Pitch Perfect (2012)

An interesting study, as it follows the Bring It On formula so faithfully that the few places it diverges end up illustrating what made that movie so successful. Basically this is like Bring It On if Eliza Dushku were the lead and Kirsten Dunst’s character was a totally unlikable bastard. Anna Kendrick is perfectly charming in scenes where she needs to be charming (aided by the even more charming Skylar Astin as her love interest) but in scenes where she’s supposed to be cynical and anti-social she comes off as weirdly mugging for the camera. A good actor miscast. Without a bubbly personality like Dunsts’ keeping the film afloat, this can feel a bit tone-deaf, where you’re not sure how invested in The Big Final Competition you’re supposed to be until the movie is almost over.

The rest of the film benefits from an Apatow-lite approach (if not as much as the similarly toned Accepted), with the parts where they let comedic actresses like Rebel Wilson and Hana Mae Lee riff feeling edited in as if from another movie. But they’re funny nonetheless, and the film on the whole is pretty agreeable if you have an affinity for acapella singing, which I must admit I do. The mash-up stuff is hilariously dumb, and I imagine that this film will age amazingly bad/well. I can’t wait to watch it in about 15 years, when it matures into camp. C+

Legend of Beaver Dam (2010)

Hysterical short film. Sean Cullen is AMAZING. A

Girls Just Want To Have Fun (1985)

The kind of movie that I could just watch endlessly. Totally stupid, sure, but EFFERVESCENT, and that makes any amount of cliche goes down smooth. And honestly, films like this more reflect my high school experience than anything by John Hughes. Cliques, status, popularity, were not really big parts of my high school experience. Just hanging out in front of the TV with my friends definitely was. Especially with Helen Hunt playing one of the greatest best friend characters in teen movie history. Quintessential slumber party cinema. B

Help! (1965)

Feels more like an extended Monkees episode than anything. The sharp contrast between the performances in Hard Day’s Night and this only highlight how remarkable the former is. C+

Footloose (2011)

The tension between three-dimensional characters and a one-dimensional premise that makes the original Footloose so weird and compelling is doubled here. Maybe I’m just showing a myopic bias against films from before I was born, but to me a cheesy scene like Ren punch-dancing his anger away seems to “fit” more in a 1984 movie than a 2012 movie, despite the fact that neither is a reference to the era. Luckily Craig Brewer, a man who isn’t afraid to go big and crazy (lest we forget his moral parable about a black man in the woods chaining a white woman to a radiator), is writing & directing because he’s able to get away with so much just by commiting 100% to the material.

And why wouldn’t he? Craig Brewer has made a career making films about music, and the various ways it can redeem people, and that really shows here. Every dance scene is great, not just because of the technical dancing, but because each has a very specific and clear emotion behind it. The big problem, though, is that part of what held the original Footloose’s rickety framework together is the incredible star power of Kevin Bacon, a power that no one in this cast can claim. Kenny Wormald is just about the most generic actor you can imagine, and it does considerable damage to the film. Too bad, because everything else about feels just about as perfect as a Footloose remake could possibly get. B-

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Hey look, it’s the word “delirious” again! So weird and fun, very close to the Apple in theme and silliness, if not exact tone. And the music’s great too. B+

Head (1968)

If the songs weren’t so shitty, this might even surpass Hard Day’s Night for me. Lot of legit psychedlia mixed in with the typical bullshit psychedelia, and very very funny. Would probably be better with drugs. B+

Grease (1978)

Everytime this starts, my brain thinks it’s watching Rock N Roll High School, and is always disappointed. Saw this as a sing-a-long, which made it much more enjoyable. B-

Streets of Fire (1984)

Walter Hill firing on all cylinders, like a wonderfully delirious mix of The Warriors, Wizard of Oz and Run Lola Run. Willem Defoe steals the show. A-

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

After about 30 minutes, my love and fascination by the film’s audacity and my utter lack of interest in the actual story and characters are constantly battling, with both sides taking a break during the musical numbers I enjoy (good news: it’s most of them). Other than Carrie, this is the only De Palma film where his grandiose touch is at all appropriate, and that helps a lot.

It’d probably go down smoother if it was candy colored and campy like The Apple, but I am glad that De Palma erred on the side of creepy and weird. There’s nothing fun or silly about William Finley’s magnified and bloodshot eyes, nor the way Paul Williams’ skin seems to melt at the end. And of course, where the awe of The Apple comes from it’s stupidity and cheesiness, De Palma pulls off some genuine cinematic thrills here. Not enough to completely distract from the wonky pacing and empty archetypal characters, but almost. B