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Ladies and gentlemen, I'm upgrading. I'm switching sites and moving to Wordpress. You can see new (and old) posts at normalreview.wordpress.com. I'm in the process of moving all my articles and deleting them. Good day.

Review: Jobs

Meh.
FINAL GRADE: C
I may have a Planes review up this week, the mystery article should be done tomorrow, a very special Eminem review coming later this week, as well as a retrospective on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz in preparation for The World's End. World's End review out next week, followed by a Stank-Ass Ranking of the Batman movies.
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Break It Down: The Curious Case of Foodfight!

   Hello and welcome to a new series I call "Break it Down," in which I break down some of Hollywood's more... peculiar cases and talk about what went wrong (or right). And what better way to start than with Foodfight!, a movie you have probably never heard of, even though it has an all-star cast and took ten years to make. There is so much to say about this movie, it's hard to decide where to begin. So, let's start with a summary.
   The movie is kinda like Toy Story, except in a grocery store and with much worse animation. The movie has a pretty impressive cast, including line-owner/deal-maker Wayne Brady and Christopher Lloyd, who was frozen today. The movie also features Charlie Sheen, Hilary and Haylie Duff, Chris Kattan, Larry Miller, Eva Longoria, Ed Asner, Jerry Stiller, Christine Baranski, Cloris Leachman, Edie McClurg, and Greg Ellis. Now, you're starting to see why it wasn't successful.
   Now, let's look at some history. The movie was made by Threshold Entertainment, a company that mostly makes theme park attractions, but has also produced several LEGO movies. This is the company behind most of the movie. I say "most" because the movie was actually auctioned off in 2011, and it was only then that it finally saw the light of day. The idea for this movie started with Larry Kasanoff, who is most notable, I repeat, MOST NOTABLE for the Mortal Kombat movies and TV shows. He also produced True Lies.
   Anyway, back in 2001, Kasanoff had the bright idea to start his own animation studio. The intention being to make a Toy Story rip-off following the success of Toy Story 2. Yep. This movie, which didn't come out until THIS YEAR, was meant to ride the Toy Story 2 wave. I guess they assumed that Toy Story 3 would be coming out around the time Foodfight! was complete. I mean, it's not like it was going to take eleven years to make either of those movies, right?
   But wait, there's more! This is an actual quote from an interview with Kasanoff from 2002, a full ten years before there was even a trailer for the movie, in Animation Magazine: "In terms of coming to have an independent digital animation studio making a digitally animated movie right now, I think we're pretty much it. We've got the movie, we've got the property, the place, the equipment, the talent, we're there. Do we believe our next movie, Foodfight!, is going to be a huge hit? Of course we do!" Did you let out an audible sigh when you read that? I did. Oh, and guess what? Kasanoff also wrote and directed it! Sound familiar?

Hi, I'm Tommy Wiseau. And this is my Tommy Wi-show!

   Before I move on, let's talk about plot. And yes, it's time for another AUDIBLE SIGH. Foodfight! centers around a supermarket that becomes a sprawling magical city when it's closed, and all the products come to life. The hero of the story is an Indiana Jones-like dog voiced by Charlie Sheen. Hold your sighs! His girlfriend, Sunshine Goodness (Hilary Duff) gets kidnapped by the evil Brand X, played by Eva Longoria, and therefore he must save her. Alright, take a deep breath now, because it's sighing time. What is the name of this heroic dog? DEX DOGTECTIVE. Get it? 'Cause he's a dog? And a detective? And Dex is a first name? I trust that by this point you've said the word "Why" at least 13 times, so let's take a step back and get back to the history.
   The movie caught the eye of an advertising watchdog called Commercial Alert in 2001. The group was against the movie's blatant product placement throughout. CA had all the right to be upset, as the movie name-dropped famous brands like Cap'n Crunch, Energizer, Starkist Tuna, Mr. Clean, Coca-Cola, M&Ms, Skittles, and Spam. A member of the group named Gary Ruskin remarked, "It raises the commercial assault on children to a new level of brazenness. Some people would stoop to any level to make a buck and sadly, Foodfight! is an example." This quote is a good example of something being entirely true and total bullshit at the same time.
   Foodfight! featured references to 80 products or so, but Kasanoff still insisted that there was more to this movie than just a prolonged advertisement. What was the logic behind this argument? No logic at all. "In the digital world," he told Time Magazine in 2002, "you're hard-pressed to find the difference between Mr. Clean and Arnold Schwarzenegger." No logic at all.
   In spite of this controversy, and the fact that it's a terrible idea, Foodfight! moved forward with a budget of- get this- 65 million dollars. Threshold had big plans for the movie, sparing no expense on the voice actors and talking about video game tie-ins, toys, and even a webshow to accompany the movie's release. Remember, this was in 2002. Ten years before the completion of the movie. But wait, it's worse than that. It's MUCH worse than that. They actually RELEASED some of this stuff. Everything from DVDs to coloring books to awful, awful toys. This movie somehow had enough of a budget that they were able to release toys and coloring books as tie-ins. Just so we're clear, THIS is the movie I'm talking about.

This movie came out THIS YEAR.

   I'm sorry, I'm just trying to emphasize how FUCKING FRUSTRATED I am with the effort that went in to this piece of shit. And it's worse because Kasanoff was so sure it was going to be the greatest movie ever that it's really sad. For example, here's a quote of his from 2005. "This is the most complex digitally animated film ever undertaken, with thousands of different characters and hundreds of sets. We've searched the world for the best talent and have found extraordinary 3D animation talent in a number of different countries." My god, he even talks like Tommy Wiseau.

   You may wonder why this movie turned out so poorly even though so much time and money went into it. Well, I think that all started in 2002, when it dropped off the face of the Earth. You see, a few hard drives, containing all the footage of the movie, were stolen and leaked, thus creating mass hysteria at Threshold Entertainment. Before this event, Foodfight! was going to be released in theaters in 2005, distributed by Lionsgate. Why Kasanoff was so gung-ho about it even after they had to start from scratch, I have no idea.

   Well, actually I kind of do. You see, that quote where he says it's going to be the best thing ever, which I will confirm false in just a moment, is really the only thing anyone said about Foodfight! up until 2011. What happened in 2011, you may ask? Well, a small ad appeared in a Hollywood Reporter that said, "Notice of public sale." That's right, Foodfight! was up for auction. The starting price was $2,500,000. To stress just how ridiculous this price is, here's the trailer for the movie.

   By the power of Greyskull, this is the worst thing I've ever seen. I mean, it is bad by every definition. In fact, I'm going to prove it. I'm going to look up every definition of "bad" on Dictionary.com and see if they all fit this trailer. Alright, it looks like there are 36 non-slang definitions of the adjective form. Not good in any manner or degree? Check. Morally reprehensible? Check. Of poor or inferior quality? Check. Inadequate or below standard? Check check check. Inaccurate, incorrect, or faulty? Yep. Invalid, unsound, or false? Tough call, but I'm gonna say yes. Liable to cause sickness or ill health? Yes. Sick, ill, or injured? Wayne Brady must have been if he agreed to do this movie. Not in good physical condition; decayed? Yes. Spoiled to the point of being inedible? Kind of a technicality, but yes. Having a disastrous or detrimental effect? Yes. Causing or characterized by discomfort? Absolutely. Easily provoked to anger? Alright, that one's a no. 12 to 1. Cross, irritable, or surly? Yeah. More uncomfortable, persistent, painful, or dangerous than usual? FUCK YES. Causing disaster or severe damage/distruction? Yep. Regretful? Hopefully. Naughty or misbehaving? Yes. Dishonorable? OOOOOOOOH, YEAH. Displaying a lack of skill or talent? You tell me. Causing distress? Definitely. Not suitable? Yeah. Unpleasantly hot, cold, stormy, etc? I don't know what they mean by "etc," so I'm going to give it a yes. Offensive to the senses? Most definitely. Exhibiting a lack of artistic sensibility? That is the perfect description of this trailer. Not in keeping with a standard of behavior or conduct? Yes. Vulgar or obscene? Yeah. Not properly observing the rules of grammar or spelling? The title has an exclamation point. Unattractive? Yes. Marred by defects? Yes. Not profitable or worth the price paid? EXACTLY. Deemed uncollectible and treated as a loss? Pretty much, yeah. Ill-spent or wasted? Yup. Counterfeit, not genuine? Yes. Villainous? Believe it or not, I'm going to give that a yes. If you've seen the trailer, you probably agree. Not well aimed (Sports)? Basically. There you have it, folks. 36 unironic definitions of bad and only one of them doesn't fit this trailer or the movie/actors it revolves around. This is truly a great achievement in bad filmmaking.

   Foodfight!'s troubled past is quite obvious in every frame of this awful, awful trailer. It almost seems cruel to make fun of it, like making fun of a mentally challenged child with an abusive father. But the fact of the matter is that the stolen footage and rushed production don't explain how shittily this trailer turned out. Seriously, just look at it. The Sims has better animation than this! And that's the least of the problems. Alright, it's not the least. But it's not the most, either. I'd say the main problem with this movie is that it's HORRIBLY WRITTEN. Literally. This writing is able to make you tremble. Just look at some of these lines! "Frankly my dear, I don't give a Spam." And it's full of fart jokes and innuendo and stereotypes and EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH A CHILDREN'S MOVIE. Not to mention the Nazi allusions and sexualized female characters. All this and more make this trailer and the movie it represents simply one of the worst things ever.

   Getting back to the story, some poor sucker actually backed Foodfight!, and it got a small UK release this year. It grossed about £13,000 before going to DVD all over Europe. This movie took so long to make that it OUTLASTED ITS MOST PROMINENT ADVERTISER, HOSTESS. The fact that this movie was even released makes me sick to my stomach. It's an ugly, unimaginative, hateful piece of shit that doesn't have any substance in it whatsoever. However, the movie does have one thing going for it: it has a very unique backstory.

I will try to have a Planes review out this week. "Survival" review and Three Flavors retrospective imminent. Next week, I'll rank the Batman movies and review The World's End. Until then...

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Review: Kick-Ass 2 Kicks Ass. 2.

   Ever since this blog became (a little) popular, people have been asking me what my favorite movies are. And while I'd rather wait until I'm actually popular before I make a list, rest assured, Kick-Ass 2 would be somewhere in the top ten.
   Now, you may be asking, "Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" And you have all the right to. After all, the movie just came out today and has an abysmal 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it may seem a bit odd for me to call it one of the greatest movies ever made. First of all, a word of advice. The audience rating is often more helpful in deciding whether you would like a movie or not. In that category, the movie has an 81%, with an average rating of 4/5. Second of all, it's...

Fucking awesooooooooome

   Why? Because it's practically perfect in every way. I think I have maybe one complaint about this movie, and that's that it gets a little too serious in the second act. Dave's father dies, everyone Chris ever loved dies, et cetera. But that's just a meaningless gripe and doesn't really affect my opinion of the movie very much.

   So, what did it get right? Well, everything. It was funny, it was action-packed, it was gory to a hilarious extent, it had a lot of good drama and only a little bad drama (see previous paragraph) and it's a great continuation of the Kick-Ass storyline.

   The movie goes like this: Dave has retired as a superhero, but wants to get back into the game. Mindy helps him at first, working out with him, giving him some sweet gear, and helping him to stop a couple of muggers who mug him. But in a cruel twist, Mindy's guardian (Nicolas Cage died in the first movie, in case you forgot) doesn't want her to be Hit-Girl anymore. Also, in an unrelated yet still cruel twist, Chris throws a fit and hits her mom's tanning booth with a bat while screaming, "I wish you were dead," inadvertently killing her. This leaves his butler, Javier (John Leguizamo) in charge of him. While rummaging through his mother's stuff, Chris finds a... gimp suit of his father's and fashions it into a supervillain costume, becoming the unfortunately-named Motherfucker. His goal: to kill Kick-Ass.

   After Mindy confirms her retirement, Kick-Ass is forced to find a new partner. He finds another real-life superhero, who shall remain nameless because I forgot his name, and he in turn brings Kick-Ass into a whole group of superheroes, coincidentally including his best friend Marty. After a few nearly pointless but very well handled subplots, we reach the big climax, where Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass team up with all the real-life superheroes in New York to fight (what else?) all the real-life supervillains in New York. In the end, Chris is eaten by a shark (don't ask), Mindy moves away, and Dave, in his narration, makes it seem like he's going to retire as a crime-fighter, then that he's not, then the movie ends.

   Now, I'm going to rip off pay homage to the Blockbuster Buster by going over my favorite line, favorite scene, and favorite character. First up, favorite line. This is pretty hard, because there are a lot of great lines in this movie, most of them from Hit-Girl. My favorite line, not surprisingly one of hers, comes from the aforementioned scene where Mindy helps Dave defend himself from a group of thugs. This scene, like most of the action sequences, is very bloody. It's almost funny how gory it is. Mindy, threatens to cut a man's hand off if they ever commit a crime again. The thug says, "I promise." Mindy then cuts off the guy's hand and says, "Pants on fire." This line pretty perfectly sums up Mindy's entire character. She's a bad-ass who doesn't take shit from anyone, and yet you can tell even just from reading her lines that she is still a teenager and is far from mature.

   My favorite scene? That's a pretty tricky one. There are a lot of great scenes, like the death of Colonel Stars and Stripes (more on him in a minute), a dog eating a man's testicles, the previously mentioned mugging scene, and Mindy's cheerleading tryout. But if I had to choose a favorite scene, it would be the climax. This scene is just so well-handled and such a great way to tie the entire series together, it's kind of amazing. It may be one of the greatest scenes ever put to film. It's funny, it's dark, it's action-packed, it's funny, it's gory, it's funny, and DAMN is it funny. Almost all of the characters are so well-developed throughout the film, and in some cases the previous film, that you can tell them all apart and decide which characters you like best with ease. It's truly remarkable, and the ending where Chris is eaten by the shark is hilarious.

   That's another thing I like about this movie. It keeps you guessing. The past 20 minutes had made it seem like Kick-Ass was going to fall into the shark tank only to find that the shark is dead. In the end, well, you know. During another point, Mindy is going on a date, and up until the last second I could've sworn he was going to try to rape her. Everything throws you for a loop, I love it.

   Alright, enough stalling. Time to get to my favorite character. Now, pretty much everyone on the planet would agree that Hit-Girl is the best character in the first movie, and any fans of it would probably guess that Hit-Girl is my favorite character in this one, too. While she is a very, very close second, there's still one character that overshadows her in this one. And that character is Colonel Stars and Stripes, played by the incomparable Mr. Jim Carrey. When I tell people that Jim Carrey is my favorite comedic actor, they look at me like I'm insane. And that's perfectly justified. He wasn't in any good movies from 2005-2012. But this character is a perfect example of why I love him so much. You can't even recognize him, he's so good. He doesn't sound, look, or act like Jim Carrey. It's truly amazing. His character is also hilarious, a former mafioso and current Born Again Christian. Mr. Carrey LITERALLY deserves an Oscar for this role. It's marvelous.

So, overall, I give this movie a rare A+. Have I given it to a movie before? Yeah a few of them. The funniest movies of all time like Hot Fuzz, Anchorman, Airplane!, and What's Up, Tiger Lily?; the best superhero movies like The Avengers, The Dark Knight, and The Incredibles; a couple of other Pixar movies, like the Toy Story trilogy and Monsters, Inc; aaaaaaaaaaaand that's pretty much it. This movie truly belongs among these, the greatest movies of all time. I hope to see it again in the future.

I will have reviews of Jobs and possibly Planes up next week, I'll try to get my Mystery Article out of the way, and I think I'm going to do a... very special kind of review for Eminem's new song, "Survival."

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Site News: Birthdays, Mysteries, and Asses

BAD NEWS: It doesn't look like there's going to be a Planes review this week.

GOOD NEWS: I'll have a Kick-Ass 2 review out on Friday and probably a Jobs on Sunday.

MEDIOCRE NEWS: The surprise article is taking surprisingly long because I keep forgetting to do it. I'll try to have it up by the end of next week.

UNRELATED NEWS: Eminem has a new single out. Should I review it? Stomp your foot once for yes and twice for no.

INVISIBLE NEWS:

THE BEST NEWS EVER: My birthday is tomorrow.

THE BEST NEWS EVER PART 2: Chris Brown is quitting music.

BIG NEWS: News

SMALL NEWS: News

CHANNEL 4 NEWS WITH RON BURGUNDY: Ron Burgundy's memoir is coming this November as a tie-in with Anchorman 2, the sequel to the greatest movie of all time.

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS: End transmission.

Review: We're the Millers=Horrible Bosses?

As the movie finally comes to an end, the credits start playing. Except wait, there are bloopers first. Okay, a few bloopers. Some other possible lines. A few alternate scenes. Oh, here's something. The "Chasing Waterfalls" scene. Wait a minute... is that the Friends theme song? Oh man, look at Jennifer Aniston's face. She can't believe these guys! That was funny. I enjoyed this.
These were my thoughts at the end of We're the Millers, the latest comedy from Dodgeball director Rawson Thurber and Wedding Crashers writer Bob Fisher. This movie was... really good. It had a great comedic setup, well-developed characters, some genuinely heartfelt moments, and Jason Sudeikis. The only problem I had with the movie: the lack of focus. There were a few subplots that felt really irrelevant to the main plot, i.e. the fake family being chased by a drug kingpin because they thought he was a different drug kingpin and that drug kingpin is trying to get away with everything and not pay Jason Sudeikis and not get killed by the other kingpin and not get caught by the DEA... you know what? That's another problem. The main plot is too confusing. I also don't like the ending that's kind of like "And they all live happily ever after unless you want a sequel which we can totally do if you guys want."
You know what all this reminds me of? Horrible Bosses. Seriously. Everything I just said about this movie applies almost perfectly to Horrible Bosses. Right down to the Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston. Even the humor of the movie is a lot like Horrible Bosses. Yup. It's Horrible Bosses.
Here's the thing, though. At first glance, this movie doesn't really look like Horrible Bosses. It looks like The Hangover Part Thr3e meets Vacation. But when you really look at the facts, this movie is a lot like Horrible Bosses. It's dark, but not Cable Guy dark. It's got a lot of cameos here and there, but it doesn't reach Anchorman levels. It has a lot of different kinds of jokes, to the point where it's hard to tell what kind of movie it's trying to be. Is it bad? No. Is it good? Yes. Is it one of the best movies of the past five years? Maybe in the top 20 or something, but not really.
In fact, this movie is so much like Horrible Bosses, I'm giving it the same grade as Horrible Bosses: a B. See it if you're in to that sort of thing. I may have a Planes review out later in the week, but not necessarily. I will definitely have a Kick-Ass 2 review out on Friday, my birthday. Jobs review next week, and we'll have to wait and see from there. I'll also be putting a mystery article out this week. Stay tuned.
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READING ABOUT TV: Why Sam and Cat is Total Bullshit

Now, I loved iCarly. And VicTORIous. They were both really funny shows that weren't condescending to kids. Now, these shows were both by Dan Schneider, the man behind Drake and Josh, Zoey 101, All That, Kenan and Kel, and The Amanda Show. BUUUUUUUT he's also the man behind Good Burger, What I Like About You, Guys Like Us, and The Amanda Show, which fits into both categories.
Anyway, about two years ago, iCarly and VicTORIous crossed over, in "iParty with Victorious," one of the worst-titled things ever. This made it clear that these two shows exist in the same universe, and it eventually became clear that Drake and Josh and Zoey 101 take place in this very same universe. The characters in the two shows had a lot of chemistry, so when both shows came to an end, Schneider decided to make a crossover show featuring the most annoying characters from both shows.
Enter Sam and Cat. The show follows a tough, intimidating young adult woman and a sweet, naïve young adult woman. Yes, since they've both graduated high school, the show is about two adult women and is geared toward children under 13. This was clearly not thought out very well. In the show, the mildly annoying Sam and teeth-grindingly annoying Cat run a babysitting service, with a couple other random characters who are very loosely involved with the main characters also appearing in every episode to help them with their shenanigans.
This show is terrible. Actually, let me rephrase that. It's bad. I don't want to say it's terrible, because compared to almost every other kids show on the air right now, it's Arrested Development. But by itself, it's bad. I actually watched the most recent episode, "#ToddlerClimbing," (yes, all of the episode titles are hashtags. Toldja it was terrible) and kept track of every laugh track in the episode and everything that actually made me laugh even the teeniest bit on the inside. In the end, the laugh track was used 184 times and only 69 jokes were even the tiniest bit funny. That comes out to 115 unfunny jokes, or 62.5%.
But let's look at everything that's bad about it.
1. The hashtag thing
2. Use of memes in a desperate attempt to convince kids that the Nickelodeon execs are aware of them
3. Unfunny jokes
4. CONSTANT LAUGH TRACK EVERY SINGLE SECOND. That episode was 21 minutes long and had 184 laugh tracks, averaging one every 7 seconds. THAT'S INSANE. To put that into perspective, there was about one joke every 18 seconds in Airplane!, with 251 jokes in total.
5. Cat is the most annoying thing to ever exist in reality or fiction
6. Cat is far too stupid to exist
7. Constant references to their previous shows, negative 10% of which are funny or necessary
8. Taking all of the most tired cliches, all of the worst in-jokes and jokes in general, basically everything that was bad about iCarly and VicTORIous and making that a show
And THAT is why Sam and Cat is total bullshit. Incidentally, I had an idea for an episode of Sam and Cat, and an episode of the upcoming show Gibby, another iCarly spinoff, that would lead in to an iCarly reunion special. The Gibby episode would involve Gibby preparing for the iCarly reunion. The Sam and Cat episode would be Sam going back to Seattle for the reunion, leaving Cat to babysit all by herself. These episodes would both come out towards the end of this year. When Sam tells Cat that she's going to Seattle, Drake Bell is there for whatever reason. Maybe they're at a food place and he works there, I dunno. Anyway, when she tells her, Drake says, "A reunion? The show ended like a year ago!" Priceless.
I will have a review or two out this week, followed by another review or two next week, and so on. I'll think of other things to write about, too.
Story is end!

Music News-ic Track-by-Track: THE WACK ALBUM

Back in the '60s, John Lennon said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. But in 2013, it is clear to me that the Lonely Island is bigger than Yeezus. Not in terms of length, although it is twice as long, or in terms of popularity, although it has sold a sizable amount. In terms of quality? Yes. The Wack Album is a higher quality album than Yeezus.
Look, I'm not saying Yeezus is a bad album. I like about four or five of its songs, which is fifty percent, so that's great. All I'm saying is that The Wack Album is perfect. Every single song from the dramatic intro, "Dramatic Intro," to the final track, "Perfect Saturday," is just great. Right now, its only competition for best album of the year is The Heist by Macklemore. Of course, we'll have to wait and see what Eminem has to offer, but rest assured, the best album of the year will be a white rap act. Anyway, I've decided to go through every track on this most wack of albums and share my thoughts about them. Note: the photos I've included are the first Google Images results when I typed the titles.

#1: DRAMATIC INTRO

A perfect start to a perfect album. This is your typical dramatic intro, filled with random lines like "Please welcome the Lonely Island," "The Lonely Island are the first men to become pregnant," "I hereby declare the Lonely Island the 47th president of these United States," and "Tragedy strikes as the Lonely Island were beaten to death with their own dicks outside an all-male nightclub." The piece ends with a reporter wondering what TLI will create after an experience like this, followed by an immediate segue into the first song, "Go Kindergarten."

GRADE: 10/10

#2: GO KINDERGARTEN FT. ROBYN

Yes, the above image is from the actual music video. The Lonely Island realized that since they're no longer on SNL, they'd need a niche to get people to buy their albums. Apparently, they decided that their songs were going to be broad parodies, as opposed to the specific parodies from the likes of Weird Al and the Key of Awesome. And it works perfectly. This first song is a parody of LMFAO-style dance songs. But while those songs have lines like "put your hands up" or "shake that ass," the Lonely Island takes it to extremes, telling audiences to build schools, burn them down, and teach their asses English. Robyn provides an excellent chorus that somehow works into the song perfectly. If I had to choose my favorite line, it would be Robyn's "So raise your glass then break the glass then stomp your bare feet on the glass." HILARIOUS.
GRADE: 10/10

#3: HUGS FT. PHARRELL WILLIAMS

Now, this is an unconventional song. It's not unlike the rest of the album, it is a broad parody that replaces a lot of the sexual connotations of rap songs with hugs. It's just... kinda set up weirdly. Each chorus is really different from the previous one, either longer or shorter, and with almost entirely different lyrics. It's just a little annoyance. Also, some of the lyrics don't seem to make a lot of sense in the context of the other ones. Look it up; you'll see what I'm talking about. But this is still a great song. The lines are clever, it has a good beat, and Pharrell is surprising on the chorus and bridge. I don't want to say it's the best Pharrell song of the year, but... it's better than "Blurred Lines." And also "Get Lucky." Yeah, it's the best Pharrell song of the year.

GRADE: 7/10

#4: DIAPER MONEY

Here's the thing about Diaper Money. The first part is really funny. The last part is really funny. The middle part is not that funny. It just isn't. If you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to the song. I also noticed that the each section of the song is longer than the previous one. It was clearly done intentionally, but I don't see why. That being said, I really like the third verse of this song. It's really funny. Just look at some of the lyrics.

I did it my way a very small percent of the time-way

Got my coffin picked out

Styrofoam painted like wood: tricked out

It's even got handles to lower me smooth

And my tombstone only has (minimal typos)

I got that grave plot

Let me just say that this song is much funnier if you watch the video. It's a perfect representation of a decent song.

GRADE: 6/10

#5: YOLO FT. ADAM LEVINE & KENDRICK LAMAR

Ah, YOLO. I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it on SNL. It is just phenomenal. It's a true masterpiece. It takes a simple concept, that being a reinterpretation of the phrase "YOLO," and takes it as far as possible. I'm still not sick of this song. Everything from Andy's Shyamalanian intro to Kendrick Lamar's stupendous guest verse is done just right. The music video is fantastic, the lyrics are hilarious, and it's just another perfect ten from one of my favorite bands.

GRADE: 10/10

#6: SPELL IT OUT

Instead of describing this hilarious piece, I'm just going to write out the lyrics.

Yo, it's the Lonely Island. We got my man Jorm. Kiv's in the house. And me? You know who the F I am and if not, let me spell it out.

They call me D-U-D-E-T-H-A-T-H-A-S-S-E-X-W-I-T-H-P-I-G-S-F-O-R-M-O-N-E-Y-B-U-T-J-U-S-T-A-S-A-S-I-D-E-T-H-I-N-G-R-I-G-H-T-N-O-W-comma-I-apostrophe-M-J-U-S-T-S-H-O-R-T-O-N-C-A-S-H-A-N-D-H-A-V-E-I-R-O-N-S-I-N-T-H-E-F-I-R-E-S-O-I-N-T-H-I-S-E-C-O-N-O-M-Y-I-T-apostrophe-double L-H-A-V-E-T-O-D-O-M-Y-N-A-M-E-I-S Lenny!

Wait, that's gross.

GRADE: 9/10

#7: SEMICOLON FT. SOLANGE

I LOVE this song. Talking about how no one knows how semicolons work, the Lonely Island tells their teacher that they know how to use semicolons, then start doing that unfinished simile thing that rappers do, then fail their class. If you're not getting it, watch the lyric video. There's no music video yet, but it's still a great song with a lesson. Some of my favorite lines include "If Miss Moore married Josh; Demi Brolin/A comma and a fucking dot; semicolon" and "You know we're out of control; no brakes/Your birthday party sucked; no cakes" Throw in a great hook by Beyonce's little sister, and you've got yourself another great song from a great album

GRADE: 10/10

#8: INTERLUDE: WHERE BROOKLYN AT?

This one's a little weird (unlike the rest of the album SARCMARK). It's an interlude, where apparently three to four people are talking about this very album, when an old man comes up to ask them where Brooklyn at. He goes on to ask the same thing again, followed by "What about Queeeeeeens?" He repeats this as well and then goes on to say "Puerto Rico ho." He once again repeats himself before asking the original question one last time. Then the next song starts. And it's really funny.

GRADE: 7/10

#9: YOU'VE GOT THE LOOK FT. HUGH JACKMAN AND KRISTEN WIIG

Not gonna lie, this isn't a very good song. I mean, it's kinda funny and it has an OK beat, but it's definitely the worst one on the album. Long story short, a woman comes to a party with one fully exposed breast. I have no idea how or why they got Hugh Jackman for this. I mean, I'm not saying it's bad, it's just... not that good.

GRADE: 5/10

#10: I'M A HUSTLER

Another weird one, the band itself wasn't sure whether to call this a song, putting in parentheses next to the title "Song?" It really is a strange piece. Basically, in a strange voice that I could demonstrate if we were speaking in real life, one of the Lonely Island members talks about how much of a hustler he is. After a minute or two of lines like "You need to be born with a certain swag/A je ne sais quoi that makes hustling your bag," many of which are pretty funny, things get a little crazy when verses start overlapping each other, eventually turning into a muddled mess of sound. However, all these verses stop when the character says "I'm in the kitchen, cooking up crack." He then says something in a normal voice that's pretty hard to make out. Weird, short, but still very funny, this is just another fine addition to the Lonely Island's repertoire.
GRADE: 7/10

#11: SPRING BREAK ANTHEM

Yes, that is Edward Norton. They got Edward Norton to be in their music video and marry Jorma Taccone. Long story short, the song makes fun of the fact that gay marriage is frowned upon in our society, while your typical spring break behavior is not. The first chorus is your typical spring break song, with a misleadingly epic beat, but for some reason, the last line is "Marry a man." The gay marriage lines become more and more prevalent leading into the final chorus which, except for one line, is entirely about gay marriage. And by the power of Greyskull, is it catchy. This song will be stuck in your head for days after you hear it. You'll struggle not to sing it in public, as is the case with other Lonely Island songs like "I Just Had Sex" and "Dick In a Box."

GRADE: 10/10

#12: I RUN NY FT. BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG

SO IF YOU WANT THIS BIG APPLE, COME TRY TO TAKE A BITE!

'CAUSE I RUN THIS MOTHERFUCKING CITY AND I WON'T GIVE IT UP WITHOUT A FIGHT!

GRADE: 10/10

#13: I DON'T GIVE A HONK

Now, when I first heard this song, I didn't really like it. I mean, it was kind of catchy and had some funny lines, but I didn't think it was as good as, say, the past two songs. That is, until I learned the lyrics. This song is so much fun to perform, it's amazing. And the lyrics are hilarious.

Yo, we told you before, we don't give a honk

And saying that we do is just simply ridonk

You can try to buy us off with your pesos and francs

But your money means nothing, you can take it to the bonk

Not funny enough? How about another line?

So, whatcha gonna do with all your honks?

Gonna dive in and swim like Scrooge McDonk.

Need one more?

Yo, we told you before, we don't give a honk

Even if you give us candy like Willy the Wonk

But don't come for our honks, better know your place

Motherhonkers honk around and get honked in the face

If you don't give a honk about this song yet, then honk you.

GRADE: 9/10

#14: 3-WAY (THE GOLDEN RULE) FT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AND LADY GAGA

Yet another song by JT and Andy Samberg. Not necessarily as catchy as "Dick in a Box," but definitely memorable.

GRADE: 6/10

#15: MEET THE CREW

This is another... unconventional song. It starts out normally, with the Andy, Kiv, and Jorma introducing themselves like so:

My name is Jorm

You can call me J-Orgus

Ride around town bumpin' Fugees in my Taurus

Yo, I'm Artemis Prime

Also known as Young Sandwich

Lonely Island got amigos like my man John Landis

Akiva in the house

But you can call me Young Dad

Rocking pink Adidas, never wear plaid

After that, though, they introduce about 15 characters, including Fat Bob, Tiny, Piccolo Pete, and Boring Steven. The song ends with:

So there it is

One third of the crew

The rest couldn't be here or phone in

But best believe they are missed

Lonely Island, we out

GRADE: 7/10

#16: I FUCKED MY AUNT FT. T-PAIN

I'm lucky that was the first result. I don't want to get into specifics, but this song is very funny, never gets too creepy, and has a pretty good beat.

GRADE: 7/10

#17: WE ARE A CROWD

This one is a parody of songs that people cheer at events. And it's really good.

We are a crowd

And we are loud

We're cheering as a group at our favorite event

We're gonna cheer

'Cause we are here

With all of us together we have nothing to fear

GRADE: 8/10

#18: THE COMPLIMENTS FT. TOO $HORT

This one's actually pretty bland. Basically, they compliment each other, and these compliments get more and more intimate as the song goes on.

GRADE: 5/10

#19: WE NEED LOVE

The gist of this song is that Akiva and Jorma talk about how they want an actual relationship, as opposed to just meaningless sex. They also do it in a dull monotone. It's very funny. I read that these are characters that the Lonely Island has had in their repertoire for like, 8 years, and apparently they're pretty popular among hardcore fans. I can see why.

GRADE: 7/10

#20: PERFECT SATURDAY

This one details a perfect Saturday. The Lonely Island has some girls coming over, but unfortunately, a friend of theirs stops by and needs to use their bathroom urgently. The girls are only a few minutes away, so they need to try to get rid of him. After they fail and the girls are disgusted and leave, they take him up to the roof and kill him. After that, we find out that this was their excuse to pull off a fart joke by the end of the album. Phew, I was getting a little worried.

GRADE: 9/10

FINAL GRADE: 9/10

While not every song on the album is fantastic, the album is still set up so that it's hard to stop at any given point. It is, in my opinion, the best album of the year. I'll put some kind of review out next week. I might be going on a trip, so we'll have to wait and see.

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Review: I Have Opinions About Smurfs 2

Yep, I saw Smurfs 2. And it was pretty much what you'd expect. There were unnecessary subplots, crude jokes, adult jokes, and slaps in the face to fans of the show. It had a smurfshit ending that involved... something. I don't know, it got kind of confusing. They save Smurfette, get captured by Gargamel, Gargamel gets his comeuppance, he comes back before the Smurfs can escape, they somehow wind up outside, Gargamel apparently dies in a fireworks accident, Smurfette and one of the Naughties sing a Britney Spears and Katy Perry song that they must've made up on the spot, GLADoS is Luke's father, Darth Vader was Edward Norton's imagination, Tyler Durden was in purgatory, the Island won the power of veto, and "Rosebud" was referring to Bruce Willis.
But you know what the smurfed up thing is? It's still better than the original. Why, you may be asking? I can't hear you through the computer, you idiot. But here's why: they were trying. There was a pretty flowing narrative throughout and some of the jokes were actually a little bit funny. It almost feels like fan service, like they just took every complaint that people had about the original and tried to fulfill them. Some things worked well, like the flowing narrative and the fact that the characters pretty well resembled the ones in the original series. Others however, did not. For example, the cat got a more prominent role, and is still annoying as smurf and sounds nothing like a cat.
Like I said in the first paragraph, there were a couple subplots. For example, Neil Patrick Harris' stepfather is trying to bond with him, and Grouchy is trying to look on the bright side of things. But the difference between these and the first movie's subplots is that these feel more necessary, because the main focus of the movie could fit into one episode. At least this one had a main focus; the first one was just five Smurfs smurfing around in New York.
The movie also wisely chose to leave Alan Cumming's character, the Scottish smurf Gutsy, out of this one, instead replacing him with... a British one played by John Oliver. Hey, I didn't say they got everything right. They also once again reduced the brilliant casting choice of Paul Reubens as Jokey Smurf to two lines.
So, was the sequel necessary? No. Did it further the story? No. Did I enjoy it? No. Was it better than the first one? Smurf yes, it was! Overall, I give it a C. Definitely not the worst movie I've seen this year, but still not good. I'll be putting out a review of The Wack Album tomorrow, and I'll try to see RED 2 or RIPD next week.
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