Paul

Paul

By: Nicolette Karter

        This was really funny. Yes stupid at times, but overall it was less stupid & more funny than I thought it would be before watching it. Not to mention everyone in it is hilarious

First off, I love Seth Rogen’s voice & he did the voiceover work for the CGI alien, named Paul. He meets these two British tourists (Simon Pegg & Nick Frost) visiting America for Comic-con & a supernatural-infested road trip (with stops like Area 51, a spaceship landing site, etc…). So when they meet Paul (after one of the guys fainted), they hit it off & agreed to help the alien go home.

On the way, they encounter Kristen Wiig’s religious Ruth, who gets healed & educated by Paul after kind of being taken by the British duo. As the funny gang head to where Paul can hitch a ride back home, they have to run from Jason Bateman (playing Agent Zoil), who leads the charge of Bill Hader (Haggard) & Joe Lo Truglio (O’Rielly) whose jobs it is to chase down & catch the fugitive alien (he escaped where the government was doing tests on him, which is frowned upon). Not to mention Ruth’s uber-religious & dedicated father who doesn’t like the fact that his daughter was corrupted & stolen by an alien. So they are having a wonderful day.

        Despite some obstacles, they have a good time & entertain the audience in the meantime. Seth Rogen isn’t known for his clean, family-friendly humor, so expect the same type of jokes as Knocked Up, with vulgar language, and hilarity that will make you blush if you laugh then remember your mom or little brother or a stranger is right next to you. And although they only just met, everyone becomes really close friends, which leads me to a tangent:

I know there are time constraints with movies, & realistically, if I were to be in a running-from-the-government-to-save-an-enlightening-yet-also-blush-inducing-alien-in-what-could-(and does)-turn-into-life-threatening-scenarios, I would probably make friends pretty quick, but in almost every movie that has situations like this, people all end up friends. Even if they weren’t instantly buddy-buddy, by the end of the film, most people will owe each other their lives, or at the very least a “thank you”. Not that I’m saying people shouldn’t be friends, and it makes sense that you would understand each other in circumstances that require people to show their true colors more than an average meeting for coffee type of day. I just don’t like how in most movies like this, people becomes best friends so quickly & easily, especially when there isn’t a lot of friction (and even more so when opposites-like a “Jesus Rules” lady & and alien-are suddenly thrust together. I’ll (somehow) talk more about it in my The Avengers review. But I digress.

So, there are several car chases (although Paul & Co. were in an RV, so I’m not sure if that counts as a car chase or not, but whatever) and jokes along the way, but the group still ends up at Paul’s crash site. Unfortunately, the people chasing them also get to the same place, and this is where the climax of the movie happens. And, despite any & all touching moments, it still ends on a funny note. I like how it shows the hilarious, spot-on awkwardness of the situation that happens right after the climax (sorry for the illiteracy, I jut don’t want to give anything away.)

Well, unless you hate probing jokes, I would recommend you watch this movie, because it’s really funny. What did those of you who watched it think? And, off-topic, please tell me what movie you would like for me to review next. I’d be more than happy to do that/them for you.

The Voice

Methed-out Santas, My Top 6, and Christina Aguilera.
The Voice
By Valyrie Mia Stone

Hey guys! I haven't talked about The Voice since the Blinds, so I thought I'd bring it back up. The Finals are next week (exciting!) and I have to say, I am really dissapointed in the final 3. I mean, I expressed my dislike for Nicholas Davis from the very begining, and I stand by my statement-

Speaking of “wow”, there was Nicholas David. First off, I automatically don’t like people with 2 first names. Second, he looks like a methed-out Santa. I was like, wow, anyone this weird must be able to sing. Nope. All the back-ally-behind-a-Toys-R-Us-drug-dealer with none of the talent.

He was the only one of the top three that I ended up posting about because, honestly, I didn't think the other two were memorable enough to make it past the battle rounds. I only talked about him becasue I had something kinda funny to say. So I'll say it now.

Terry McDermot is only this successful because of his adorable child. What, did I offend you? Well, sorry, but it's true. Now, listen, he's good. But he isn't a star. He would have been super popular in the '90s. He's got good pitch and makes you really enjoy yourself, but not in a god-this-person-is-talented-Adele-kind-of-way, but in a what-a-good-song-kind-of-way. He's getting votes because he seems like such a good father and he's got a cool accent, not because he's a star.

Cassadee Pope is good. I don't have a joke here, I simply misjudged her from the begining. I didn't think she was that great, and I hate it when people who already had a band or some kind of stepping stone goes on a show like this, but she really is talented. But she doesn't deserve to be in the top 3.

"So who does?" you ask me. Well, I'm glad you asked. Here is my top 6, and subsequently my top 3 (in order from 6th place,  unless otherwise specified)

Cody Belew-
          Now, he wasn’t the best person on this, but first off, he’s just so entertaining that I don’t care and second, he needs to do a duet with Melanie “I-love-you-so-much” Martinez. Seriously, the fourth best performance was “Rhythm of Love”, mostly because of the harmony between these two.

Tie!- MarrissaAnn and Paulina
          Now, some of you may be asking, “who are they?”. Well, they didn’t make it very far, but I see potential. 5^th place potential, but still, I’d just like to see what they can do.

Michaela Paige
          I had some trouble deciding where to put her, she’s good enough for the top 3, but not quite as ready as the others. But I still see her putting out music later in life.


Chevonne
          I love her. Not only is she talented, but she is a star. I love her and she had better make an album at some point and prove the Voice wrong (she didn’t even make it to the Live shows!). I’m looking forward to you, honey. Also, I put Titanium as her video, and Avery was also talented. Pretend I put him in with MarrissaAnn and Paulina. But the comments in this video are so mean to Chevonne! And I like mean! But they were so hurtful and rude, I just wanted to hit them in the head with a tennis racket and rush Chevonne to a recording studio. (My computer started getting wierd, so I had to put the remainder of the videos way below. I don't understand this computer.)              


1^st Place!- Amanda Brown
          You may be wondering why I am putting 1^st place before 2^nd. Well, that’s because I wanted to finish with Melanie, but I want her to come in second place. That way, she can get a record deal outside of the constrictions of winning a competition. She can have more creative control. Anyway, Amanda is so good. Here’s proof (the third best performance-and a close third at that):



2^nd Place!- Melanie Martinez.
          I think this is pretty self-explanatory. She simply deserves it. (Plus she has the top 2 performances: In no particular order- Toxic and Too Close) Here’s my previous review of her:

And then there was Melanie Martinez. Melanie “Foot Tambourine” Martinez. Melanie “Daphne Guinness Hair” Martinez. She sounds like a haunting Minnie Mouse, and it’s not just the bow in her hair. I hope she wins, I really do. I would so buy her album if she made one. I would love to hear her do Smooth Criminal. But, really, she could sing me the Atlanta Phonebook and I’d be happy. Wow, just wow.

 But, good news, even though she didn’t make it to 2^nd place, she still has an EP coming out! Yay! Hair bows and tooth gaps unite!

 

I wanted to take a moment to verbally slap Christina Aguilera. Honey, I know your career is tanking- like, soooooo bad- but still, you are getting so annoying. Now, I have always loved you, and I’ve stood up for you many times, but you are making it very hard to defend you. For example, Melanie has two wonderful performances, and you complement the prop guy. Both times. When it wasn’t even his idea (thank you, Adam, for calling her out on that). What is that? I know that you are running out of cheap Japanese fans and alien equipment that you wear as a hat, but that doesn’t mean you can be rude. People can be talented even if they aren’t on your team. And once your team got booted off completely, you just hated Adam’s team. You seriously aren’t even making sense anymore. What did he ever do to you? (I likeyou Adam, despite the fact that you have comically expensive ripped shirts).

                                                                   -Kisses, V.

Natural Born Killers

Natural Born Killers

By: Nicolette Karter

        So, I’ve said before how awesome I think Woody Harrelson is, but I also love Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., & Tommy Lee Jones. So it makes sense that when I saw they were all in this, it caught my interest. It was weird, too be sure, but by the end of the movie I actually liked the film.

        The film starts by showing Mickey (Woody Harrelson) & Mallory (Juliette Lewis) Knox randomly killing almost everyone in the diner they were at. The married couple seemed to really enjoy the murders, & the one scared shitless guy left alive was spared to spread the word of Mickey & Mallory Knox (dun dun dunnnnnn…) continuing their killing spree. This is great for reporter Wayne Gale (RDJ) & Detective Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore), who make tons of money off the growing fame of the serial killing duo.

        I think that this was supposed to show how backwards our media obsessed society is, by allowing people to idolize murderers they same way one might idolize Bradgelina (who ironically met while playing assassins, or paid murderers). But at the same time, I would like to know if I’m in the same room as a serial killer or two, so I ‘m glad they get famous. Also, the more famous a dangerous person is, the less places they can hide, right? Though some to think of it, then they may have to resort to dark actions because they can’t catch a break. It’s a conundrum, & I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it.

        Tangent aside, there was a love story in this, which was weirdly a very romantic considering the film is about killing people. Mickey & Mallory just love each other completely & can’t stand being away from each other. They fight, & even though she’s a girl (& people still have a stigma about hitting girls, & they shouldn’t get in fights because they wouldn’t hold their own or whatever) she can really throw a punch & I thought it was really progressive of Mickey for letting her take half the fights. But they have each other’s back, & understand the other. The film shows they both come from troubled backgrounds, & had to kill to get out. And since they met, they were inseparable & I was rooting for these two crazy kids by the middle of the movie. It’s like the Notebook but with a killing spree.

        And, to get a better life for themselves, they decide to stop killing people, but it doesn’t go as well as planned, & wind up in jail. Understandably, because while they are misunderstood & want to change, they still did kill a lot of people. So, this is where Tommy Lee Jones fits in as the awesome badass warden of the prison they got put into. No warden could get away with what he does, but it’s a movie, so he does. And the inmates know not to mess with him, plus it gives Mr. Jones a chance to act crazy so I don’t mind.

        It’s here that RDJ comes in for an interview with Mickey, & the climax starts. A lot of stuff happens, including a prison riot & this is when Mickey tries to go across the prison to reach Mallory, because as I said before, they are madly in love with each other. Several more deaths (not all at the hands of Mickey & Mallory) occur, & the best part is, it was all on live TV, because of the interview with RDJ. People, turn the camera off when people start to die, you can’t put that on TV, it’s illegal. But it’s also a movie, so whatever.

        Anyway, I would say this movie is worth a chance, even though it’s a little freaky. I was getting weirded out at the beginning, but I loved it by the end. And there aren’t a lot of graphic murders or other things (remember, madly in love married couple), so unless you are really squeamish &/or hate movies that have psychedelic effects, I think you would like this movie. And the depth & chemistry the actors gave to their characters, especially Mickey & Mallory (Woody & Juliette have amazing chemistry together) is laudable.