Intoxico Movie Review: Goon (2011)

As the readers of this blog might know, I am a big fan of hockey. In fact, I probably spend a good 3 or more hours a day reading about and watching the sport, not to mention the playing of hockey video games. Needless to say, when I ran across a trailer for Goon, the story of bar bouncer Doug Glatt, who, after obliterating a hockey player who jumps the glass to go after his pal, ends up on the roster of a local hockey team as an enforcer, I was sold on the movie.

Starring Sean William Scott (American Pie), Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World), and Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Goon’s appeal is as straightforward as Doug’s role on the ice, in that it beats you over the head with simple, juvenile humor, characters that have about as much depth as a the paper that promotes the movie, and fast, violent sport action. In other words this movie isn’t Annie Hall, hell, its not even Slap Shot, but it is an entertaining, turn your mind off excuse to buy popcorn.

This movie seems to have gone to video-on-demand fairly quickly, and you can watch this as I did via Amazon.com’s streaming video service.

A Word To the Critics

Eyeing over the response that critics have made about this movie, it’s obvious that my wife and I enjoyed it more than others perhaps did. What seems more glaring about these reviews is that they don’t appear to understand the game the movie portrays, complaining about the violence that it illustrates, asserting that it is quite obviously over the top for comedic and entertainment value.

To quote Bill Cosby, “I went to a boxing match, and a hockey game broke out.“

It’s a sport that is fast and dynamic enough to require that teams find balance in skill and grit to win games. As much as everyone wants a Wayne Gretzky, you need a Shane Churla or Scott Stevens to have their bodies abused, and in turn to abuse the bodies of others in the name of the stars they protect from injury.

A lot of critics have in the same articles played up the Paul Newman hockey classic Slap Shot, while deriding the violence of Goon. Ironically, Slap Shot is a lot less realistic in portraying the sport. As a fan of the game, I can say only the fringe element is sold on hockey’s fighting element. In Slap Shot the fans and players are distilled to rosters and bleachers filled with blood lust. Goon, much more realistically, has only a few key players who use physicality in their role, and typically only fight as a response to pain enacted on their teammates, not a means to score goals.   

Simply stated, the on-ice content of Goon is much more realistic than that of Slap Shot, and it should be addressed in any comparison of the two movies. 

Television: Beer: An Insiders Guide

Always on a search for beer documentaries and other educational resources, I have run across Beer: An Insider’s Guide. Produced for an Aussie audience this is perhaps one of the most expansive, and detailed look at beer. Composed of six, thirty minute episodes, the series takes a look at everything from adjunct to home brewers, food pairings, and the Australian culture surrounding the beverage. Even as someone with no real intentions of even visiting the country, I still found it a worthwhile and enjoyable use of three hours.  

Pope Crisco

Movie Review: Beer Wars ( or as I Would Call It “August Busch IV and Me”)

This was a really good documentary on the current state of the current micro vs. macro breweries in the United States. Following the owners of both the floundering New Century Brewing company, and the thriving Dogfish Head company, the movie shows a light on the struggles that smaller brewers go through just to get your attention and dollar, and overall is a great movie on the subject,  being both very informative and entertaining.

While I will suggest this movie to any beer drinker, I feel that too much focus of the movie is spent attacking Anheuser Busch’s product, suggesting that Americans drink macro brewed beer only due to uneven access to distribution and dubious marketing strategies. I can agree that craft breweries need a means to greater access to the market, but ultimately the reason that basically two companies sell 95% of the beer produced in the United States is that they make a product that is non offensive to most palates and sell it at a cheap price. 

Adjunct breweries might not make the most interesting or well crafted beers, but sometimes a cheap, forgettable beer is what one wants.

Anyone, including the producers of this film, who suggests that drinkers of Miller/Coors/Budweiser are victims to marketing are overlooking that smaller breweries often also producing boring and bad ales, stouts and IPAs, and getting a pass on how they present themselves to consumers.  

Pope Crisco

Movie Review: Machete (Or Why I Think Robert Rodriguez Should Direct Superhero Movies

Being free from the spouse this weekend has allowed me to catch up on some media consumption that my better half wishes not to stomach, primarily over the top, ultra violent, sell some popcorn, movies.  This basically omits most Robert Rodriguez films. While Rodriguez has proven he can direct popular films, most of the director’s loyal followers have been built off his ability to make stylish, funny, punched up action films with a knowing nod of irony. You could compare him a lot to his collaborator on “From Dusk to Dawn” and “Grindhouse”, Quentin Tarantino, where both are obviously aware of the irony, but Rodriguez appears to try less to make you think that he knows “film,” and more that he enjoys the same movies he references and plays off of(personally I feel that Tarantino’s films often are leaning as criticizing similar movies for their lack of “artistic filmmaking” as opposed to honoring them, as the director  claims).

Without divulging too much of the paper thin plot, Machete acts as a vehicle to give a varied group of wooden A, B, and C list actors a vehicle to explore the trappings of a 70s exploitation film in the context of the setup of an ex federale (played by Danny Trejo) prompting him to go on a rampage against those parties who set him up, including a prior boss, and now drug lord. Where the limited skills of actors such as Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, and Steven Segal would likely be a detriment to any other film, the lack of seriousness we are asked to give their characters actually works in the director’s favor.   For once the overacting of Segal was able to be reigned in to only go to a 10 (as opposed to the constant 12) and fit the tone of the character he had to portray.  It is from this context that I think Rodriguez would do quite well making the next comic book franchise film. He can take silly dialogue and often wooden actors hired to portray similarly wooden characters and make it work in the silly genre of action films. Just remove some of the bare tits (of which Machete had plenty) for spandex, and machine guns for super powers, and you're there.

This movie is highly recommended for a blow off night of popcorn and entertainment.