The Wrestler

[Doug]

And Doug, Hotel for Dogs?  So, you are now also in the crappy movie boat with 2 youngsters.  It's a rough place to be for a while.  I think we'll probably end up seeing it sometime.

Yeah, sometimes I can steer it in my favor, like Bolt or Desparaux, but sometimes I wind up with Space Chimps or Beverly Hills Chiuahua.  It goes both ways.  I'm just glad I have boys or I'd probably get sucked into the hopeless vortex of High School High and Cheetah Girls crap.

[Wherle]

Luckily, I haven't gotten sucked into that Hannah Montana/Cheetah Girls crap with Kenna. She honestly doesn't even really badger me too much about movies, except Hotel for Dogs, which she REALLY wanted to see. It was exactly what you'd expect, so knowing that going in, it wasn't that bad, really.

[matt]

Good God, I must have it REALLY bad, then.  I saw Hotel For Dogs with the wife & kids laast weekend, and have had to sit through more than 500 episodes of Hannah Montana/Drake & Josh/Wizards of Waverly Place, etc. in the last three days with no school.  Save me... PLEASE...

[Wherle]

Well, yeah, I've dealt with a lot of that the last few days, too. I just meant I don't have to deal with Hannah Montana (which is completely banal and horribly acted all around) much, because Kenna's just not into it. Now, Suite Life of Zach and Cody, iCarly, Drake & Josh, Wizards of Waverly Place, Life With Derek and all those shows she's totally into. The only one of those I can stomach is iCarly because whoever writes it is actually pretty clever and funny and the actors are all pretty good, especially the girl that plays Sam and the guy that plays the older brother.

Did you know most of these shows were created and produced by Dan Schneider, whom you may remember as the fat kid on Head of the Class?

[Butter]

Now, Suite Life of Zach and Cody, iCarly, Drake & Josh, Wizards of Waverly Place, Life With Derek and all those shows she's totally into. The only one of those I can stomach is iCarly because whoever writes it is actually pretty clever and funny and the actors are all pretty good, especially the girl that plays Sam and the guy that plays the older brother.

I can't disagree here.  We don't let the boys watch Suite Life, because it's basically celebrating how bad these kids can be and how smart-mouthed they can get.  They don't need help with that.

Drake & Josh is similar, but I feel like it's a bit more comfortable in that it's less about smart-mouthed teenagers and more about the independent choices that kids often make, and how it can sometimes get them in trouble.  It's not terribly funny, but it's more than bearable in a sea of these type of shows.  We do have to watch the boys attitudes about women coming from this show, though, since Drake is a girl-chaser bordering on misogynist.  I've caught the boys referring to girls as "hot" thanks to this show, and have had to nip that crap right in the bud.  They were obsessed with this show for a few months, but I haven't seen an episode since their Christmas movie now, so XBox 360 has replaced it for the time being.

About the only bearable part of iCarly is the older brother.  I don't find them clever in particular, but it does have its moments.  The main actress is absolutely terrible, though.  Completely wooden.  The other supporting cast is above average for tween sitcoms that I've seen.

Yes, I just critiqued 2 shows on TEENICK.  I'm going to go kill myself now.

[Doug]

Yes, I just critiqued 2 shows on TEENICK.  I'm going to go kill myself now.

Yes and I will now stab my eyes out for having read all that.

I guess I'm lucky then.  My boys are straight cartoon kids.  The lineup is usually Tom and Jerry, Spongebob, Flapjack, Chowder, Clone Wars, Ben 10, Secret Saturdays.  The oldest has absolutely no interest in the live action Nick stuff and I'm fighting to keep it that way.

Anyway...The Wrestler was pretty excellent.  Hard to watch at times.  If you like watching movies about pathetic losers that are into self destruction, then this movie is right up your alley.  While I sympathized with the utter loneliness and sadness of this character, it never once seeped into me.  It was like a character study.  The only thing that bothered me about the film was the tight camera shots that were constantly used.  You always saw the world over Micky's shoulder from like 2 feet away.  That started bugging me about halfway through the movie.  Oh, and I could have done without the close up shot of his pimply ass.  Other than that, I liked it.  I wouldn't say it was the greatest movie in the world, but interesting to watch.

[c-lando]

Did you know most of these shows were created and produced by Dan Schneider, whom you may remember as the fat kid on Head of the Class?

I did know this, but only because I saw him in the crowd several times at some award show or something and had to IMDB him to see what the fat guy from Head of the Class was doing now and why he'd be shown on TV. I always wondered why they couldn't show Khrystyne Haje instead.

[rva]

I find Hannah Montana and the other NICK tween actresses really creepy.  It's not like they're showing cleavage on the show or anything, but to me they are always dressed a little more sexy than they should be.  You know what I mean?

Like Hannah Montana might be wearing jeans, but they're like $200 jeans.  They're always heavily accessorized in these perfect outfits that just don't look like something a typical teen would put together.  They're expensive and fashion-y... and expensive and fashion-y clothes are supposed to kind of show figure.  It's not like slutty, but more like "too adult" which is actually way more creepy.  It's like some 16 year old showing a little cleavage because they think that's cool is outwardly more "sexy" but it's innocent at the same time.  A 16 year old who knows how to dressy classy-sexy like she's 25 is just weird.

They're like robots, too.  They all look the same and they've been trained their whole lives to be celebrities.  Like Miley Cyrus gives the most professional interviews I've ever seen.  She probably never makes an ass of herself and acts ten times more mature than I do.  It's like being 16 and 30 at the same time.  I actually liked Vanessa Hudgins a lot more when she showed the world her snatch accidentally.  Because I was like, ahh... okay she's 18 and she has sex and she did something stupid.  That's *normal* for that age.

[cuddlyevil]

I find Hannah Montana and the other NICK tween actresses really creepy.  It's not like they're showing cleavage on the show or anything, but to me they are always dressed a little more sexy than they should be.  You know what I mean?

I do, that's why we're actively steering Elise away from that stuff. I know we're getting closer to the point where some of it may be unavoidable, but I'd really rather keep her away from all the Hannah Montana stuff because I don't see anything to admire there (plus she annoys the hell out of me).

[Hell Toupee]

I love how the conversation quickly went from the movie to Disney products.

Now I have disturbing thoughts of Mickey Rourke walking into the strip club and seeing Miley Cyrus dancing on the pole.

THANKS GUYS AND GALS! 

[vizzah]

Like Miley Cyrus gives the most professional interviews I've ever seen.  She probably never makes an ass of herself and acts ten times more mature than I do. 

Well, not always.  This interview is pointless (shocking, I know), but feel free to skip to 7:10 to see my point.


http://www.youtube.com/v/no7ravG3nJ8&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=miley+on+ellen&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f&feature=player_embedded

[rva]

See, I don't think her camp would have let a soft-questioner like Ellen even broach the subject unless they were ready for her to talk about it.  And I think they specifically picked that appearance for her to do that, as the "rumors" had been unaddressed for awhile.  So yeah, maybe she acted a little silly but it was only within the context of already knowing "Okay, yeah.  I should talk about it."

The one unprofessional thing she did was yell out "My extensions!" when she saw the sparklers on the cake.  *That* was funny.