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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.
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this was posted at 12noon. it's now 12:05. no first post yet. strange for a jonkatz story
woooooooooooooooooo damn 20 seconds
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!
My guess is that Slashdot get's paid to post these 'reviews'.
Michael Loves Me!
It's a very sad time of the year. Having spent the Christmas period in the office, neatly combining the filling in of a timesheet liberally scattered with numbers in the 'overtime' column with the avoidance of certain members of the family, it's terribly irritating to see all these hung-over employees dragging themselves miserably back into the office with the sole intention of breaking my network.
...
...
...
... Yes, that was ordered on the 22nd of last month, by the head of engineering."
... so it didn't get redirected to Siggi's Sex Emporium in Rotterdam ...
You see, during the shutdown period I received not one single support call, confirming my theory that my network is indeed perfect, and that all faults are user-inflicted.
It would seem from the system logs that I wasn't the only one in over Christmas: looks like the head of engineering has been around, faxing out dozens of orders for bits and bobs to put in the new shake-test line they're hurrying to build down in Quality Assurance.
The gossip around the office, though, is that the CEO is really mad - the line was meant to be running in time for the New Year, and from all accounts, it's nowhere near completed.
The most interesting snippet from the network fax log is that the software patch I installed on the server seems to have kicked in for at least one outgoing call
It's an entertaining little patch, and fixes the most common problem with all networked fax systems around the world - the fact that they're terribly dull.
The update in question is simple, yet brilliant: the network manager specifies search and replace filters for outgoing messages, which can brighten up messages immensely if used properly. You can even program it to divert faxes to a different country according to your own parameters
The phone rings.
"Good morning, you're the first caller of the year, how can I help you?" (Sometimes, my charm surprises even myself)
"Chief engineer here. Is the fax system working?"
"Certainly is, in fact, I've just been checking it a moment or two ago. Why? Are you having problems?"
"Yes. I ordered some kit for the new QA line before the break, but the supplier reckons the fax never arrived. Can you check it out for me? I sent it on December the 22nd, and it claimed to get there OK. The purchase order number is PE4456."
A quick 'grep' on the fax log turns up the fax in question.
"Well, it's here in the system log, and it certainly went OK. Quantity 48, product description 'Vibrator (three-phase, heavy-duty)'. Perhaps your supplier is trying it on."
"Yes, that's probably right. Many thanks."
"You're welcome".
I wonder
The phone rings. CLI says it's Goods Inwards.
"Machine room."
"Goods Inwards here. We have a delivery with no contact name. The supplier says it was ordered by fax - can you find out who sent the order with that fancy gadget of yours?"
"Sure, no problem. What's the order number?"
"PE4456."
"Let's see
"Thanks mate."
I'm sure I hear sniggering as the phone is put down.
Time, and several levels of Doom III (beta, naturally) pass uneventfully before there's a knock at the door. Deftly switching Doom to 'Boss Mode', I motion the chief engineer to enter.
"Something's wrong with your fax system," he blurts.
"Really? How come?"
"You know that fax I mentioned? I just tried to re-send it, but it hasn't got there."
"Well, let's test the system."
I compose a quick fax on my PC, plug one of the old fax machines I've got lying in the corner into a spare line, and click 'send'. The machine springs into life, faithfully reproducing the test message.
Well, it would, wouldn't it - I didn't put the word 'vibrator' in my message
"There you go," I proudly exclaim to my spanner-wielding colleague. "Nothing wrong with that. You'll have to tell your suppliers that their machine is on the blink."
"Oh well, thanks for checking."
Serves him right for doubting my systems.
The phone rings again.
"Machine room, BOFH speaking."
"CEO here. Tell me, have you seen Bradshaw from engineering? They tell me he was on his way to see you about a system problem."
"Yes, he just walked out of the door. Why?"
"Oh, I'm just wondering why Goods Inwards have brought me a box containing four dozen three-speed sex aids, as ordered by our engineering friend from Siggi's Sex Emporium in Rotterdam. Don't suppose you can shed any light?"
"Well, I can certainly go through the fax log for you - it's all here in black and white..."
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.
If you think it is redundant, over rated, offtopic, Flame ... then why did you come here? I think that nerds need to watch movies and seeing how this is a "Teen Movie", and most geeks and nerds are around their teenage years, it does have something to do with this, nerds and geeks are real human beings, and we deserve laughter.
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.
he is! i have a truth table that proves it!
You do not deserve oxygen. Why do they let you poloute /. with your filth?
TROLL. U dick sniffing cuntwad.
What the fuck did I do? You've just ruined my fucking sunday morning.
Sorry, stud. You may be funny, but Jon Katz is right on this one:
Main Entry: in toto
Pronunciation: in-'tO-(")tO
Function: adverb
Etymology: Latin, on the whole
Date: 1796
: TOTALLY, ENTIRELY
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.