Take Me Home Tonight review

From the moment I saw the trailer, I knew.  I knew I wanted to see this film.  Take Me Home Tonight, the story of four friends and their wild night.  So I got on a list for an early screening and did just that.  The movie apparently has a back story as well.  It was shot four years ago!  And is just now being released.  After watching the movie, I think it's nuts the studio waited this long, let's begin!

What I liked about the film:
The Story
If you saw the trailer, you're thinking to yourself, "what kind of story could this film possibly have".  You'd be surprised.  It's a great story with a real growth of some sort to all of our main characters.  For the most part, every character has a reason for doing what they do.  And along with story, there is a lot of heart, that's because of the actors involved.  Which leads me to my next "like".

Actors

I never was religious about "That 70's Show".  I mean, I know it has spawned some decent careers, but I wasn't a real fan.  Topher Grace is someone that I've only really seen in Spider-Man 3 and a cameo in Ocean's 11.  Simply using Spider-Man 3 as an indicator of talent wouldn't be fair, that movie was God awful and it wasn't his fault.  Ocean's 11 on the other hand was a pre-cursor to his comedic timing.  In Take Me... Grace is really smart guy that kind find his way in life.  He went to MIT and has never lived up to his expectations.  Scared to make the jump from school to career, he's working at a dead-end job at a video store.

His best friend is played by Dan Fogler.  The lovable loser who is Grace's opposite.  He opted for a career in luxury car sales, rather than going to college.  Fogler is pretty much the same character he always plays, but it works.  He screams his lines a bit too much for me, but trust me, overall, he's great in this film.

Grace has a twin sister played by Anna Faris.  As smart as Grace is, and a lot going for her, she's about to marry a loser who has no aspirations in life.  She's great in what little screen time she has.  I like Faris a lot and think she's a very versatile actress. 

Then there's the prom queen that Grace has longed for since Junior High, played by Teresa Palmer.  You may remember Palmer from the decent Bedtime Stories, or the terrible The Sorcerer's Apprentice.   Forget those two films, she is MONEY in this film.  Beautiful, smart, successful, conflicted, she plays her part perfectly.  I was pleasantly surprised to see her do so well.  I assumed they cast a pretty face and hoped for the best, not the case, she's great.

There are a few cameos I don't want to spoil, but check out Michelle Trachtenberg and Demetri Martin are PHENOMENAL!  Martin plays quite possibly one of the funniest characters I've ever seen.  I mean that!

The Relationships

The movie is mostly grounded in reality, with the exception of a few situations.  I found it to be easier to relate to than say the American Pie films.  The reason for this are the relationships.  Grace and Faris' relationship.  It's twins; they fight with each other, they love each other, they push each other to do more, etc.  It was very nice to see this. 

The relationship between Grace and Fogler is an important one as well.  They too want more for each other.  They're very different, yet loyal to one another.  This is true in all of our lives.  We have friends that went down very different paths than us, but we remain close.  Awesome depiction between these two contradictory characters.

Lastly, the relationship between Grace and Palmer.  I love what they did with the story (maybe because it closely resembles my life more than I'd like to admit).  Palmer's character definitely grows throughout the film.  She reveals to Grace that if he asked her out in High School, she most likely would have turned him down, and now things are different.  How true to life is this?  Very, I think.  In High School it's all materialistic and superficial relationships.  Once we find ourselves are we better able to find our counterparts.  I loved how delicately they wove this into the story. 

The Music
Yeah, I said the music.  There are films that overdo it.  Directors try to use the music to state the obvious, "THE MOVIE TAKES PLACE IN THE 80'S"!  We get it.  But that does not happen here.  Director Michael Dowse and Jeff Carson (who has worked on numerous films), nailed it.  My wife and I were dancing along to all the popular oldies.  Again, never going overboard and taking over the film.

What I didn't like about the film:
The Outrageous
As I mentioned before, most of the film is based in reality.  It's only when it veers towards the outrageous does the movie start to slip.  I understand why directors feel the need to do this, but disagree with it.  It is a physical comedy in a sense, and Fogler is mostly known for his physical comedy skills, so I understand it.  But take out the outrageous and it's still a "that could happen to me" film.

The Verdict:
WHY DID THEY WAIT SO LONG!
I loved this film.  I was laughing the whole time.  I'm telling you, I am more than willing to go see it again (even if I have to pay for it).  It's that good.  I hope you all give it a shot.  I haven't read any other reviews, but if I was to submit to the various websites, I'd give it a 8/10.  Just a great comedy.  And Topher Grace, you have made a fan out of me.

Adrianne Palicki is this generation's Wonder Woman

The title pretty much speaks for itself, but I can clear up a few things.  "Wonder Woman", the DC Comics legendary character will come in the form of a TV screen, not a Hollywood picture.  NBC has the rights and the show is set to air within the next year.  The producers have promised it will be a much more serious than the campy 1970's version that had men drooling over Lynda Carter. 

I have never seen any of Adrianne Palicki's work.  I know she stars in the TV version of "Friday Night Lights" and was in last year's Legion.  If you can't tell already, she's stunningly beautiful.  I also read she's tall, which may serve well for the show.  If you know anything about Palicki, let us know.  Have you watched her past shows, is she any good, etc?  I have Legion on Blu-Ray so maybe I'll watch it tonight and see what she's all about. 

Guy Ritchie is rumored to direct Xerxes, the sequel to 300

Ok, so we know Guy Ritchie is busy filming Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, but there's an interesting rumor floating around.  Could Guy Ritchie take the reigns from Zack Snyder on a 300 sequel?  The internet says so, so it must be true. 

300 is really the defining film for Snyder.  His vision made the movie what it is.  It's no secret he and Frank Miller have been working on a sequel/prequel comic book following the Persian emperor, Xerxes.  Miller is of course the writer of the 300 graphic novel that inspired the film.  So why the Ritchie rumors?

I don't want to give internet rumors too much time, but here goes:  The third act to the new Superman script is weak and early reviews of Sucker Punch are bad so Warner Brothers doesn't trust Snyder with the tent pole film.  Bbbbbbbbbbbbbb.S.  I don't believe it for a minute. 

If the rumors are true and Ritchie is to take over the sequel, there has to be other reasons.  Say perhaps, SCHEDULING!  Shocking, scheduling difficulties is too boring a reason for a director to take over a film from another director; so we all make stuff up to compensate. 

My honest opinion is that Warner Brothers wants to get this project moving and so they're probably shopping around, nothing more.  With Snyder starting up Superman and Ritchie wrapping up Holmes... it makes sense.  I would be happy with Ritchie, but am going to hope for a back to back homerun with Snyder. 

Sherlock Holmes sequel gets an official title

I've only seen a few pictures from the 2009 sequel, but I have to tell you, I'm really excited about the new Sherlock Holmes.  And now we have an official title!  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.  I like it.  The movie of course stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Noomi Rapace.  It will be directed by Guy Ritchie (interesting rumor coming up next about Sir Richie).  There is also a rumor floating around that Rachel McAdams has a cameo in the film.  That is all for now.

Writer hired for Mark Millar's comic book, "Nemesis"?

Latino Review reported on this a few days ago, and I've been too busy to post my thoughts.  Matthew Michael Carnahan, has been hired to write the script for Nemesis, the Mark Millar comic book.  We already knew Tony Scott was set to direct, now Carnahan is writing. 

Matthew is brother to A-Team director, Joe Carnahan.  Matthew has an interesting resume.  He's written such films as The Kingdom, Lions for Lambs and State of Play.  Do you know what I universally hated about all three of those films?  The writing!

I think Carnahan is the absolute wrong choice for an action adventure film.  I mean, Nemesis has an amazing premise and I've read all the books, it's an amazing piece from Mark Millar.  Millar has been made famous by other comic books he's written that have become Hollywood hits, such as Wanted and Kick-Ass. 

What if Bruce Wayne was The Joker?  In other words, what if a billionaire playboy did bad instead of good?  THAT is what Nemesis is all about.  Can Carnahan really write something like this?  I don't think he can.  This is still rumor, but so was the Tony Scott rumor that has since become fact.  I hope its not true, but we'll have to wait and see.  

X-Men: First Class premier trailer and poster

I don't want to talk much because I want you to see this amazing trailer.  Maybe I'm biased because I've love the X-Men since I was a kid.  Maybe because I woke up early to watch the animated series on Fox.  Maybe because I read the comics, or that I loved Bryan Singer's films!  All of those things have lead up to this bad ass trailer.  Enjoy!

Zach Galifianakis may join Ryan Reynolds in R.I.P.D.

Not a bad idea actually.  I would LOVE to see Galifianakis and Reynolds feed off each other.  The movie is R.I.P.D, we told you about Reynolds casting a few months ago.  So far, RED director, Robert Schwentke is set to take over the movie.  You never know, that might change. It's based on the popular Dark Horse comic book and it's about cops, the underworld, awesome. 

I've made it no secret how much I like Ryan Reynolds, same goes for Galifianakis.  I also really liked the visual style Schwentke brought to RED.  If this goes through, it could be something special.  We'll see.  What do you think?