Spree
Manically energetic, Eugene Kotlyarenko’s SPREE (2020, Hulu but not for long) covers up its flaws with some exciting filmmaking and a charismatic performance by Joe Keery. He stars as Kurt, a would be social-media titan stuck in a job as a rideshare driver. To go viral, he decides to launch “#thelesson,” a livestream tutorial on how to use his job to kill people. Kotlyarenko and co-writer Gene McHugh wisely make the victims utterly obnoxious. They’re hardly deserving of death, but it’s still fun to see Keery take out racists, misogynists and wannabe fashion mavens. And the writers keep the one sympathetic character, an aspiring comic played very well by Sasheer Zamata, as a background figure until she’s needed at the end to generate suspense. Kotlyarenko is committed to being as outrageous as possible, which makes for some funny, slapstick murder scenes. But the film also goes off the rails at times and even tips the scales into ugliness before bouncing back for an energetic, funny finale. The real horror, of course is in the comments urging Keery to kill more and the rising viewer numbers as his spree escalates. David Arquette is on-hand briefly as Keery’s father, with Jessalyn Gilsig, John DeLuca, Mischa Barton and Frankie Grande among the victims. It may be too much for some — and social media is rather an easy target — but I had a lot of fun watching the film take potshots at our hyper-connected, fame-obsessed culture.
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TEEN BEACH MOVIE 2013
Remember that movie about the robot who drank liquor from an abandoned spaceship, turned into a vampire middle school teacher who taught the entire school how to salsa dance, and then went on to win the regional championship? That movie made more sense than this.
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The Little Mermaid Trailer
We are not treading new waters in this trailer. Looks like a live-action / CGI remake of the animated The Little Mermaid.
Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King and Prince Eric, Awkwafina, as the voice of Scuttle, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, and Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina.
Rob Marshall is directing The Little Mermaid. The movie score is by Alan Menken with music supervised and produced by Mike Higham. Music is by Menken, lyrics are by Howard Ashman, and new lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The screenplay is written by David Magee with a live-action story adaptation by Magee, Rob Marshall, and John DeLuca. The film is based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale and the Disney animated film by Ron Clements and John Musker.
The Little Mermaid hits theaters on May 26, 2023.
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Title: Teen Beach
Rating: NR
Director: Jeffrey Hornaday
Cast: Maia Mitchell, Ross Lynch, Grace Phipps, Garrett Clayton, John DeLuca, Chrissie Fit, Kevin Chamberlin, Steve Valentine, Jordan Fisher, Kent Boyd, Mollee Gray, William Loftis, Jessica Lee Keller, Lavon Fisher-Wilson
Release year: 2013
Genres: comedy, romance
Blurb: Life’s a beach for surfers Brady and McKenzie...until a rogue wave magically transports them inside the classic ‘60s party flick Wet Side Story, where a full-blown rivalry between bikers and surfers threatens to erupt. There, amidst a sea of surfing, singing, and dancing, Brady and Mack accidentally change the storyline, and the film’s dreamy hero and heroine fall for them instead of each other. Can Brady and Mack get the plot back on track, or will they be trapped there forever?
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beach day
In the winter of 1984, the junior class hosts Beach Day in the school gym. It’s another one of their fundraising activities, which exclusively goes to paying for the senior prom. Of all the traditional fundraisers at St. Catherine’s, though, Beach Day is the one the students look forward to the most. It always happens in the middle of February, when the snow and sleet become too much, and they want to pretend like they’re on a tropical island where no one can find them. The juniors host the party, but the whole school is invited, so long as they have two dollars to spare.
And today, Andie Sullivan most certainly has two dollars to spare.
Last year, when she was just a freshman, Andie didn’t get to go to Beach Day. Her mother grounded her for breaking curfew three times in a row. Apparently, Ginny Sullivan still operates on the “three tardies before a detention” rule that she learned when she was in high school at St. Catherine’s, too. When everybody got back to school the following Monday, Andie heard about all the scandalous and unexpected makeouts and hookups that happened during and after Beach Day. It made her furious that she wasn’t a part of them. So, for the past few weeks, Andie’s been following every one of her mother’s rules to a perfect point, just to make sure there’s no chance of grounding again. She has to go to Beach Day. Even if she’s not part of a surprising makeout or hookup, she still has to see the scandals happen. If a scandal breaks out at St. Catherine’s, and Andie Sullivan wasn’t around to spread the word, did it spread at all?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes. But Andie’s not really going to touch that right now.
When she gets into the gym, she ignores the annoying Todd Rudgren song playing loudly on the speakers high above her head. She ignores everyone’s bad dancing and even ignores a heavily pregnant Lucy Callaghan trying to persuade Kim Campbell to change the soundtrack to Bob Marley or at least Harry Belafonte.
“I know he probably fucked Marlon Brando, but people like ‘Jump in the Line,’” Lucy says.
“No, they don’t,” Kim calls out to her. “They like this.”
She turns the volume up on Todd Rudgren, and tragically, most of the crowd cheers and breaks out into really horrible dancing. Andie laughs, but she tries not to pay much attention. She knows what she’s looking for, and he’s standing right across from her in the gym.
Daniel DeLuca.
Over the past year or so, Andie has heard a lot about Daniel DeLuca. His reputation precedes him. According to a lot of girls in his class (and even a couple in Andie’s, the year below him), he’s the best guy to lose your virginity to. Vicky St. John lost her virginity to him back in the fall of ‘82, and she said she couldn’t have imagined it any other way. Daniel’s nice, she always says, and that makes all the difference. She’s been hooking up with Nick Crosby since then, so Andie’s pretty sure why Vicky would be nostalgic for a nice guy.
Andie doesn’t know what she expects to happen between her and Daniel on Beach Day.
But judging by the look they’re giving each other and the way that annoying Todd Rudgren music falls away, she’s pretty sure she has an idea.
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