21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street (2012)

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Story by Michael Bacall & Jonah Hill

Screenplay by Michael Bacall

Stars: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, DeRay Davis and Rob Riggle

I was on the camp of every person that heard that they were making a comedic remake of the 80s series of the same name that it was going to be terrible. I chose to skip the movie when it was in theaters. Then, my movie nerds kept telling me that the film is actually pretty good. I would say that the movie is funny and ridiculous, but not the second coming.

The story centers around two losers, Jenko and Schmidt (Tatum, Hill) who were the outcasts when they went to high school together. Seven years later, they met again while in police academy training. They become fast friends for convenience. They thought everyday would be like COPS, but it's more like Pacific Blue. While on parole, they look at a gang smoking weed and they try to take them down, expect Jenko forgot tell the suspect his Miranda rights. Instead of getting the sack, they are resigned to previously defunct Jump Street mission to see who is dealing a street drug called HFS to high school students.

Before I saw one frame of the film, I thought it was going to be like Starsky & Hutch or The Dukes of Hazzard. I thought it was going to be a horrible comedic remake of a television show of a different genre. No idea why, but the concept kinda works here. You get guys that looks like a typical high school to infiltrate the school to find major shit going on.

It feels like the drug in question is not a big deal to me. It was like LSD and marijuana wrapped in plastic. It was not like it was bath salts or some other crazy shit that's out there. The chemistry between Hill and Tatum was very good. They worked well with each other.

Everybody knows the film has cameos by three of the main stars of the TV show: Holly Robinson-Pete, Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise. I was surprised when a good portion of them showed up. I had to rewind it again.

My Rating

Three Kings

Three Kings (1999)

Directed by David O. Russell

Story by John Ridley

Screenplay by David O. Russell

Stars: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze, Cliff Curtis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Nora Dunn, Jamie Kennedy, Judy Greer, Holt McCallany and Mykelti Williamson

Three Kings is the kind of movie that virtually everyone in the world has seen except for me, because that's the way I was programmed. I always wanted to see it. This is as good of time as any to watch it. I excepted the movie would be on thing and ended up other, which left me confused.

After the first Iraqi War in 1991, a platoon is interrogating a bunch of POWs when it was discovered that one of the prisoners is carrying a piece of paper between his ass cheeks by Conrad Vig (Jonze). Removing the paper and inspecting it, it turns out to be a treasure to find gold bouillon that Iraqi forces stole from Kuwait in the conflict. Troy Barlow (Wahlberg) and Cheif Elgin (Cube) were deciphering the map when Speical Forces Major Archie Gates (Clooney) takes over everything. He devises a plan to recover the missing bouillion and keep a couple of them for themselves. On their way to the bunker, the four men realize that some civilians need their help.

I was very psyched to see this film. I thought that the movie would be a straight up drama, but it turned to be a comedy. Not like funny "haha" comedy. It caught me completely off guard. It was confusing that a film about a non-war would have scenes of violence would then have a conversation about Michael Jackson during a torture scene.

The tone of movie was the biggest issue that I had with the movie. It was trying to take itself seriously, but then it was try to have a jokey moment that comes out of nowhere. I think the "comedy" aspects of the film were not necessary. If the movie was a straight up drama, I would have like the movie more. Some instances in the movie would have had a greater impact on me if that was the case.

My Rating