Nobody said being a movie star would be easy... well, unless you count porn, in which case...
just take off your pants, and we'll begin.
This is Movie Night!
Hello and welcome to Movie Night, YouTube's #1 interactive weekly movie review show - hi,
I'm your host Jonathan Paula.
Tonight on the program will be talking a look at a couple porn-inspired comedies.
The first of which is brand new on home media this week, "Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star"
Released on September 9th to scathing reviews, this raunchy Nick Swardson vehicle performed
so abysmally at theaters, it was pulled from its nationwide run just a week after premiering.
Even on its very cheap $10-million dollar budget, "Bucky Larson" failed to earn back
even 30% of that, making it one of the biggest box-office-bombs of recent memory.
With that in mind, I went into this picture fully expecting to despise every minute of
it's insulting drivel and lowest-common-dominator writing.
Which is why I pleasantly surprised with what this film is actually able to achieve.
Far from ground-breaking, or even memorable, it is, at the very least, an earnest and positive
film with endearing characters - however clichéd they may be.
In his first starring role, Swardson is Bucky Larson - a hillbilly from Iowa who dreams
of following in the footsteps of his porn-star parents, and so, he sets out to Hollywood
to chase his dream.
Bucky is an off-balance character full of quirks and bizarrely distracting buck-teeth
and a terrible mop-top - but his foolish optimism and kind-hearted nature is a contagious quality
that makes him a protagonist worth cheering for.
Playing opposite him is Christina Ricci, in a charmingly cute role who curiously finds
something of merit to love in Bucky.
Don Johnson, Kevin Nealon and Stephen Doff all contribute with exaggerated performances
that manage to grab a few laughs every couple scenes.
Strikingly unrealistic at times, it's a wonder Bucky is able walk a straight line, let alone
star in his own porno movies... but such is point of this haphazard story of a lovable
goofball with an embarrassingly small penis.
The story fails to really spark any excitement or consequence, but at this film's center
is a love story that effectively saves this 97-minute feature from being a total waste
of time.
It's innocent enough to be enjoyable, but raunchy enough to limit its audience... resulting
in a motion picture that was perhaps better suited as a made-for-cable movie.
"Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star", "Admirably pleasant, if formulaically sophomoric."
Now that you've heard my review, let's read some of yours from the YouTube comments.
Here's the Rate-O-Matic now to show us our scores for "Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star"
-- a FOUR and a TWO.
More evidence that the internet is entirely incapable of nuance, your score seems to represent
a cultural knee-jerk reaction, the net result of which was a "Crappy" movie.
Taking a look at our newest feature, Factor Facts - I felt this was an enjoyable movie
with decent acting, but it suffered from a poor story and drab staying power.
I felt it was "Meh".
Our second porn-themed movie tonight is "The Girl Next Door",
Perhaps owning to its risqué material, this modern-day teen angst dramedy failed to perform
well at the box office when it was originally released in 2004.
Which is truly unfortunate, because this is a brilliantly made film that far outshines
its adult-themed story line.
Emile Hirsch stars as an ambitious high school whiz kid and social outcast who falls in love
with his porn-star next door neighbor, played delicately by the drop-dead gorgeous Elisha
Cuthbert.
The first act of this movie is teen-drama at its finest, beautifully capturing all the
feelings and details of senior year, while struggling to deal with your first true love.
Hirsch and Cuthbert are positively fantastic here, playing off each other with adorable
chemistry you can't help but root for.
Carefully hesitant, but determined - Hirsch is the breakout performer in this film, playfully
instigated into wild behavior from a girl who has finally found a boy who doesn't see
her as just an object.
-CLIP- Paul Dano and Timothy Olyphant round out the supporting cast - both of whom turn
in very memorable performances, especially Olyphant who is a steal-stealer as the smarmy
porn-director womanizer.
Although this 108-minute film contains a great deal of skin and four-letter-words, it is
a far cry from the raunchy-sex comedy it was originally advertised as.
Unfortunately, as a result, this may have been the most overlooked and underrated movie
of 2004 - one that every high school graduate owes it to themselves to view at least once.
Seemingly borrowing elements from 1983's Risky Business, this movie is a nostalgic and mature
story that carefully, and adeptly examines these teen experiences in a very intelligent
slice-of-life film, one that is passionately directed by Luke Greenfield with a steadfast
purpose.
From The Who, Queen, David Gray and others that litter the poignant soundtrack that underscore
key-scenes, to the crafty and masterful editing - "The Girl Next Door" is an absolute treasure
of 21st-century filmmaking.
Stumbling it a bit in the middle-act with some more unnecessary plot developments, this
story's determination thankfully comes roaring back in the final act, with a tremendously
effective twist that puts an applause-worthy exclamation mark on a wonderfully enjoyably
motion picture.
"The Girl Next Door", a "Beautifully magical portrayal of adolescence".
Well, those are my thoughts - now let's read some of yours from the YouTube comments!
Back again is the Rate-O-Matic to highlight our scores for "The Girl Next Door"... a NINE
and an EIGHT.
You enjoyed this film, praising it for it's accuracy, humor, acting, and of course, Elisha
Cuthbert - you thought it was GREAT.
Meanwhile, I truly loved this film - it was an immensely enjoyable movie with fantastic
writing, editing, music, and emotional impact -- but the overly-involved second-act hurt
this film's tempo.
This film gets a very respectable "Awesome".
But that doesn't it for tonight's films...
so let's take a look at what's currently playing in theaters with some Tweet Critiques.
Remember, if you're going to the movies this weekend make sure to submit your Twitter reviews
using the #JPMN hashtag to have it featured on an upcoming episode.
Next we'll be taking a look at couple of guy-friendly films, "Abduction" with Taylor Lautner is
an intense action-thriller starring everyone's favorite former-Werewolf, and "Real Steel"
a rock-'em'sock'em robots-style adventure with Hugh Jackman.
As always, I encourage you buy, rent, or download these films - and then let me know what you
think about them by voting in the polls below, or by leaving a comment review - and remember,
I read them all!
Once again, my name is Jonathan Paula - thank you for watching Movie Night, I hope to see
you, right back here next Friday!