Posted on August 14, 2011 at 8:00 am
In honor of this week’s release of the new “Conan the Barbarian” movie starring Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones”), I have a special Conan comic book from Dark Horse, based on the film. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Conan in the subject line and don’t forget your address. I will pick a random winner on Friday. 
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:00 am
This is one of my all-time favorite stories from The Moth, and one of the all-time greatest stories ever about being a parent. Adam Gopnick on virtually parenting a 12-year-old.
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:39 am
I was thrilled to see that my favorite podcast, The Moth, now has a YouTube channel. Here’s author Neil Gaiman telling a story about waiting at a train station to be picked up by his parents. Warning: once you listen to one Moth story, you’ll be hooked forever. (It is a little startling, though, I admit, to see that the people whose voices I have listened to so intently don’t look the way they did in my head.)
For a little more Gaiman goodness, check out this clip about his recording of his story, “The Price.”
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Counter-terrorism expert Mark Sageman has described what he calls the “bunch of guys” theory. Instead of looking for a mastermind and a bunch of crackerjack operatives, Sageman says more often the people who create mayhem are a bunch of guys who think they are more intelligent and capable than they really are. “30 Minutes or Less” is what we could call a “bunch of guys” movie about two pairs of guy-friends who get wrapped up in a bank robbery and murder for hire from a combination of bitterness, slackerdom, and way too many movies and video games, with constant crude language and sexual references. In other words, if Quentin Tarantino made a Three Stooges heist movie, this is what it would look like.
Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Adam Sandler pal Nick Swardson), in the tradition of duos from Jay and Silent Bob to Dumb and Dumber spend their days hanging around the house Dwayne’s dad (Fred Ward) bought with his $10 million lottery winnings. They eat, squabble, blow stuff up, watch movies, play video games, and talk about all the things they could do if they had the money.
Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) delivers pizzas for a place that promises if it doesn’t get there in 30 minutes, it’s free. His best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari of “Parks and Recreation”) is a teacher and the twin brother of the girl Nick likes. They hang out, squabble, and watch movies.
Dwayne decides to hire someone to kill his father, a retired Major (Fred Ward). But it costs $100,000, so before he can do that, he decides to force some random guy to rob a bank for him by making him wear a vest covered with explosives. How do you get a random guy to come to an isolated place? Order a pizza.
This is a fairly standard “dumb guys do dumb stuff” movie along the lines of “Pineapple Express.” There are some funny moments and clever conceits but the family of a real-life young man who was killed in a similar incident has raised strong objections to turning a tragic story into a buddy comedy and it is difficult for this slight material to overcome that blight.
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Gather up, Gleeks, “Raise Your Glass” and get ready for “Fireworks!” The musical TV series about a high school show choir, now poised to move from hit to cult, continues its juggernaut from television, CDs
On the Fox television series, now getting ready for its third season, New Directions is the name of Lima Ohio’s William McKinley High School show choir (the new version of the old glee clubs, but no less dorky). In the opening episodes, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) persuades the principal to let him re-start the glee club, his favorite activity when he was a student there. Soon he as a combination of school misfits and outcasts including Lea Michele as mini-diva Rachel, Amber Riley as the almost-equally-diva-ish Mercedes, Chris Colfer as the only out gay student in the school, Kevin McHale as Artie, who is in a wheelchair, and Jenna Ushkowitz as the shy Tina. Through a series of plot complications, they were joined by some of the school’s most popular kids from the football team and Cheerios cheerleader squad, quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith) and his mohawked bad boy friend Puck (Mark Salling) and pregnant head cheerleader Quinn (Dianna Agron), ethereally air-headed Brittney (Heather Morris), and the tart-tongued tart Santana (Naya Rivera).
The storyline has included one teen pregnancy, one faked adult pregnancy, a reconnection with a birth mother, health crises, a wedding, and a very sad death, major guest stars (Gwyneth Paltrow, Neil Patrick Harris, Kristin Chenoweth, Eve, Carol Burnett, and Idina Menzel) and tributes (Madonna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, the Rocky Horror Show). There have been shifting rivalries and volatile romances at the teen and adult level, a blazer-clad prep school show choir called the Warblers with a teenage dreamboat leader named Blaine (Darren Criss). The major battle is between Will and the coach of the Cheerios, Sue Sylvester (played by Christopher Guest favorite Jane Lynch). Second only to its electrifying musical numbers is “Glee’s” passionate commitment to inclusion. In addition to its gay and straight, differently-abled, and multi-racial characters and cast members, it has had two major characters with Down syndrome.
Producer Ryan Murphy brings the same commitment to diversity to the song line-up on the show, and like the series this concert includes up-to-the-minute pop numbers from Pink, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry, classic R&B (“Ain’t No Way,” “River Deep, Mountain High”) and classic rock (“Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Somebody to Love”), a little hip-hop, some Bowie, Michael Jackson, and Beatles, a Broadway show tune, a surprise guest appearance, and a remake of a legendary duet when Barbra Streisand guest-starred on Judy Garland’s variety show and they did a mash-up of “Get Happy” and “Happy Days are Here Again.” Performed by Michele (in a middy just like Streisand’s) and Coulter it is piercingly sweet.
The 3D camera is exceptionally well-suited to concert films, bringing us right on stage and giving us a sense of depth in the dance numbers (and such a realistic face-Slushie you’ll want to wipe it off). Cinematographer Glen MacPherson and dancer/choreographer-turned director Kevin Tancharoen use the camera as a part of the movement of the dances and the music of the songs, keeping it moving but respecting the integrity of the numbers. The now-standard back-stage glimpses work less well, partly because the cast does not seem to have a good sense of whether they are supposed to be themselves or stay in character and partly because they are far better performing choreographed numbers than ad libbing. Jane Lynch and some of the shots in the trailer do not appear in the movie — look for them in the DVD extras, which include some special features: Shazam prompts on the screen alerting vieweers to a Shazamable moment. Using their smartphones, fans can “tag” the movie when prompted to unlock exclusive content, including song lyrics in time with the music using the LyricPlay feature, exclusive behind the scenes footage not seen in theaters; exclusive photos of the cast; trivia and special offers.
It is nice to see the enthusiasm of the fans, some wearing huge foam L-for-loser fingers to embrace their Gleekiness. And there are three very affecting appearances by fans who reflect and benefit from the show’s emphasis on embracing difference. Be sure to stay all the way through the credits for an encore and an adorable fan video from a mini-Warbler.
But mostly this movie exists for the same reason that glee clubs exist — the music lifts the spirits and the dances thrill the soul.
