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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SUDOKU
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9/20
Difficulty Level ★★★
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9/21
Difficulty Level ★★★★
EXCESS HOLLYWOOD WITH LANDON McDONALD
'For A Good Time Call...' not a good time
LANDON MCDONALD
imcdonald@kansan.com
If you're looking for a female buddy movie that doesn't end with a death plunge into the Grand Canyon, please stay on hold.
"For A Good Time Call... plays like the promising first draft of what could have been a riotous sex romp in the tradition of "Bridesmaids" and "Chasing Amy." Yet despite two vivacious leading ladies and a refreshingly smutty premise, the film seems content to wallow in chuckle-worthy formula instead of mining for richer veins of comic absurdity. What's left is a sporadically amusing R-rated sitcom that seems dangerously extended even at 85 minutes.
After her dunderheaded boyfriend dumps her mid-coitus, professional twenty-something Lauren (Lauren Miller) is left to wander the
streets of New York, or rather the sunny, hospitable New York that only seems to exist in featherweight comedies and the soma-glow of daytime TV. Suspiciously lavish apartments and sassy gay friends are plentiful here, and soon Lauren is moving into a suspiciously lavish apartment overlooking Gramercy Park thanks to her sassy gay friend Jesse (Justin Long).
Lauren is dismayed to find that she must share this living space with debauched party-girl Katie (Ari Graynor), whose late grandmother owned the apartment Katie and Lauren have a history together, dating back to a urine-soaked episode from their college days. The prudish Lauren freaks out when she discovers that Katie works nights as a phone sex operator, but money worries soon force the girls to join forces and start their own sexline. Friendship and masturbation jokes
ensue.
Miller and Graynor play off each other well, even though they often struggle to move past the standard odd-couple dynamics. The script seems ambivalent about whether or not they're becoming more than friends, an intriguing potential that's never truthfully explored.
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing, Graynor and Miller, who co-wrote the screenplay with Katie Anne Naylon, Miller's ex-roommate and the real-life inspiration for the Katie character. From them I learned that although "For A Good Time Call..." boasts the over-lit sheen of a studio comedy, the actual film was made in just 16 days on a relatively modest budget. This explains its peppy, earnest energy, as well as some of the script's wilder inconsistencies. Time and rewrites can work wonders. Here's hoping their next effort contains more of both.
While it's gratifying to see the cheerfully graynor graduate from scene-nearing performances in films like "The Sitter" and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," the recent "Celeste and Jesse Forever" was a far better showcase for her talents as a budding comedienne. Long's shrill, mincing Jesse is a character we could probably do without. Miller's husband Seth Rogen and filmmaker Kevin Smith appear in brief cameos, both playing enthusiastic regular callers who end up supplying the film's biggest laughs.
—Edited by Stéphane Roque
Eastwood still ahead of the curve
LANDON MCDONALD
lmcdonald@kansan.com
Even at 82, Clint Eastwood is showing no sign of hanging up his guns.
The iconic action star officially retired from acting after 2008's "Gran Torino," intending to focus on his second career as the celebrated director and composer of mature, thoughtful Oscar bait. That was before this year's Republican National Convention, where he turned a stuffy political rally into a mystifying one-man show with help from a chair and its foulmouthed, invisible occupant.
Perhaps it was this passion for inanimate objects that compelled him to resume working in front of the camera for Robert Lorenz's "Trouble with the Curve," a creaky predictable baseball drama buoyed by the talent of an unusually distinguished cast. Eastwood stars as Gus, a veteran scout whose deteriorating eyesight threatens to force him out of the game for good.
Concerned for his friend's future, fellow scout Pete (the invaluable John Goodman) asks Gus's estranged daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) to act as her old man's eyes on a recruiting trip that could save his job. From there the film settles into a willfully conventional father-daughter redemption arc, where every plot point is telegraphed hours in advance, with no room for subtlety or much in the way of authentic character development. The film's nominal villains, including Gus's smarmy upstart rival (Matthew Lillard) and a mean-spirited prospect (Joe Massingill), may as well be sporting black hats and twirled mustaches.
Plot contrivances aside, the performers are the film's saving grace.
Adams nails Mickey's transformation from hypertensive desk jockey to empowered tomboy. Justin Timberlake, whose work as an actor has been steadily improving since "The Social Network," summons his goofiest aw-shucks grin to play Johnny "The Flame" Flanagan, a burnt out pitcher-turned-scout who benefits from Gus's crusty tutelage and, you guessed it, ends up falling for Mickey.
Eastwood himself appears to be treading water in early scenes, relying on his grumpy old man persona to see him through an undemanding role. Yet as "Trouble with the Curve" progressed, I was struck by how invested he seemed in the character. There's a tangible melancholy to his scenes with Adams, a sense of regret more powerful than a film like this frankly deserves. I honestly can't think of another actor who could warble a gravely
graveside rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" without eliciting jeers from the audience.
But then Eastwood has never been one to shy away from self-deprecation. His proto-Batman growl and steel-trap glare, the same qualities that made Dirty Harry so intimidating, are often employed to great comic effect here. At one point he even stops mid-way through a barron fight to bark, "Get out of here, before I have a heart attack trying to kill you!" If only the rest of "Trouble with the Curve" could match his stats.
Edited by Ryan McCarthy
THE REAT HIVE
West's style evolves with 'Cruel Summer'
DUNCAN MCHENRY
dmchenrv@kansan.com
Kanye West launched his career in the early 2000s by taking classic R&B samples and turning them into hip-hop bounce. He was a molder of music and rapper style, pairing chunky gold chains with prep school fashion.
The West of 2012 is a diamond-studded celebrity first who also happens to rap and produce. His collaborative album "Cruel Summer" includes members and friends of the new label G.O.O.D. Music and reflects West's evolving persona and musical tastes. The syncopated soul of earlier songs like "Slow Jamz" and "Heard Em' Say" has been replaced by low-end buzz, machine gun snares and brash lyrics.
This sonic shift hasn't diminished West's influence on the hip-hop world. 808 and Heartbreak-heavy singles from "Cruel Summer" have been rattling car windows and ascending the charts since last April. But a good slice of the pre-released music feels like old news as a result, and the fresher content struggles to
pull everything together.
"Cruel Summer" is more of a glossy mixtape assembled by West to showcase his label's muscle than a cohesive group of songs. The R&B track "Bliss," for example, gets lost in the rap maelstrom despite smooth singing from John Legend and Teyana Taylor.
Hits like "Mercy" and "Clique," while certified club bangers, also drown out the album's less emphatic moments. "Higher" is snake-charmingly melodic with The Dream singing an introduction tinged with the perfect amount of autotune. Unfortunately, it feels out of place behind "Cold," an unapologetic ode to mink furs and $6,000 shoes.
"Cruel Summer" features verses from seasoned Wu-Tang ensembles
Raekwon and Ghostface Killah
Pusha-T's emergence is the album's top lyricist is a pleasant surprise. On the song "Higher," he growls and explores internal rhyme: "Get raunchy in Givenchy, my palm reads / Passports, Pinot Noir in arm's reach."
"Cruel Summer" is essentially a loose collection of singles. Nevertheless, listeners should anticipate plenty more good music. The Louis Vuitton don't new label is stacked with a variety of talent, and he'll never get tired of reminding everyone
Edited by Dylan Lysen
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