Ready or Not

Ready or Not is the new low-budget thriller from Fox Searchlight, the part of Fox that makes smaller/original movies (now owned by Disney). The movie takes place on the wedding day of Grace (Samara Weaving) and Alex (Mark O'Brien) in his family home. Alex is part of an extremely wealthy family, the Le Domas family who are known for their business in making board games and similar products. They have a tradition for any new members coming into the family, that they play a game with them chosen at random. Grace is alone with the Le Domas family, and she is set to pick the game for the night by drawing a card with the name of the game. That game happens to be Hide and Seek this time, but not an ordinary game of Hide and Seek. What she doesn't know is that one card she drew means that Alex's family will be trying to kill her as part of a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this movie going into it. I thought the concept sounded like a good one for a thriller movie with a lot of violence, and it was that but also... so much more. The movie is very self-aware of its absurd premise and uses it to its advantage. This movie can be really funny at times despite it's pretty twisted and dark setting, probably thanks to some great writing and memorable performances. That humor doesn't take away from the suspense though, and that's because of Samara Weaving's performance as Grace. The character is very likable and you root for her throughout the movie. That helps make scenes where she's in danger a lot more suspenseful. You also have her new husband Alex there to root for throughout the movie. The rest of the characters are mostly played for laughs throughout the movie and it usually works well in a very dark sort of way.

The movie is pretty violent and can get pretty graphic at times, which you'd probably expect from a movie like this. It worked throughout the movie just fine, though there was one scene in particular that made me kinda uncomfortable with how painful it looked. I'm pretty sure the movie was going for that uncomfortable feeling, but it didn't make it any easier to watch. Besides that one scene, I was really entertained by this movie. The mansion is an interesting setting, especially with the old-timey decorations and secret passages kinda like the house in Clue (which was most likely on purpose). It gave the movie a more creepy vibe because old-timey mansions are just inherently creepy apparently? The setting was used well for both creepy and funny scenes.

As the movie progresses the characters just seemed to get more over-the-top (mainly the villains) and it's pretty entertaining to watch. The movie is just so bizarre and strange at points, but it just makes it somehow even more entertaining to watch. It was a great time and I wasn't expecting it to be as entertaining as it was. And the ending is just so insane, it was a perfect way to end this crazy movie. The movie is worth a watch if you're into dark humor and violent thrillers. It was a nice surprise with some great performances and self-awareness that actually works. Also nice to see Adam Brody again, he was a highlight in this movie for me.

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The Peanut Butter Falcon

It's been a few months since I put up a movie review on this site/blog/ramblings thing, so I thought it was maybe time to start trying this thing out again. Art is one of the most important parts of my life, it's where I find a lot of inspiration and motivation as I'm sure a lot of people do. There's something so special about when multiple elements just come together to tell a great story, which is the reason why I enjoy film so much. It's got so many factors that it relies upon and it's pretty crazy how it can all come together to tell a great story. Which brings me to  "The Peanut Butter Falcon", an indie movie released a few weeks ago here in the wonderful state of Florida*.

"The Peanut Butter Falcon" follows a peanut butter obsessed bird-creature named Maverick voiced by Tom Cruise. Actually, that's not true, but it could be eventually.

"The Peanut Butter Falcon" is actually about two guys on the run from the terrible situations in their current lives. Zak (Zack Gottsagen) is a young man who is forced to live in a retirement home under care due to his Down syndrome until he finds a way to escape. Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) has his own problems he's dealing with in his job as a fisherman, starting trouble with the other fishermen in his workplace. Zak and Tyler come together after Tyler burns down his rival's fishing supply and runs away on a boat that Zak happens to be hiding in. After a less than ideal first meeting, Tyler eventually decides to let Zak tag-along with him and they quickly develop a friendship. Tyler learns about Zak's dream of becoming a professional wrestler and training with his favorite wrestler The Salt Water Redneck. Tyler promises to get Zak to the wrestling school, and that's where their journey begins. While all this is happening, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson) who was in charge of taking care of Zak at the retirement home is, is searching for him across the state.

It's probably important to note that the character of Zak is played by someone who actually has Down syndrome, which is awesome to see. It actually makes the story work a lot better when someone playing a character who has Down syndrome actually has it, go figure. He's really the highlight of this movie because he plays his character so perfectly and has so much charm and good comedic timing with his lines. His relationship with Shia LaBeouf's character Tyler is what makes this movie really worth watching, it feels very real and it gets quite emotional at times. Dakota Johnson's character Eleanor who joins them a little later in the movie also has great chemistry with both of them. The setting of the movie also helped make a story better since a lot of it took place in the southern lakes, rivers, and swamps which I feel aren't used a lot in movies recently. Those settings were all shot beautifully the way it was shot really added to the sense of adventure they movie was going for.

The movie really has some great emotional moments, a lot of laughs and even some good intense scenes. Like I said before, it's crazy to think of how many factors go into telling a great story through film, and I think this movie nailed most of those aspects. Memorable characters, good writing, good soundtrack/score, good cinematography, and good acting all exist in this movie. Movies like this are one of the main reasons I even wanted to start doing these reviews a few years ago because I think they need more attention. I want more original stories and characters to exist in film and I want to see more movies like this one, ones that don't rely on established properties or franchises. Not that I don't love those too, but I've always had a soft spot for smaller projects like this one and I get really excited when I see a great movie like this. So if you get a chance I recommend checking this one out, it's definitely worth a watch.

* Florida is not wonderful

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2010s Music: 2 0 1 1

A few weeks ago I decided to look back at all the popular music from this past decade. Continuing this little journey through this decade of music with the year 2011. So 2010 was a pretty mixed year for pop music, some good, and some bad songs. 2011, is a pretty big step down in quality. I struggled to find enough songs to even make a top 10 for the good and bad songs, so I only made 8 for each. So many forgettable songs this year, lots of music was so mediocre that it's really hard to have any real feelings toward it. A lot of the trends of the late '00s were still dominating the charts and it just felt like it was time for a change. Actually, there really wasn't enough good this year to even really even talk about, so I will just focus on the bad this time around. In no particular order, here are the worst songs of the year 2011, I'll still try to put my least favorite last.

Katy Perry - E.T.

2011 was a huge year for Katy Perry, getting three huge hits that were all near the top of the best selling of the year. This song (E.T.) was actually the fourth best selling of the year. Katy Perry has always been very hit or miss with me, especially around this time. Last year she had the big hit "California Gurls" which I really enjoyed overall. "E.T." is not anywhere near as good as that song. It's a weird song where Katy Perry talks about having sex with an alien who I guess is being played by Kanye West fittingly. The lyrics are really stupid and not as controversial as Katy probably thought they were (or whoever wrote this song). The music and beat are really weak and boring along with Katy's pretty weak vocals to match. Kanye's verse is pretty awful with really stupid lyrics and annoying vocal effects. Also, it's pretty funny to see how literal Kanye is taking the whole alien sex theme of the song, while I'm pretty sure Katy isn't literally talking about sleeping with aliens? This is a really dumb song that's not as clever as I think it's trying to be. 

Pitbull/Ne-Yo - Give Me Everything

You know a song is going to be good when the first line of the song is Pitbull rhyming Kodak with Kodak in a weird product placement inside of a song. It's probably no coincidence that Kodak filed for bankruptcy just a year after this song came out, so Pitbull can add that to his resume I guess. The surprising thing is that Pitbull isn't even the worst part of the song, he's actually the best part of the song... which isn't saying much. The worst part of the song is definitely Ne-Yo and his depressing delivery of the chorus. Pitbull is coming with lots of energy for this club hit and Ne-Yo does his best to ruin that with his sad voice. There's also the really annoying music that makes a really annoying buzzing sound during the chorus and really annoys me. 

Hot Chelle Rae - Tonight, Tonight

Who could forget Hot Chelle Rae? Well... everyone. After this big hit out of nowhere, they pretty much disappeared completely and never released a follow-up album. Probably for the best though, cause if it sounded anything like this song then it's nothing worth hearing more of. Musically this song just repeats the same progression over and over again from start to finish. It's not a great progression either, it's very basic and boring. On top of that, you get some awful lyrics that think they are way more clever than they actually are. A reference to Zach Galifianakis that is totally just as relevant in 2019 as it was in 2011 (not really?). When they aren't making outdated jokes, they are just stretching out the song with oohs and aahs and lalas. This pop-rock style music was at its peak popularity in 2011 and it's probably because of this song that it started to head downhill. A genre that I'm honestly still fond of, but this wasn't a good representation of it.

Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit)

This is one of the most frustratingly annoying songs I've ever heard in my life. It starts off in an interesting way by sampling the song from Dirty Dancing (Time of My Life) and it's an interesting choice for sure. But that interest doesn't last long as they don't waste much time before completely butchering it to pieces. The song goes into the *Dirty Bit* part where the vocals go away song transforms into an annoying electronic dance song that feels completely out of place with the sample used in the beginning. Then you got will.i.am with his awful autotune vocals destroying any chance of this getting good again. It's just an awful use of a sample with terrible electronic music that feels not only out of place, but extremely annoying to listen to. 

Eminem / Dr. Dre - I Need a Doctor

Two rap legends coming together to make a big single sounds like something that would be hard to mess up, but somehow they found a way to mess it up. Both Eminem and Dre have disappointing verses backed up by a pretty weak beat. The chorus also sounds like a rip-off of Evanescence or something you would have heard on the radio 8 years before this song came out. The woman singing the chorus (Skylar Grey?) even says the line "Bring me to back life" which HAD to be on purpose because of how similar it sounds to the Evanescence. So yeah, this is an awful song and possibly the last song featuring Dre. Not a great way to go out, but I'm sure he doesn't care with all the money he has from Beats. 

Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts

I don't know. This one is just pretty boring and lifeless. It's supposed to be a diss song of sorts, or at least a song aimed at someone who hurt her and she's trying to tear him apart through song. This is something that someone like Beyonce or Lizzo or Adele can do great, but Christina Perri just isn't convincing in this song. It justs feels like a song like this needs more energy and power to match the lyrics. A perfect example might be Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know" who sings about a similar topic but has music and vocals to really get her emotion across. The anger and bitterness come out and make the song convincing. In "Jar of Hearts" none of that is really present. 

LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

I think I've talked about this song too many times on this blog thing. But it's just as annoying as it always was. It's strange how these guys always seem to come after a really slow and boring song, last time I reviewed them it was after Creed's "With Arms Wide OOOOOpen". So yeah, this song is 100X more exciting than "Jar of Hearts", but it's also 100X more annoying so I guess it evens out in some messed up way. Would I rather be annoyed or bored? Now that's a good question. 

Bored. Probably bored. 

Enrique Churches / Ludacris - Tonight I'm F*CKING You

Yes. That is the actual title of this song. This is one of the grossest songs ever made and a very strange turn for Enrique Iglesias' career. Anyone familiar with his earlier work knows that he was more known as the sensitive heart-throb who sang cute romantic songs with fluffy acoustic guitar and light pop sounds. Then came this song, in 2011 he decided to take a new direction and try to be the bad-boy pop star and OH BOY did it not work well for him. This song is just awful in every way possible. The gross lyrics, the awful electronic music that's too loud, the shitty Pitbull impression by Ludacris, and just the nasty feeling you are left with after listening to this song. It's one of the worst pop songs I've had to listen to and one I was happy to have forgotten over time. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go cry in the shower. 

So 2011 was a really bad year for pop music. The charts were full of mediocre and awful songs and not really a lot of good was to be found. There were a couple of good songs by Adele, Foster the People and Kanye West to name a few. Thankfully, I took a peek at 2012 and noticed that it was WAY better than 2011 so I'm pretty excited about that.

Here are some good albums from 2011 (that I can remember)
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Adele - 21
The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
Alex Turner - Submarine Soundtrack
Foster the People - Torches
Grouplove - Never Trust a Hippie
The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials

and I'm sure I'm missing tons and tons more.

Thanks for reading, hope you got some enjoyment out of that and I'm sorry for reminding you of some of this awful music ; )... unless you like the songs, in which case... I'm sorry for making fun of it. (not really) 

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