Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Legally Blondes

A lot has happened since the movie Legally Blonde was released in the mid-eighties. Since then there has been a hit broadway show, and two very successful* sequels, including the most recent straight-to-DVD Legally Blondes.

But one thing hasn't changed. Blondes everywhere are still constantly complaining that their intelligence is being judged because of their hair color. 

I decided to do a little investigative journalism to see if their claims are valid. I wore a blonde wig for a week to see if people would treat this blonde differently. 

Here's a record of what happened: 

8/2 - Bought a beautiful blonde wig that fits my head like a glove, but for my head. 

8/3 - Went to work today. Everyone wanted to know what was up with the wig. Decided I need to take my social experiment to a place where people don't already know I'm not a natural blonde. 

8/4 - Called in sick to work. Walked around town. People were looking at my hair, and giving me weird looks. I never realized how much blonde hair makes you stick out.

8/5 - Called in sick again. Spent the day trying to get a small business loan from Bank of America. In the end, I was unable to get the loan due to having "no references" and "no business plan." But I think it's really because of the golden mane on my head.

8/6 - Weird day. Found myself trapped on a desert island with a brunette, a redhead, and a magic lamp. The brunette and redhead wished themselves off the island. I wished them back onto the island.

8/7 - Got a message from work warning me to "stop abusing my sick days." I find it interesting that I didn't receive this warning back when I was abusing my sick days before I became blonde.

8/8 - One week has passed. With the experiment over, I went to return the wig to the wig shop. They refused to take it back on the grounds that it looked as though the wig had been "run over several times with a car." It had only been run over by a car twice, and a bicycle once.

The results of my week-long experiment speak are disturbing to say the least. It's a shame that our society at large remains so narrow-minded, even with progressive movies out there such as Legally Blondes.

*Successful in spirit

Monday, August 3, 2009

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Starring: Our brothers and sisters in uniform
Dir: Stephen Sommers
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

How to: Build your own Accelerator Suit

Let's face it. We all want Accelerator Suits, but getting into the army is tough. Between needing to not have been convicted of any felonies, and not being in a gay marriage or having previously been gay married or attempting to get gay married, it is a precious few of us that are eligible for consideration for the general infantry of the US Army. And that's not even counting all those ineligible simply because they currently have an infectious and contagious disease. There is a reason it's called "An Army of One” - there's like one person in the country who can meet these outrageous standards.

If you're like most of us, you've got at least one or two or three of the above items holding you back from joining the army. That's okay. The only reason anyone wants to get into the army these days is to get their hands on an Accelerator Suit (featured in the newly released movie
G.I. Joe). And now you don't need to join the army, because you can build your own Accelerator Suit by following my simple instructions.

First I would like to note that Accelerator Suits are the most dangerous kind of suit there is, with the possible exception of Poison Arrow Frog Suits. Any attempt to actually use this suit without proper G.I. Joe training would likely result in your dismemberment and death, and the dismemberment of your loved ones.

Please do not attempt to actually build this suit. Following these simple instructions will likely result in (even more) felonies for you and your loved ones, and the breaking of up to and including five international treaties. These impossibly simple instructions are for entertainment purposes only.

Should you attempt to build this suit despite my warnings, please do not make Youtube videos of it, and email the links to guy.who.reviews.movies@gmail.com, because I will not post them, as doing so could be construed as implicit encouragement of making these very dangerous, yet surprisingly easy to make suits.

NOTE: Due to a somewhat aggressive letter from General P_____ from the Pentagon, I have been "asked" to remove certain parts of Steps 2 and 3. If this bothers you as much as it should, please write to your local congressman.

Step 1
: You will need some baking soda and vinegar. You will also need about 1 kg of weapons-grade plutonium. If you can't procure weapons-grade plutonium, any sort of regular-grade plutonium should suffice and even "I Can't Believe it's Not Plutonium!" will work in a pinch.

Step 2: Take the ______________ in ______________. Be careful when ______________ no less than seven times.

Step 3: ______________ a cat. ______________ the ______________
sticky, along with the distinct smell of human ______________.

Step 4: Build and program an automatic data interchange system. This system should feature a standard repeating process loop. Alternatively, you can take an old computer and glue the computer chips to your suit. Duct tape will work if you don't have glue. Doritos will work if you don't have a computer.

Step 5: Put it to the test! Get on top of your house * and jump down**. If you built the suit correctly, you should be flying above your neighborhood by this time. If you didn't build your suit correctly, attempt to angle your body so that the fall from the roof kills you, because your exposure to the plutonium will likely result in a much more painful death.

*Don't do this.
**Definitely don't do this, and don't video tape it.

4 out of 5 stars, why not.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

G-Force

G-Force
Dir: Hoyt Yeatman
Starring: Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis
Runtime: 1 hr. 29 mins

Hello Chaps, Arthur here.

It was not my plan to have my first entry on the magic glowing paper throw my sanity into question. Something very peculiar happened while watching G-Force. I feel I must relate these events to you, even though in doing so I risk my reputation.
Since I know of no other way to prepare you, I shall simply tell you forthwith:

The hamsters were talking.

At first I thought I was imagining it. Someone off-screen had spoken, and the hamsters had appeared in such a way that my eyes and ears were deceived. But when it happened again and again, there was no mistaking. The hamsters were speaking.

Still I resisted the notion, my rational mind holding out for a further explanation against what my heart already knew was true. I reasoned that this must be some sort of untold magic, or perhaps a clever and very skilled ventriloquist.

But no man or witchcraft could hide the truth. The truth that spoke with the Queen's English; with syntax and inflection that would make the Bard himself jealous.

I looked around the theatre to see how others were handling this unfathomable occurrence, but their eyes were fixed on the screen, and their placid smiles spoke of nothing out of the ordinary.

How peculiar, I thought, for this crowd to take such an unbelievable phenomenon so easily. But all mysteries have answers, and the answer to this one came to me rather quickly. I must be the only one who could hear them.

I felt an overwhelming sense of importance and duty. Perhaps I am the only man in history with this gift. I had visions of bridging the gap between animal and man.

The hamsters told me many things that day, but sadly none of it worth repeating. They spoke the secrets of their people. Crude and degrading things. Fornication and eating children.

However, I did feel a union of minds with Agent Juarez, a seductive mistress of martial arts. Were she only human, and much older, and also a time traveler such as myself, I think I would have found my other half.

Alas, Arthur, alas.

4 out of 5 royal jewels

Monday, July 27, 2009

Welcoming Arthur Haypenny: Time Traveler, Blogger, Gentleman

Dear friends, please join me in welcoming to our century the esteemed Sir Arthur Haypenny III. He is a time traveler of no small renown, and is presently the only remaining subject of Her Majesty, the late Queen Victoria.

Sir Haypenny has traveled all the way from his native 19th century for no other reason than to assist me in reviewing movies (apparently he has traveled far into the future and discovered that this blog is somehow tied into our survival as a race, or something. It became increasingly difficult, past a certain point, to pay attention to his story).

In the short time he has been here, Arthur has already begun to assimilate to our futuristic way of life. He has taken residence on my couch, and has become quite familiar with the TV (he calls it the witch box), and ordering pizza on the telephone (he calls it the witch-talker). Other than screaming at the toaster, he’s a regular 21st century man... other than the fact he’s come from the past to save the future through a somewhat convoluted and questionable means.

Nevertheless, I'm certain that his 19th century commentary on the movies of today will provide us insight into our own lives, and blah blah blah.

Welcome Arthur.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Orphan

Orphan
Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Horror Movie Survival Tactics : Orphan

Sometimes all you need to do to survive is avoid making a monumentally stupid decision. For instance, in Orphan, right off the bat the parents make the critical mistake of adoption.

Never adopt anyone or anything. Nothing good can come of it. You can ask those little kids all the questions, run all the psychological tests on them, but at the end of the day, you don't know where they've been.

The lesson I'm trying to impart to you is: don't take shortcuts. Especially when it comes to making babies. At least when you make a baby from scratch, you know where that baby is every step of the way (except when you leave it in the car to buy groceries).

So you're set on adopting a child. Alright fine. At the very least, let's not adopt the creepiest looking kid in the entire orphanage. Avoid any children with extremely light or extremely dark features - for instance soul-penetrating blue eyes is a pass. The same goes for any child whose eyes are like staring into the cold, blackness of Death. Just go for someone in the middle, preferably with average to low intelligence.

Remember, you're looking for an average kid, who is not going to use its supernatural powers to open a gateway to Hell in your basement. Also, if the child has a British accent, skip it. Even if you're in the UK, you would do well to keep looking.

Finally, adopt a boy. I can't stress this enough. You're at least four times less likely to get a child born of Satan if its male. I'm not being sexist - I'm just telling you how it is.

Once you have the orphan living in your house, you must be wary of it at all times. Test your orphan to see if she has any uncanny abilities that portend witchery. When she's not looking at you, throw a stapler or something at her head. If she catches it at the last moment, there is a good chance she's got a demon or a ghost inside of her. If she just takes a hit with the stapler, it's a good sign to be sure, and you should apologize.

But at the same time, don't apologize too much. And don't let down your guard. She is probably just holding back her powers.

If you ever wake up to find her staring down at you, just reach out your arms and start strangling, and don't stop. Or at the very least, knock her unconscious, put her in the trunk of your car, and drive them both off a pier.

If for some incomprehensible reason you decide to allow the creepy staring to slide, be on your toes for anything. If she suddenly appears behind doors, or if you start hearing creepy music coming from nowhere, now is the time to run to the shed, grab the gasoline and the shotgun, and set your house on fire. Don't wait for something to actually happen. By that time, it will already be too late. Gasoline. House on fire. Now.

Stand at the front door with the shotgun, and shoot anything or anyone that comes out. This includes your "family." At this point there is at least a 60% chance that your family is under some sort of spell, or they are really actually her and she's a shapeshifter. And of course there is always a chance that they are zombies. Never discount the possibility of zombies.

After you watch the house burn to the ground, approach your car in a calm, controlled manner. Unload three or four rounds into the backseat. Don't even look in the backseat until you've done this. Then floor it. Drive until you find a junkyard with a car crusher. Leave your old car to be crushed, and get a new one. Keep driving until you've put at least a thousand miles between you and the ashes of your old life. At this time, you can start looking for a town where you can start over.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Christoper Lee
Dir: David Yates
Runtime: 2 hrs 33 mins

The latest Harry Potter movie takes a darker than usual turn, when it is revealed that the ever-fluctuating position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts has been filled this year by Satan (Christoper Lee), in what seems to be an exceptionally poor choice, even for for the Hogwarts adminstration.

Harry and his friends learn many new spells and rituals through the awesome power that Satan grants them. This is a marked difference from the books, wherein Satan plays a mere advisory role to the children, more of a father figure to the orphaned Harry.

Do yourself a favor and drop those extra three bucks for the 3D version. Seeing the snakes jump off the screen in the scene where the children sacrifice Hermione to their new teacher is really even better than the trailer makes it seem.

*SPOILER*

Religious parents, rest easy. Towards the end of the film, the Dark Lord Satan is revealed to be in cahoots with the Dark Lord Voldemort, who we all know is evil. In the end, Satan is killed by Harry. He is crucified upside down, and the children of Hogwarts drink his blood. Harry, mouth dripping with the blood of Lucifer, screams to the children: “Let this be a warning to all who betray me! I shall crucify you upside down and share your blood with my friends!”

It's refreshing when a children's movie is built upon a solid moral foundation. And this one is very clear: stay away from Satan, kids. Even though he'd give you awesome wizard powers, it's not worth it because he works for Voldemort and is evil.

5 out of 5 pentagrams.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Prayer to Optimus Prime

Please

let me
Transform
today

I would be
so much
More

if I could
just
Bore

Holes in the
wall with
a Ray

that comes
out of my
eyes

and melts
those I
despise

into a
pile
of clay