That’s right. Going to the Creators Project wasn’t my only cultural experience this weekend. I also went with a couple friends to go see Jonah Hill and Chan-Tate tear it up in the #1 MOVIE IN THE COUNTRY. I’m not going to review the film for you, because if you were interested, you’ve probably already checked in with your favorite aggregation site to find out if it’s got a good average qualitative score (for the record, I put it in the 76th percentile of all movies I’ve ever seen, and probably in the high 80s for formulaic-high-concept-action-comedy-hybrid-reboots-of-old-cop-slash-high-school-tv-shows). But the movie DID make me think, so I thought I’d share a few of my in-theater thoughts.
Going to see a good popcorn movie on opening weekend is fun. Everyone’s excited to see it. The theater’s packed with happy face. The film hasn’t been spoiled by being meme-fied in the tumbl-sphere, yet.It’s a fun way to spend 14 bucks and a couple hours. There are a couple qualifiers, though; it’s best to keep expectations low AND to go to a theater where you can reserve a seat ahead of time. Do this, and as long as the movie is passable, I’d recommend it.
The best scenes in Hollywood movies about high school are the party scenes. Even though they look nothing like any party I ever went to, they still make me nostalgic, I guess for when I was still in high school, watching high school party scenes in movies and wishing they were what my life was like.
I like when Ice Cube plays a cop, even better than when he plays a family man or something else super wholesome.You know, because Ice Cube didn’t only used to be the best rapper in America (fact), but also the angriest. It just makes me happy that Ice Cube is Ice Cube.
The scene in the movie Narc when Big D Love, the character Busta Rhymes is playing, is LISTENING to a Busta Rhymes song, meaning the character lived in a universe where there was a famous rapper who looked and sounded exactly like him. What made me think about this was a part of the film when, right after Ice Cube was in the scene, the NWA song “Straight Outta Compton” played as the music cue. That weird moment of alternate reality verisimilitude is the only thing I remember about the film Narc, but it still seems weird to me.
The reason that I remember that moment in Narc. It’sbecause I actually talked about it in a class in college at one point. I had a really cool cultural studies professor who, every Monday, would ask the class what we saw (movies, concerts, art, etc…) over the weekend and what we thought about it, and I remember telling the class about the Busta Rhymes Narc thing. And then I thought abut how the next time I’m in charge of any sort of Monday morning meeting, even if it’s like, for an accounting firm or recovering addicts, I want to do a what-did you-see-over-the-weekend thing with the team. It’s a good way to start a week.
I’m kind of a weirdo. And not just because of the weird post-modern memory. The movie also reminded me of when, the summer of fourth grade, I was at a sleep-away performing arts camp and performed a solo dance piece to the theme song of 21 Jump Street at the camp talent show. It involved a lot of jumping. I think I just wanted attention and the theater students had all been taking dance classes, so I guess it seemed like a sensible thing to do. And the audience, mostly middle schoolers and high schoolers loved it, because they thought it was a joke. So, that’s a thing.
The reason I even knew about the theme song was I visited the set of 21 Jump Street when I was kid. Except I don’t really remember any of it. My mom has a picture of me, at 6 years old, wearing a sweet newsies hat with Holly Robinson-Peete (née Holly Robinson). If I can track it down, I’ll post it.
I think about all kinds of shit when I watch movies. Is it normal to be watching a reasonably engaging movie in a dark theater and be thinking about literally everything that’s ever happened to you ever? I should look into Ritalin or Klonopin or something, right?
Henry Goldman is founder and a contributing writer for yr an adult. He knows. He’s working on it.