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Reviews
Joe Rogan: Talking Monkeys in Space (2009)
Seriously funny: Smart, honest, furious... and unexpected
"Joe Rogan is a comedian? I thought he was just that loud guy from Fear Factor." - A lot of people before they saw 'Talking Monkeys in Space.'
Joe Rogan's stand-up is very impressive and well-thought-out, and it's honest. Joe covers topics like marijuana, gay marriage, evolution, sex scandals, Dr. Phil, and masturbation in a very well-structured way. Every part of his performance ultimately deals with the strangeness of human nature. He doesn't have an act or a persona. He just spouts his deepest, craziest thoughts and opinions in a blunt, reality-check style, and the result is a profoundly hilarious speech. Joe Rogan is an unexpectedly intelligent comedian and isn't afraid to speak his mind.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008)
Perpetuating high school stereotypes
I am fresh out of high school, and my friends and I agree that "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is nothing like the lives of any American teenagers we know. This show is so infuriatingly wrong on so many levels because it conveys the message to parents that all of their children are going to get pregnant, get in fights, and do drugs. Yes, this may happen in high school, but it's a very small percentage of students, though this show is making it look like all of us. American teenagers are still impressionable, and American parents already fear that their children are going to get in these types of situations, (even though most of them won't) but shows like this one and "Degrassi" and sometimes even "Glee" are making it even worse.
Your kids are safe. This show is simply fiction. Badly researched, stereotypical fiction.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
I stopped caring.
Like most of you, I watched this movie because of the hype. And generally, I don't mind a movie that's confusing. Donnie Darko is a mind-f**ker, but it was good because it was entertaining and fascinating, and it makes you want to see it again when you're finished.
Mulholland Dr. is definitely a mind-f**ker, but it's extremely slow, dragged out and confusing in an "I don't even care anymore" way. I don't have a problem with long movies, as long as they go somewhere, but Mulholland Dr. is loaded with dead air in conversation and walking sequences that drag on for several minutes, from the same angle, with no dialogue, and no music. It's just plain boring.
I would have given it a 1, but I did enjoy Naomi Watts' acting as I always do, and an extra point for her love scene with Laura Harring, which was probably the most entertaining part of the movie.
But a confusing "artistic" movie should be something I would want to see again if I didn't understand it the first time. I didn't understand Mulholland Dr, but I don't really care what I'm supposed to make of it because it was just so slow and boring. I don't want to sit through it again.
A History of Violence (2005)
Great by itself, awful if you've actually read the graphic novel
Most movies based on books are slightly altered, so that those who have read the book haven't ruined the end of the movie by doing so. Like Fight Club, the end was much different than the book, and it was still good.
But this movie altered the plot so drastically, it doesn't even feel like the same story after about the first thirty minutes. They didn't even use the same name (in the book he was Tom McKenna, and in the movie he was Tom Stall)
*spoilers* In the book, when Tom is in the hospital, he tells his life story to his family, centralizing a robbery that "joey" and his mob brothers were going to do. This was the bulk of the story. But in the movie, they simply focused on Tom getting his revenge on his former crime boss.
The movie wasn't terrible in itself, and I probably would have enjoyed it if I hadn't read the book first, but I can't believe how the writers adapted this screenplay so poorly.
So, if you've read the book, don't watch the movie. If you liked the movie, read the book, you'll like it more.