It's been another furious 5 days in which I've seen exactly one movie for each of 'em. John and I attended the Watchmen screening last night, and speaking for myself I thought it was amazing. But I want to let it sink in a bit before I review it, so I'll save that for later on in the week. For now, you'll have to settle for these four lesser films that contain no superhero sex whatsoever!
Fired Up!
The best part of Fired Up occurs about fifteen minutes in, when the two star football players first get off the bus at cheerleader camp and gaze out at the sea of spanky wearing chicks ready to be macked on. The rest of the film isn't nearly as glorious as that, but a lot more fun is to be had than I expected as these two jocks have their way with dozens of different girls, yet still miraculously find someone to fall in love with. Eric Christian Olsen maintains his streak of being an utterly annoying actor, but his co-star Nicholas D'agosto puts in a surprisingly strong effort as Shawn, the one guy who's just nice enough to win the heart of head cheerleader Carly(played by the too hot for words Sarah Roemer). I could've done with a little less John Michael Higgins as the effeminate camp instructor, and a little more of the rivalry between Shawn and Carly's meathead boyfriend, which was the most inspired stuff in the film. Not quite sure this will make it in my pantheon of cheerleader films, but it's definitely worth a rental when it hits DVD in a couple months. 6/10
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
Seriously, give up already. Capcom's behind in the count 0-2 and frankly I don't even want to see the third pitch. Street Fighter is a haphazard mess of a film that pays lip service to the classic video game franchise then utterly ignores everything that makes the characters interesting to begin with. First of all, how in the hell do you have a SF film without Sagat? Then how do you not make it about street fighting in any way, shape, or form? The least interesting aspect of the SF mythos is Bison's control of Shadowloo, so ofcourse that's what gets focused on here. Kristin Kreuk plays Chun-Li, and she's probably the best part of the film, portraying the hero as strong, determined, but still vulnerable at times. The action sequences between her and any number of the dozens of henchman she blazes through are impressive. Too bad the villains in this junkheap aren't worth the effort. Michael Clarke Duncan's Balrog is laughably weak and unimpressive. He's little more than a lackey errand boy. Vega is an afterthought, and Bison is little more than a guy in a suit sitting in a corporate boardroom. The ending hints at a sequel more tightly focused on a street fighting tournament, which is an idea with promise. If it ever happens I'll look forward to that, and try my best to forget what a pock mark this thing was.
4/10
The Class
The plight of an inner city teacher in Paris struggling to school an assorted mix of hard headed, trouble making students might sound like something you've seen a million times over, but I promise that you've never seen it as real as this. The Class is a film starring Francois Bégaudeau, based on his own novel about his experiences as a literature teacher is strikingly honest in it's portrayal not only of the students but of the failings of the teachers as well. I was particularly intrigued by Begaudeau's honesty in evaluating his own performance, as to be frank he doesn't come off as a very good teacher at all. He's a human being like anyone else with his own flaws and biases, which clutter his teachings and slowly turn his class against him. What makes this film so different than any of the other movies of this type is that we only get to see these people in the classroom or out in the schoolyard. The teachers are presented to us as they would be if we were students in that classroom, and the students are presented to us as they would be if we were the teachers. In essence, each character is who they are solely in that room, none of this at home stuff where we find out that the troublemakers in class are all being abused at home....or the parents are divorcing, whatever. You are allowed to draw your own conclusions about them based off their actions and words alone, and it's a refreshing change from the norm. I can see now why The Class was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar this year, because it's truly one of the best films of 2008. 8/10
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Not even Isla Fisher's unique beauty and impeccable comedic timing can amp up this warmed over mess about Rebecca Bloomwood, a woman who simply can't stop shopping. In a twist of irony too contrived to be believed she ends up working at a magazine titled Successful Saving as the Girl with the Green Scarf, a common sense woman with real life tips on saving. Racked with debt and pursued by a debt collector who's dorky and creepy in a "collecing all your fingernails" kind of way, she rises to the heights of popularity while desperately trying to keep her reality from crashing into her fabricated persona. In the midst of all this, she falls in love with her editor and joins a self help group for shopaholics. Pretty bland stuff, to be honest, and I can see why women's groups are lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks over this as it again portrays women as brainless zombies who obsess over the shallower things in life. As much as I hate to say it, this film could learn a thing or two from The Devil Wears Prada, which tread similar territory but was much smarter about it than this. If I can say anything good about it, it's that Isla Fisher is such a likeable actress that she makes this much easier to tolerate than almost anyone else could have. 4/10
