Half Baked

I haven’t reviewed any older movies yet, so today I am going to be reviewing Half Baked (1998). It falls under the Stoner film/comedy category. I saw this movie for the first time a couple days ago and I loved it.

(Half Baked movie cover courtesy of http://www.bohoeco.com)

The actors in this movie are not very well known, and the people who do know them know them from this movie. The main characters, a group of 4 pothead friends, are played by Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Guillermo Díaz, and Harland Williams. I think they all did very well acting in this movie. All four friends had very different personalities, sharing one love in common: weed. I especially liked Dave Chapelle as an actor. He played as Thurgood Jenkins, the main character and leader of the friends. I would have liked to see him act in other movies after this, but he didn’t. Other than the main characters, popular actors and pot-legends Tommy Chong and Snoop Dogg made funny cameos throughout the movie. 

(left to right: Scarface, Thurgood, and Brian courtesy of http://mentalfloss.com)

I enjoyed the storyline for this movie very much. It is about a group of four pot-smoking, low life adults who live together in their apartment. When one member gets arrested for feeding a police horse candy while on munchie duty, they have to get of their asses and come up with a plan to get their buddy out of prison. They settle on selling stolen marijuana from a pharmaceutical lab to raise money. It’s a risky plan at first, but the friends soon find their phones ringing off the hook. It looks like they are going to get their friend out just fine until some big-time dealers start to get jealous. This movie reminds me of one of those old classic movies you can watch over and over again like The Sandlot or Forrest Gump. The plot was also great because it was hilarious. The list of funny scenes and lines is never-ending. And don’t be scared that this movie is only about marijuana either, it’s a lot more than that.

Even though I loved this movie, it was a little cheesy. It had to do partly with it being made in the 90’s but it didn’t seem very high-budget. The special effects were pretty bad and the filming wasn't the best. It didn’t bother me at all, I just thought it made it even better. But if those kinds of things bother you, this isn’t the movie for you.

Today I will be giving the top 5 lines from Half Baked. This list was very hard to write since there were so many lines to choose from

#1

Mary Jane Potman: My father's a drug dealer.

Thurgood Jenkins: Wow, that must've been the shit.

Mary Jane Potman: It ruined his life.

Thurgood Jenkins: That must've been shitty.

(Talking on their date)

#2

[quitting]

Scarface: F*** you, f*** you, f*** you, you're cool, and f*** you, I'm out!

(Talking to fellow employees)

#3

Brian: Get some sour cream and onion chips with some dip, man, some beef jerky, some peanut butter. Get some Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars, a whole lot, make sure chocolate, gotta have chocolate, man. Some popcorn, red popcorn, graham crackers, graham crackers with marshmallows, the little marshmallows and little chocolate bars and we can make s'mores, man. Also, celery, grape jelly, Cap'n Crunch with the little Crunch berries, pizzas. We need two big pizzas, man, everything on 'em, with water, whole lotta water, and Funyons.

Kenny: That's it?

(deciding what to get for munchies)

#4

Thurgood Jenkins: You have smoked yourself retarded.

(About Brian after his idea)

#5

Thurgood Jenkins: So, now we all live together in New York. I myself, am a master of the custodial arts. Or a janitor, if you wanna be a dick about it.

(Talking to Mary Jane)

The Office

Hey guys. I’m reviewing another TV series today to switch things up a bit. I will be reviewing The Office, my favorite TV show of all time. The Office premiered in 2005 and ran all the way until 2013, including 9 seasons. It is rated number 4 on IMDb’s list of Most Popular Sitcoms ever, and there are plenty of reasons why.

(Season 9 cover courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org)

My favorite thing about The Office are the characters. The reason I believe the show gets better every season is because the characters become more and more developed. I really started to feel a connection with the characters my first time watching the show. The Office starred many great actors including Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling and Ed Helms. I think everyone who acted in the show performed very well. They all did a great job really showing the characters personalities, some even so much that they will always be known for the character they played (Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute for example). Some people came and went through out the show, and new actors would appear every season, but I was always satisfied with the new characters.

(The office cast courtesy of http://www.ssninsider.com)

The plot for this show is rather quite simple: employees working at a paper company. I know, it doesn’t sound that great. But that’s what makes the show so great. Such a simple topic led to infinite possibilities for episodes. We’ve seen everything from an office basketball game to a Moroccan-themed Christmas party. The plot is funny, entertaining, sad, happy and dramatic, the list goes on forever. One of my favorite parts of the plot was getting to know the relationships between the characters. We saw everything from unlikely friendships to crazy love affairs to archenemies.

The only thing I could say bad about this show is that I think it got a little worse when the regional manager, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) left in season 7. Don’t get me wrong, they delivered his departure very well and made up for it in later seasons, but I was always missing a little Michael Scott.

One of my favorite parts of the show is the relationship between Jim and Dwight. Jim is known for constantly messing with and playing pranks on Dwight. It’s hilarious. So today, i’m going to give you guys my Top 10 pranks Jim has pulled on his fellow salesman.

10. Pavlov Theory

Jim experiments with Dwight using the Pavlov theory, a classic experiment that trains dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. Every time Jim turns on his computer, he feeds Dwight an Altoid to the chime of Windows XP. Soon, Dwight expects the treat when he hears the computer.

9. Vending Machine

Jim replaces all of the snacks in the vending machine with Dwight’s stuff, forcing him to pay for all of his belongings to get them out. Classic.

8. Asian Jim

Jim and Pam have their asian actor friend come in dressed as Jim. He acts exactly like Jim and tells Dwight things only the real Jim would say, convincing Dwight that Jim was asian the whole time.

7. Jell-O

This is the first prank Jim ever pulled on Dwight, but its still top 10. Jim puts Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O causing him to freak out and exclaim “Michael!” as usual.

6. Wrapping Paper Desk

Dwight comes in to the office to find that Jim haas wrapped his desk in wrapping paper. He tosses his briefcase on to the desk and sits down, only to realize that the desk was completely made of wrapping paper, causing him to fall on his ass.

5. Vampire

A bat gets loose in the office, and all hell breaks loose. Jim pretends he got bit by the bat and starts to act strange. He complains about his teeth getting pointy, his neck hurting, a reaction to garlic bread and the excessive amount of light in the office, convincing Dwight he is turning into a vampire.

4. Holy Grail

This prank takes place when Jim is working at Athlead, a company he and his friends started in Philadelphia. Pam calls him, asking if he sent Dwight on a quest for the Holy Grail. Jim remembers that years ago he stayed late after work setting up the prank. He left clues and hints all over the office, convincing Dwight the Holy Grail was hidden somewhere in the office.

3. Garden Party

Jim finds out that Dwight is hosting a garden party for Andy on his farm. Being the prankster that he is he writes a book titled “Throwing a Garden Party” by “James Trickington”. Of course, Dwight fall for it, making him throw a garden party with strange costumes and ridiculous ceremonies.

2. Impersonating Dwight

Jim comes in to the office dressed completely like Dwight. Of course, it causes Dwight to freak out. Jim argues with him over “which bear is best” and obsesses over Dwight’s favorite show, Battlestar Galactica.

(Jim dressed as Dwight courtesy of http://www.bookmrkd.com)

1. A.A.R.M

My number one is one of the last pranks Jim ever played on Dwight. It takes place in season 9 when Dwight is Regional Manager and Jim is his number 2. Dwight sends Jim on a mission to find himself a number 3, or Assistant to the Assistant Regional Manager. Jim goes through a series of tests and competitions with the employees, convincing Dwight that he is the only worthy employee for the position. Jim crowns him A.A.R.M, making him the assistant to his own assistant.

Ant-Man

Hey everyone. I wanna start this post off with telling everyone how surprised I am that I haven’t written about any Marvel superhero movies yet. Other than comedies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is my secret obsession. Make fun of me if you want, but I’ve read all the comics and seen all the movies multiple times, and no series even comes close to being as bad-ass.

Ant-Man cover courtesy of http://www.imdb.com)

Today I will be reviewing Marvel’s Ant-Man (2015). Although receiving mixed reviews, I’ve come to realize that most of the people who make fun of the movie are people who have never even seen it before. I’ll admit, the name “Ant-Man” doesn't sound that amazing, but an ex-burglar receiving a suit that can shrink his size, increase his strength and control an army of ants from a scientist trying to stop bad guys from replicating his work definitely does. This is one of my all-time favorite movies and one of my favorite from the MCU.

Like usual, we will start with the actors. Paul Rudd starred as Ant-Man (Scott Lang), playing a character much different than what we are used to seeing. Rudd is more well-known for his comedies, such as Anchorman, Wet Hot American Summer, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Even though his role as Ant-Man was a little out of his comfort zone, I think he did an amazing job. I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie was the catalyst of his non-comedy movie career. He did a great job acting really well in the all the serious and dramatic scenes, while also letting his true personality shine in some of the funny scenes. I am really excited to see Rudd in future MCU films.

The plot of this movie was fantastic. In my opinion, it was one of the best story lines of all 12 movies in the MCU so far. To make a long story short, Dr. Hank Pym was forced out of his own company by his protégé, Darren Cross. Cross was infatuated with replicating Pym’s formula for the mysterious Pym Particle, which could decrease the space in between atoms while still maintaining strength. To save the world from Cross’ technology, Pym recruits the talents of master thief Scott Lang, who was just released from prison. Dr. Pym trains Lang to become the Ant-Man, teaching him how to shrink in size, possess superhuman strength, and control on army of ants using the Ant-Man suit. Using his new powers, Lang must pull off a heist to prevent Cross from perfecting the same technology and using it for evil. This story was jam-packed with amazing effects, laughs, and scenes that send chills down your arm. I also loved how they tied Ant-Man in with the Avengers. We saw cameos from Chris Evans (Captain America), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), and Evangeline Lilly (Wasp). We also heard references about Spiderman, Iron Man, The Mandarin, S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra, and The Avengers in Sokovia.

5. First Time in the Suit

This scene has to be on the list. It’s Scott Lang’s first experience with the suit. After breaking into Dr. Pym’s house and stealing the Ant-Man suit, he tries it on and has quite the adventure. Escaping bathtubs, fights with “giant” rats and navigating through the neighbor’s party makes this scene one of the best.

4. Prison Break

After wanting nothing to do with the suit, Scott tries to return it to Dr. Pym’s house. While trying, he gets caught by the police and ends up back in jail. To help him out, Dr. Pam orders an army of his ants to deliver the shrunken Ant-Man suit. Being forced to put it on, he slips into the suit, shrinks, and escapes just in the knick of time. The rest of the scene includes his first experience with ants up close and his first time riding his flying ant, both things that make this movie amazing.

3. Infiltrating Pym Technologies
After planning the heist, the first thing to do is to break into Pym Tech. Using the water pipes, Scott breaks in with the help of an army of various ants. This scene is action-packed with plenty of amazing fighting scenes and special effects.

2. Ant-Man vs. Falcon
I couldn’t decide to make this scene #1 or #2. It’s the first time you get to really see Ant-Man in action. It takes place right after his training when Dr. Pym asks him to retrieve a piece of technology from an old facility. He flies to the building, only to realize that it’s the Avenger’s facility. There he engages in a full-fledged battle with The Falcon. Sorry for the spoilers, but Ant-Man kicks his ass.

(Ant-Man vs Yellowjacket courtesy of http://www.hollywoodreporter.com)

1. Ant-Man vs. Yellowjacket

This scene just has to be #1 on everyone’s list. It’s the final battle between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket. It mostly takes place in Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie’s room. They fight, switching between man-size and insect-size. I love the special effects in this scene. They fight mostly in insect-size, using Cassie’s toys such as a Thomas the Train train set to fight in. Also, Scott's first time in the Quantum Realm is fun to watch. It’s really cool.