggers:

“It’s one of my favorite film endings of all time, the absolute perfect end cap to what is a madly magical film.” – Freddy in Space

“…the pedigree of most holiday-themed slasher movies isn’t very high, but Christmas Evil is pretty exceptional.” As perfectly summed up at Marcus’ Movie Life

And while I disagree with his Silent Night Deadly Night sentiment, I tend to agree with Charles Tatum’s Review overall which states that “Christmas Evil belongs just below Gremlins and Black Christmas and well above Elves and the moronic Silent Night Deadly Night when it comes to the unique Christmas horror genre.”

After a little girl says to him “Santa, your shirt’s dirty,” Harry replies “There’s a…a lot of pollution between here and the North Pole.” That sure is true, and although it’s never claimed outright in the film, the story itself takes place in suburban New Jersey. At least from my countless viewings over the years, aside from a couple of glimpses of NJ license plates, Christmas Evil doesn’t mention the state except for thanking Montclair and Glen Ridge in the closing credits.

Also check out Christmas Evil at one of our favorite horror blogs, Kindertrauma!

Eddie Weinbauer’s Last Stand

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Before Trick R‘ Treat hit horror freaks like a ton of bricks made out of candy corn, 1986’s Trick OR Treat satisfied my Halloween movie watching tradition. This highly misinterpreted film was perfectly in line with 2 of my favorite things ever with the initials H.M: heavy metal and horror movies. If you just never bothered to watch it because you read bad reviews, you can’t take a film that stars Skippy Handelman seriously, or you’re just too young and it was before your time…NOW IS THE TIME for Trick Or Treat! One person’s cheesy movie is another person’s annual classic.

Once October rolls around I fire up my Halloween playlist which includes all kinds of spooky songs and hard rock tunes from horror movies. Fastway’s soundtrack is the nucleus of the film and if you enjoy hard rock from the ’80s, you’ll dig these songs. What makes this soundtrack better than so many others is that the lyrics and music fit the plot so well it’s almost eerie. At first listen, you might think it’s pretty generic hard rock from that era, but it’s way more than that once you get into the movie. The Halloween atmosphere is definitely in full effect when you start blasting songs like “Trick or Treat” and “Stand Up.”

I’ve already watched Trick or Treat once this month and I plan on at least one more viewing. With each viewing I notice another little detail that I may not have noticed before. This time, the dark comedy really hit me. Many people think it’s just a straight up horror movie, and that’s partly true, but there’s a few really funny scenes too. Now, I’m not joking with you here…it’s also a serious social commentary on heavy metal in the ’80s.

Back then, many parents were blaming heavy metal musicians for their children’s suicides or arson. Bad stuff was going on and parent groups and the government were actually trying to blame heavy metal musicians like Twisted Sister and Judas Priest among others. This was complete bullshit of course, but when you see the scene where rock God Sammi Curr was on the stand defending his music, it’s not far from how that all went down. Perhaps this film is more relevant now that we can look back at it and remember that heavy metal artists were looked at like Satanists. If you’re parents didn’t know anything about KISS, then just their posters would’ve given parents anxiety attacks knowing that’s the band their kid is obsessing over.

As you know, I can’t leave you without sneaking in a New Jersey tie-in! When you hit the 47 minute mark on the DVD of Trick Or Treat listen up for actor Marc Price’s audibly prominent New Jersey accent as he delivers a line in response to his mom’s question: “…Aspirin, and some soup.”

Other Trick Or Treat related posts:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2Iv2vVIqng?rel=0]

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.60: Demon Knight

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“That’s right Mavis, yeah one of ’ems got Maryland plates and the other ones from New Jersey…10-4.” – Sheriff Tupper, Tales From The Crypt Presents Demon Knight

If not for The Cryptkeeper, the Tales From The Crypt series would never have spawned 3 movie spinoffs. Originally slated for a Halloween ’94 release, I remember waiting until January of 1995 to see the miserable Demon Knight. I sat in a fairly empty theater to watch this on a Friday afternoon, even dozing off a few times.

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N.J License Plate!

Since the Tales series had a bunch of memorable episodes, I had high expectations for this film. Call me crazy, but when I first heard that a new Tales from the Crypt movie was coming out back then I thought it was going to be more like an anthology similar to the original Tales from the Crypt film from 1972 Unfortunately it was nothing like that and it was later indicated through several horror magazines that the script wasn’t even originally intended as a Tales From The Crypt movie.

Aside from the Cryptkeeper introducing and capping off the film, the cool cameos by John Laroquette and Dick Miller are worth noting. Other than that, I couldn’t think of a more dull cast. Jada Pinkett bored me to death, but I was happy to see that John Schuck had a pretty large role. You might know Schuck as Herman in a show that I admittedly watched as a kid, The Munsters Today.

Without any hesitation, I’ve always stood by the fact that Demon Knight sucked. I was much more satisfied with the shlockier Bordello of Blood starring Corey Feldman, since it was a more fitting horror comedy. 
The Cryptkeeper needs to make a comeback! The Cryptkeeper can easily be created with CGI so he can continue hosting movies and TV shows forever. If the time comes when the voice of the Cryptkeeper, John Kassir, can’t do it anymore I’m sure it can be closely replicated in the same way that the Looney Tunes voices are. COME BACK CRYPTKEEPER…COME BACK…BUT ONLY WITH A GOOD MOVIE!

Rumors of Jersey Devil Movie Are Bloody True!

PhotobucketSince talk of the new big budget Jersey Devil movie, The Barrens, has proven true, now all we can to do is wait and hope that it doesn’t SUCK royally like it’s predecessors. Carny, and 13th Child were far from spine tingling and I hope that the producers of this film ensure that they do everything in their power to learn from previous train wrecks.

The plot centers around a father who takes his family to the vast woods of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey for a camping trip. While at Wharton State Forest, he believes they are being stalked by The Jersey Devil. All I can say is that if this gets a theatrical release I’ll be first on line, otherwise I’ll be pre-ordering it on Bluray!

Hopefully being released next fall, Stephen Moyer of True Blood will star in the film. It’s a shame that future Garden State Playmate Brit Morgan, who plays Debbie Pelt on True Blood, has not been cast in the film. She’s from Marlton, New Jersey and having a Jersey girl in the film would add to the authenticity.

The Barrens comes to you from writer/director/and producer, Darren Lynn Bousman, who was also the guy who brought us Saw II and Repo The Genetic Opera. Unfortunately though, The Barrens was filmed in Toronto, not actually in Jersey, but it’s still awesome news nonetheless!

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.59: Seinfeld’s Face Painter

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Earlier tonight in preseason NHL action, the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers. But, as you know, this isn’t a sports blog. Although, there aren’t many things that get people as passionate as they do for sports, except maybe The Simpsons, and Seinfeld.

Seinfeld freaks know every episode, so this one is for you! In the 6th season (1995), Elaine went on a date with hardcore New Jersey Devils fan David Puddy played by Patrick Warburton. Just before they leave to go see the Devils/Rangers game at the Garden, much to Elaine’s shock and dismay, he reveals himself to be a face painter. Puddy was just one of those crazy fans who the camera pans over to after a huge play or when the home team is trying to get a rally going. Elaine will have none of it because she thinks “it’s insane.”

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“We’re the DEVILS!” (to the priest)

With his diabolical looking face paint on, Dave even scared the crap out of Kramer at first! With a Brodeur jersey on and his face full of grease paint, Puddy screamed at the top of his lungs during the game. The Devils wound up winning and Puddy rubbed it in everyone’s face, including a priest’s! The priest thought he was the actual Devil! Sports fans out there know the kind of intense fan Puddy is. I’m a fan of Patrick Warburton and he was the perfect casting choice to pull off this character. I think he’s a funny dude and if you aren’t familiar with him, you’ve probably heard his distinctive voice overs everywhere.

At the end of the episode Elaine tries to break it off with Puddy because of how much the face painting is weirding her out. He tells her he’s going to stop for her and all seems fine after that. Later, they are messing around on the couch and Elaine opens Puddy’s shirt to discover a big red “D” painted on his chest so he can spell out Devils with other guys in the crowd at the game.

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.58: Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3
Woody, Mr. Pricklepants, Buttercup, and Trixie in Toy Story 3
WOODY: “…Hey guys look I don’t know where I am!”
TRIXIE: “We’re either in a cafe in Paris or a coffee shop in New Jersey…”

I’m all for a company who milks their properties for all they are worth. Sometimes though, Disney really scrounges. For instance, I had no idea there was a third installment of Cinderella, let alone a sequel! Yes indeed, you can look it up for yourself, Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time went straight to DVD, and so did Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea. There’s also a Little Mermaid prequel, Peter Pan 2, Fox and the Hound 2, Lilo and Stitch 2, Tarzan 2, Mulan 2, Lady and the Tramp 2, Pocahontas 2, 101 Dalmations 2, and perhaps the most baffling…The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2. Seriously? Journeying into Pixar territory we have Cars 2, and today’s movie: Toy Story 3.

When the original Toy Story was released in 1995, I thought it was an incredibly imaginative film, and I still do. The Toy Story franchise is one of those Godfather type instances where the sequel may actually be better than the original, or at least funnier. I never thought I’d see a follow up to TS2 10 years after the sequel was released, but leave it to Disney! While I still love TS2, part 3 was pretty friggin’ great also. 
Although I thought it was released too long after Toy Story 2, there were a couple of things I loved about Toy Story 3. First, the story continued in a perfect way. In case you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil too much, but I identified with the film because when I was a kid my Dad broke it to me that I was growing up and I needed to part with my toys because I wasn’t a kid anymore. We gave a lot of my toys and action figures to the local day camp – a catastrophic event that I’m sure a lot kids endured. It was pretty frigging devastating for me, but as we see in Toy Story 3, it’s more devastating for the toys! 
The casting of Michael Keaton as the Ken doll scored major points with me. The world always needs more Michael Keaton. I miss seeing him star in movies and we need him back in a big way. His voice role as Ken allowed him to go back to his comedy roots and really do what he does best. When I first watched the movie I wasn’t even aware that Keaton was going to be the voice of Ken so it was a cool surprise. There’s nothing like hearing Michael Keaton play one of the most famous dolls of all time. He plays Ken very vain, but with a wink. He brags about his dream house having an entire room just for trying on clothes and compliments Barbie on how much he loves her legwarmers. I’ll tell you one thing: Taylor Lautner couldn’t have pulled that off!

Toy Story 3 is streaming on Netflix now!

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 82: High Hopes

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My Amazon wish list is a junkyard of DVDs that nobody wants. I’ve got the weirdest shit on that list. The DVDs just sit there, unbought. For years! I have over five hundred movies on there, enough that 10 people probably couldn’t get through them in their entire lifetimes. But somehow I think I will one day. Or, I just like to pay a minimal amount of attention to the lesser known efforts. Some are B-movies, some are forgotten comedies, most of them are cheesy, but only one of them features Parker Lewis having a run in with Diamond Dallas Page.

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Buying this unfortunate film was completely out of the question. So, I did what any B-film curious movie lover would do…I checked Netflix. Sure enough, HIGH HOPES (2006) popped right up as being available for streaming! I started feeling like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and off my wish list.

The plot is pretty standard late night cable comedy fare. A group of guys are attempt to get their movie financed and they bank on their friends movie star girlfriend to star in it and then she breaks up with the guy so they are up the creek. Blah, blah, you could figure out all the wacky hijinks that ensue as they try to accomplish their goal. The cast is made up of actors who will probably charge you an exorbitant amount for an autograph at the next Monster Mania Con.

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And no, I wasn’t joking, Corin Nemec does indeed have a run in with former pro wrestler DDP. Geez, doesn’t he know not to refer to DDP as a pimp? I really loved Parker Lewis Can’t Lose when I was a kid. Of course, now it’s trendy to claim that with all the hard- ons out there for ’90s nostalgia. It’s good to see he’s still getting acting jobs. He must still synchronize swatches previous to his auditions. Boy I’ll tell you who this movie could’ve used…TV’s Ferris Bueller CHARLIE SCHLATTER! But perhaps even more of a coup was the decision to cast one half of our local stoner tag team, Jason Mewes. (Check out his awesome New Jersey t-shirt pictured above.) If you’re a Jay and Silent Bob fan, this film won’t be such a stretch for you. There’s many variations on Jason Mewes getting stoned such as the one that will warm your heart: Jason Mewes getting a deaf mute guy stoned. You’ll also see Dany Trejo whose company Trejo 4.0 also co-produced the film which probably explains why his friend from Point Pleasant NJ, DDP had a cameo. Previously, they both appeared together in The Devil’s Rejects.

There are many worse low budget comedies on my wish list than High Hopes. I hope to continue gradually eliminating the crap from it. I gave the film a chance, but for you it just comes down to deciding if you want to part with an hour and a half of your life which will be dedicated to watching a movie which cast includes David Faustino and the kid who played Alex in Head of the Class. You really have to be a lover of the obscure ones, or just completely desperate for something to watch. Here’s my final verdict: Less Dick as in Andy Dick and more of that Lacey stuff…I mean Lacey Chabert.