I know that I, I can't believe
Just what the past has brought me
To the man I wanna be
I know that we have had some times
That we can't forget the struggle
'Cause we have so far to go
I know we've changed but
Change can be so good
So let's not forget why
It's understood that
Chorus:
Time (time), look where we are and what we've been through
Time (time), sharing our dreams
(sharing every little bit of our dreams)
Time, (goes on and on) goes on and on everyday (everyday), baby
Time is what it is
Come what may (come what may)
I remember when, Mom used to say
That things are getting better
And you'll soon be on your way
Remember those days
When we would sing at the drop of a dime (oooh)
Way back else when nothing mattered (Mmm, mm, mm)
I know we've changed, but
Change can be so good
Oh, so let's not forget why it's understood that
Chorus:
Time (time), look where we are and what we've been through
(look where we are)
Time, sharing our dreams (dreams, dreams, dreams, oh yeah)
Time, (goes on and on) goes on and on everyday (everyday)
Time is what it is (oh)
Come what may (come what may)
Bridge:
So here we are (here we are)
And we'll always stay together
And through it all you know we owe it all to you, you, you, you
Time goes on and on
Chorus:
Time (time), look where we are and what we've been through (baby)
Time, sharing our dreams
Time, (goes on and on) goes on and on everyday (everyday)
Time is what it is (time is what is it)
Time (time), look where we are and what we've been through (baby)
Time (time), sharing our dreams (sharing our dreams)
Time, (goes on and on) goes on and on everyday (everyday)
Time is what it is, come what may (come what may)
Time, goes on and on everyday
Time is what it is
Come what may
Come what may
--
Simply by Cris™ © 2011-2012
www.simplybycris.com
Friday, May 27, 2011
Time
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
A Nutshell Review: Charlie St. Cloud
The legion of female teenage fans who turn up in droves for this preview screening is probably testament to the drawing power of Zac Efron, probably Hollywood's latest heartthrob who's standing his ground with his alpha male status from the High School Musical series, to films like Hairspray and 17 Again where he plays a star basketballer who's life didn't turn out as he thinks. In Charlie St. Coud, a romance flick with its title named after his character (which tells a lot about his ability to marquee a film), he too plays a star sportsman (here it's sailing) whose championship potential got cut short by tragedy, which turned him into someone who can see and communicate with dead people.
I kid you not if you think this was a Shaymalan picture, but it's more Disney friendly that you can imagine, with his powers only limited to communicating with spirits caught in limbo, and thus making him the town looney where it's best to leave him alone. His powers only came where he was pulled from the brink of death by a paramedic (Ray Liotta) some five years ago, where his babysitting of his young brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) turned out tragically in ways that's not his fault, because Zac Efon's the latest blue eyed boy of the industry, and his character cannot be all that negative (see uproar cause by 17 Again's premarital sex)
From what would be the promise of sailing challenges and scholarships, Charlie becomes a cemetery caretaker in the same cemetery his brother got buried in, so as to be able to play catch with him every evening deep in the woods without fail, as his guilt made him succumb to not being able to let go and move on. To most he's a lost cause, that his second stab at life was wasted in doing something menial other than to change the world or something, but this doesn't bother Charlie so long as he gets to seek out his dead brother as a confidante.
But of course a romance movie will suggest to you that love will conquer all and set him free, and this comes in the form of Tess (Amanda Crew), his school mate admiring him from afar, sharing his same passion for sailing (not spook interacting) and is gearing up for the challenge of sailing solo around the world. Curious about Charlie and never hiding the fact that she's interested in him, they soon hook up, but there's more to this romantic angle that I will like to give it credit to as I didn't see it coming, feeling rather bored about the film until a spanner got thrown into its narrative to shake things up a little.
The one thing working against Charlie St. Cloud's favour is just how convenient things can turn out to be, especially in its final act involving shooting stars (told you it's far out) and stroke of lucks, but for fans of Efron these can all be overlooked so long as their hero gets plenty of screen time as a romantic lead spouting lines like never leaving you, and being together forever, anything that's swoon-worthy enough to appeal to his demographic fan base. It's not a perfect movie, but has enough to make it an above average date movie.
--
Simply by Cris™ © 2011-2012
www.simplybycris.com
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Post Grad' fails comedy test - miserably
In a year of really bad comic movies ("Year One," "Observe & Report," "Funny People," "I Love You, Beth Cooper," among others), this latest effort from director Vicky Jenson (her first live-action feature after helming a series of animated films, including "Shark Tale" and "Shrek") makes a solid case for falling below all of them.
A VERY solid case.
And that's too bad, considering some fairly talented actors take part (including Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Jane Lynch, J. K. Simmons, etc.) in this trip to the principal's office that makes "Land of the Lost" seem like "A Night At The Opera." This picture is a cross between "Legally Blonde" and "Running With Scissors," and made me want to give everyone involved a month of detention.
Kindergarten-level plot has Ryden Malby (the beautiful but talentless Alexis Blendel, "Sin City") graduating college with high grades and higher expectations. After failing to secure the high-powered publishing position she had been anticipating, she must now return to her parents' home and deal with her Hollyweird family, including wacky dad (Keaton), down-to-earth mom (Lynch), cheap and cranky grandma (Burnett) and bizarre little moppet, Hunter (Bobby Coleman, "Martian Child").
Meanwhile, Ryden's best friend from college, Adam (Zach Gilford, TV series "Grey's Anatomy" and "Friday Night Lights"), who fancies himself a singer - he isn't - is torn between his musical career or going to Columbia Law School (don't give up your day job, man). The gangly oaf has always loved Ryden, but never tells her, even when a Brazilian romeo, Rodrigo (David Santiago, "Che," TV series "Lost") swoops in.
Even more annoying subplots include running over a cat, dad's efforts to sell stolen belt buckles, grandma goes shopping for coffins, Rodrigo directing an infomercial starring "SNL's" Fred Armisen (dressed as a giant avocado) and little Hunter's desire to have the coolest soap box racer of all-time.
All the while, poor Ryden continues to feel sorry for herself and dream that she is more qualified than she actually is. Then, when she might just get the job of her dreams, she's willing to throw it all away on a whim. None of the actors here - good or bad - can do ANTHING with this disjointed, stilted, clichéd and totally humorless script (by Kelly Fremon, "Streak"), told in a series of poorly conceived vignettes.
"Post Grad" definitely does not make the grade here, and anyone who pays good money to see this bad report card should be expelled from the theater immediately.
--
Simply by Cris™ © 2011-2012
www.simplybycris.com
Fast five
"This just went from Mission: Impossible to Mission: In-freaking-sanity."
Dominic and his crew find themselves on the wrong side of the law once again as they try to switch lanes between a ruthless drug lord and a relentless federal agent.
size="+2">REVIEW
The fact that the fifth part of a franchise is superior to the four previous movies is something very unusual, even though it might be unfair to compare Fast Five to its predecessors, because this new film changes the formula pretty much, by being a bit away from the car races in order to become into a "heist movie". But there is nothing to worry about; despite change of the focus, the story conserves the automotive fetish and the challenging attitude from the heroes we already know. In my humble opinion, the result was a satisfactory transition which does not stop at anything in order to bring a very entertaining time...even though nobody can consider it intelligent, logical or realistic.
As well as in the previous movies, it is not very convenient to analyze the screenplay from Fast Five very much. In order not to abandon the automotive fetish, every single part from the criminal mission planned by the main characters must be related to fast cars and locations which allow the presence of cute young women moving their rear in front of exotic cars, at the rhythm of Brazilian rap. But anyway, nobody will go to see Fast Five expecting a deep and meaningful story, but "action, action and more action!". And I think that the movie succeeded pretty much in it, because it perfectly alternates exciting sequences of automotive destruction with brief moments of introspection, whose clichés do not avoid their function of bringing some substance to the story and motivation to the characters. In other words, Fast Five knows when to full throttle in order to keep us very entertained, and when to apply the brakes in order not to make us loose the emotional dynamic from the main characters.
However, I think that the absolute star from this movie is director Justin Lin, who in my humble opinion, consecrates himself as an authentic craftsman from the action genre. As an example, I would like to point out one of the few action scenes which do not involve cars; there is a frantic chase through the labyrinths from a favela, and even though it might not be the most spectacular nor elaborated scene from the movie, I was surprised by the way in which Lin (with the help of the brilliant editors Kelly Matsumoto, Fred Rakin and Christian Wagner) could keep the suspense, the emotion and the narrative clarity while he follows a dozen of character from three different factions (cops, criminals and villains) through the complex geography from a favela. I can imagine the confusing mess that would have turned out to be in the hands from directors like Michael Bay or Stephen Sommers. So, in conclusion, Fast Five might not be a great movie, but I think it deserves a recommendation like an exciting and very entertaining film which accepts its dramatic limits, recognizes the value from narrative balance, and takes the maximum advantage from its resources in order to create excellent action sequences which are undoubtedly absurd, but which result curiously appropriate into the universe from this franchise.
--
Simply by Cris™ © 2011-2012
www.simplybycris.com
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Losing one's virginity, with a little help from one's alter ego
Youth in Revolt' adapts the first three volumes of C.D. Payne's six-book series about Nick Twist, a smart and, in his own opinion anyway, more-than-usually horny 14-year-old in Oakland ("a large, torpid city across from San Frandisco") who reports in daily journal form on a series of adventures encountered on the way to losing his virginity, despite the obstacles set up by his irresponsible divorced parents. Ironically, though pointed at today's young teens, 'Revolt's' R rating excludes them -- though the books are far more sexually explicit. Whether somehow this will become a cult movie via Netflix is hard to say. It's pretty faithful to the books, leaving out lots, but adding or changing little. Unfortunately Arteta's flat direction, and focus on the action aspects -- an accident, a fire, a botched fake suicide, invasion of the girls' dorm of a French-language prep school in Santa Cruz -- excises much of the self-satisfied wit of the books and Nick's one flourish, his intellectual and literary showing off. The film necessarily loses the flavor of a day-to-day-journal, though most of the characters tend to talk in the same ornate, overly-polite style as Nick's entries.
C.D. Payne is no Salinger. His books serve as page-turners for young readers, but they're nothing special. There's a curious sense of being out of time. Is this the Nineties, when the books were begun?-- or the youth of Payne himself, who was born in 1949? Nick's girlfriend Sheeni (Portia Doubleday)'s fascination with Belmondo, chanteur Serge Gainsbourg, and the existentialists, -- and the general innocence of the behavior -- would suggest earlier days, but in the movie, people have cell phones, and a prevalance of 'shrooms and blunts makes this post-Breathless (francophile Sheeni's favorite movie). The main point was to keep the incidents coming, and Payne went on with "The Further Journals" and finally the adventures of Twist's younger brother.
Young Canadian actor Michael Cera, the star of Miguel Arteta's adaptation of this movie, who's now twenty-one, was already a TV veteran before he was ten. Though he appeared in many episodes of the cable series "Arrested Development," and in retrospect we realize he played the young Chuck Barris in George Clooney's droll ramble 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' he reached a kind of nerdy, adorable mega-stardom only a couple years ago with two big hits, 'Juno' and 'Superbad,' followed by the equally charming if less seen 'Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.'
What has Mike done with his stardom? Well, he played opposite Jack Black in Harold Ramis' slapstick (and generally panned) prehistoric comedy 'Year One' and co-starred with his now ex-girlfriend Charlene Yi in the poorly received 'Paper Heart.'
Cera has good timing and is adept at delivering lines, which makes him well suited for comedy. His limitations in other areas appear in this new outing. He's both the hero and voice-over narrator, Nick Twist and Nick's bolder and more dashing imaginary alter ego, Francois, who goads him on to bolder action. There is a certain nonchalance in the flat style. Under ideal circumstances it might seem elegant. If you could be nerdy and cool at the same time Michael Cera is it, and girls do find him cute. He rarely appears anything but relaxed. But the high-pitched voice is inexpressive. The range is from A to B, and this is highlighted by how little success Cera has in making Francois seem any different from Nick, despite a little mustache, tight pants, and a lot of cigarettes (amusingly, puffed on even while running fast through the woods, while Nick lags clumsily behind). With this new performance, Cera continues to seem enormously appealing, but for conventional starring roles, cripplingly limited. He's just too pale and bland and androgynous, and the more he's cast as a horny guy the more far-fetched that seems. Anything with him in it seems de-fanged.
Maybe it doesn't matter. You either get it or you don't, and there are plenty of young readers who insist these are "the best books ever." This is as good a time as any for some lighthearted teenage adventures. (The adaptation was co-written by Gustin Nash, the guy who did 'Charlie Bartlett,' a so-so movie about a young high school entrepreneur starring Anton Yelchin.)
'Youth in Revolt' casts some veritable cult actors, who include M. Emmett Walsh as Sheeni's born-again-Christian dad and Mary Kay Place as her mom, Steve Buscemi as Nick's dad, Ray Liotta as a cop who gets involved with his floozy mom (Jean Smart). But the presence of such memorable thespians only emphasizes how little developed their characters are. I liked relative newcomer Adhir Kalyan as Veejay, Nick's erudite school friend and fellow would-be seducer of women: he gives his lines some juice. Best of all is Justin Long, who slides into the scene as Sheeni's sly older brother. He is the only unexpected character. Long can always do a lot with a small part, and when he gets a bigger one, like in Raimi's recent old-fashioned horror movie 'Drag Me to Hell,' he can be equally appealing. And there are others, such as comedy veteran Fred Willard as an excessively good-hearted neighbor.
The director, Miguel Arteta, did annoying but memorable work with writer Mike White in 'Chuck and Buck,' and the pair made something very droll in 'The Good Girl.' One wonders if Arteta was the ideal person to do this job. He seems just to be walking through it.
The Eighties were the time of the movies that celebrated youth and its many voices, ranging from S.E. Hinton and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' to the dark Alpha Girl portraiture of 'Heathers,' and John Hughes' classics. This lacks their warmth and bite.
But I still like Cera, and as has been said by a preview audience member, "His fans will be in heaven" with this.
--
Simply by Cris™ © 2011-2012
www.simplybycris.com
