oh, that wacky lapd
4.7 miles. Felt pretty good, but I was covered in sweat when I got home.
- After faking their official endorsement as USC's best screenwriters, six film students were accused by a Hollywood agent of "wallowing in ethical squalor."
The Venal Six continue getting their moments in the sun.
None of the Six appear in the Script List, by the way. I was surprised by some of my fellow students who didn't appear in the List. I don't know whether they flunked or just didn't graduate. (I know one guy didn't graduate because he started work on a script project.)
Today Fernando came over and the three of us went to see Lethal Weapon 4. (He wanted to see Small Soldiers, but...) We got to the theatre kind of early, because Fernando told us when he went to work yesterday (Friday) at 9am, the line for LW4 went around the block.
There weren't as many people at the General Cinemas today, so we went to Hughes, bought some sushi, and then went into the theatre.
My one-line review of Lethal Weapon 4 as we walked out: "It was very entertaining. It wasn't a good movie, but it was very entertaining."
The script is all over the place--there are a couple of jokes that are used multiple times and there's a homophobic subplot (gee, Mel, did you suggest that one?) that felt like it was from the 60s or 70s, rather than the late 90s--but you know, it's a Lethal Weapon movie. Cartoonish characters, stupid dialogue, and endless violence that would rearrange anyone's internal organs in real life but here just leads to a few bruises and a couple of utterances of "Ow."
Mel Gibson may be a right-wing Neanderthal, but he's a funny and charming right-wing Neanderthal in these movies. And Jet Li (whom I've never seen before) is a pretty darn lethal weapon himself. I winced repeatedly during those amazing kicks he does.
There are even a few plot payoffs that I enjoyed so much simply because I wasn't expecting this script to be this clever.
Wow, two movies in a row: low expectations, better-than-expected response. Hm. I'd like to say that the proper response is to increase expectations, but I like going to see movies in the theatres too much.
The thing that bothers me the most about these movies is the complete and utter disregard for what's happened to the reputation of the LAPD in the last few years. (Note to those who haven't heard: it's not been a good few years for LA's boys in blue.) The wanton abuse of power shown in the "funny" scenes really made me uncomfortable. But the other people in the theatre--some of whom clearly live in the Greater LA Area--thought they were pretty funny, so what do I know?
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