its_a_Kristina_thing Reviews

Mean People Suck (2001)

Surprised to See So Many Bashers

[8/10 · 30 September 2006]

I'm don't go to NYU and don't know much about short student films, so this is just the opinion of a random viewer. I thought the film was quite good actually, one of my favorite. Interesting, funny, dark, clever, sexual, disturbing.

Franco, Swain, Olsen, and Mitchell excelled in their limited screen time, surprising me with the versatility from Olsen and Mitchell especially. The costumes and setting were realistic and simple- grunge clothing and a football jacket worn by high schoolers sitting in a diner in a small town. Although the fact that three people at opposite ends of the popularity spectrum would randomly meet in a diner seemed just a little off, I'm from Baltimore so that whole prospect is unfamiliar to me and I suppose is entirely possible.

The offbeat humor, and short silences mixed with subtle looks makes for good timing and clever thinking as well as snorting laughs. The ending twist was genius. The film simply begins and ends in 8 minutes with a few answerable questions at the end and forces you to think quickly to keep up.

Undiscovered (2005)

Only A 2.8?

[6/10 · 15 January 2006]

Broke Gigli records? Horrible movie? I rented this movie, thinking it was going to be terrible. I actually thought it was very good.

Most of the actors aren't well known, so it was much easier to watch and not be like, "Oh that's like their other character in that other movie where the guys does this and the thing blows up and......" or be thinking about their career and stuff. The movie seemed much more real with people that weren't known as Hollywood icons (except for Ashlee Simpson).

I thought their Los Angeles life was very interesting and shot quite well. Unlike other movies, it didn't show only the best parts of town. Cramped apartments, Laundromats, outdoor restaurants, small theaters where the aspiring actors spent all their time running lines, the batting cages, city buses, airports, gyms, and other un- glamorous things were shot. The color wasn't perfect but then again they were in LA, a place filled with air pollution and such (as with other cities of course) and smog in the background, trash bags on the curbs, runaway dogs, and graffiti on the walls were filmed as well.

The fact that they were all just friends in search of stardom but in different areas (acting, modeling, music, dance, song writing) made it interesting too. The story never got too into one field because the movie wasn't supposed to be about Ashlee's character getting that part or Luke's brother recording that song, but it did find that medium in establishing each character's struggle to achieve stardom (anxiety when auditioning, racking their brains to remember that line or come up with the rest of that song they've been writing, that adrenaline rush when on stage, doing anything to make more money, inviting their friends on stage to perform with them...). The only field it centered around was music, because most all of the characters were trying to build a career in music and the love aspect of the story between Luke and Brier was kept off because of Luke's success in stage performance- thanks in part to Brier- and Brier's weariness of the relationship due to past experiences with her old boyfriend, who was constantly cheating on her with groupies he met on the road, as he was a musician himself.

I actually thought the movie was pretty realistic (well okay not completely realistic, almost no movies are these days, but it wasn't all changed up like other movies today who totally throw the truth out of wack.)

Ashlee Simpson, though not extraordinarily talented, was not at all annoying or trying to be cute like in her early days on 7th Heaven as Cecilia and not trying to be all punk and sh*t like she was when her music career started out........ you know what I mean. I thought she was artsy and friendly and trustworthy in this movie, just a girl looking to be in the spotlight who loves performing and spends all her time reading scripts, hanging out at the theater, trying to get her friend noticed in this music world, etc. I actually ENJOYED her in this movie.

Brier Tucket was played amazingly well by Pell James. Her character's mother had just died, she had few friends, had just moved to a new and very different city, her boyfriend was undoubtedly cheating on her, and she was being chased by another boy who she didn't want a relationship with because she feared that, because he was soon to be a rock star due to his exuding talent and charm, he would treat her the way her last boyfriend did. She had simply been hurt too much and was trying to be realistic. Brier was mature and filled with grace, trying not to let her feelings for Luke overcome her and allow her to be sucked into that world again. Luke, after seeing Brier for the very first time, guessed that she was a ballerina, as did I. Her gentleness and sensitiveness was touching, especially when she tried to cover her feelings up and be strong- when she called her boyfriend at his hotel after a show and heard multiple girls laughing in the background, when she left Luke's bedroom after coming to the realization that because he would soon be entering the music business it would be difficult for them to be together....

Anyway, I thought this was a great movie, much better than I expected. I would give it somewhere in between a 5 and a six, certainly not a 2.8.