Thursday, July 21, 2011
Movie Night
So I watched Burlesque this week. Okay, fine, in the interest of full disclosure, I actually bought Burlesque this week. It sort of hurts me to type that. But it was $11 and I thought my sister would like it as an early birthday present. And yes, in retrospect, I'm not quite sure why I thought that. You should have seen the look on her face.
Anyway, it happened. That should probably have been the tag line for the movie itself. It's actually the most amazing thing about Burlesque -- that it got made at all. Someone heard a pitch involving Christina Aguilera, Cher, and a nonsensical plot about a small town girl making good by singing in her underwear and thought "yes, let's throw some money at that." They probably didn't mention the Alan Cumming, to be fair. Or the cinematography stolen shot by shot from Chicago.
A lot of it is so bad it's not even amusing. Not all of it, though. Eric Dane is a reliable source of unintentional laughter as the sleazy developer who romances Xtina and just generally looks greasy. It's his greatest role since that movie he made in the hot tub with his wife, that other lady, and a bunch of weed. Kirsten Bell is amusing in that she no longer seems to be "playing" a bitch; at this point she really is just a bitch. Stanley Tucci brought his role with him from The Devil Wears Prada and delivers zingers in such a way that I just want to shout "Bam! You got Tuccied!" Oh, and Peter Gallagher is in it, looking like Peter Gallagher on the downward spiral that is his career over the last ten years or so. So yes, a star studded cast.
The big problem is that it's two hours long. After that, let's be honest, unless you've got 3D robots, who gives a flying fuck?
So I watched Burlesque this week. Okay, fine, in the interest of full disclosure, I actually bought Burlesque this week. It sort of hurts me to type that. But it was $11 and I thought my sister would like it as an early birthday present. And yes, in retrospect, I'm not quite sure why I thought that. You should have seen the look on her face.
Anyway, it happened. That should probably have been the tag line for the movie itself. It's actually the most amazing thing about Burlesque -- that it got made at all. Someone heard a pitch involving Christina Aguilera, Cher, and a nonsensical plot about a small town girl making good by singing in her underwear and thought "yes, let's throw some money at that." They probably didn't mention the Alan Cumming, to be fair. Or the cinematography stolen shot by shot from Chicago.
A lot of it is so bad it's not even amusing. Not all of it, though. Eric Dane is a reliable source of unintentional laughter as the sleazy developer who romances Xtina and just generally looks greasy. It's his greatest role since that movie he made in the hot tub with his wife, that other lady, and a bunch of weed. Kirsten Bell is amusing in that she no longer seems to be "playing" a bitch; at this point she really is just a bitch. Stanley Tucci brought his role with him from The Devil Wears Prada and delivers zingers in such a way that I just want to shout "Bam! You got Tuccied!" Oh, and Peter Gallagher is in it, looking like Peter Gallagher on the downward spiral that is his career over the last ten years or so. So yes, a star studded cast.
The big problem is that it's two hours long. After that, let's be honest, unless you've got 3D robots, who gives a flying fuck?
