True Story: The Rules of Writing and the Meaning of "Truth"

I'm just gonna say it: it's weird to see Jonah Hill and James Franco in roles where they're not telling inappropriate jokes and romping into each scene kicking up mayhem. However, they both seem to hold their own in True Story.

And they're not even telling potty humor jokes.

Hard to believe, I know.

Hill plays Mike Finkel, a writer for the New York Times. When Finkel compromises the verity of a story that he's written, he's immediately fire from the famed newspaper. But not long after he's moved back to Montana (who the hell decides to move to Montana, btw?), he receives a strange phone call. The man on the other end informs him that a child murderer has been arrested and that he was found to be using Mike Finkel's own name. Finkel then meets this killer, Christian Longo (Franco), and decides that there may be something to be discovered here. He then dedicates himself to the task of attempting to tell Longo's own version of the story. With a book deal in the mix, he may be able to salvage his writing career. But getting close to Longo proves to blur the lines of truth. Can he really trust this guy? And what is it about him that reminds Finkel so much of himself?

Honestly, I was impressed by these two performances. Franco has a tendency to act in a variety of roles and Hill is starting to get more and more attention with each movie that he comes out in, but these roles were pretty tricky to nail and both actors come out on top. They're deceptively subtle, each of them. Hill is believeable as the ruined journalist looking for a way out and finding it in a man who is creepily like himself. And Franco's likeability sustains throughout almost the entire film, until you get towards the end and the horror of what he's done resurfaces.

Creeeeeeepyyyy

The movie's big question seems to be about telling the truth. Finkel gets fired from the NYT because he's embroidered upon a story about impoverished young children in Africa in order to buy them more attention (he says). And then the rest of the movie is dedicated to trying to figure out whether Longo is innocent or not, through his 80-page letters, deep conversations, and other interactions with Finkel. It isn't until the story begins to taper off that we start to realize the true character of Longo, and that makes the end of the movie pretty damn creepy.

The title and backstory of the movie are also delightfully meta. The story of Mike Finkel and Christian Longo is incredibly true. But is True Story really a true story? How true is it? How much can we trust the verity of biopics and stories that claim to be true if they're spun into a form that's meant to entertain and engage as much as it is to inform? And it's those questions that make the film so thought-provoking.

Good stuff and hats off to Hill and Franco. 7 outa 10.

The LEGO Movie: A Chuckle-Fest

Ah, the second movie I've seen in a month...and it's another kids' movie.

Don't you judge me.

That being said, The LEGO Movie was exactly what I was hoping it would be: a tongue-in-cheek comedy for both kids and adults. The entire time I was watching it, I kept thinking about how much it reminded me of another recent kids' movie that is near and dear to my heart: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Star-studded voice talents, ridiculous humor, kid-mindedness, and so many giggles - I loved it!

Ahh! Run! It's Lord Business!

The movie starts out with Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell) stealing the all-powerful weapon known as "The Kraggle" and a prophecy made by Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman) that there will be a man who can stop the Kraggle with the "piece of resistance" who will be the most special, most interesting, and most powerful Master Builder of all. Cut to LEGO Land, where our man, Emmett Brickowoski (voiced by Chris Pratt) follows daily instructions on what to do, how to stay happy, and basically who to be -- until he stumbles upon the "piece of resistance." He then finds himself implicated in a race to stop Lord/President Business from using the Kraggle (you're going to die when you find out what it actually is) to freeze the entire city.

Behold. The piece of resistance.

I really liked this movie. And it's not just my affinity for stop-motion movies (although, to be honest, that helped - yay stop-motion movies!). It's got a clever and interesting plot, a great commentary on the importance of being different, and a metric TON of familiar Lego figures, including (but not limited to) Batman, Superman, Dumbledore, Gandalf (who have a hilarious bit, I might add..), Random 80s Space Guy, Abraham Lincoln, C-3PO, Shakespeare, and a lot of others. Between pop culture references, goofs, and renamed objects that have entered their world ("Bring me the po-leesh ray-move-air of nai-eel!") this movie is solid gold.

*Disclaimer: this movie is not actually made of solid gold.

The fact that it is entirely made up of actual Legos cannot be overlooked either. (Can't imagine how much time pre-production took...) Additionally, the plot point about "Master Builders," who can imagine up different things to make totally on the spot, vs. those like Emmett who just follow the instructions, is a great commentary on how kids actually play with Legos, and ends up basically qualifying both methods.

Totally ridiculous, yet well put together, I would highly recommend The LEGO Movie. Full-on chuckle-fest. I don't think there was a span of more than 5 minutes that I wasn't laughing the whole thing through.

8 outa 10.

I am ashamed to be adding a link here instead of imbedding the actual video, but Warner Brothers is stupid and won't allow embedding. Dumb Warner Brothers. 

21 Jump Street: A Lovely Surprise

Sooo this weekend, instead of joining the masses and flocking to the nearest theater to see The Hunger Games, Bill came up to visit and we decided to opt, instead, for 21 Jump Street.

Now, I had been told by my mom that this movie had been pretty hilarious, but I had my doubts. I mean honestly, if moms are seeing it how good could it really be? But I must have seriously underestimated how cool Cath is because me and Bill were doubled over in the theater cracking up.

But high school movies never come to a crux at the prom!?

The movie is, of course, based off of the old 80's TV series of the same name, formerly starring Johnny Depp and that other guy that was in A Night At the Roxbury (I wanna say Greico?). But it isn't the same characters, reinvented as so many other shows have tried to do (Starsky and Hutch, The Dukes of Hazard, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Addams Family, aaand I'm gonna stop there cuz this could go on for a while). This movie features Schmidt and Jenko (Joanh Hill and Channing Tatum) as a couple of awful cops that get downgraded to being sent back to high school undercover to take down a synthetic drug ring.

I mean, that's really the entire plot. It also involves the two characters getting into a fight and then reconciling but I feel like that's kind of a given.

The real humor in this movie comes from their portrayal of how different high schools are now as opposed to around 2005. It was kind of funny to see how they portray 2005 too, haha. Velour jumpsuits, bleached hair, and letterman jackets.

Ah, memories

And when the two cops go back to school all of the stereotypes that they had while they themselves had been in high school have now been completely morphed. They are now dealing with a hipster kind of crowd being the center of the popular ring, which means that bullying, fossil fuels, and littering are way not cool man.

He rules a drug ring and still has time to work on the school yearbook

As a result, instead of Jenko (obviously a cool kid back in the day) taking over as the new king of the school, they flip the stereotypes on their heads and make Schmidt the new popular kid. Even though Schmidt was a total nerd in high school, these qualities of his have now become cool. So I guess a huge portion of the plot is also having both boys reconcile their past high school experiences with the ones that they have to go through as undercover cops. Schmidt lets popularity go to his head while Jenko gets humbled after becoming BFFs with the chemistry nerds.

SO. MANY. FUNNY. SCENES.

I don't know whether it's just the fact that they are so full-heartedly making fun of hipsters, that I'm old and I understand where Schmidt and Jenko are coming from, or that the writing is just really on mark, but this movie was hilarious. It was like a cross between Never Been Kissed and The Other Guys. Sweet teen comedy but also raunchy and outrageous. Just real enough to make a point but goofy enough that it's something new.

"Doves"

Seriously, I would see it again. Don't get peer pressured into seeing just The Hunger Games, cuz this one was pretty sweet too.

7 and a half outa 10.

Also keep an eye out for cameos from some of your favorite TV actors!