Culture Surfing

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON: Thrill-seeking Bella (Kristen Stewart) receives warmth and support from Jacob (Taylor Lautner) after a failed cliff-jumping encounter.

GENRE: Supernatural teenage drama

THE PITCH: To prevent a frenzy for Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) blood, the Cullens, including her soulmate Edward (Robert Pattinson), cut all ties and leave Forks, Wash. Devastated Bella eventually turns to longtime friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) to mend her broken heart, unintentionally stoking Jacob’s fiery passion for her and uncovering his true nature. Unable to forget her first love, Bella sets off a reckless chain of events that ultimately sends her on a mission to save a lovelorn Edward.

MONEY SHOTS: Jacob’s lycanthropic nature is revealed when he morphs into his wolven form to protect Bella from an attack by friend and packmate Paul (Alex Meraz). A savage, snarly, teeth-gnarling fight ensues between the two werewolves.

BEST LINES: Almost anything from classmate Jessica (Anna Kendrick) when talking to dazed Bella during a girl’s night out. As Jessica compares zombies to lepers, she notes, “My cousin had leprosy, so it’s not funny.” Best friend Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) declares, “I have never known anyone more prone to life-threatening idiocy” when she comes to check up on Bella after a tragic prophetic vision.

Continue Reading “Hollywood Product: The Twilight Saga: New Moon“

(Photo Courtesy Summit Entertainment)

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HUMBUG DEEZ: Ghost of Christmas Present (from left, performed by Jim Carrey) chides his charge Ebenezer Scrooge (also performed by Carrey) in A Christmas Carol.

GENRE: CGI holiday drama

THE PITCH: Disney gives Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale an animated makeover. Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is visited by ghosts who show him glimpses of his past, present and future in efforts to save his soul before Christmas.

MONEY SHOTS: It’s hard to pull away from the visual effects each of the ghosts utilize to show Scrooge various moments in time. Ghost of Christmas Past (Carrey) uses slingshot-ish flight sequences to take Scrooge to parts of his past. Ghost of Christmas Present (Carrey, again) hurls luminescent golden beads that turn the floor and walls translucent for he and Scrooge to spy on the present. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (yup, you guessed it … Carrey) uses ebon shadows to transport and frighten Scrooge back on to a righteous path.

Continue Reading “Hollywood Product: A Christmas Carol“

(Photo Courtesy Walt Disney Pictures)

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DROP ZONE: Sam Sparks (Anna Faris, left) and Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader)

GENRE: Sci-fi foodie adventure

THE PITCH: Young crackpot inventor Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) accidentally revitalizes his struggling hometown with a gizmo that causes “food weather” to fall from the sky. When greed and pride cause ginormous menu items to wreak havoc, it’s like a Roland Emmerich disaster film combined with an all-you-can eat buffet.

MONEY SHOTS: The big moments of weather food all look great, including the initial, manna-like rain of cheeseburgers and a snowfall of ice cream. Disaster weather includes a terrifying yet delicious-looking spaghetti tornado and a tidal wave following a burst dam of massive “leftovers.” At the finale, Flint’s food machine defends itself with flying pizza slices and huge, ravenous roast chickens.

BEST BAD PUN: “You may have seen a meteor shower, but you’ve never seen a shower meatier than this!” declares Flint’s love interest, weather channel intern Sam Sparks (Anna Faris).

Continue reading “Hollywood Product: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs“

(Image ©2009 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc.)

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STRANGER DANGER: Team Ready heads out to deliver "The Goods" (l-r Ving Rhames, Jeremy Piven, David Koechner, Kathryn Hahn)

GENRE: Frat pack fueled used car movie

THE PITCH: When Selleck Motors is on the brink of closing, owner Ben Selleck (James Brolin) seek salvation from the industries’ go-to man Don Ready (Jeremy Piven) and his maverick sales team. Ready guarantees he can “sell the metal” – selling every car on the lot over the Fourth of July holiday weekend to stop Selleck’s rival from taking over.

MONEY SHOTS: The flashback sequence as Don Ready describes to love interest and lot owner’s daughter, Ivy Sellers (Jordana Spiro) what happens in ‘Querque – an unfortunate event marked with cameos from Will Farrell, Gina Gershawn, some dildos and oh yeah, a tragic death. The moral of the story – ass beats friendship every time.

BEST LINE: “I know your type – It’s a thrill of the hunt, you crave it, you corner it… let me ask you a question – do you know what to do when you catch it?” quips Ivy Selleck, daughter of the troubled Selleck Motors after hearing one-too-many lewd comments from Don. Ready replies, “…Are we talking about pussy?”

Continue reading “Hollywood Product: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” »

(Photo courtesy Paramount Vantage)

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GENRE: Cops-and-robbers period piece

THE PITCH: In 1933, celebrity outlaw John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) robs banks and eludes the pursuit of the FBI’s Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who grows disenchanted with the investigative techniques championed by an oily J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup).

MONEY SHOTS: Director Michael Mann doesn’t shortchange audiences hoping for bravura action scenes. Dillinger and his gang blast their way out of prison in the opening set piece. Purvis’ sharp-shooting brings down Pretty Boy Floyd in a gorgeous apple orchard. Dillinger makes an even more thrilling jailbreak at the film’s half-way point. Tommyguns blaze after the feds ambush and chase Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). At a movie theater, everyone in the audience — except Dillinger — looks right, then left, to see if Public Enemy No. 1 is in its midst.

BEST LINE: When one of Dillinger’s gang asks, “Who cares what the public thinks?” Dillinger replies, “I do — I hide out among ’em.” The film broaches the idea of violent criminals as folk heroes, but doesn’t do much with it.

Continue reading: “Hollywood Product: Public Enemies“

(Image courtesy Peter Mountain/© 2009 Universal Studios)

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FUZZY NAVELS: Zed (Jack Black, left) and Oh (Michael Cera)

GENRE: Cavecore buddy comedy

THE PITCH: Director Harold Ramis and producer Judd Apatow pit hunter Zed (Jack Black) and gatherer Oh (Michael Cera) against the ancient world. After Zed tastes the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, the pair embarks on a quest to find the meaning of life, and rescue a couple of bangin’ cave chicks.

MONEY SHOTS: Oh’s staccato gyrations during the “Jackal Dance” at the village campfire. A cougar pounces on a terrified Oh from a low-hanging branch. Zed gets bucked off of one of Abel’s (Paul Rudd) cows. A bolt of lightning strikes Cain (David Cross) smack dab on his forehead, Harry Potter style. The gold-plated, virgin-filled orgy, soundtracked by a freestyling Jack Black in Sodom’s lavish palace. Zed topples some rickety scaffolding in a human version of Mouse Trap, inadvertently starting a riot.

BEST LINE: “This is my son and we’re playing a game … burny burny cut cut,” says Abraham (Hank Azaria) when caught holding a knife over a bound-and-gagged Isaac atop a pyre (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, aka Superbad’s McLovin).

Continue reading “Hollywood Product: Year One“

(Photo by Suzanne Hanover/2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.)

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GOING DOWN: Alan (Zach Galifianakis), Baby Tyler, Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) search for their missing buddy.

GENRE: Disastrous comedy that happens in Vegas

THE PITCH: The morning after a raucous Vegas bachelor party, hungover groomsmen Phil, Stu and Alan (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, respectively) woozily retrace their steps to find the mysteriously missing groom, Doug (Justin Bartha).

MONEY SHOTS: The establishing shots of the trashed, smoldering chicken-infested hotel suite, so artfully wrecked it could be a Vanity Fair concept photo shoot. The hotel valet returns not the guy’s borrowed Mercedes, but a stolen police car. The guys demonstrate police stun guns — the hard way — to avoid a trial. Mike Tyson’s sleeping tiger wakes up in the guys’ Mercedes.

BEST LINE: “I didn’t know they give out rings at the Holocaust,” says Alan, upon Stu’s exclamation that a stripper (Heather Graham) is wearing his grandmother’s Holocaust ring.

Continue reading “Hollywood Product: The Hangover“

(Photo by Frank Masi/Warner Bros.)

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That’s right a brand new and improved Movies & TV page! We combined all the best parts of our other sections into a comprehensive one-stop-shop for all things Movies & TV. There’s a blog feed with all of the latest Movies & TV content from Culture Surfing (”Lost,” “24,” “Flight of the Conchords,” etc.), a search engine for movie showtimes, recent reviews, links to interesting stories around the web, Film Clips, movie trailers, and a whole section dedicated to those Hollywood Products that you love!

Check it out at clatl.com/movies_tv and leave any comments you have here on the blog.

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RUSH JOB: Paul Rudd (left) as Peter Klaven and Jason Segel as Sydney Fife

GENRE: Comedic bromance

THE PITCH: After straightlaced Realtor Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) pops the question to his girlfriend (Rashida Jones), he realizes he has no male buddies and resolves to meet a potential best man. But will free-spirited Syndey Fife (Jason Segel) be his BFF, or wreak havoc in his career and relationship?

MONEY SHOTS: Peter projectile-vomits on a macho acquaintance (Jon Favreau). Peter receives an unexpected open-mouthed kiss from one of his “man-dates.” Peter and Sydney engage in over-the-top jam sessions in Sydney’s garage “man cave.” Peter attempts to strike a James Bond pose in his wedding tux. Sydney offers Peter some humiliating help as an attempted career boost.

BEST RUNNING JOKE: Peter struggles with masculine banter and nicknames, causing him to stammer nonsensical, would-be Jack Black-isms such as, “Totally! Totes McGoats!”

GROSSEST LINE: His father (J.K. Simmons) explains that Peter always gravitated to girls more than boys due to early puberty: “I remember taking him swimming at 12 years old. Kid had a bush like a 40-year-old Serbian.”

Continue reading “Hollywood Product: I Love You, Man”

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