No updates since Harry Potter? That’s so ridiculously sad.
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SAD EMOTICONS ARE SAD.
Anyways, this is probably where I should make some excuses and apologize and say it’ll never happen again, but uh, I hate apologizing (because I AM NEVER WRONG!) and it will most likely happen again (probably tomorrow) and I haven’t actually SEEN any movies in the theater since Harry Potter… so not much to write about eh?! (That’s a lie I saw Captain America and wrote half a review but didn’t finish it… not apologizing for that either… LOVED Captain America btdubs… that was basically the review… I MIGHT be tempted to do another blog where we play Marry, Kill or Bop with the Avengers… we’ll see *shiftyeyes*).
So then what has inspired this blog? A trip to the movie theater, today in fact. I saw (WAIT FOR IT)
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I agreed to see the remake with my sister, in return she will NOT make me see Breaking Dawn Part 1. First off, why the HELL did they break that crappy piece of bat shit insanity into two movies?! Secondly, I did have to sit through the Breaking Dawn trailer which made me want to vomit and gouge my eyes out simultaneously. That in itself is pretty impressive.
Goodness, I’m in rare form tonight.
Moving on. Footloose was quite enjoyable, if you like that sort of film. Dancing, angsty teenagers, awesomely (bad) music, rebelling against authority figures? Of course I like that sort of film. As you probably know, the original stars The Baconator aka Kevin Bacon (who is in every movie ever made, he is the white Samuel L. Jackson) as Wren or is it Ren, I’m too lazy to look it up so I’m going to swap between the two spellings as I see fit. It also has the AMAZING John Lithgow as the preacher.
The remake stars a kid I’ve never heard of named Kenny Wormald as Ren. Originally Zac Efron (DUDE THAT IS A BOSS ZEFRON POSTER… sorry random A Very Potter Musical quotes must happen when the Zefron is mentioned) was slated to play Ren but stepped out of the project as he didn’t want to get type cast in that sort of role. Best decision he ever made. He wouldn’t have done it justice. Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl was also slated to play Ren and that would have been an even bigger disaster than Zefron. Ugh. I think that because this Kenny kid looks like The Baconator (Zefron does not, and I don’t think Chace can actually dance had he been cast). He looked a little rough around the edges with that Boston accent, which wasn’t that thick but was ‘just right’ for the film as he was an outsider coming into a small Georgia town. Frankly, he wasn’t as irritating as I found the Baconator to be in the original. One of my complaints about the original is that Ren doesn’t come off as a troubled, misunderstood youth (as he does in the muscial version… I ran lines for this version with my friend Joey once upon a time which clearly makes me an authority), he just comes off as a whiney, teenage brat that I want to slap from time to time for being TOO stubborn and hard headed and opinionated. Anyways… I very much approved of this casting. Wormald was charming, a fantastic dancer and just enough of a rebel to be interesting, but you could still bring him home to mom.
Juliana Hough from Dancing with the Stars (a guilty pleasure show of mine) stars as Ariel, and the love interest of Ren, with Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell starring as her parents (the preacher and wife). Hough, who apparently has been trying to have a country music career since leaving DWTS, was quite good as well. Surprising considering she’s had no real acting experience (to my knowledge). Quaid was adequate as the preacher but it’s very hard to top John Lithgow (seriously, have I mentioned how much I love John Lithgow?) My favorite actor of the bunch though has to be the kid who played Williard (Miles Teller). He played the ‘aww shucks’ ‘good ole boy’ ‘redneck’ sort so well, all while being endearing.
Aside from that, the film was pretty much the same with updates to music as well as some of the classic songs that made the film so awesome in the first place. Williard still learns to dance to “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” and R
en rolls into school listening to “Black and Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa which of course I loved. There were also lots of homages to the old film like Ren driving a yellow VW Bug. He also wore the maroon tuxedo jacket to the prom and did the “LET’S DANCE” shout before throwing confetti everywhere. The final dance also mimicked a lot of the moves from the original.
So then, my final thoughts? Rent it and watch it, it’s a good time. Frankly, I can’t wait for it to start airing on TV so I can flip through and watch it. (Seriously, I can’t watch Dirty Dancing one more time… give me something else to watch as a guilty pleasure please!) I still question WHY it was even made, when it is so spot on to the original. Was it really necessary? Probably not. Then again, if they remade all the Harry Potter films, would it be necessary, probably not… would I still see every single one? You betcha.
Coming later this week (if I have the time before I got to Disney World) the introduction of a new… non movie related project.
Did I mention I’m going to Disney World? Winning!
Strangers in the Dark 