Friday Flix: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

It’s Friday and you know what that means! Time for some more Friday Flix. Something wicked this week comes. Evil, and the men who would fight it. Join Tucker and Dale whose only desire is to enjoy Tucker’s new vacation home.

The description from IMDB.com:

Tucker & Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids.

I know, it sounds like it’s on par with Dumb and Dumber (and it is) but since a lot of friends strongly recommended this movie to me and since it was Netflix Instant anyway, I thought I’d give it a go.

THE GOOD

Alan Tudyk. *drops mic and walks away*

*comes back and picks up mic* Okay, I know for some of you that might not be enough of an excuse, although it does make for a lot of the reason I watched this movie in the first place. But in addition to Alan (who plays Tucker) we have an equally fantastic performance by Tyler Labine (Dale). They do “best buds” right and considering the environment of the movie, are very well written.

Something else that surprised me about this movie was a covert discussion about prejudices. You have a bunch of college kids who could probably be cast as the popular kids in a teen movie coming to hillbilly country with both their college kid and city slicker prejudices fully in tact. In fact, that’s how Tucker and Dale are introduced, through the lens of these college kids. I have to admit, I did wonder about them, too.

But as a few minutes pass and we get to know T&D, we realize despite their quirks, they’re pretty decent guys. You even have Tucker encouraging Dale to go talk to one of the college hotties. I found it interesting to see how not long into the movie I’d feel a lot more comfortable around the hillbillies than the “intellectuals.” It makes for an interesting discussion on personal prejudices.

So at its root, this is a movie about overcoming prejudices and having confidence in yourself to step out of the box people may try and put you in. This movie may surprise you.

THE BAD

Gratuitous violence for the sake of gratuitous violence isn’t really my thing. I know it’s supposed to be humorous in a way, but I still felt uncomfortable every time someone bit the dust—and in terribly violent, grotesque ways EVERY time. I think it could have been toned down a lot, but I admit I’m probably not the audience they had in mind.

Although they tried to give a couple of the ladies brains, this still isn’t a terribly woman-friendly film. Mostly they’re objectified damsels in distress. One tries to be a psychologist, but it’s more akin to the early stages of Reese Witherspoon lawyering up in Legally Blonde. Still, at least effort is being made, I guess.

THE CONCLUSION

Is it a worthwhile watch? It depends on your tastes. If you like Alan Tudyk, definitely. If you like slashers mixed with humor, probably. If you’re intrigued by the idea of examining prejudices, maybe. It’s definitely not going to win any prestigious awards, but it’s a fun little flick I enjoyed seeing at least once.

A lot of the humor comes in the ignorance/acceptance of Tucker and Dale to their environment, especially their reaction to the “vacation home” of Tucker’s. The state of it would make most of feel ripped off, but they feel like kings in a palace. Again, it left me wondering about judgements we make and why we make them. So there is something to be had on the intellectual side as well as the good, old-fashioned goofy humor. But definitely not one for the young kiddies.

Have you seen Tucker and Dale vs. Evil? What did you think? Anything you would add to the good or the bad? Do you have any interest in seeing the film now? Have you had any recent experiences that made you reexamine prejudice in your own life?

Friday Flix: Man of Steel

It’s that time of the week again. This week with Friday Flix we go super—at least Superman is in this one. Was I excited for a new Superman movie? Definitely yes! Did the movie live up to my expectations? Well, let’s just say Man of Steel was Man of Stilted. Disappointed? I was too.

I mean something produced by Christopher Nolan should be awesome, right? That’s what I thought, too. Let’s just say if you like spectacle more than you like story then this movie is for you.

The description from IMDB.com :

A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.

Kind of sounds boring already, doesn’t it? So what is it about Man of Steel that was Man of Stunk? Let’s get started!

THE THING ABOUT BACKSTORY

Backstory is not a bad thing. If you have been in writing long enough you understand that while backstory is necessary you don’t want to clutter up the beginning of your story with a lot of flashbacks and info dumping. If you caught any of the previews, you know Man of Steel will do a little bit of backstory because it’s necessary to understand where Superman is coming from—especially those who don’t know much about the Supes.

However, the problem with backstories or flashback is that it slows the story down. You’ve got to know when to put it in and when it’s appropriate. If you just put it in there willy nilly you’ll bore your readers and your story won’t have much meaning.

The issue I had with the backstory in Man of Steel was that the writers spent hardly any time having us get to know Clark Kent in the present. We see a lot of scenes of him rescuing people, and an awful lot of brooding, but there weren’t very many of those getting-to-know-you moments except in flashbacks.

I guess the point they were trying to make the movie is that he was kind of a misfit/loner in the beginning, uncertain of himself. But it doesn’t work well for a movie if your main character is just breathing and not interacting because we can’t see what’s inside of his head on screen.  We didn’t really get to connect with Supes and so when supposedly important battles would happen, I found myself not caring because they hadn’t created any real meaning. The only affinity I had for Supes was young Supes. In fact, part of me wished we could just watch that part of the movie instead.

Oh wait, they’ve done that.

Friday Flix: Iron Man 3

Oh, you knew this one was coming! Tony Stark strikes again in Iron Man 3, which some could call Iron Man 4 since Avengers was in some ways Iron Man 3, but I digress.

If you haven’t seen this in the theater yet, I’m going to warn you now of potential SPOILERS coming in the next several paragraphs. And I want to state up front right now that I thought Iron Man 3 was a solid A movie. It’s really, really good. But that doesn’t mean I don’t take issue with some of it. And since many of us are storytellers or at least appreciate good storytelling, it’s good to learn from the stories we hear.

But back to Iron Man 3. The description from IMDB.com:

When Tony Stark’s world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.

Okay, so there we have it. Iron Man faces terrorist. And go!

WHAT I LOVED

The best part of this movie for me was the interaction between Tony and this kid Harley. Tony escapes certain destruction via the Mandarin and ends up in the middle of Tennessee where he meets a boy named Harley who helps him recover and keep his malfunctioning Iron Man suit safe.

Harley also plays the role of audience, asking Tony all the questions about New York we’d like to ask him. I think this worked really well for the story because Tony needed a different kind of reminder of what he’s doing this all for. There were the personal reminders of protecting his friends and his love, but there’s something so perfect about the innocence of this kid that helps Tony see what he needs to do to find healing. Kids are honest in ways adults just can’t be anymore.

Plus it worked great as a contrast for Tony’s ego to see this little kid has got it together better than he does. If you go for anything, even if you haven’t liked Iron Man, I think you’ll enjoy the back and forth between Tony and Harley.

Friday Flix: Smoke Signals

And we’re back with another edition of Friday Flix. This week we go to a lesser known but splendidly superb movie I was first introduced to in film school: Smoke Signals.

Something I love about movies is their ability to transport you into different worlds, different cultures, and different viewpoints. So I very much appreciated a little slice of life film maybe giving a little insight into growing up as a Native American. The screenplay is written by Sherman Alexie, who drew on his experiences growing up in the Spokane Indian Reservation, and directed by Chris Eyre, also Native American, whose goal is to “focus on contemporary Native American life, with a rejection of conventional stereotypes.” (via Wiki)

Movie description via Netflix:

On a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, reservation, nothing ever changes — until the estranged father of Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) bites the dust in Arizona, and Victor must go collect the cremated remains. The problem is, Victor can’t afford the fare. But annoying nerd Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) will float Victor a loan … if Thomas can tag along. This tender tale of self-discovery is based on acclaimed author Sherman Alexie’s short stories.

Smoke Signals is a beautifully put together movie with lots of quotable lines, high emotion, great performances, and great story.

CHARACTERS WITH MOTIVATION

The movie has two protagonists, although most of the story belongs to Victor. For him, life is mostly about trying to reconcile his drunkard father ditching him and his mom several years ago.

Victor starts out as a kind of likeable jerk, and as we go more and more into backstory you understand why he treats Thomas the way he does and I think his fears in becoming the loser he believes his father is.

Poor geeky, almost Urkle-esque Thomas admires Victor like the older brother and family he never had. For him the journey is figuring out, as the film puts it, what it really means to be an Indian. His innocence and honesty are what give him an awkward charm and grates on Victor.

Thomas and Victor.

So how do we tie these two polar opposites together? Because Victor’s drunkard father saved Thomas from the fire that killed his parents when he was a baby. This reeks of wonderful story tension.

Friday Flix: Roswell

Welcome to another edition of Friday Flix. Since the BFF and I recently visited New Mexico, interesting in watching Roswell spiked, and as it’s available on Netflix, I gave it a go. I knew what this show was going into it (teen drama) but I’d watched Dawson’s Creek back in the day, so I figured it would probably be something like that.

For those that don’t know, here’s the Roswell description from Netflix:

In Roswell, New Mexico, human/alien hybrids Max, Isabel and Michael closely guard their true identities from enemies while forging romances with classmates and gradually discovering their destiny to save their home planet.

Seems like the perfect formula for a teen drama right? Girl meets boy who’s not human, and he’s the forbidden fruit, but he can’t stay away from her and no one can know their secret. (Sounds like a few other familiar plots out there, right?)

ROSWELL THE CITY

Having been to Roswell in person, they didn’t do a bad job pretending the part of California they filmed in was New Mexico. But I did notice the mountains in the background a lot (not really the case in Roswell), and sometimes the city looked way bigger than it actually was. But for those that have been dying to know, no, there isn’t a Crashdown Cafe in the real Roswell. Not even anything close. In fact, the real Roswell could take lessons from the show on how to promote tourism when it comes to restaurants. Not that I’m complaining too much. Big D’s Downtown Dive is still calling my name with those ridiculous Monte Cristo sandwiches.

Mmm… I still love you!

Anyways, I’d be willing to let these details go if the rest of the story was more interesting. And it was… for awhile. I made it 10 whole episodes before I decided lits (life is too short).

LEADING MAN

“I’m boring… so boring…” via Wiki

Roswell was out right in the height of major WB (now called the CW) popularity. We had Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Smallville for that matter. So a lot of these characters feel the same across the teenage drama-verse. Which is interesting to note a lot of this stuff is almost formulaic, but in the right hands can be fantastic, and in the wrong, boring.

Okay, if we’re being honest, I probably couldn’t stand a re-watch of Dawson’s Creek for the same reasons. The leading man. He had mysterious going for him, but once we realize he’s an alien pretending like he knows anything about what’s going on, blaaaah… He’s got that too perfect character vibe. He could be a robot and show the same amount of emotion. By episode ten I’m already ready for Liz to break up with his “yes-let’s-get-together-no-wait-I’m-an-alien-so-we-can’t” attitude.

Supposedly the leading man, Max, has loved Liz his whole life and risked everything saving her life, but risking a romance is too dangerous. Why? It worked out all right for Superman. Geez, it even worked out for Edward and Bella. I guess Max’s excuse is, well, I want to protect you from the difficulty being with me could be. *eye roll* *gag* I know, it’s all for drama, but Max is a robot who probably likes feeling like he has to suffer. *yawn*

“Did someone call my name?”

Let’s take Clark Kent from Smallville in the almost exact same situation. You know more than anything he wants to be with Lana (then Lois). And he’ll take whatever risks necessary, even to his own detriment. He’s a character of action. And when he can’t have Lana, he tries dating other girls in the meantime to see if she’s really the one.

Maybe that’s the problem. Roswell is too much about their relationship while Smallville is more about the superpowers and the relationship is a subplot. I don’t know. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments. Max is just dry, boring toast. Period.