"Burlesque" is another film not getting a lot of love with the critics. A lot of the complaints stem from the mediocre plot line and the performance of Christina Aguilera. While I agree that the plot line is a bit lacking, it doesn't mean that the film isn't anything less than a whole lot of fun.
The film revolves around Ali (Christina Aguilera), a small town girl with big time dreams, who leaves behind her crappy life to make a go of it in Los Angeles. There, she stumbles upon a burlesque club, owned by Tess (Cher), who is soooooo not interested in hiring her for anything. But the bartender, Jack (Cam Gigandet), takes pity on her and hires her as a waitress.
The story is very "Coyote Ugly" from there. One of the girls has to leave the club, so Ali auditions and nabs a spot as a dancer. Of course, there's the headliner, Nikki (Kristen Bell), whose arrogant and an alcoholic who eventually tries to foul up a performance of Ali's by knocking out the sound system. Because the girls don't actually sing at the club; they just lip sync. But when Ali starts belting out the song from memory, everyone goes ballistic, and Tess decides to revolve the whole lineup around Ali.
There's a subplot where Tess is behind on her bank payments, and Marcus (Eric Dane, playing the ever-present slimeball) wants to buy the club and blah blah blah.
Stanley Tucci is also in this film, and let's face it, he is the most fabulous thing about it. He plays Tess's go-to gay guy who handles everything from costuming to shepherding the performers.
You don't go to see this film for the plot. You go and watch it to see the singing and the dancing and the pretty costumes that only .0001% of women can wear. And apparently that's enough to garner a Golden Globe nomination!
So on the CWeave scale, I give this movie a 6. It's frothy, fun, and light, and the characters' problems aren't so much problems as they are cracks in the sidewalk. And amidst the award season offering of films with heavier fare, I found this to be more refreshing than I expected.
Showing posts with label Kristen Bell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kristen Bell. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
"You Again" - in theaters
I think Betty White can get away with just about anything these days. For one, she's the last Golden Girl left, and two, she's funny as hell.
Unfortunately, she wasn't used to her full potential in "You Again", quite the generic wedding/revenge movie.
The main character is Marni (played by Kristen Bell), an ugly duckling in high school (mostly because she had bangs, braces, glasses, and acne, because you know, that equates to ugliness), who morphed into a PR goddess after college. She was tortured in high school by J.J. (Odette Yustman), the head cheerleader, prom queen, popular girl, and perhaps the nastiest girl in school. Marni's older brother Will (Jimmy Wolk) did his best to protect her, but was oblivious to this torment.
Cut to 8 years later and surprise, surprise, Will is getting married to Joanna, who is none other than J.J. When Marni finds out, she is upset, but determined not to be bothered. That all goes out the window when she gets to her parent's house, finds out that Joanna has basically replaced her as a daughter, and claims that she doesn't remember Marni at all from high school. Tough times.
And then, Aunt Mona (Sigourney Weaver) comes into the picture. She's the only family that Joanna has, and wouldn't you know it, but she and Marni's mom Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) used to be best friends until Gail went to the senior prom with Mona's crush.
From there, you can basically guess how it all goes down. Both sets of women try to outdo her nemesis, and in the end, each makes a mistake that hurts other people.
Kristen Bell is pretty charming, but I thought she was trying a little too hard. Odette Yustman really plays a bitch well, so kudos to her. Again, Betty White should have been utilized so much more, but the comedic responsibilities fell to Curtis and Weaver, who do a fair job at attempting to upstage the other. Jamie Lee Curtis also made the mistake of trying to hard, which makes Sigourney Weaver's character all the more believable.
So on the CWeave scale, I rate this movie a 6. It wasn't really anything to write home about, but it was a decent chick flick. I laughed quite a bit, which is always a plus, but it's not like I didn't know what was going to happen in the end.
Unfortunately, she wasn't used to her full potential in "You Again", quite the generic wedding/revenge movie.
The main character is Marni (played by Kristen Bell), an ugly duckling in high school (mostly because she had bangs, braces, glasses, and acne, because you know, that equates to ugliness), who morphed into a PR goddess after college. She was tortured in high school by J.J. (Odette Yustman), the head cheerleader, prom queen, popular girl, and perhaps the nastiest girl in school. Marni's older brother Will (Jimmy Wolk) did his best to protect her, but was oblivious to this torment.
Cut to 8 years later and surprise, surprise, Will is getting married to Joanna, who is none other than J.J. When Marni finds out, she is upset, but determined not to be bothered. That all goes out the window when she gets to her parent's house, finds out that Joanna has basically replaced her as a daughter, and claims that she doesn't remember Marni at all from high school. Tough times.
And then, Aunt Mona (Sigourney Weaver) comes into the picture. She's the only family that Joanna has, and wouldn't you know it, but she and Marni's mom Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) used to be best friends until Gail went to the senior prom with Mona's crush.
From there, you can basically guess how it all goes down. Both sets of women try to outdo her nemesis, and in the end, each makes a mistake that hurts other people.
Kristen Bell is pretty charming, but I thought she was trying a little too hard. Odette Yustman really plays a bitch well, so kudos to her. Again, Betty White should have been utilized so much more, but the comedic responsibilities fell to Curtis and Weaver, who do a fair job at attempting to upstage the other. Jamie Lee Curtis also made the mistake of trying to hard, which makes Sigourney Weaver's character all the more believable.
So on the CWeave scale, I rate this movie a 6. It wasn't really anything to write home about, but it was a decent chick flick. I laughed quite a bit, which is always a plus, but it's not like I didn't know what was going to happen in the end.
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