Pirate Radio (AKA The Boat That Rocked)

When it comes to marketing films for U.S. release they must think we Americans are pretty dumb. Apparently sometimes movie titles have to be changed or else American audiences just wont understand a damn thing about the movie. Pirate Radio as it's known in the U.S. (originally titled The Boat That Rocked) is about an American disk jockey in the 1960's who single handedly brought rock 'n roll to Great Brittan, where it was previously banned from the airwaves. Oh, and it's based on a true story.

Ok, none of that is true, but that's how the film was marketed in the United States. That was the movie I thought I was sitting down to watch. This is not what the movie is about. The film is set in the 1960's on a boat anchored off the shore of England where a group of disk jockeys broadcast rock 'n roll and radio shows based around rock 24 hours a day. The reason they took it upon themselves to do this is because with the popularity of rock music booming at this time in history, the British media only dedicated less than an hour a day to playing the popular music. Well, at least I think that part is true. Who knows? Also, it is in fact not based on a true story other than the fact that rock was popular in the 60's and there was some boat that broadcast from the ocean. I'm not even sure if the real boat had broadcast rock. It could have been classical for all I know.

Real quick, take a look at the two different posters. In the American version (the one on the right) the whole Abby Road joke is lost because they wanted to cram the poster full of more shit to make it look more exciting. It's a shame.

Even though the American trailers depicted the film to be about American D.J. "The Count" played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, it's actually about all the DJs on the boat. Ok, that's a lie as well. The movie mostly follows "Young Carl" played by Tom Sturridge who was sent to live with his godfather (Bill Nighy from Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean) on the boat when he is kicked out of school. We meet all the DJs on the boat including Angus Nutsford (Rhys Darby from The Flight of the Conchords), and Doctor Dave (Nick Frost from Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Spaced).

The plot of the movie is that even though they are not breaking any laws, the British government is trying to find a way to shut down "Rock Radio" because rock 'n roll is always somehow "evil." I dunno. We watch as everytime the powers that be find a way to force Rock Radio off the air, they find a way to counter it and stay afloat. While all this is happening the egos on the boat clash and stuff. Just filler, really.

The real star of the film is the music. I mean, that's what the movie is really about. Rock 'n roll was just beginning and this motley crew of characters wanted to be sure that the general public got their fill. The soundtrack is amazing. Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, The Who, Procol Harum, the list goes on. I was quite pleased with the movie, although I don't believe it was well received by the public. The movie was funny, sweet, and all around entertaining. My only issue with "Pirate Radio" (if we can even call it that) is that it had to be "dumbed down" for America. Twenty minutes were also cut out of the American release of the film. From what I hear this was a choice by the director because British critics felt the film dragged on at times. Let's hope that the real reason the scenes were cut is not because there was a deeper plot that dumb country hick Americans just can't grasp, although, I'd mostly agree with that statement. Long live Rock 'n Roll!

Whip It, Whip it good

I realized with my film making blog that I really didn't have much to follow up on. I've actually spent more time watching movies and TV shows on Netflix lately than working on my screenplay. So why the hell not? Here's the first post on my unofficial (so nobody gets mad) Netflix blog.

Let me first say that I am in no way affiliated with Netflix. I just use their service to watch movies, and now, to review them.

The film on the stand tonight...

Whip It

Whip It is Drew Barrymore's big screen directorial debut. I have to admit that the idea of Drew Barrymore directing a movie kind of turned me off at first. Barrymore is one of the three hollywood hotties that I just hate. The other two are Drew's Charlie's Angels co-star Cameron Diaz, and Spiderman's Kirsten Dunst. I think the three are attractive, but when you see them in interviews they come off as annoying morons.

The Film stars Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar, a teen living in the small town of Bodeen Texas where her mom, obsessed with beauty pageants, forces Bliss to compete to live some kind of dream that Mrs. Cavendar had when she was a teen. The story is an old one where the teen hates the life that her parents are forcing her into then finds an alternative hobbie that they know their parents would not approve of. In this case, it's roller derby.

Ellen Page is another actress that turned me off at first. This is mostly because I absolutely hated the character she played in Juno. If I ever met that character in real life I wouldn't even make her a Facebook friend let alone follow her on Twitter. I didn't mind her in X-Men: The Last Stand probably because she wasn't a major character and there where several bigger problems with that movie and she was not one of them. Although, say what you will about X-Men 3, Kelsey Grammer was the PERFECT actor to cast as Beast.

 Back to the matter at hand. Whip It was enjoyable. The cast was great. The roller derby ladies were very enjoyable. Drew Barrymore's character made me laugh on several occasions, and Kristen Wiig was awesome as usual. It was especially nice to see Wiig playing a character that didn't seem like it was a wacky SNL character. Daniel Stern plays a dad that you kind of love, and for somebody who is not a big fan of Jimmy Fallon, I gotta say I actually liked him and found him rather funny in this one.

The movie is easy to relate to, hence the typical storyline. I have to say bravo to Drew Barrymore. With everything riding against her in my mind she really came through with this one and changed my opinion on her directing. I recommend you check this one out. It was an enjoyable watch and a good laugh without going completely over the top. Also, a quick mention for Alia Shawkat from Arrested Development who played Bliss's best friend in the movie. You gotta love her.