I really want to go to the beach, but it's raining. Let's just watch movies instead.
Pitch Perfect (2012)
It's a movie about young people who make music with their mouths. Also known as Anna Kendrick plays a college freshman who doesn't really want to be there but her father the Comp. Lit professor forces her to stick with free education for a year and if she doesn't like it, he'll pay for her passage to LA where she can start paying her dues as a DJ. I must say it's really tough to have a character who's all about finding the backbeat and matching it with songs with similar patterns and then mashing the hell out of those two on a Macbook Pro and then make it seem exciting, so… Really, all her dad wants is for to care about college for a year. Just pick a club, any club that has something to do with music, yeah?
Along the way, she meets a guy who's into movies, specifically The Breakfast Club. (There's also Jaws and Rocky, in case you're interested--movies that the guy claims are all superbly scored. He really wants to be a musical scorer one day.) He makes her watch the ending and the song that goes with it, i.e., Judd Nelson walking out of there and raising his fist while "Don't You (Forget About Me)" plays over the end credits. I might be alone in this, but movie endings really ever affect you if you've seen the entire movie and thus you earn all the feels that go with it. But this song is essential to their courtship, because of course that song will be the means for her to make her feelings known. In my opinion, this is the second best appearance of an 80s song as How To Make a Potential Love Interest Know About How You Feel, aka the emotional/plot twist in an ending. The first place goes to "It's a Wild World" in First Gen Skins. But that's just me.
Anyway, Pitch Perfect was fun. I'm totally tone deaf, but I love synchronized nerd singing. And soundtracks, so you know what I have on repeat right now on iTunes. And Anna Kendricks totally detached, I shut everyone out of my life character was something I can relate to, so… Also, there was barfing and a weird Asian kid and young people making music with their mouths and Elizabeth Banks providing rowdy commentary from a side booth.
It's just weird seeing Anna Kendrick as a college freshie after Up in the Air. But then I googled her and found out she was also in the Twilight franchise, so this isn't really out of place. Her character just reminds me so much of Eliza Dushku as the reluctant cheerleader. Which brings us to the next movie…
Bring It On (2000)
I haven't seen this in years, but I've seen this in an actual theater and had a copy of movie since it came out in VCD (!) and it was one of the few movies I had that wasn't too emo. I've realized a few things since then: I don't remember the winning routine that the Toros used. It's all about the "Ready? Okay!" and the "Brrrr! It's cold in here. There must be some Toros in the atmosphere!" Which turns out to be copied from an inner city school's cheer squad headed by Gabrielle Union.
I also still love the audition sequences (which was parodied in Not Another Teen Movie, also c. early 2k) and the synchronized toothbrushing. There's also Eliza Dushku, and I kept expecting her to declare that there can only be one slayer, but that's another universe. Jesse Bradford plays her brother, who wears exotic band shirts (The Clash? 1977-1983).
A note for romantic interests in movies: Guys with huge interests in music, guitar playing in their boxers when they thought they're all alone in their rooms. The songs would usually be punk or hard rock and will get the girl interested in music she's never heard of, and it will figure out in the story. It's there in Pitch Perfect, it was here in Bring It On. It was in Friends With Benefits where Justin Timberlake produces an elaborate flashmob for Mila Kunis' benefit. Maybe that's not the best example, but you get the drift.
Mean Girls (2004)
This one doesn't have anything to do with music. But I figured it was a hop and a skip away from Bring It On time wise, from way back when Lindsay Lohan wasn't a trainwreck and had so much potential.
Things I hadn't realized the first time around: Tina Fey's first awkward appearance involved taking off her top in front of the whole class, and Amy Poehler played Regina George's cool mom. I am so looking forward to watching the Golden Globes.
I was really going to put on Easy A next, but my other storage unit sees to have died on me. I also wanted to watch Flashdance, but apparently, I only had Fame on storage. Which lead me this…
August Rush (2007)
Aka, "Hey, I just met you and this is crazy. But we're on a rooftop, let's make a baby." I'm starting to think Keri Russell only picks roles where she's required to meet and have sex with strangers on rooftops. Said one night stand will result in a baby she that may or may have died during childbirth, or may have been given up for adoption without her knowledge.
Also, orphans who have lived all their lives in orphanages will manage to discover his latent musical genius--after all, that's what happens when Felicity a young cellist and Henry VIII a rock star spawn after one night of kaboom.
To be fair, I'm probably not the target audience for this movie. It's way too fairy tale-ish for me. Half the time I was going, "Really?" But it's also possible that life took a crap on my soul and then stole it… Anyway, I'm just really bummed that I don't have Jennifer Beals' 80s hair on my hard drive. I'm sorry, Keri Russell. I still love you even if everyone says it's your fault Season 2 took a nose dive. Remember what Rebel Wilson said, "God is punishing you just because you're a ginger." That's not really true. :P
It's a movie about young people who make music with their mouths. Also known as Anna Kendrick plays a college freshman who doesn't really want to be there but her father the Comp. Lit professor forces her to stick with free education for a year and if she doesn't like it, he'll pay for her passage to LA where she can start paying her dues as a DJ. I must say it's really tough to have a character who's all about finding the backbeat and matching it with songs with similar patterns and then mashing the hell out of those two on a Macbook Pro and then make it seem exciting, so… Really, all her dad wants is for to care about college for a year. Just pick a club, any club that has something to do with music, yeah?
Along the way, she meets a guy who's into movies, specifically The Breakfast Club. (There's also Jaws and Rocky, in case you're interested--movies that the guy claims are all superbly scored. He really wants to be a musical scorer one day.) He makes her watch the ending and the song that goes with it, i.e., Judd Nelson walking out of there and raising his fist while "Don't You (Forget About Me)" plays over the end credits. I might be alone in this, but movie endings really ever affect you if you've seen the entire movie and thus you earn all the feels that go with it. But this song is essential to their courtship, because of course that song will be the means for her to make her feelings known. In my opinion, this is the second best appearance of an 80s song as How To Make a Potential Love Interest Know About How You Feel, aka the emotional/plot twist in an ending. The first place goes to "It's a Wild World" in First Gen Skins. But that's just me.
Anyway, Pitch Perfect was fun. I'm totally tone deaf, but I love synchronized nerd singing. And soundtracks, so you know what I have on repeat right now on iTunes. And Anna Kendricks totally detached, I shut everyone out of my life character was something I can relate to, so… Also, there was barfing and a weird Asian kid and young people making music with their mouths and Elizabeth Banks providing rowdy commentary from a side booth.
It's just weird seeing Anna Kendrick as a college freshie after Up in the Air. But then I googled her and found out she was also in the Twilight franchise, so this isn't really out of place. Her character just reminds me so much of Eliza Dushku as the reluctant cheerleader. Which brings us to the next movie…
Bring It On (2000)
I haven't seen this in years, but I've seen this in an actual theater and had a copy of movie since it came out in VCD (!) and it was one of the few movies I had that wasn't too emo. I've realized a few things since then: I don't remember the winning routine that the Toros used. It's all about the "Ready? Okay!" and the "Brrrr! It's cold in here. There must be some Toros in the atmosphere!" Which turns out to be copied from an inner city school's cheer squad headed by Gabrielle Union.
I also still love the audition sequences (which was parodied in Not Another Teen Movie, also c. early 2k) and the synchronized toothbrushing. There's also Eliza Dushku, and I kept expecting her to declare that there can only be one slayer, but that's another universe. Jesse Bradford plays her brother, who wears exotic band shirts (The Clash? 1977-1983).
A note for romantic interests in movies: Guys with huge interests in music, guitar playing in their boxers when they thought they're all alone in their rooms. The songs would usually be punk or hard rock and will get the girl interested in music she's never heard of, and it will figure out in the story. It's there in Pitch Perfect, it was here in Bring It On. It was in Friends With Benefits where Justin Timberlake produces an elaborate flashmob for Mila Kunis' benefit. Maybe that's not the best example, but you get the drift.
Mean Girls (2004)
This one doesn't have anything to do with music. But I figured it was a hop and a skip away from Bring It On time wise, from way back when Lindsay Lohan wasn't a trainwreck and had so much potential.
Things I hadn't realized the first time around: Tina Fey's first awkward appearance involved taking off her top in front of the whole class, and Amy Poehler played Regina George's cool mom. I am so looking forward to watching the Golden Globes.
I was really going to put on Easy A next, but my other storage unit sees to have died on me. I also wanted to watch Flashdance, but apparently, I only had Fame on storage. Which lead me this…
August Rush (2007)
Aka, "Hey, I just met you and this is crazy. But we're on a rooftop, let's make a baby." I'm starting to think Keri Russell only picks roles where she's required to meet and have sex with strangers on rooftops. Said one night stand will result in a baby she that may or may have died during childbirth, or may have been given up for adoption without her knowledge.
Also, orphans who have lived all their lives in orphanages will manage to discover his latent musical genius--after all, that's what happens when Felicity a young cellist and Henry VIII a rock star spawn after one night of kaboom.
To be fair, I'm probably not the target audience for this movie. It's way too fairy tale-ish for me. Half the time I was going, "Really?" But it's also possible that life took a crap on my soul and then stole it… Anyway, I'm just really bummed that I don't have Jennifer Beals' 80s hair on my hard drive. I'm sorry, Keri Russell. I still love you even if everyone says it's your fault Season 2 took a nose dive. Remember what Rebel Wilson said, "God is punishing you just because you're a ginger." That's not really true. :P