Netflixed: Learning to love the dichotomy paradox
Scream 4 (Wes Craven, 2011): It’s not clear if the characters discussing what “meta” means has any value beyond fueling TV Tropers’ arguments. The movie within the movie within the zzzzzz is admittedly shocking, but desensitises us to surprises in the main story. Still, the movie is enjoyable because Neve Campbell and David Arquette know this is exactly what they should be doing with their careers. May they continue to reprise their roles long after the franchise has settled into straight-to-video stasis.
Limitless (Neil Burger, 2011): Things you shouldn’t put in a movie about a genius, even a pharmaceutically-created one: CGI letters falling from the ceiling as he types. Retroactive photographic memory. An algorithm to get 400% a day from the stockmarket. Sped-up film to show he thinks fast. Geniusness switching on and off for dramatic purposes. A fucking lightbulb to signal the onset of hyper-awareness. Bradley Cooper doing voiceover narration. Actually Hollywood, just stop making movies about geniuses.
Take Me Home Tonight (Michael Dowse, 2011): This 1988-set comedy is funnier than four average episodes of its writers’ best-known project That ’70s Show, though more painful — a wacky car theft is followed by the leads lip-synching “Straight Outta Compton”. Topher Grace plays a moderately smart-assed asshole; Dan Fogler plays an asshole. Why are we supposed to root for them and not meathead Chris Pratt? Because they’re aware that they’re assholes? Doesn’t that make them worse? Anna Faris does a great job of showing up everyone else except when she’s forced to pay attention to her terribly-written character. Demetri Martin saves a couple of scenes.
