As my friend said “Toilet: New Poo”

So it is 11:57pm on Monday November 23 and I have done nothing with my day. I hate feeling sick. It robs me of everything that makes me me; my energy, creativity, willingness to do stuff. And because of this I have now not been outside in 6 days. I think I am developing cabin fever from being inside for so long. People have noticed that my ramblings have gotten stranger and stranger. My friend said something about going nuts and I responded by saying something along the lines of take those nuts and making peanut butter, then making a sandwich, and then eating it. What does that even mean? Is it like the lemons/lemonade thing? I mean how do you make crazy better? Make peanut butter? What? I say instead of going nuts just pull out the GPS and go somewhere else.

Anyways, because I haven’t been out of the house it also means I didn’t get to see a new movie. If something good came out I probably would have sucked it up and forced myself to face the masses but there was nothing out that I really wanted to see that I hadn’t seen already. Most of the time I would have gone and wasted my money on some crap anyways just so I could see something new. But that was just not going to happen. It is all because the new Twilight movie came out. I was not about to brave the horde of rabid teenagers to see some crap I was not into in my weakened state. I really don’t understand what the big deal about that stuff is. I mean I have seen the ads and the “actors” (the term is used very loosly). I mean hairless werewolves, drugged vampires, and sleepy damsels. No, not so much. But one good thing came out of it. My friends Facebook status “Twilight: New Moon… more like Toilet: New Poo!”

But one good thing about not being paid to review movies is that I don’t have to torture myself with movies like Twilight even though I seem to enjoy torturing myself cuz I have been paying to watch some serious crap. Mind you if I was getting paid to look at Twilight it may make it easier to take. I just thought of a couple of very inappropriate similes that I am not going to share. I will tell you that they are very amusing.

But being home all day and night has given me a chance to watch a few movies on my own. Most of them are ones I have seen before. There was an Alien movie marathon the other night and I watched 2 and half of them. If you must know I watched all of 2 and 3. I would have watched 1 but I didn’t know it was on and I only caught the end. Then when 4 started I watched a few minutes and noticed Can’t Hardly Wait was on and I couldn’t resist. On another night I watched I Love You, Man and Accepted. Then I tried to watch a copy of Ponyo which I had never seen. But the English subtitles weren’t working. And I fully watched a good half hour of it in Japanese hoping that it would magically start working. I grudgingly turned it off when I knew it was futile (I always think of Locutus when that word comes up). All I know is that movie is pretty so far.

But one new, to me, movie I did watch was The Wackness. The movie original came out in 2008 and did the rounds at the festivals followed by limited release in theatres. I had always heard good things about it and it seemed like it would be something interesting. And I have to say it was. I don’t think it was a perfect movie or truly prolific or anything but it makes you think and remember and in a way it’s nostalgic.

The movie takes place during the summer of 1994 in New York, hip hop and rap is mainstream, groups like the Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest are being heard, Biggie is just breaking into the scene and there is a heat wave. Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) has just graduated from high school. He is disillusioned, an out cast, a drug-dealer, and lost in the beat. One of his clients is also his therapist and only friend, Dr. Jeffery Squires (Ben Kingsley). Luke is in love with Dr. Squires stepdaughter Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby). As the summer progresses their lives become more intertwined.

The Wackness has a mood, a feel, that is intriguing. It is a combination of the music that puts you in a head-nod-trance and the direction of the film. I find this movie a difficult movie to critique. I seem to be on the fence about it. The acting is good, the script is good but pretentious at points, the soundtrack is awesome, and the overall look of the movie is great. I could tell the director was trying something a little different. And there is an interesting supporting cast including Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Jane Adams, and Method Man. At the end of the movie I wasn’t satisfied. I felt unfulfilled like they missed something. Something was supposed to happen that didn’t. Don’t ask me what it should be cuz I have no idea. A lot happens throughout the film but for me it just wasn’t enough.

I have to say overall I like The Wackness and it is definitely worth a try. The music alone is enough to warrant a thumbs up for this movie. I said “I haven’t heard this in forever” numerous times and just boppin’ along. The story is complex, interesting, sad and sweet all at the same time. For some people it may be too slow. There isn’t a lot of “action” but there is a balance between character exchanges and musical segues.

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