"Conan O' Brien , Fast Food Nation, Tenacious D and The Avenues revisit me"
First: the review. It was a well rounded, good execution of what felt like a script that had a lot to say with very little time to tell it. Based on a 400 page book, the movie comes in at just about 2 hours and what's interesting is that it felt long but also not long enough. I ,never having read the book, knew a lot of what was happening and what was going to happen. I also (maybe through just me browsing the internet) new a lot of the information the story had to tell me. In a way I may have not have been the best audience for this movie. Every second I can I try to avoid eating at any fast food chain. I do give in to places like Taco Bell and Rally's which is not a good thing, but even with that said, I was already on the movies side before it started. I feel this movie is important to be shown to those who either eat fast food on a regular basis and don't have a clue about what's going on behind the scenes. People need to realize that what their eating is purely and simply shit, literally, and this movie can help them see that. The movie gets a B+The only part of the movie that distracted me was the acting of Avril Lavigne. It was brought to my attention that if it was any other actress in that role that I probably wouldn't have analyzed her acting, and this is true. But one night on Late Night with Conan O'Brian, Conan was asked why he doesn't put out a music cd. In case you don't know Conan is fluent in the acoustic and electric guitar as well as other instruments, and he can sing. Conan responded to the question with " I'm a stand up comic and TV show host. This is what I wanted to do and work for and I shouldn't be able to put out a cd just because of who I am when there are so many artists out there working there asses off just trying to get anyone to hear their music". Ok that might not have been the exact quote but it was something that stayed with me and maybe scarred me. Avril was hardly in the movie so it obviously didn't ruin it for me at all, but every time she was on screen my mind went straight to Conan and I just over analyzed her. Unfair-sure but I still didn't like her. It's true that the director Richard Linklater might have requested her for the role, I just hope she didn't get the part because she's Avril. I'm sure she didn't have to try out. Plus you're talking to one of the few 27 year old men that thinks Avril Lavigne's music really isn't that bad.
Now whenever an artist crosses over from music to screen or vice versa I am extra critical. For me an actor can make or break a film and or scene. Chemistry isn't just from actor to actor it's also actor to screenplay and I feel a lot of people that are doing both should stick to one thing. Madonna should not just perform. Evita was great but Swept Away was scary. Harry Connick Jr doesn't bug me either way. I'm not a fan but a lot of people like him both ways. Keanu Reeves, actor vs his group Dogstar, both should go away.
The question was brought up "what about Jack Black and Tenacious D?" In case you don't know, Jack Black has been an actor since the early 90's and 1 half of the group Tenacious D since 1999. Tenacious D was first an HBO TV show creation back in 1999 by creators Jack Black, Kyle Gass, David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. Much like what happened with "Spinal Tap", a fake group became an audience demand and in 2002 they released a cd based mostly on songs that were performed on the TV show. Close to that time Jack Black became a hit with "Shallow Hal" and "Orange County". Both his song career and acting success happened at the same time. It's hard to tell what came first, the Orange or the D. Either way I feel Jack Black is great either way.Now I would like to end this post on a completely different note. I would like to tell my friend Steve Woolf to stay out of my neighborhood. I woke up the other day and saw this....
Seriously buddy, tell your gang that this is getting old. I've started a new gang to counteract yours. You might have heard of us we're called "The Pants" and you better watch out, cause we got Jason Voorhees and a relative of Jesus Christ on our side Bitch!!!
I will leave you with this Tenacious D music video which was directed by Marcus Von Bueler AKA Spike Jonze.
There
you forgot about eminem and j-lo, they are fantastic both ways too :)
And Huey Lewis was pretty hip in Shortcuts, too...
Right on about FFN, it's a deeply disturbing book and I was glad that Richard was working on it, he's done some of my favorite stuff...glad to hear it's solid.
And as for the D...oh hell yes. Very excited for this one. I saw Jables in High Fidelity before I saw the D on HBO, needless to say I was amazed when he busted out Let's Get It On...gotta love the D man.
The book is better. I haven't seen the movie, though, so I guess you don't have to take my word for it. Hee hee...
What? You're talking shit about Keanu Reeves... Thumbsucker? The Matrix? Give the guy a break :)
Not a J-Lo fan since she demanded money from a 9/11 benefit she performed at.
Huey Lewis was in Shortcuts? Was that the Robert Altman movie with Jack Lemmon? I just saw the D tonight and it ROCKED!!! Their going to be on SNL next week with host Mathew Fox from Lost. Could be good.=0)
I heard the book was much better then the movie. That's coming from my buddy Mike who has a comment right above this one =0)
Keanu Reeves? Ok he was good in Thumbsucker I'll give you that. The first Matrix was great because of the Wachowski brothers. But I guess if you want to say The Matrix was great because of the Keanu don't forget their was a Matrix 2 and 3 and they were shitty. =0)
Yeah, Huey was the dad of the kids who ended up with Tim Robbins' dog in Short Cuts! He walks out of the house with a can of beer in his hand and says something like, "don't you have anything better to do than hassle some kids about a dog?" I totally forgot Jack Lemmon was in that one, too...
One of the reasons I love The Matrix, and what it lost in #s 2+3, was that wry sense of humor, the wink-wink jokes that referenced the "real" world outside the movie...like when the Oracle says to Neo, "you're cute...not too bright, though." V for Vendetta was great, though. Was glad to see the Wachovskis back on track.
Gotta admit, I saw Matrix 2 at IMAX and thought it was awesome...they had to edit out like 1/2 an hour or something, so it was action-packed and moved much faster. Even though the first one is way better overall, I would argue that the chase sequence after they get the key-maker, with the battle on the freeway as the centerpiece, was the best set-piece in the whole trilogy...Matrix 3 was an atrocity though...
I just discovered on reading your review that I bought a copy of Fast food Nation for about 25p, dunno how much that is in cents, but peanuts! I think I shall push it to the top of my reading list now.
I've been a D fan since the HBO days... yep I'm old school. We were supposed to see a free screening of the D movie like 6 months ago, but they wouldn't let us in after they found out Eric was taking a broadcasting class. So Eric went up to Kyle Gas and told him that sucked. Kyle agreed but, alas, it was too late. By the way, I see KG all over town. He's a valley boy.
Hi Justin, thanks for stopping by my blog. ...and the review of Fast Food nation. I travel around the world--to many third world countries, and countries such as Guatamala, Thailand, even the brutal land of dictatorship, Myanmar, has better-tasting food then we do, for a simple reason--everything is made fresh.
Claire, I haven't read the book yet but I heard it was a great read. You may never eat fast food again.
Maria, I'm ashamed to say that those figurines are of Freddy and Jason. I'm well aware of the fact that Jason may be the worst franchise ever but I grew up with those movies. My parents replaced themselves with a TV that played bad movies. I was raised by Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Star Wars, Speilberg movies, Porky's and Bachelor Party.
Rick Rey we must go to your neck of the woods and stalk KG.
Mathew thanks for stopping by. Fresh food sounds good. What does it taste like? =0)
I heard Conan give an interview a few years back and was really impressed. Funny but also just very sharp and articulate and humble in the best sense. I like his take on the above.
Maybe Steven Van Zandt?
I have to say I didn't care for the book. Too simply reduced I thought. (There's one good gross chapter read though!) But good for people who don't already know what they're eating or avoiding.
(I too can't give up the Taco Bell! It's a guilty pleasure on rare but long trips along highway 99. Sometimes I'll hit up 2 Taco Bells each leg. The bell is a wonderful sight along certain stretches of road.)
Justine! The D Rocks G. And stop forming gangs man. I heard the deplete our ozone layer, all those spray cans and what not.