The Way Way Back & The To Do List

This past Sunday, I did something I had never done before - I went to see three movies in one day. There were two reasons for this. The first is that it rained pretty much all day anyway. And the second is that I live in the middle of nowhere. If I want to see non-blockbuster movies, I have to drive 40 minutes away, first of all, and then sometimes these movies are only in theaters for a week. I already missed out on Before Midnight earlier this summer because it was only in theaters for ONE WEEK!?!?!! So, the first movie was Fruitvale Station which I already raved about. The next two movies have more in common than I initially thought. They are both funny, coming of age stories, although one is quite a bit raunchier than the other.

The Way Way Back is this sort of charming little gem of a movie. It's from writer / directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who took home an Oscar a few years ago for writing The Descendants. And while I liked The Descendants quite a bit, I sort of almost think this is a better movie. It stars Liam James as Duncan, a shy boy who goes to a beach house for the summer with his mom (Toni Collette) and her new-ish boyfriend (Steve Carrel, who is delightfully mean!). During the summer, he hates on the boyfriend, hides from his crazy, drunk neighbors (among them a hilarious Allison Janney), crushes on the older girl next door (Annasophia Robb) and begins a friendship with the local water park owner (Sam Rockwell). He grows up and comes out of his shell and gets a father figure in Rockwell's Owen.

The movie has a lot of cliched moments; it's almost generic with a sort of paint by numbers quality. Still, it also feels real. It's heartwarming and hilarious, but it could have been an even better movie had the entire thing felt as fearless as Rockwell's performance. All of the performances here are gems, from Duncan's quirky eventual co-workers at the water park to the super bratty daughter of Carrel's character, but Rockwell is best in show by a mile. He is a fast talking charmer who tells jokes by the minute. He is lovable and hilarious. And while he might get on the nerves of Maya Rudolph's character, he never gets on the audiences nerves and you are left wanting so much more of him. His character may be sort of a mess up, but in the end, he's the closest thing to a father and a friend that young Duncan has. His relationship with Duncan is the heart and soul of this movie and takes it from being just another cliched coming of age story to the sort of movie you tell your friends to go see.

While The Way Way Back is all sweet-natured, hilarious charm, The To Do List is a raunch fest in the vein of American Pie. Aubrey Plaza stars as Brandy, a high school valedictorian who graduates knowing so many facts and acing all the tests, but being completely clueless about anything and everything to do with sex and boys. So, she does what she does best. She makes a to do list of every sexual encounter she has heard about and sets out to do them all before the end of the summer. With help from her friends including Alia Shawkat, her parents (Connie Britton, Clark Gregg), and her older sister (a scene stealing Rachel Bilson), she sets out to woo every man from Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Johnny Simmons to Andy Samberg and Scott Porter.

It's refreshing and a nice change of pace to see this sort of movie have a female star. And Plaza is definitely up to the challenge of all the gross and awkward moments. She plays Brandy as an over achiever who plans to lose her virginity in much the same way she would study for a(n AP) Biology test. And this is a very, genuinely funny movie. It's also very raunchy. Like, very, very raunchy. And it's also a little on the gross side, especially a specific part in the public pool where Brandy works for the summer. I won't get into it, but it's pretty awful. For all the funniness of this movie, however, it just lacks something that American Pie had in spades: heart. Brandy is kind of a bitch. I found myself wondering why someone like Alia Shawkat's too cool for school character would even give Brandy the time of day, let alone be her friend. It's sort of hard to root for someone who makes it so hard to like them. Just when I would start to give up on this movie, however, Rachel Bilson would come on screen and say or do something hilarious, reminding me why I've loved her so from her days as Summer on The O.C. She might not be the best actress, but with the right material, she's sort of hilarious. She should be a bigger star and maybe post-The To Do List, more people will take notice.

The Way Way Back - B
The To Do List - B-

Jumper + more

Jumper - Jumper suffers from what many movies suffer from - great idea, poor execution. I actually really loved the idea - a man could teleport anywhere in the world but has to deal with evil guys hunting for him because only God should have the power to be everywhere and anywhere. The film has great pacing and energy. The special effects are pretty solid (there is a particular fight scene between Hayden Christensen and Jamie Bell near the end which is just simply great). Jamie Bell's performance as the nervy Griffin is the clear stand out. His performance adds a frantic energy to every scene he is in. He's smart and funny and engaging. Unfortunately, he's not in the film nearly enough. Most of the good things I can say end there. The film suffers from one big thing: Hayden Christensen. He surely has the looks to be a matinee idol. He's a great looking kid and he's not a terrible actor (see: Shattered Glass). Unfortunately, he is more often than not wooden and ineffective. I could use those words to describe his performance here as well. There's very little development in the story as well. This could have been a really great superhero or anti-hero story but the writers hardly seemed to notice just how self involved the hero really is. It was almost enough to make the audience root for the villain, Samuel L. Jackson - except he was almost cartoonish, what with the blonde hair and ridiculous dialogue. And I love Samuel L. Jackson! Then there's Rachel Bilson. Summer, Summer, Summer. I loved you oh so much on The O.C. However, I fear she showed the extent of her abilities on that show. The fast talking cutsie thing worked very well on that hipster show but you can't always do the same thing. In film, you have to be able to branch out and do different things. I just don't think Bilson has it in her. Then there is the rumor floating around that Bilson and Christensen are romantically linked in real life. I don't care if it's true or not. If it is true, however, I really hope they have a lot more chemistry in real life because they have none on screen. Unfortunately, this movie is mostly mediocre. A great plot and Jamie Bell can only get you so far. Action sequences aside, the movie becomes quite boring. Jumper is somtimes fun and sometimes interesting. I actually hope they make a sequel and perhaps they can do a better job the second time around because it really is an interesting idea.
Grade: C-

Sex and Breakfast - This is a small little movie that is intimate and mostly interesting. It focuses on two young couples having trouble in their relationships. James (Macaulay Culkin) and Heather (my girl Alexis Dziena) are in love but Heather is unable to acheive orgasm with James. Ellis (Kuno Becker) and Renee (Eliza Dushku) want to marry but they feel like they've become boring. Both couples are looking to spice up their sex lives and see a counselor who suggests group sex. The thing about this movie is it's not as shocking as you would think. When you hear the concept, you think, 'Oh, it's going to be all about sex with tons of nudity and whatever.' But, not so much. It's actually pretty character driven and focuses more on the relationships of the couple than their eventual intimate interactions. The writing is a little hit or miss for me and I don't know if the movie completely works. It actually would have worked a lot better as a short film, I think. Still, the performances are all solid and well done. It's not a great movie, but it's decent.
Grade: C+

Wind Chill - The beginning of this movie isn't half bad. It's sort of ominous, it gives you a great atmosphere and a good character and story build up. I mean, sure the characters are unlikeable, but that doesn't really matter to me much. Emily Blunt is good at being a bitch when she wants to be. Her character sort of has an arc which is unusual for ghost stories. Ashton Holmes is only slightly creepy. There's not much to work with set wise because it's basically too kids stuck in a pile of snow for a long time. The writing is pretty weak. It makes too many uncomfortable shifts from 'romantic' to 'horror.' It just doesn't work in horror movies. The only way romance should ever play a part in a horror movie is if the couple is already established at the beginning of the movie. People usually don't fall in love during terrifying situations. There's absolutely nothing scary about this movie whatsoever. The biggest waste of all is that it just throws away all the atmosphere it built up so well in the beginning. In the end, I just wanted someone to kill the lead characters because they were just so stupid I could barely stand it. Please, skip this movie at all costs.
Grade: D