Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Title: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand

Genre: Bromantic Comedy

Status: In Theaters

Plot Summary: After Peter (Segel) gets dumped by his TV star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Bell), he goes on a Hawaiian retreat. Only when he gets there he finds her and her new rockstar boyfriend (Brand) at the same resort.

Review: I was pumped to see this movie over six months ago, and I’m still just as excited after seeing it. Everyone in this movie is hilarious. I didn’t list them on the starring roles part, but Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, and Jack McBrayer all make amazingly hilarious additions to the film. It is a romantic (or ‘bromantic’) comedy, so there are some serious/slow parts to the story, but they’re not too serious or slow to bother anyone. It’s a good, solid comedy with big laughs all the way through. It’s not one of those comedies that starts off awesome and ends sappy and boring. As much as I loved this little groups other films (40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad, and Knocked Up), I think this one takes the cake. It’s not too raunchy and not too vulgar, but just enough of those two to make it one awesome adult movie. Though I think I could do with more Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis in bikinis, and less Jason Segel penis, but it’s still awesome.

Rating: 5/5

Why Can’t We All Just (Musically) Get Along?

Being the insanely large nerd that I have become, it’s exposed me to a lot of really awesome music, as well as some stuff I’m that I don’t find so great.  Over the past, oh, I don’t know, three years, my musical taste has evolved in ways I never would have imagined.  And I love it.  If it wasn’t for the music I listen to, my life would be so much more boring.  I mean, I’m listening to music as I’m writing this, right at this very moment (Autumn’s Monologue by From Autum to Ashes).  I also moved to Minneapolis for school back in October, and being around different people and knowing people in bands has exposed me to even more, sometimes different, music.  And over all of this time, I’ve come to realize that people can be extremely closed-minded when it comes to musical taste.

If you have, or for some ungodly reason want to, read my post The Art of Going to the Movies, you’ll know that I’m not a fan of people that try to influence their tastes on others.  This post is a similiar idea.  I’ve dealt with this in all forms for media entertainement.  From movies and television shows, to music and books.  It’s really the same thing everywhere you look.  People have their own opinions and tastes.  It’s a fairly easy concept to grab, for for some people they just don’t get it.  I love having a diverse taste in music -From Autumn To Ashes to The Matches is a pretty odd transition- and I have that same diverse taste in movies and television as well (not so much books, but I don’t read often).

The source of my research comes from a variety of sources.  One of which is the multitude of insanely stupid internet threads that get cluttered with people bitching and moaning over what “real [insert genre]” is and how people have bad taste in music, and how theirs is so much better.  The other source I want to source is the show I was at last night.  It was a show with a metal headliner, but two hardcore openers.  These two preduce two very different moshing styles.  And, of course, one band was a bit of both so the two styles got mixed and people didn’t react all that well.  I don’t understand why people can’t just let each other do their thing and let it go.

Basically, what I’m saying is that if you like a certain kind of music, and someone around you doesn’t, or vice-versa, just let it go.  It’s stupid to fight over something that’s so highly opinionated.

Thanks for taking the time.  Drop me a comment or something.

-Cory

Heaven Shall Burn / Embrace the End / The Ghost Inside

Bands: Heaven Shall Burn / Embrace the End / The Ghost Inside

Date/Time: April 16 @ 6:00

Venue: Station 4, St. Paul, MN

Genre(s): Hardcore / Metal

Summary: This was a nice mix of hardcore and metal. The moshers of the two genres got a little rough with each other –which I found to be completely retarded, just let each other do their thing- but the music was great. I’m so glad I got to this one. The bands were great, not to mention an awesome band, D.I.M., opened.

The Ghost Inside: I’ve been to a few hardcore shows over the past few months, but never one where I really got a feel for a band that I truly liked. Thanks to The Ghost Inside, however, this changed a little. I really don’t understand the “hardcore dancing” stuff, but their music was awesome, and we met the singer afterwards and he was a pretty cool dude.

Embrace the End: Another pretty heavy hardcore band. I wasn’t that much of a fan of this one. Their music was ok, but it was one of those bands where I really couldn’t tell the difference between the songs, and that’s a huge issue with me.

Heaven Shall Burn: Fucking amazing! Heaven Shall Burn is an awesome metal band from Germany and this is their first American tour. Sadly, I only really knew a few songs that they played, but I’m definitely glad I went. Their stage presence is great, plus their German accents make it fun to listen to them talk in between songs. I really hope they can make it back and play a bigger venue.

All the bands together made for one pretty awesome show. As I said, the crowd attendance was much less than I was hoping for. The last time I attended Station 4 it was pretty packed, and there was probably 1/3 of the people there this time. As Alexander (guitarist for HSB) so poetically put it “There weren’t a lot of people, but [we] knew how to party.” I really hope they can come back, maybe with a few other Euro metal bands and get a bigger crowd, because they deserve it.

Rating: 4/5

Leatherheads

Title: Leatherheads

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): John Krasinski, George Clooney, Renee Zelleweger, Jonathan Pryce

Genre: Comedy

Status: In Theaters

Plot Summary: In the early days of professional football, things didn’t go so well. Dodge Connolly (Clooney) is a older struggling player who drafts a hot young player, and acclaimed war hero, (Krasinski) to help bring the sport back.

Review: John Krasinski is kind of an ass! NO WAY! But not really, so it’s okay. It wasn’t a hilarious comedy, but it was a nice smart comedy. There were a few parts that got a nice laugh, but I was chuckling throughout the majority of it. Overall, I’d say it’s a nice little comedy, but it wasn’t the best one I’ve seen. I think I’m just in a bromance with John Krasinski.

Rating: 3.5/5

Run Fatboy Run

Title: Run Fatboy Run

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Simon Pegg, Hank Azaria, Thandie Newton, Dylan Moran

Genre: Comedy

Status: In Theaters

Plot Summary: Dennis (Pegg), an overweight security runs away from his problems. Now, when his ex-fiance is dating a more successful man (Azaria), he decides to run along with him in a marathon to win her back.

Review: This was a funny, yet slightly more mature, comedy from Simon Pegg. He’s a hilarious actor, as his track record shows (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), and this was no exception. Granted, the humor in this one was much more mature, it’s still a great comedy. As much as I love Pegg’s work, his co-star Dylan Moran is quite the scene stealer in this one. They story is kind of a cookie cutter romantic comedy, with the obvious slow parts and cheesy romantic parts, but this one actually has some good comedy. There weren’t tons of laugh-out-loud moments, but there were a few. I must say, David Schwimmer chose a good one to make his full-length directorial debut. Great movie.

Rating: 3.5/5