Well, I missed my chance last week to see this with the Rum Group, but here's a second opportunity. To the Esquire!
-1:47 PM
I'm in the ticket line ahead of a lady and her two small children. Aw, that's nice. She's taking them to see Frankenweenie or Hotel Transylvania.
-1:48 PM
As I head into the theater, I hear "One adult and two kids for Taken 2." Sigh. The Esquire, ladies and gentlemen.
-1:50 PM
I enter the lobby to find one of my friends in a deep discussion with some lady about how the theater isn't even trying to pass off that goo as butter, labeling the machine as "Popcorn Topping".
-2:00 PM
The trailers start. As with many of the disposable, pure-fun movies I see here, the movies previewed ahead of time look wretched.
-2:06 PM
Like this one. Ugh.
-2:10 PM
And, I mean...what?
-2:12 PM
Oh, and this next one, wherein Catherine Zeta-Jones is an ESPN producer who thinks what Americans are really desperate for is more soccer coverage. Sounds like a winner!
-2:13 PM
Oooh! Les Miserables! At least there's one promising thing to look forward to.
-2:17 PM
I've really enjoyed Anna Kendrick in every movie I've seen her in.
-2:19 PM
That said, her character is kind of snotty for no perceptible reason.
-2:36 PM
And while we're talking of no perceptible reason:
1) Why a capella groups rule the social hierarchy at a college.
2) Even accepting that premise, why a butter-faced jerkoff would be the unquestioned ruler of the reigning clique.
3) Why the dopey good guy immediately falls for and begins wooing our grumpy heroine without exchanging a single word of conversation with her.
-2:45 PM
Anna Kendrick (Beca) wants to drop out of school and become a successful DJ. Sounds like an excellent long-term career plan.
-2:48 PM
Although I will say that the mashups she (that is, the music producer for this movie) puts together are really good.
-3:00 PM
So, if you've seen Bring It On, you get the gist of this movie right away. Free-thinking spirit joins staid group with rigid rules and attempts to shake things up.
-3:02 PM
The rest of the crew that makes up the girls' a capella group is a mixed bunch, but the show is totally stolen by Rebel Wilson (as Fat Amy, a girl who voices every thought that passes through her brain), and Hana Mae Lee (as Lilly, a girl so timid that the entire audience had to lean forward and strain to hear her, but whose every word is gold).
-3:14 PM
John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks throw some Christopher Guestification up in this movie as commentators. Yeah it's totally derivative of Best in Show, but they're so good that it totally works.
-3:22 PM
For a movie that's supposed to be about a capella, the songs aren't particularly memorable. The electronic mashups are far more impressive.
-3:55 PM
The grumpy girl learns to love. Aw.
In a word, this movie was fine. The performances were fine. The music was fine. The plot was fine. I'm glad I saw it, but it didn't really bring anything new or exciting to a well-worn genre. Next time, we should definitely bring the rum.
Pitch Perfect: C+
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