Chekov and Pam!

First I want to apologize about the low content mode I fell into last week. I had things going on in the evenings and I just didn't feel like writing much. But, I'm back this week with what I hope will be a full week of content!

Charlie Bartlett

It is hard to really tell who the movie Charlie Bartlett was made for. It is all about a very mature and rich high school kid, Anton Yelchin, who's entire reason for being seems to be to make friends. He has already been kicked out of multiple private schools before being forced to go to the local public school.

He is immediately targeted by bullies, but before the twenty minute mark, has converted them to his cause by setting up a business deal. He then begins counselling his other classmates and is even able to prescribe drugs for his patients. Everyone in his new school begins to like him more and more and by the end of the movie they are chanting his name. But, of course, at the climax of the movie, he has to make a decision that could cause him to lose his popularity if he does the right thing.

Anton Yelchin is fantastic. He is able to show a full range of emotions, he can act like a high schooler, and yet has the ability to become someone much more mature. He can even do all kinds of accents. He is going to be playing Chekov in the upcoming Star Trek movie (!) and Kyle Reese (the uncle of John Conner) in Christian Bale's upcoming Terminator movie. I can't wait to see more of him, and I am sure he will put on fantastic performances.

The movie is full of cussing and there is even a quick scene of nudity, giving it a hard R rating. This isn't a film like Superbad, and it seems like the R rating may have caused it to lose a lot of its potential audience of high schoolers. It has a great message and is a lot of fun. Robert Downey also has a pretty sizable role, and is quite good in the film as well. Definitely check this one out.

LolliLove

Mrs Titan and I decided to check out LolliLove because it was written and directed by Jenna Fischer, aka Pam Beasley of the Office. She wrote it in 2004, before her name-making turn on the Office. It is a mockumentary about a rich couple who decides to do something for their community, so they decide to provide lollipops, with inspirational messages on them to homeless people. What an idea! It is played as silly as it sounds, and it has quite a few laughs.

There are also some fun cameos in it. Jenna Fischer stars with her then-husband James Gunn. Judy Greer, Linda Cartellini, and Jason Segal all show up, thereby connecting this movie to Freaks and Geeks and making it awesome. There are also appearences by real homeless people in LA, who I hope knew were going to be in a mockumentary and didn't think it was real.

The production standards of the movie were pretty low. It kinda seemed like a film student's project, with poor sound and low quality film, etc. I couldn't tell if this was intentional or not, but I assume it wasn't. Either way, it was fun, but a little bittersweet what with the breakup of James and Jenna (I think the wedding footage in the movie was genuine). I would only recommend this movie to people who are hardcore Jenna Fischer fans, or just curious to see what she might be able to do with a movie.