VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Bad Words (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Bad Words (2013)

Bad Words (2013) –
Claire: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Native ratings: 3.4/5 stars Netflix, 6.7/10 IMDB.

Jason Bateman–a bitter, middle-aged, cynic–finds a loophole in the National Spelling Bee rules, and shoehorns his way into a national competition for children. And he aims to win. With malicious, thoughtful, spiteful intent.  What an amazing premise.

Carolyn’s thoughts: This was hilarious, and awkward, and pretty fun for a movie.  Somewhat predictable, but it was worth the ride.  Hilarious!

Claire: Hilarious indeed. Jason Bateman can play a hilarious spiteful middle-aged man really well!  He’s not good-natured, like in Arrested Development! He has a very willful, malicious, spiteful intent. Also unlike in Arrested Develpment: He is actually very capable at being master of the situation, one-up’ing others, and attaining his goals.

And then you throw in a kid?! And it doesn’t totally suck?!?!  Wow. Even with my own cynical bitterness, the kid was good. Fuck. Don’t make me write that, movie!

Directed by Jason Bateman (3 eps of Valerie, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Family Matters).
Written by Andrew Dodge.

Starring Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, The Change-Up, Sit Down Shut Up, The Invention Of Lying, Identity Theft, Hancock, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Juno) as Guy Trilby.
Kathryn Hahn (Wanderlust, The Dictator, Step Brothers, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, Step Brothers, Ab Fab, How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days, The Hungover Games, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of American Dad) as Jenny Widgeon.
Philip Baker Hall (Bruce Almighty, The Truman Show, Ghostbusters 2, Magnolia, The Amityville Horror, 2 eps of Seinfeld, 2 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 2 eps of Baby Blues, 1 ep of The Life And Times Of Tim, 1 ep of Warren The Ape, 1 ep of Children’s Hospital, 1 ep of 3rd Rock From The Sun, 1 ep of Cheers, 1 ep of M*A*S*H) as Dr. Bowman.
Allison Janney (Juno, Pretty Ugly People, Strangers With Candy, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Object of My Affection, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of Frasier) as Dr. Bernice Deagan.
Ben Falcone (Identity Thief, Pretty Ugly People, Smiley Face, Garfield 2, Joey) as Pete Fowler.
Judith Hoag (April O’Neil in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (1990), Salt, Armageddon, 1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Mad About You) as Petal Dubois. Thanks to the IMDB message board for pointing out this tidbit. I would have missed her name. She was one of the parents in the crowd.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170299/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Afternoon Delight (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Afternoon Delight (2013)

Claire: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 2.8/5 stars Netflix, 5.9/10 IMDB.

This was an interesting movie about a couple with a bad sex life + overall boring life. They go to a strip club to liven things up, and the mother (Kathryn Hahn, apparently a better actor than I’d thought) ends up having the stripper (Juno Temple, a personal favorite) live in their house. The stripper is a sex positive individual (duh), getting them into uncomfortable situations that are only uncomfortable because most people ear prudes.

Ultimately, because the stripper fucks people, and because people react so negatively to sex that isn’t in their defined societal parameters — Her character gets fucked over, and blamed for everything she caused. But it was in fact everyone’s attitudes that created these problems in the first place.

And that’s my summary of the whole movie: “So she fucked some people. So what?!”

To quote the IMDB thread at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312890/board/nest/226117425:

“What started off as a film saying something interesting about people from different walks of life and demographics forming true friendships… turned into, ‘Don’t let slutty girls in your house’. Blech.”

And that’s the flaw. Juno Temple got the shit end of the stick, and it was not good. But the movie was interesting, regardless.

Minor complaint: The writer of this movie was a writer for HBO’s Six Feet Under, and directly plagarized his OWN plot device from (attending a session as a “watcher”) from Six Feet Under for use as a plot device in this movie. To be self-derivative makes it look like straws were being grasped for.

Medium complaint: Was hoping for more of a comedy.

Major complaint: Kathryn Hahn was CLEARLY attracted to Juno Temple. That they did not have sex in this movie is a grave disservice to cinema.

Carolyn’s thoughts: This was an interesting movie, and the dynamics were strange. The unhappy depressed wife who can barely care about her son or her friends or even her husband gets her mind opened by an outing to a strip club. She kept saying she wanted to help the stripper, but there were undertones that she just wanted to help herself. Then she fucked over the stripper because she didn’t want her friend to steal her nanny (I’m a nanny-stealer) and she got weirded out by how sex-positive the stripper was.

Written & directed by Jill Soloway (writer of 7 eps of Six Feet Under, 3 eps of Baby Blues, 2 eps of The Oblongs).

Kathryn Hahn (Wanderlust, The Dictator, Step Brothers, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, Ab Fab, How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days, The Hungover Games, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of American Dad) as Rachel.
Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises, Kaboom, Small Apartments, Mr. Nobody, St. Trinian’s, The Three Musketeers, Year One) as McKenna.
Josh Radnor (200 Cigarettes, Not Another Teen Movie, How I Met Your Mother, 2 eps of Family Guy, 1 ep of Six Feet Under) as Jeff.
Jane Lynch (A.C.O.D., Wreck-It Ralph, The Three Stooges, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Glee, Shrek Forever After, 15 eps of The L Word, 3 eps of Neighbors From Hell, 2 eps of Arrested Development, 2 eps of Father Of The Pride, 2 eps of The Cleveland Show, 1 ep of The Spectacular Spider-Man, 1 ep of The Simpsons, 1 ep of News Radio) as Lenore.
Jessica St. Clair (Wanderlust, The Dictator, It’s Complicated, She’s Out Of My League, 3 eps of Weeds, 2 eps of The Life And Times Of Tim, 1 ep of The Office, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Stephanie.
Michaela Watkins (In A World, Wanderlust, 15 eps of Saturday Night Live, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 1 ep of Mad, 1 ep of Malcolm In The Middle) as Jennie.
Josh Stamberg (Kate & Leopold, The Time Machine (2002), 2 eps of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Arrested Development) as Matt.
John Kapelos (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, uncredited in Legally Blonde, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Quantum Leap, 1 ep of Lois & Clark, 1 ep of The X-Files) as Jack.
Keegan-Michael Key (Hell Baby, Wanderlust, Just Go With It, Due Date, MADtv, 2 eps of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers) as Bo.
Annie Mumolo (This Is 40, 1 ep of American Dad, 1 ep of Father Of The Pride) as Amanda.
Suzy Nakamura (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Deep Impact, Evan Almighty, uncredited in The 40-Year Old Virgin, uncredited in This Is 40, 5 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Meredith.
Noah Harpster (Disaster Movie) as Craig.
Eugene Cordero (2 eps of The Life And Times Of Tim, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 1 ep of The Office, 1 ep of Human Giant, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Newsreaders) as Bobby.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312890/combined