If not for the free Blu-ray Warner Brother’s provided me, I probably would have never seen this. It wasn’t well received by critics and only grossed $54.7 million in U.S. theaters. With that said, I must admit I enjoyed the little extra featurette included on the Blu-ray that tallies up the hypothetical damages caused by the out of control party. It’s rather creative and it made me laugh more than anything in the actual film.
Every two decades an era is given their very own Project X. 1968 saw the release of a sci-fi about biological-warfare directed by William Castle. The 80s were honored with the Matthew Broderick thriller about animal research with chimpanzees. Now the current generation is blessed with their own Project X movie. It’s the least enjoyable yet.
Project X is a pretty weak excuse for a plot. Young Thomas and his cohorts are planning a party for his 17th birthday. They’re outsiders and hope that their little shindig is attended by enough attractive girls and popular guys to make them more accepted. The celebration amongst the high schoolers starts out rather modestly, then spins wildly out of control. It aims to be outrageous for its strident politically incorrectness, but it just winds up being kind of pointless. Project X was originally marketed to showcase that Todd Phillips, director of The Hangover, produced this mess. Co-writer Michael Bacall was also responsible for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the 21 Jump Street screenplay, so there’s some talent behind the lens. But any expectations of quality are dashed as the chronicle unfolds to reveal a sloppily filmed record of debauchery and music. One, two, three music videos that highlight montages of wild party shenanigans with dance music, doesn’t disguise the issue that there’s no story.
It likewise doesn’t hide the fact that these actors portray a thoroughly unlikable lot. The producers decision to cast unknowns goes a long way in making it appear that the events of Project X really happened. That’s original, but our group of friends are the kind of generic nerds that you might find in any teen sex comedy. They’re the typical lazily written stereotypes that aspire to be part of the in-crowd. Of the three main protagonists that complete our trio, Costa is the most rude. A sweater vest wearing, gangsta talking suburbanite, he’s the instigator for the social gathering. Costa is supposed to be the boys’ buddy, but he’s such a jerk you cannot comprehend why they even bother to keep him round. To the very end, he continues to berate a neighbor who is upset about the noise. This is well after any normal person would be apologizing for the party that has deteriorated into anarchy by anyone’s definition.
Project X is exhibit A for any adult convinced the youth of today just wants to party hardy and nothing else. There’s nothing to redeem the continuous parade of bacchanalia and sleaze. You’ll be scratching your head when the father returns home and seems almost proud of his son’s party planning skills. The events are highlighted by such levels of excess and exaggeration, you could be entertained at the way this plays out. It’s not as pernicious as some might have you believe. I don’t think the attitudes on display here represent anything more shocking than those found in features like Animal House, Risky Business or Weird Science. Utilizing a cinéma vérité style to document anything other than horror these days is an innovation of sorts. There is an originality to the presentation and I’ll admit there’s a certain brainless excitement watching the small get together balloon catastrophically before our eyes. You don’t necessarily have to care for these characters. They’re so incredibly unpleasant the audience feels satisfaction when things descend into bedlam for them. It becomes a cautionary tale. The unbelievable way the narrative develops is the movie’s best asset.
mumblecore (noun) An American independent film movement of the early twenty-first century, characterized by low-budget production, focus on personal relationships between twentysomethings, improvised scripts, and non-professional actors. – Reprinted from wiktionary.org
There’s scene in The Intouchables where unlikely caregiver Driss lets loose to Earth Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland” in front of a staff of domestic workers and classically trained musicians. The display is such an expression of joyful abandon, it was at that moment I fell in love with this movie. Granted it’s a bit calculated. Remember that scene where Julia Roberts is singing off key in the bathtub in Pretty Woman? Well yeah it’s kind of like that. But nevertheless it’s the instant that I realized that this is a wonderful French film and Omar Sy should be a star.
If ever there was a movie that was better than the book, The Wizard of Oz is it. I have nothing against the 1900 children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It’s a classic in it’s own right, but this dramatic adaptation is simply one of the greatest movies ever made. It’s difficult for me to independently assess its merits because, like the rest of us, I first watched it when I was very very young and continued to watch it throughout the years. As much a part of my childhood as Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Cub Scouts and school. But right there is a validation of the picture’s virtue. No other production save for perhaps It’s a Wonderful Life, The Ten Commandments or The Sound of Music, represents such a defining example of movies shown regularly on TV. It’s pretty much a shared reality as humans on planet Earth. Virtually everyone has seen this film.
Right from the beginning when we’re introduced to a muscular humanoid creature, the poetic mood of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus seems to openly recall 2001: A Space Odyssey. His own Alien is clearly a reference point as well. Regardless of assertions to the contrary, this is clearly a prequel to that 1979 classic. But while he may reference other works, Prometheus is a wholly intoxicating hybrid all its own. The events fully take advantage of the fear of the unknown coupled with the joy of discovery. It brilliantly exploits the dizzy excitement of what it would be like to explore a foreign planet. Many stories have mined this territory, but few are able to do it with such a grandeur. There is a tremendous imagination at work here. The world that Scott has created is something both ethereal, but still rooted in credible fact. Prometheus is the work of a master. While his contemporaries are often corrupted by an overreliance on special effects, Director Ridley Scott isn’t seduced by such blatant displays. Sometimes there’s a majesty in what we don’t understand over a physical manifestation of CGI. That’s not to say he doesn’t have an eye toward the visual. Some of his pictures are the most stunning ever photographed. But Scott knows there’s beauty in the quieter moments that question the deeper profundities of life. Sometimes within silence therein lies a mystery.
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