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Review: Orange County
Shaun is a brainless Orange County surfing dude until he stumbles across a novel and decides he was to use his brain and become a writer. He obsesses on Stanford, doesn't get in because of a paperwork screw-up by his moonie guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin) and, with the help of his perpetually-stoned brother (Black) and girlfriend (Fisk), sets out to gain admission to Stanford. Part of his obsession comes from a desire to get away from his hilariously and spectacularly dysfunctional family (drunken drama queen mother is played by Catherine O'Hara, remote divorced money-obsessed dad by John Lithgow).
Black is by now wonderful at playing the stoned loony, but he needs to be careful, as it's already nearly impossible to imagine him in any other role. And he's great at it. He nearly steals the movie, especially playing against the steady-as-she-goes nice guy Colin Hanks who, like his Dad, has a Jimmy Stewart quality that makes you root for him, even when he's behaving badly.
The plotting and conceit of the movie are both strange. Orange County, a wealthy suburb of LA, is held to be insipid and valueless. Although we get a peek at the dummies who Shaun befriends and who go to his high school, there is little feel at all for the actual place, one of America's early, mythic suburbs. At least at first, all Shaun wants to do is get away, though the writers eventually suggest that wanting to leave arid suburbs and go to colleges like Stanford is a mistake. Creative and interesting people should stay at home where their roots are, all the better to be inspired and keep their needy parents and girlfriends happy.
Shaun's paperwork snafu could probably have been corrected with a phone call, so all the slapstick racing around -- there's an improbably mad dash up to Stanford -- and hysteria seems a bit silly. And the ending -- well, it's original, but also goofy. It lost me.
I think for a total of 15 to 20 minutes this is one of the most inventive and original movies I've seen in awhile. In toto, it's disjointed. It seems as if Kasdan wanted to make a semi-serious, biting movie but either chickened out or was held back. Still, there are more than a few great laughs in Orange County and the parts of the film that portray a complex kid trying to figure out where he belongs while coming to terms with his insane family really work -- at moments.
I really don't want this to sound like a troll, and I really love Slashdot, and I read it every day, and Linux is a great operating system, and open source is The Way, and I've really enjoyed all of Jack Black's movies, BUT...
/., much less expect it to be posted, and I don't think I personally know anyone who would.
Is this really a Slashdot news story? I mean, I'd never submit a non-tech movie review to
Perhaps the editors could do the same thing we lowly grunts do—post stories like this in your journal.
I just wanna know why Jon Katz always watches the teen movies.
I also want to know if anyone else here gives a shit about those movies?
I guess slashdot probably does have a fairly strong base teenager viewers but still, man.
Ah yes, I remember the trailer for this movie. Specifically, I remember it delaying my viewing of LoTR for another 60 seconds. I will never forgive them. Bastards.
--My purpose set, my will defined. Caress the air, embrace the skies.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I remember a little piece from Dennis Miller's Washington D.C. standup special, regarding in-room hotel pay-per-view, and how when you check out the movies you ordered are itemized on your bill.
:)
"Teenage Tit Freaks -- 9 times."
I note that if the movie requires a mind and/or a non-teen viewer Katz almost always hates it. On the other hand, if it is plotless but has buxom, lithe young starlets then it usually passes his muster. To put it another way, I would trust Katz' taste in porn movies.
Get off my virtual lawn, you damned virtual kids!
I guess it may surprise some, but in most cases nerd != 1 dimensional tech person. I sort of like the fact that slashdot runs stories on a range of topics that typically appeal to people that also tend to like "geeky" things.
I still think it's interesting that many types people interested in a given topic, also typically share an interest in another seemingly unrelated topic.
For example, slashdot typically runs significant stories on space exploration / physics topics. What does linux and open source have to do with NASA? Nothing really, but for whatever reason, it seems like the majority of linux enthusiasts are also interested in physics / science stuff.
I guess I'm way, way off topic on the movie review, but I guess my point is something like, "if you don't like a story headline, don't read it." It's most likely posted here because it will appeal to a number of other slashdotters.
At least N'Sync didn't get a cameo in this movie.
Why is this "Redundant"? I am seriously beginning to doubt whether the Slashdot moderation system works.
Where next though? Has "Ocean's 11" any relevance to Slashdotters? SFX and CGI are interesting as well as techie topics, but there are other places to go to talk about movies just for their own sake.
Kuro5hin has a voting system open to all registered users for the front page. Maybe this is needed here on Slashdot.
See my journal, I write things there
This will be my determining factor whether to download the movie in DivX or go pay to see it. Is there any Tenacious D music in the movie? For those of you who don't know who Tenacious D is, Tenacious D is Jack Black's band (well two guys with guitars). I would recommend you go download some Tenacious D music right now!
Visit BobtheKing.com it's perhaps the best thing I've ever made to waste your time with.
This is not directed specifically at the parent post.
I am sick and tired of all of the whining about Jon Katz that appears (and gets modded up) every time Katz posts a story. It's obvious that all of the posters who hate him and complain about everything he posts derive some perverse pleasure from their moaning, otherwise they would exclude Katz's stories in their preferences and shut up about it. So, i have a feature request: I would like two new toggles in the preferences. One should be labeled "I hate Katz" and the other "Ignore Katz haters." That alone should double the amount of constructive, thoughtful posts that I read.
Sorry, everyone's welcome to their own opinions, but this anti-Katz rhetoric is beyond old.