Pop Culture Rehab

The Los Angeles Film School had an advanced screening of Johnathan Levine's "The Wackness" on Monday. Levine was there to answer a couple of questions after the show.

First of all I have to say that I'm a sucker for drug stories, Biggie, and independent movies so my review might be a little bias.

"The Wackness" is about a guy named Luke Shapiro who has just graduated from high school in New York. The film takes place during the summer of 1994.

Luke (Josh Peck) is an introvert. The first scene of the movie shows Luke in his psychiatrist's office . The Psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley) asks Lukewhat is the matter and Luke answers that he needs to get laid. Luke doesn't pay him cash instead he trades 48 minutes of therapy for an eighth of marijuana.

Luke begins to loosen up when he starts a romance with his psychiatrist's daughter Stephanie ( Olivia Thrilby). Stephanie represents a whole new beginning for Luke since she is one of the popular girls while he is described as "the most popular of the unpopular", this is his chance to become known.

Kingsley's character is very funny as the old psychiatrist who is just as messed up as his patients. Peck and Kingsley do a great job of carrying the film. Luke and his psychiatrist become friends, they start partying and selling drugs together. The movie is very funny every joke worked the audience laughed at all of them.One of the funniest lines from the movie is when Kingsley's character makes a Goldie Locks reference.

The music in the film is great. Hip hop heads who know their history recognize 1994 as the golden age of hip-hop and the film reflects that. The soundtrack includes Nas, Krs-One, Raekwon and Biggie, Percy (Method Man) mentions who dope this new "Ready to Die" album is.

I definitely recommend this movie. It's a great date movie. For the guys the drugs hustling and hip-hop for, the girls the love story and drama.

After the show Levine mentioned how he was an intern for Paul Schrader, he said that "The Wackness" is not a stoner movie and isn't passing judgement either. Levine is now in the process of adapting a book that deals with a C.I.A agent that has to fly fly all over the world doing hits.

Levine has two great movies under his belt now. I definitely have my eyes on this guy.

Labels: Early review, Jonathan Levine, Josh Peck, The Wackness

Spike Lee's next movie is going to be an adaptation of Ronald Mallett's memoir Time Travelor:A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality. Mallet's story is about how he grew up to be one of the first African Americans to get a Ph.D in theoretical physics. When he was 10 years old Mallett's father passed, since then it became his life's mission to design a time machine, like one that he had seen in comic book, so he could go back in time to save his dad. I doubt that there will be any actual time travel since the real scientist hasn't gone back in time.

By the way here's the trailer for Spike's upcoming completed war film. It looks good. Check it.

Labels: adaptation, miracle at st. anna

Wanna see what two face looks like? No? Yeah me neither. I don't want to spoil anything else for myself. I feel like I have seen just the right amount. I think if I actually see what two face looks like I won't enjoy the movie as much. But that doesn't mean that you can't ruin it for yourself here's the link

Labels: harvey dent, joker, the dark knight, trailer, two-face

I actually saw the short "Jay & Seth vs. The Apocalypse" a little while ago. The short film is now actually going to be made.

You have seen him help his friend lose his virginity. You have seen him knock up a girl. Now you can see trying to survive the end of the world.

Seth Rogen is going to star along side Jay Baruchel the guy with the cum target (canadian leaf) on his chest from "Knocked Up".

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote this script and are producing.

Labels: end of the world, jay baruchel, seth rogen

I first saw Tony Jaa doing his thing in Ong-Bak. I was at this anime store in Sherman Oaks at a place called "Toy Mandala" an awesome store where they also import anime and eastern cinema. So the guy behind the counter was like "hey you wanna see something really cool?" "Hell yeah" I answered, so he puts in this dvd where I see this guy doing crazy stunts like running on top of peoples heads, doing backflips and sliding under cars. It was so crazy that I thought it was going to suck.

Then Ong-Bak was distributed here in america and people went nuts over it. I was like "hey thats the movie I saw at the little shop."

Tony Jaa is back. This morning Twitch film released some footage of Ong-Bak 2. The new movie has no connection to the previous film. They say its about a boy who is going to be sacrificed but is rescued by a group of martial artists. They raise him with the goal to teach him all their styles so he can synthesize them into the ultimate technique. Check it.

Remember that Jaa doesn't use wires or CGI this dude is the truth.

Labels: martial arts, ong-bak, tony jaa

Oh man check these videos out. I just got finished watching these and I almost felt a tear drop. I'm having a memory high right now . If I ever suffer from amnesia and forget everything please show me these videos because I will surely remember who I am.





Then I grew up a little (got cable)and started watching Nickelodeon at a time that is refered to as its golden age.











Here's an interesting video for me because I was born in the late 80's so I missed most of these shows, but it's still cool to see what people who are in their 30's watched growing up.

Labels: 80's, 90's, classic cartoons, memory

Directors are taking a page from the rap game; they are starting rivalries. Spike Lee made a comment a little while back about how there are no black folks in Clint Eastwood's recent war films. Eastwood responded by saying that Spike should "shut his face"

Then Spike said that this "was not a plantation" so he wouldn't shut his mouth.

I know as a minority a person becomes hyper sensitive to racisim so much so that you can become nit-picky. I have a feeling Spike would agree to being hyper-sensitive, but I doubt Eastwood would consciously be trying to diss blacks or any other race. He may very well be a racist at home but being racist in public is just not cool to show anymore.

I remember awhile back Spike went at Tarantino for using the word nigger so much in Pulp Fiction. On a Charlie Rose episode Tarantino responded that as a writer he has the right to write whatever he wants as long as it was truthfully, growing up he knew people who spoke that way he told Charlie Rose. They have since then resolved their differences Tarantino even made a cameo in Spike's movie Girl 6


This is the poster for Spike's next film. The story is about four black soldiers during WWII that are left behind when one of them saves a small Italian boy.

Labels: clint eastwood, miracle at st. anna, spike lee