Bad Teacher

This is supposed to be a parody of those teacher-student films, like Stand and Deliver from the eighties, and Dangerous Minds from the nineties. As a parody, though, it's not that funny.

True, there are some laugh-out-loud moments. But that's not enough to elevate this to the status of a comedy gem.

Not even on weed.

Justin Timberlake is such a great actor that he makes his goody two-shoes teacher really believable. Cameron Diaz doesn't seem to be acting at all that she makes her slutty character really believable. And I didn't know that these two used to date.

You can tell by their familiarity with the doggy style.

Anyway, how did Cameron Diaz end up with Jason Segel? That was poorly set up, writers, really. I can write that better than you. I should be in Hollywood.


Bad Teacher. USA. 2011.


Rating: Four out of ten.
Eric Stonestreet's performance: Eight out of ten.



*some info from IMDb
pics from VLC

Friends with Benefits

A lot of you may think, "Hey, this is similar in plot to No Strings Attached!" or that even their titles almost mean the same. Maybe it's just a matter of time before they come up with a movie entitled Fuck Buddies.

Justin Timberlake, as I've said before, is a good actor. But please, not in rom-coms. I don't know why. But please, don't.

"But I put on some abs for this movie!"

Mila Kunis looked hot in Black Swan. But here, I just realized that her eyes are just a tad too big. And also her legs aren't that great.

I think it's the knees.

This film's saving grace, though, is Woody Harrelson. He plays a gay sportswriter, and he plays it perfectly. He doesn't even go into the stereotype gay performance. Nor does he exaggerate. He just pulls it off great.

"I'm a gay guy with a speedboat."

Also, Nolan Gould of Modern Family has great comedic timing. Let's hope for a great career for him.


Friends with Benefits. USA. 2011.


Rating: Seven out of ten.



*some info from IMDb
pics from Wordpress, Joblo, and Slacker Cinema

Brokebear Mountain: A Review of the Film Yogi Bear

People who grew up in the 90’s are no doubt familiar with Hanna Barbera’s Yogi Bear. Hailed as “smarter than the average bear”, Jellystone Park’s resident picnic basket connoisseur is easily one of the most recognizable icons of the past decade. Together with his side-kick Boo Boo, Yogi delighted audiences with his daring exploits as the park’s phantom basketnapper.

It is with shock then that I saw the 2010 version starring the voices of Dan Akroyd, and Justin Timberlake. In the Nolan tradition of putting a darker spin to a beloved classic, the 2010 re-imagining of Yogi Bear portrayed the lovable character as a disturbing study of addiction in a downward spiral narrative reminiscent of Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream.

What was a delightful animated favourite was turned into a vividly frightening live-action thriller that pitted real actors with an actual bear. All for the sake of entertainment. Perhaps drawing influence from exploitation movies like Cannibal Holocaust, the director risked harm to his actors by exposing them to the threat of a wild animal for prolonged periods of time.

The film’s only redeeming character is the politician who wanted to shut down Jellystone Park. Certainly, in this day and age when politicians would compromise their views for just about anything (or a chance to be Pacquiao’s BFF), a politician with the political willpower to place his foot firmly on the ground and shut down Jellystone Park is a refreshing character to watch. Attn: Hollywood, we need more positive role models like this one.

In this chilling re-imagining, Yogi Bear is portrayed as a grizzly who is too smart for his own good. Rather than become a simple-minded bear who forages for food in the wild, Yogi plots and schemes to steal picnic baskets from parkgoers. He is aided by Boo-Boo, who is implied as a minor, and perhaps, Yogi’s lover as well. Perhaps the director is playing on the gay subculture term “bear” which means a chunky, mature male with significant amount of body hair and is prone to prey on younger males.

At the heart of the narrative is a disturbing tale of addiction. As the plot progresses, we see just how obsessed Yogi is about stealing. The viewers soon realize that stealing is not just Yogi’s means to survive, it has become his lifestyle. Even when circumstances no longer force him to commit his felonious acts, Yogi is bound by compulsion to keep stealing. In a heartbreaking scene, we see Yogi struggling to fight his demons, forced even to handcuff himself to a tree. And we see his demons triumph over his good sense when he can no longer stop himself from his obsession.

What a travesty that the bear is named “Yogi”, for yogis are revered men in India. A name that holds so much power is ironically turned synonymous to that of uncontrollable addiction and the helplessness to defeat one’s wayward ego.

What is even more shocking is the film’s total lack of remorse from the enablers around Yogi. True, they do not approve of his criminal behaviour, but neither do they do anything about it, save for occasionally yelling out his name. But doing that only satisfies the bear’s ego, for one corollary of the bear’s addiction is his need for attention. He steals as a compulsion, and his reward is the attention.

Yogi Bear is not your average Saturday morning cartoon re-imagined. It is a deconstruction of a family favourite into a study of the animal in every one of us. We are Yogi Bear, and look at what we have become.


Rating: 4/10

The Social Network

By mumblingmaya
Fri 5 Nov 2010, ~11:00

The movie starts with flashbacks that interject with the literal narrative of two federal cases filed against Mark Zuckerberg by the Winklevoss twins and by his former(?) best friend Eduardo Saverin.

This can be a little confusing since in one of the flashbacks, we see Mark Zuckerberg being tried by Harvard's disciplanary committee for hacking into their system and creating FaceMash, so people might think there are three cases there.

I also found that full-circle moment in the end about Mark Zuckerberg's being an asshole cheesy.

Justin Timberlake was suprisingly good, meaning I didn't expect him to do well in this film. But he succeeded in making me despise Sean Jay Parker. Shout outs to Brenda Song for transitioning from The Disney Channel, even though her role was insignificant, if not derogatory.

I saw this with a computer programmer friend and he was having a geekgasm the whole time. I'll admit that the SMO person in me geekgasmed as well. But mostly, I loved the Winklevoss twins' 1990's references that really say, "Generation Y, I'm talking to you," and Andrew Garfield's cuteness, and Aaron Sorkin's writing. And yes, the soundtrack is killer.

Sting Lacson's review after the jump

The Love Guru

Mike Myers's sexual innuendo is totally on a whole new level, and the green jokes come at you left and right in this movie. So instead of analyzing the elements of a successful sexual romp, again, let's go to what makes this film watchable in the first place.

Mike Myers: I get the feeling Mike Myers is not really good with accents. Yes, he can do some, like British and Scottish, but in this film, he is supposed to sound like an American with a slight tinge of Indian. But still, his Scottish accent keeps coming out. Which annoys the hell out of me. I mean, after Slumdog Millionaire, I've been very particular about Indian accents.

And speaking of accents...

Justin Timberlake: cannot do a proper French accent. He is supposed to play the French-Canadian Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (pun intended, his cock is indeed grand), and although he looks different with a moustache on, his accent, or whatever he has going on there, is just so damn distracting.

Sir Ben Kingsley: I honestly don't know how the producers were able to convince the great Ben Kingsley to make a fool of himself in this movie. But Sir Ben is such a good sport that I think this is just another day at the office for him, no matter how much the movie sucked. Oh, and Sir Ben's Indian accent is excellent. He did after all win an Oscar playing Gandhi.

And finally, the film's saving grace...

Ms. Jessica Alba: Just having Jessica Alba in this movie is enough to earn it a passing score. I love Jessica Alba so much. I want to sweep her off her feet. I want her to leave her husband for me. I want to wake up in the mornings and see Jessica Alba's face sleeping beside me. I want to---okay, you get my point.

Again, let me just make it clear that I watched this film because of Jessica Alba. The fact that it was a Mike Myers flick was only secondary.


*some info from IMDb
pic from collider.com


The Love Guru. USA. 2008.


Rating: Six out of ten.