21 Jump Street

*** (out of ****)

Since the podcast was not able to properly review 21 Jump Street I believe it is my duty to review said movie. In the meantime let’s have a moment of silence for our fallen podcast…

Just a quick moment

 Based on an old TV show with Johnny Depp and Richard Grieko, 21 Jump Street is a hilarious look at high school in 2012 and how fucked up kids have become. High school is whole new monster from the last time you stepped foot in it, now with Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr and Reddit, kids have plenty more to deal with since I went to school, I only had to deal with Myspace. 21 Jump Street takes two twenty something cop buddies and places them as seniors in high school looking to get leads on a new synthetic drug on the market. Throughout the movie Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, rivals in high school who become friends when they just happen to both join the police academy at the same time, switch the traditional roles they once played in high school, while Hill was a nerd he becomes the cool kid and while Tatum was a jock he becomes a nerd. They eventually track down the drug ring with hilarity ensuing in the process.

21 Jump Street is a movie that everyone can relate to, unless you’re some back water hick, or a super sheltered home schooled child but then neither group would be seeing this movie anyway, we all remember that high school sucked and are thoroughly happy to be out in the real world, where were not tormented because we enjoy nerdy sci-fi movies, or play the latest board game. And if you are sad that high school is over, then you probably have peaked in your own life, and should be asking me “would you like fries with that?” instead of talking to me about this movie. This movie allows us to go into the realm of high school and look into what is was like, because no matter how many new gadgets there are or who number one on the pop charts, high school was a popularity contest for every generation and we can all relate to that.

I looked up high school in the 80’s, this is what i found… maybe we can’t all relate…

The best part about the movie has to be Tatum and Hill, surprisingly make an amazing duo. Whatever producer thought, “hey let’s take the fat kid from Superbad, and the stupid one from GI Joe and put them in an 80’s drama that literally nobody watched” is a fucking genius. They have the combination that just makes for the perfect duo, Tatum sweet but stupid demeanor and Hill’s funny but slightly desperate looks make it feel like they were meant to be together.  Plus both of their acting was top notch, which is surprising because up to this point I haven’t seen a movie of Channing Tatum’s that I’ve liked and I even saw The Vow.

Its just like this movie, but with more drugs and explosions

One thing that was never fully realized was the love interest in the movie; Jonah Hill falls begins to fall in love with one of the cool girls, played by Brie Larson. First of all how wrong is it to have a 23/23 year old guy falling in love with at best an 18 year old high school student? The very implications of this idea are shady at best, super creepy at worst. It’s one of those things within the movie that pull you out of the world they’re putting in front of you and makes you go “Ok this is weird if it really is true and if it’s not true then this relationship is still super fucking weird.” One thing you cannot do in a movie is have a relationship that is not legal, and I know it’s that I’m harping on the one thing in the movie that sort of makes sense, not the senseless drug and alcohol references or the gang murders or anything else in the movie. Come on Hollywood, give me a relationship that I can root for in a movie, not something that every time I want to see their relationship blossom I feel like a perverted old man.

this is how i feel thinking about their relationship

Despite the minor setbacks of the movie, 21 Jump Street is an all-around hilarious run through the workings of high school students, drug trafficking, and gang relations. The movie allows us to look back at ourselves and see how we acted in similar situations, because not matter how you slice it high school was high school, and every generation was screwed up because of it. WA

Mirror Mirror

** (out of ****)

With an influx of Snow White movies why should you see Mirror Mirror? First of all no Kristen Stuart, and if that doesn’t make you want to pop it in your DVD player right now, Julia Roberts play the evil Queen like it should have been played snarky and very cynical with a mouth to match. While Charlize Theron may have looks over her counterpart of Julia Roberts, Roberts brings something special to the role, something new and exciting that hadn’t been done with any remake of Snow White, including Once Upon a Time I might add. Mirror Mirror also took a lighter spin on the Snow White fairy tale, and added a Bollywood feel to it. The movie felt quaint and humorous, not at all dark or depressing, witty and fun while Snow White and the Huntsman took a much darker route. Add a Bollywood dance ending and you have a perfect little movie. Don’t get me wrong there was very little character development, and the story only seemed to be held together by the by the fairy tale it was supposed to be telling, where if something didn’t make sense it almost felt like the movie shrugged and went “well you know the story right?” Definitely a watch, but don’t necessarily add it to your collecti