50fiftillidideeBrain

Mitch didn't have the relationship he thought he did. Now he's single. He'll need a new place, too. He finds a house, right next to the college, that a college prof had lived in for 30 years. His friend, Beanie (married with 2 kids), gets the inspirational idea to live vicariously through him. OS is a 2003 88-minute release that is rated 70/86 on RT & 7 on IMDB.

Living vicariously through Mitch means setting up a fraternity. They aren't prejudiced about it: Anyone can join, whether attending college or not. Their oldest pledge is 89 year old Blue, a navy vet. Luke Wilson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde) is Mitch. He was a cool kid in HS, but that was a while ago. Now, he's just a good dude. Will Ferrell (Elf, Anchorman, Zoolander-8.8) is Frank; Frank the Tank. Vince Vaughn (Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers) portrays the corrupting Beanie. Jeremy Piven (Entourage) plays Dean Pritchard, one of their old targets in a past life. ("Didn't we lock you in a dumpster?" "I got out."). Ellen Pompeo (Catch Me if You Can, Daredevil) plays Nicole, Mitch's new ~and old~ love interest. Juliette Lewis (Strange Days, Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers) is Heidi, the one that got away from Mitch. She might be drifting towards Hank, but this gurl won't be settling down any time soon. Snoop Dogg appears as himself, as does James Carvell. Andy Dick... he's Garry... just watch for yourself to find out. Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Joker) is the director and the screenwriter is Scott Armstrong (The Heartbreak Kid).

They made a big mess. The school brass hates them, and they get the 9 actual students of their frathouse expelled. They have to get the fraternity approved by way of a comprehensive review in the categories of debate, athletics, academics, school spirit, and community service. Fortunately, they aren't too proud to cheat, because that's what the school's doing. They brought in Carvell as their debate opponent. The guys wiped the floor with him.

After all this time, the film is still insanely hilarious. From the time that we saw this, over 20 years ago, until the time Bed Bath & Beyond went out of business (a tragedy) we didn't call it Bed Bath & Beyond; we called it "Bed Bath & Beyond - if we have time." Yep, they skewer middle class living and refer to several chain stores & restaurants- the chains that bind us in perpetual mediocrity. Sean William Scott (American Pie, Dude, Where's My Car?) has a cameo with one of the best, worst mullets. He's an animal handler. While talking to him, Will Ferrell accidentally shoots himself with a tranquilizer gun. The scene, and this film are still ROTFL worthy.

QUOTES🗣

Walk it off, big guy.

You're my boy, Blue!

He looked GLORIOUS.

IMHO〰🖍

📣8 📝7.7 🎭8 💓5 🦋4 🎨7 🎵/🔊7 🔚8 🤗7 ▪ 🌞5⚡4.5 😅7.8 😭2 😱2 😯2 🤢1 🤔3 💤0

Age 18+ Language, sexual content, Bare butts, felacio classes. Rated R - restricted

Re-📺? That's a personal decision 😝

Jeju is Kcountry's Hawaii. It's where e'erbody wants to vacation. OB is an ensemble piece that is much like a vacation (or a series of daytrips, perhaps) w/ several of the characters. We visit them separately, but it all blends together.

Imagine growing up in touristy Hicksville. It's the sort of place where a poor kid might bring a piglet onto the bus, but there's a smattering of rich kids in the mix to mock the poor child. Surrounded by small-minded Hicksville, if one is smart, one might get to escape. We're describing Hansu. The kid w/ the piglet was his first gf. He went to the big city, attended a top university & landed a job in the financial industry. Things didn't stay afloat, though. They stalled, sputtered, & started to die out. After agonizing yrs on the skids he must crawl back home, where he learns that his uneducated, 🐷-loving, 🐟-monger ex is 🏊 in money from slowly buying up small shops & collecting rent. Kids, none of you think you'll hit hard times. Most kids anticipate good things. Just treat everyone w/ respect & never get too cocky - just in case.

As the show starts, we drop in at the 🐟market on Jeju Island. A group of local women & two men go out on a boat for the day's catch. One of the women draws the ire of the others. 💭Should we fire her? 💭She flirts w/ everyone. 💭Everything she says is a lie, too! That's what the women are thinking. Cut to the men: 'What would you think💭 if I went out w/ her?' One is asking the other. Does anyone else find the worldwide consistency of human nature reassuring? OB is a 2022 release that is rated 88 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 20 55-minute episodes, & it's competent from the start.

It centers around the local fish industry, particularly the Haenyeo (female divers of Jeju Island). Per Wiki: Haenyeo (or haenyo - "sea women") "are female divers in the 🇰🇷 province of Jeju, whose livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, & other sea life from the ocean. Known for their independent spirit, iron will & determination, haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju... Traditionally, girls started training as haenyeo when they were 11 yrs old... After about seven yrs of training, a girl was considered a "full-fledged" haenyeo. Today, the oldest haenyeo are over 80 yrs old... Because so many families relied on the haenyeo for the majority of their income, a semi-matriarchal society developed on Jeju w/ the haenyeo at the head of the household... Other manifestations of Jeju's unique society include men paying a dowry to the family of the bride (a reversal of the custom on the 🇰🇷 mainland) & families celebrating the birth of girls over the birth of boys." These are some baaaad broads.

The filming is competence all day long. One shot of the sun breaking through onto the water from a moving boat is gorgeous. We rotate from the adults in the present to the kids of the past, showing the community's circle of life. They also cycle kids from the present into the rotation to create the feel that time will churn on. In one shot, a man doesn't merely remember his old self jumping in the ocean while in street clothes, he floats next to a vision of his former teenaged self. It's an exceptionally well done scene. A typhoon is coming. It coincides w/ the time a teen boy must tell his father that he got the daughter of dad's archenemy pregnant! There's adorable animation effects to represent a kid's dream. 'Could I love a liar?' A man wonders this as he writes those words on the glass. She calls him & asks if he misses her? We look at him, through the glass, through those words. "I do," he says. The OST is VG. Once Again, by WINTER & NINGNING is a great song, as is Who am I, by Kim Ji Soo.

Here who we're dealing w/:

Jung "Eun"-Hui & Choi Han-Su: Cha Seung-Won is Han-Su, a Jeju Island native who has to come crawling back from Seoul. When we meet him, we can see that he's a guy used to holding in pain. I've only seen him in Korean Odyssey-7.2, in which he plays Devil King, the consummate egotist. He commands that show. In OB, when his HS friend is complimenting him on growing up well, his look of ruffled discomfort along w/ deep sorrow is arresting. Seeing him as a defeated man in ep1 delights me b/c it showcases his range of talent. His acting only gets better. The great Lee Jung-Eun stars as Eun. She has, at times, taken my breath away w/ her skill. She plays a middle-aged spinster fishmonger who meets up w/ her first love again.

"Min" Seon-A & Lee "Dong"-Seok: To his mother: "What is your favorite memory?" "Right now," she claims. She doesn't look particularly happy, though. He's played by Lee Byung-Hun, who is sort of a legend. It's strange to see Eugene Choi from Mr. Sunshine-9 or Squid Game's Front Man cutting loose & dancing, I must say. (And he can smile! Who knew?) The luminous Shin Min-A plays Min Seon-A, a Jeju native turned Seoul-cialite who must flee back to Jeju once in awhile. She improves every feature she appears in. She actually has carried some shows on those narrow shoulders. Whenever she returns, Dong is turned inside-out.

Park Jeong-Jun & Lee Yeong-"Ok": Kim Woo-Bin is in the show as one of the fishermen, Jeong-Jun. He plays Choi Young Do in Heirs/The Inheritors. Not everyone loves that show but my vote is that it's worth watching for him alone. He steals it. He is fantastic in OB. He's simply got the goods. Ok (Han Ji-Min) is new in town & she's a gorgeous, flighty flirt. The women despise her, while the men don't seem to notice her deficiencies.

Bang Yeong-Ju & Jung Hyeon: Two HS students, whose fathers despise e/o. Each knows /exactly/ how to get back at dad. She has a particularly strong presence. As is typical, all the kid actors are exceptional (especially Kim Jae-Won as the young Hansu - well - swoon on me! - & Ki So-Yu as Son Eun-Gi is outstanding). There's a superfluity of kids in the flashbacks, so we get a good look at the stars of tomorrow. There's also an epic teens' first kiss. "Epic" extends to the later fallout.

One couple talks about parents. She's fighting depression, & her father had committed suicide. Now, she's in the middle of a custody battle for her son. She talks about how she explained to her son, who is afraid of the dark, that her sickness makes her feel like she's in the dark even during the day. Even when there's other people around, she's always alone in the dark. As for the man, his relationship w/ his mother has stalled for yrs. "I wonder if my mother ever loved me as much as you love your son," he queries. The woman begins a poignant soliloquy. Did her dad love her? If so, how could he leave her? She realizes that life must have been incredibly difficult for him. Then she was flooded w/ resentment. Why didn't he tell me? I could have given him a hug! He should have told me he was struggling! I would have tried to make him smile. Soon, she starts to blame herself: She didn't /ask/ how he was. She never asked what was giving him such a hard time... She has regrets. {In the form of a PSA, unthinkable, absolutely unbearable pain is one cause of suicide, though it is not the right option. Also, consider the potential effect of prescription medications on yourself or a loved one, b/c your doctors probably won't. Prescription drugs almost killed me & my doctors sat back & yawned as they observed. I don't think they are trained to even think about side effects, which are apt to worsen over time.}

Dong brings his mother to where he's staying & Min is there w/ her son. Mom, who was forced to be a man's mistress & put up w/ substandard treatment of her son in order to survive, looks at young Yeol & knows that her son, Dong, will do better. The full range of emotions displayed by actress Kim Hye-Ja as she takes in woman & child, is magnificent. Everyone raves about Parasite-9, understandably so, but I like Ms Kim in Mother-8.8, also by director Bong Joon Ho, even more.

Two old friends address a very old rift. 'Had you been completely loyal you would have confronted me & said that you were hurt, just like you're doing right now. And if I didn't acknowledge my mistake & refused to apologize, you should have tore my hair out... That's what a loyal friend would have done... what kind of loyal friend holds a grudge like a stranger would?'

People are just a bunch of piranhas & peckerfish, afterall. Gossip (and, by extension, toxic pride) are themes, as is the weight of caring for someone w/ special needs. Caring for someone w/ special needs would be much easier w/out all the staring & nastiness. It's a human impulse to stare at something different - something extraordinarily beautiful, ugly, malformed - something or someone unique. Maturity is learning to be unselfish, & to be unselfish, we must have empathy. "I bet they even keep count of their neighbor's underwear." Small town gossip & general nosiness is on display. A fish marketeer scolds Eun: "You shouldn't be hanging around w/ a married man!❗ ...Have you eaten yet? Do you want to get some breakfast?" Of course, /he's/ married, too. The locals consider the wealthy Eun their own property. Anyone like Han-Su sniffing around could endanger her available funds. This leads into another theme···

The problem of 💰 in relationships is addressed. All of Eun's relationships are tarnished by the fact that she has money. Rich people see giving away money as a loss. Yet our subconscious prompts us to treat these types special in hopes that something will rub off. A friend of mine says that rich people will screw you over "b/c they can." We get led away by what we want. The key is to not want much - be content. Take every person on their own merits.

And dive into OB! It's that vacation you never want to end.

Q📢 There's no way to satisfy everyone.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝8.2 🎭9 💓7 🦋5 🌞7 🎨6 ⚡4 🎵/🔊7 😅3 😭4.5 😱2 😯3 😖1 🤔4 💤2 🔚9.

From the first frame and the first note, the opening ROX, thanks to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Edgar Wright was apparently listening to that album obsessively and credits it with some of the inspiration for BD. That's what's really strange about talented people. Over 62M people have listened to Bellbottoms on Spoti, but only 1 man found a bad@$$ movie in it. BD is a 2017 113-minute release that is rated 92/86 on RT & 7.5 on IMDB.

Ansel Elgort (West Side Story, The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent) is Baby. He's no Jason Statham, but he is The Transporter. He's young, and he's STILL the BEST getaway man. If you can't get away from a job safely, what's the point? Baby might be obsessed with cars in a dark way because his parents died in a car accident when he was young. He survived, but he has tinnitus (for you word geeks out there it's acceptable to pronounce that word as either "tin' a tus" or "tin i' tus"). His ears ring constantly with no let up. It can drive a person mad. That's why Baby is always jamming in his headphones. The film's soundtrack is... It's OST heaven: Easy by The Commodores; apparently, Elgort lip synced this as part of his video audition and Edgar Wright was sold on him from just that. He liked it so much that he added the tune to the soundtrack. We also have Debra by Beck; Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up by Barry White; Bellbottoms by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion; Harlem Shuffle by Bob & Earl; B-A-B-Y by Carla Thomas; Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms) by Detroit Emeralds; and Easy by Sky Ferreira. There's more. It's odd how few directors have an appreciation for music.

Kevin Spacey (Seven-9, The Usual Suspects, American Beauty) is Doc. Doc controls Baby and keeps him working dangerous jobs; Baby is not free. Baby wants to be free, though. Free of Doc, and he will be, as soon as his debt is paid. That's something Doc would sincerely not understand. He's over the top and his character is, arguably, the weakest link in the film. They should have better established how scary he's supposed to be and made him less fawning towards Baby. Some of that off-key behavior can be attributed to Doc, pretty much, being a paper-cutout doll from the 1950's. Looking at him through that lens does put things more in focus. Edgar Wright is too attentive to detail for Spacey to appear that way by accident. I think I get it.

Birth-Movies-Death asked the question of Edgar Wright: "Does Doc care about Baby?... Edgar Wright: He does care about him in a paternalistic way, but on the flip side, he doesn't like being told no. So it is that thing, when he comes to the restaurant and offers him this new gig, he thinks it's a cool thing! He's like, you're gonna make some money because you're very talented. When Baby says no, Doc acts like a spurned lover. He gets very vicious very quickly, but I think he says it in his first line, "He's a good kid and a devil behind the wheel", and I think he believes that. He knows he's a good kid, so there's an element where he is corrupting him, but deep down he knows he's a good kid. So, it was something where I think that's the duality of it, he does have an ounce of compassion for him, but he does not like hearing the word no, and then he takes that very badly when Baby rejects him at one point." So Doc's self-involved. A narcissist? Probably. It's not Iike that's rare, these days.

Lily James (Cinderella, Yesterday, The Iron Claw, Downton Abbey) plays Debora, a waitress and Baby's love interest. Jon Hamm (Top Gun: Maverick-7.7) is the terrifying Buddy. Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Marvel's The Punisher, The Bear-8.8) is Griff. Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained, Just Mercy, They Cloned Tyrone) plays Bats. Eiza González (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, 3 Body Problem-6.9) is Darling. Edgar Wright, who brought us Shaun of the Dead, The Sparks Brothers, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Ant-Man is the writer and director.

Baby repaid his debt to Doc and began delivering pizzas. Doc has an idea for a big heist. He has his crew, but he needs a driver. He's truly shocked when Baby turns him down. He's accustomed to getting his way. When he doesn't, the nice-guy-act evaporates and he coerces Baby into this shady-baby job. Everything goes sideways, and Baby and Debora find themselves in a harrowing struggle to make it out alive.

The plot is fine. It's adrenaline fueled. But the strength of the film is in the vibe - the way it makes the viewer feel. It's so retro. It's got the 50's vibe, the 60's vibe, and the 70's vibe, with a dash of Tarantino to boot. Then the action explodes. There's plenty of awesome driving, chases, stunts, and other thrills. The show is actually pretty dang funny. "Who doesn't like hats?" Doc wants to know. We'll, shucks, I never thought about it, but he's on solid pavement with that one 😏.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝8 🎭8.5 💓6 🦋5 🎨7 🎵/🔊9 🔚8 ▪ 🌞5 ⚡8.3 😅6 😭4 😱4 😯4 🤢4 🤔5 💤0

Age 17+ Language and violence. Rated R - restricted;

Re-📺? Mos def.