Well, before I begin my diatribe...let's everyone take a moment and remember what today is really all about. I'm proud to say that my father and my brother are veterans and their service to our country does nothing but earn my respect. Thank a vet today.
Young Mr. Andrew Poe-Bowdren may drive me to medicate myself. I'm talking of the vicodin or darvocet variety. UGH. THe kid is so naturally intelligent, I mean in a totally brainiac kind of way--but there's something that's not connecting somewhere.
He brings home a report card that has grades that aren't up to his ability. He forgets assignments and reports. I'm not sure if its immaturity, or his own way of rebelling (although I seriously doubt that), or just his brain skipping a beat occasionally.
He does things that absolutely drive you crazy. He had a project early this year that was supposed to be a notebook, turned in for credit that had like 25 assignments that were supposed to be inside. Andy turns in the notebook--with 2 assignments completed. I mean...what the hell are you thinking? And he'll just look at you, like there's nothing going on upstairs--like the fact that he's done something incorrect just is not registering with him. Well, the other night Andy realized that he had a major biology project that was due--according to the school's website it was due the next day, but the paper regarding the project said it wasn't due until the 19th....nice having a consistent information flow, huh? Anyway, we got after Andy again, trying to explain to him just why all his assignments are important and how, now that he's in high school, every grade is going to be evaluated down the road. We've tried yelling, talking calmly, taking things away, offering things as rewards....and the light just does not seem to go on. I'd like to think that its a maturity thing, and that sometime in the near future its all going to become very clear to him. But, in the meantime, I told him last night that his mother and I are done with him not recognizing the importance of these things. We finally gave him an ultimatium. He has until the end of this year to show an improvement in grades and organization or we will not be enrolling him at American Heritage next year. That'll mean that he would be going to public school. I don't know if that will wake him up or not, but at least his mother won't be spending a huge amount of money on an education that he isn't taking advantage of. UGH.
Since it was the holiday, I had a chance to sit home today and watch a movie. I picked a good one. About 20 years ago (!!), director John Hughes made a great movie about the joys, pains & heartaches of going to high school everyday by following one high school sophmore (Molly Ringwald) on her 16th birthday in the wonderful "16 Candles".
Now, 20 years later, Saturday Night Live writer and star Tina Fey has crafted a similar-yet-different story with:
1) Mean Girls--Lindsay Lohan is the star of this film, and here is one of the major differences between this film and 16 Candles. Ringwald was near perfect as the gawky, awkward teenager, blooming from girl to young woman. Lindsay Lohan isn't just hot--she's smoking hot--I mean stripper hot. As a quick aside, she has a set of cans on her that are just screaming Playboy centerfold when her movie career finally begins to tank. Anyway, now that I've got that piece of business out of the way, this is a really good, bitchy comedy about teenagers and high school. I say that because this is not a "high school comedy". This is a movie about the cliques that exist in high school--the backstabbing, the "drama", the whole little "cult of personality" that makes the pretty girl--the one who everyone secretly loathes--the most popular girl in school. This movie was so good it actually included the rarest of all things--a scene where Tim Meadows was actually funny. Think about that! ***1/2
And now, let's go back and continue with a review of my DVD's--once again, in alphabetical order. Starting with:
1) Bad Santa--one of the things that I love about this movie, which stars Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac & the late John Ritter, is that it stays true to its dark soul.
This isn't one of those movies where in the end, someone who's corrupt, vile and evil gets reformed and turns a new leaf. Nope, not our Santa. Thornton stars as the most wicked Santa ever, a con man who uses the holidays with his very own elf (Tony Cox--hilariously profane as always) to steal and rob from department stores.
Let me just say this: this isn't a holiday movie you should watch with your kids. Its lewd, its vulgar, its raunchy...there are scenes where they seem to be throwing every crewd possibility up against the wall just to seewhich ones will stick. And ya know what? Some of them are funny, and some of them aren't. But you have to give credit to the Coen Bros, executive producers of the film, for basically taking the scattergun approach to skewering the Christmas holiday. Some of it doesn't work, but the stuff that does will have you laughing your ass off. ***
2) Bananas--back in 1971, Woody Allen was one funny guy. I mean, he hadn't started looking deep within himself for answers to the mysteries of life like he would later on. He just set out to make silly, funny as hell movies. This is a classic example. Here, Woody play Fielding Mellish (and one thing Woody always had a knack for was coming up with truly ridiculous names for his characters), a product-tester (watch out for a scene demonstrating his job skills) who decides to go on a vacation after being jilted by his girlfriend to the tiny republic of San Marcos--only to be kidnapped by rebel soldiers! Without going into details, Woody ends up becoming the leader of the rebels and the whole thing is just a riot. This movie also features the greatest supporting performance of Howard Cosell's career. ****1/4
Later,
Jeff
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