Monday, February 16, 2009

Friday the 13th and 420


via The Daily Dish

I went to see "Friday The 13th" on Saturday and enjoyed myself immensely. The critics were a little too harsh, methinks. The re-make had all the bimbos and boners that one would expect from a slasher-horror flick, but they were all added lovingly, layer after layer, to the project. The pure camp of the later Jason movies - Jason X, anyone? - has mutated into something much more satisfying. Yes, we want to cheer the gruesome deaths, but you need a semblance of realism to make this scary as well as comic. I jumped more than I laughed - which I cannot say of the last, say half a dozen.

Among the realism is a simple assumption that marijuana is a staple among the next generation. Pot carries marginally less stigma than alcohol at this point. The puffing, like the sex, is not portrayed in some prurient way. It's just there - like the now ubiquitous gay sex jokes among straight dudes. From American Beauty through Weeds and the Harold and Kumar series, let alone Pineapple Express, there's no question to my mind that there's a tectonic cultural shift out there. The law remains anomalous - as it does on gay questions. But the next generation is past this debate; and one wonders when the law will fully catch up.

7 comments:

JPX said...

Awesome! I'm happy to hear that the film was fun. I look forward to catching this.

Catfreeek said...

Tony & I went to see it Saturday night as well and we enjoyed the hell out of it too. Good stuff, a nice revival of our tired, old but surely lovable Jason.

JPX said...

Is that avatar from Santa Versus the Martians?

Catfreeek said...

No it's not but that was a great guess. They do look similar.

Unknown said...

42 million in the opening weekend. Very impressive. Am I the only one who is now very excited about the Nightmare on Elm Street re-make next year?

JPX said...

I'm psyched to see a remake of Elm Street, although I think the original is terrific.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Great bit on legalizing the herb:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/02/20/notes022009.DTL

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...