"Threesome" (1994)

"Threesome" Movie Poster

So I had never heard of "Threesome" until Spring Break a few weeks ago. My friends and I went to Starbucks then went back to our friend Laura's house to watch a movie. Her family recently got Netflix, which is literally one of the best business and entertainment concepts EVER to be invented or thought of. We debated over what movie to watch for probably 20 minutes, especially since we hit the "Comedy" category button, and Laura insisted on scrolling through all 14 or 15 pages of movie posters to pick just one movie.

We finally decided on "Threesome" because it looked funny and our group of friends is famous for our constant joking and sexual comments/references. We queued it up on the TV and settled back on the couches. Not knowing what to expect was left to our imaginations, and boy, was I surprised.

The movie stars Josh Charles as transfer student Eddy, Lara Flynn Boyle as independent and strong-willed Alex, and Stephen Baldwin as the All-American jock Stuart. It was written and directed by Andrew Fleming, as the movie is an autobiographical comedy mixed with social commentary, based on Fleming's college experiences and memories.

It was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It was released on April 8, 1994 and runs for 93 minutes, and eventually grossed $14.8 million in revenues.

The whole movie centers around how a housing error put Eddy and Stuart together with a female roommate, Alex, who the college thought was a boy based on her name. Their experiences together as a trio of friends and the lust for one another's affections (or not) eventually causes them to drift apart.

The film received mostly negative review once it was released. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes said 26% of critics gave "Threesome" positive reviews, based on 23 reviews. Roger Ebert felt the move was unfunny and, "Like many kids their age, these three are more bold in talk than action, and the movie sounds right; it sounds like undergraduate human dialogue, intended to shock, to liberate, to amuse." Peter Travers' review for "Rolling Stone" magazine said, "We're supposed to get all teary when kinkiness threatens to break up a friendship that was hard to swallow in the first place" and courtesy of Alexander Gruszynski, "There's lots of glossy cinematography...as the three lovers wander the campus separately, looking contemplative. Now there's a laugh."

I couldn't find the movie on DVD in the Longwood library, but the whole movie is available on YouTube in 9 or 10 sections. Of course, Netflix is always an option.

Overall, I thought the movie of hliarious and just plain stupid. Boyle, Charles and Baldwin are perfect for the roles of college students. The antics of the main charaters as well as the people around them portray both college students of the past and today. I laughed really hard during the movie not just because of the jokes and sexual references, but also because I could picture my friends and Longwood acquaintances saying or doing similar things here in Farmville or at home.

It is clearly like a '90s movie with the clothing and hair styles, certain sayings and catchphrases and car makes, but some of the greatest movies were made in the '90s too.

It's difficult for me to compare "Threesome" with any of today's similar comedies, but if you find any that even remotely compare, please let me know!

I wouldn't put "Threesome" in the category of classic or a movie I could watch over and over, but I certainly rank it as one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while, and one that I could definitely relate to, being a college student and all that jazz.

As always, comments and questions and feedback are always encouraged and welcomed!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Havoc" (2005)

"Havoc" Movie Poster"

In response to the feedback I've gotten from my last post, I'm going to continue the trend of incorporating a movie's trailer into the review. A trailer says a lot about a movie even before someone pays money to go see it, at least that's what people think when they view these 1 1/2 to 2-minute long clips from the movie.

Thanks to Kyle for recommending (and letting me borrow the DVD) "Havoc" from 2005. It's a good movie starring Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Freddy Rodriguez, and a host of other great actors and actresses.

I easily found the trailer for "Havoc" on YouTube. It runs 1 minute, 56 seconds. Immediately, within the first few seconds I was intrigued by the characters and the action. It starts out with a girl being videotaped, a tough look on her face, asking "So you wanna know about us?" as the opening chords of either a rap or hip-hop song plays in the background. As her male friend points the camera at her and the scene switches to her walking with her friends, she says, "We live very sheltered lives."

The voice-over kicks in within in a few seconds with the interspersed lines, "They're rich...They're young...They want something real." As the black-haired girl and her friends explore the city, particularly at night, one of the girls suggest that they go downtown to explore the whole new world. Suddenly, the group of girls are gathered in a room, and one of the girls, with a raised voice, says, "There is a monetary zone of geography which we're not allowed to pass," as the scene cuts to a Mexican man approaching one of the girls, looking angry. Then suddenly, the same guy says, "You wanna come to a party?"

As party scenes and landscapes of the city fly by, the voice-over continues: "In every city, there are unspoken rules about where you can go, and who you can be with."

"None of it really matters. We're just teenagers, and we're bored," one of the girls says as guns are drawn, fights break out, and basically all hell breaks loose.

The cover of the DVD shows Hathaway's character lying on her back, being nuzzled by her Mexican love interest. The tagline: "Some lines are not meant to be crossed."

The whole premise of the movie is showing how bored Los Angeles teenagers have gotten, and how far they push their limits. Allison (Hathaway) and Emily (Phillips) leave their upscale suburb for a joyride through East L.A. As they are exposed to horrifying things such as drugs, gang brutality and violence, they don't become scared - they become infatuated.

Hathaway gives a stunning performance as Allison, who is a rich girl who can have anything she wants. She is an erotic character who literally has everything and can get anything - drugs, sex, and more. Scenes in the movie include her snorting cocaine, drinking multiple kinds of alcohol, and of course, having sex with multiple people.

Unfortunately, Allison and Emily's adventure into East L.A. becomes increasingly dangerous as rival gangs become involved over drugs and turf, the Mexicans versus the Pacific Palisades rich kids. What began as a film project by Allison's friend Eric (Matt O'Leary) to document the teen's faux-gangsta lifestyle becomes scary as Allison's boyfriend Toby (Mike Vogel) is involved in a gang, which has multiple skirmishes with rival gangs throughout the film.

As the movie progresses in a blur of action, both physical and sexual, Allison and her friends learn how truly sheltered their lives have been, and what they learned about the world outside of their former lives.

As always, I welcome comments, questions, criticism, and recommendations!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Ordinary People" (1980)

"Ordinary People" Movie Poster

I never realized, until now, how attracted I have become to dramatic films, I really enjoy them. I'm especially developing a taste for older movies, because they show a different way movies were made. This is in comparison to today's movies, which are more concentrated on action, sex or gore, rather than the story that encompasses the characters. Can you think of a movie that was made before the 1990s that shows this sentiment of the story over the action? Please feel free to comment!

I think the sentiment I mentioned above applies perfectly to 1980's smash hit "Ordinary People." Looking at the DVD case in the Longwood library a few days ago, I realized this movie won 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay Adaption. In my mind, if it won all these prestigious Oscars, it had to be a good movie.

The theatrical trailer is available to view on the library's DVD. I watched this first, just to get a sense of what the movie would be about. With the opening chords of Handel's "Messiah," a voice-over reads, "In this typical town, in this comfortable home, three ordinary people are about to live an extraordinary story."

The following is a smattering of the sound bites from the trailer:

"What kind of psychiatrist are you? You don't believe in dreams," a young man says, scoffing at the psychiatrist. "I do believe in dreams," the shrink responds, "only sometimes I want to know what's happening when you're awake."

Psychiatrist: "How long are you going to punish yourself? When are you going to quit?"

Young Man: "I just did one wrong thing..."

Psychiatrist: "And what was that one wrong thing you did?"

These little sound bites/clips pulled me in even more, as most trailers do. It made my hungry to find out what was wrong with the young man, why he was seeing a psychiatrist, why was he punishing himself.

The cast of characters is star-studded, and this movie gave some actors and actresses their start in the movie business.

The story follows a upper-class family residing in Lake Forest, Illinois. Though the movie is dated in the looks of the cars and clothes, the story and lessons learned are far more important.

A young and striking Donald Sutherland plays the easy-going and loving father Calvin Jarrett, Mary Tyler Moore plays his charming yet self-centered wife, Beth. They had two sons, Buck (Scott Doebler) and Conrad (Timothy Hutton), but we learn early on that Buck has died. Through a series of flashbacks from Conrad's point of view, it appears that Buck drowned in a lake of some sort during a fierce storm.

Along the way, the Jarrett family begins to disintegrate as details about Buck's death and the family come out. The clear protagonist is Conrad, a high-school student, as we see his life with his parents, adjusting with his friends, the swim team, and girls. As the movie progresses, psychiatrist Berger (Judd Hirsch) and girls Karen (Dinah Manoff) and Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern).

Two other things, besides the fabulous acting and cast of characters, really sold this movie with me, keeping me riveted to my computer screen even after the 2-hour movie ended. One was the music selection. From the very beginning, Handel's iconic "Messiah" sets the tone of the movie. Second, the choice of scenery and setting truly shows the status of the Jarretts and their lives. The movie is set in the time between early fall and Christmas, and the scenery of suburban Illinois is gorgeous, keeping my attention the entire time.

The emotions in this movie are so raw and poignant, especially Timothy Hutton's character, Conrad. Besides Hutton's closeted emotions eventually making their way out, all the characters really show their emotions, especially as the movie progresses.

This fabulous drama is based on the 1976 novel by Judith Guest, which was her first published novel. The Academy Award-winning screenplay adaption was created by Alvin Sargent.

Besides Sargent winning Best Screenplay Adaption and the movie winning Best Picture, Best Director went to Robert Redford and Best Supporting Actor was Timothy Hutton, who certainly deserved it, at least in my book.

I hope you enjoyed this! Go pick up this awesome movie at the Greenwood Library. As always, I welcome any comments, questions, criticism, and of course, movie suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)