"Varisty Blues"

James Van Der Beek
John Voight
Paul Walker
Amy Smart
Ron Lester
Scott Caan
Eliel Swinton
Ali Larter

R           106min           1999


“Varsity Blues” is about one high school Texan footballer player’s rise from the shadow of his friend to the star quarterback. He’s now faced with the pressures and politics of and overbearing coach, town, while trying to do the right thing.

A starring vehicle for James Van Der Beek, this is an instant classic. This not only a good football film with the great drama of “All the Right Moves”. Brian Robbins, from “Head of the Class” fame one of his first times directing has become a powerhouse in televisions and movies. His created portray of an high school footballer’s life has been emulated several times through the years.

The drama on and off the field is some what exaggerated but nonetheless the stuff that happens. Winning athletic programs are treated like rock stars even in my town. Years after teams have one a championship people still talk about them as if they are mythical legends such as Beowulf. It’s these types of pressures that these athlete face and that can sometimes crumb them. This is at the heart of this film.

A backup quarterback flying under the radar, thrust into the limelight, and the pressure of being the one to lead a team. Everything rides on your decisions and at the core is a coach that only focus is winning championships, no matter the cost. Robbins shines a light on how easy sports can become bastardize and raped. It’s a film that the MTV generation can relate to.

More of a dramatization than fact, “Varsity Blues” opened the door to more football films that showed the darker side of high school football like “Friday Night Lights.” Even with the fact that its more of a dramatization its still an entertaining film, and not to just the football fans.

This is the film that brought us the whipped cream bikini and made ‘Ali Larter’ a household name. This is the film that made you think what that hot teacher did as a second job and ‘Who she go to prom with you?’. It tells a story that is relatable not just to athletes but also to parents. Jon Voight gives a great performance that is revered by the community but is as sinister as the anti-Christ.

I give it 4/5.

"The Quiet"

Elisha Cuthbert
Camilla Belle
Edie Falco
Martin Donovan
Shawn Ashmore
Katy Mixon
David Gallagher






R           96min           2005




“The Quiet” is about a deaf and mute girl Dot (Belle) who is sent to live with her godparents (Falco and Donavan and their daughter Nina (Cuthbert). As she adjusts to her new surroundings she realizes that this idyllic family is not as picture perfect as it would seem.

It does what an indie film is supposed to do. This is a disturbing film yet a compelling movie to watch. Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle are a dynamic duo on screen.

“The Quiet” is one of those films that take a subject matter that is taboo and grays it. Yes he was wrong but was Nina not complicit in the crime too? There wasn’t that much marketing behind the film and it came and disappeared into oblivion much too quickly.

The subject matter is disturbing and it brought many emotions in me, and I think that’s what good films are supposed to due. Many times I who stop the film, because I needed to digest what I had just seen but I was compelled to find out what would happen next. You’re an observer of this family knowing most of the angles even before it begins yet you know its going to be an interesting journey.

Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle as Nina and Dot are compelling to watch. Cuthbert moves from a seductress to a vengeful lover to a mournful child, seamlessly. Belle playing a deaf and mute girl plays it outstanding. There are clues to her secret throughout her performance whether intentional or not they make the character so much richer. That other characters never pick them up makes the betrayal so much more resonating.

For some “The Quiet” will be off putting, for some mildly disturbing and for others another walk in the park, either way it’s an interesting journey to the end. I personal appreciated the film and what Jamie Babbit did with this film, once I made that journey.

I give it 4/5 Gs.

"Waiting...(2005)"

Ryan Reynolds
Anna Faris
Justin Long
David Koencher
Luis Guzman
Chi McBride
John Francis Daley
Kaitlin Doubleday
Rob Benedict
Alanna Ubach
Vanessa Lengies
Jordan Ladd
Max Kasch
Andy Milonakis
Dane Cook
Emmanuelle Chriqui

Unrated           94min           2005

“Waiting…” follows one day in the life of a fictional restaurant named Shenanigans where it focuses on a waiter Dean (Long) and the realization that he may have wasted the last four years of his life working here.

This is a film that everyone should see. Some will say that this is fictionalized but in fact I know that some of these things happen in real life. Some of the things that happened in this film my sister told me happened when she worked for a similar restaurant. Even before I watched this film I was weary of pissing off my waiter or waitress in restaurants.

The entire establishment from the wait staff to the cook are a nuthouse of functioning ‘mentally handicaps, see I used the politically correct term there, but Mitch explained it best with ”…it like being the smartest kid with down syndrome.” Its there insanity that makes them funny, it’s getting a behind the scene look at a world that is never seen by the public.

From the beginning to end you will constantly laugh because the jokes come at rapid fire. This is a full out comedy; not only does it come from the jokes, but it comes from the situations that happen and the actor’s skills. The actors cast shine in their parts, but Alanna Ubach standouts with her delivery and her character quirky. Although she doesn’t have that much screen time she steals the show every time she is on.

“Waiting…” has not easter eggs that I can find and it has a complete separate disk of special features. On the second disk is the feature with the director and producer commentating and writing on a tele-monitor over the film. The rest of the disk is just some cast scene specific commentary. Mainly it contains a bunch of features that talk about the film and the process of making the film from script to production.

I give it 4/5 Gs.

"Torque"

Martin Henderson
Ice Cube
Monet Mazur
Adam Scott
Matt Schulze
Will Yun Lee
Jaime Pressly
Max Beesley
Jay Hernandez
Christina Milian
Faizon Love
Fredro Starr

PG13           84min           2004


“Torque” is the “Fast and the Furious” on motorcycles, it’s about a biker exiled to Thailand comes back to California to get the girl and correct the situation that exiled him to Thailand in the first place.

Although it’s from the same producers as “Fast and the Furious” Torque tries to hard to separate itself from its cousin. It’s a basic story with bike as the highlight and nothing else. It displays some of the most over the action sequences on film.

I think of “Torque” as Fast and the Furious: Torque, just another one of the stylized racing films. One of the problems with “Torque” is that it tries to separate itself from “Fast and the Furious”. For one it stars Matt Schulze one of the stars of “Fast and the Furious.” One the commentary they talk crap about the Fast franchise until Matt Schulze speaks up. In the open sequence the motorcycle pass a sign that it spins to form ‘Cars Suck’. Second if it weren’t for the Fast franchise they would have never been greenlit. Never SH*t where you butter your bread, it just makes you look like an ass.

This is a basic redemption story with bikes as the highlight of the film. As the case with the rest of the franchise the machines are the highlights of the film; but where as most people are fascinated with the cars, the bikes came of as nothing more than stylized motorcycles. “Torque” came off more of a western set in modern times using motorcycles instead of horses.

“Torque” displays some of the most over the top action sequences of all the Fast franchise. At least with the sequences in the Fast and the Furious auto films most of the sequences could be believable. When Monet Mazur and Jaime Pressly joust there is nothing believable about that sequence, you really have to suspend you disbelieve to go with that sequence. Then at the end with motorcycle chase the viewer is to believe that they are going so fast that everything else is a blur and they still navigate traffic with ease. That at those speed Martin Henderson as enough strength to flip this bike in the air and land perfectly on Matt Schulze.

Please if you want to suspense our belief in reality and go with the reality you’re trying to portray at least make sensible. This isn’t the Matrix; yes some rules can be bent but they can’t be broken. This is a movie that tries too hard to be too cool. It does have a cast of characters that does make this film entertaining to watch.

I give it 3/5 Gs.

"The Girl Next Door"

Emilie Hirsch
Elisha Cuthbert
Timothy Olyphant
James Remar
Chris Marquette
Paul Dano
Amanda Swisten
Sung Hi Lee
Jacob Young
Olivia Wilde
Autumn Reeser

Unrated           110min           2004


“The Girl Next Door” is about a high school senior (Emilie Hirsch) who meets the girl next door (Elisha Cuthbert) and the adventures he faces with her and his friends during his final days of high school.

It stars some of ‘Young Hollywood’s bright stars.’ To me this is a modern “Risky Business”, but with its own flavor. Just as ‘Risky Business’, “The Girl Next Door” will become a cult classic.

Emilie Hirschis a relative newcomer and with Elisha Cuthbert, they lead a cast that you may know their faces but not there names. Chris Marquette (Joan of Arcadia) and Paul Dano play his faithful friends. Jacob Young noted for his role of JR Chandler on All My Children play a big man on campus jock. Olivia Wilde and Auteem Reeser having had significant parts on ‘The O.C.’ play popular girls of the campus.

“The Girl Next Door” is a more daring “Risky Business”. The both following the same major plot the all-American boy on the fast track to success meets a girl that uses sex as a living but with a heart of gold. They fall for each other and face difficulties on their relationship road. Both star relative unknowns in the leads but where they differ is that TGND has a more hopeful outlook.

Even though it has many similarities to “Risky Business” it has its own story to tell. Risky Business is a tame version of “The Girl Next Door”. The tings brought up in TGND were taboo when RB came out and American are less uptight about the sex they see in films. TGND takes more ‘risk’ than business did and it makes for a funnier movie.

Sex and the American dream sells and I think that’s why these themes and films will always be classics. Americans are always searching for the American dream of power, money and success; both movies deliver. Sex, which will always be fashionable in movies, is display in both but differently, reflection the changes in the society. “Risky Business” displayed it’s sexual content more subtly, where 'The Girl Next Door' has it in your face, the normalcy in today’s cinema.

“The Girl Next Door” gives a tale that has been seen several times over the years of cinema, not as successful but just as entertaining. It displays some of the young talent that Hollywood has to offer. It is this generation “Risky Business”.

I give it 3/5 Gs.