The Bluestreak Review

I t has been a while since I have been able to sit down and truly enjoy a comedy film, or at least be able to quote one. In “30 Minutes or Less,” the film surely delivered.

Despite the film being significantly shorter than I would have liked and with the story not exactly award-winning, it was the acting, vulgarity and one liners that made this movie what it was.

The film follows a deadbeat pizza delivery guy named Nick ( Jes-se Eisenberg) who gets a bomb strapped to him by a couple of idiots named Dwayne and Travis (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) who need $100,000 for one to kill off Dwayne’s lottery winning dad. They force Travis to rob a bank in order to come up with the money, or the bomb explodes. After much nervous deliberation, Eisenberg and his best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari), set out to rob the bank and save Nick’s life.

The result ends in hilarity. I have spent this year being very un-derwhelmed by the comedies. They have been either blatantly stupid or a complete disappointment when I thought they actually had some potential. (i.e. Horrible Bosses) So, obviously, I was a little skeptical that “30 Minutes or Less” would produce the same lackluster results.

I was pleasantly surprised when I spent the entire film laughing hysterically.When you boil it down, this film is pretty straight-forward and predictable.

It is odd, but this film makes it all work, and there is unexpected and unpredictable fun in the jokes themselves. You also have to com-mend it for always keeping the laughter going. There is never a dull moment in “30 Minutes or Less” and even at its most sincere there is still something to laugh about on the screen.

Honestly, in retrospect my skepticism was pretty irrational. Can you really go wrong with a cast like this? There are four central charac-ters in this film and they are all fantastic. It is the character dynamic and interaction that makes this film work so well, and makes it so outright hilarious. Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari make a great comedy duo and they have their fair share of entertaining scenes together, namely the bank robbery which will bring many laughs.

However, it is Danny McBride and Nick Swardson that make this film. They are the perfect duo as goofy partners in crime who cannot re-ally get anything right. It is a pairing that we have seen before, but never at this level of raunchiness, vulgarity, and absolute hilarity.

You almost get to the point where you are just in a fit of antici-pation waiting for the next scene with these two. You could not have picked a funnier duo and I do not know that I could be more satisfied with everything that happens between these two hilarious characters, throughout the film, I found myself constantly wanting to see more of McBride and Swardson’s characters through their constant one-liner dialogue of raunchy humor.

It is a film that is more about the jokes than the actual story. Of course the storyline in “30 Minutes or Less” is actually very entertaining and hilariously creative at times, but it still just serves as a container for the jokes led primarily by McBride and Swardson’s characters. It is absolutely worth checking out if you’re looking for some eventually forgettable laughs of one-liners.

----ryanLAKE

GRADE

“Danny McBride and Nick Swardson that make this film. They are the perfect

duo as goofy partners in crime who can-not really get anything right.”

   

Sept. 9 2011

{pop

cul

ture

}

28

‘30 Minutes or Less’ not Oscar-worthy, still wildly funny

 

29XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Bluestreak Review

29

T he Red Hot Chili Peppers as a band has sold 65 million albums worldwide, has won seven Grammys, and finally holds the record for the most No. 1 alternative songs on the billboard charts with 12.

It has spent nearly two years in hibernation perfecting every single song on their album; from the loud and charismatic “Monarchy of Roses” to the peaceful, mesmerizing “Brendan’s Death Song.”Two years really have allowed them to hone down on every aspect of their music and really revitalize the way they produce music. Most of their songs on “I’m With You” begin originally as mere piano compo-sitions, and then slowly began to become eclectic combinations of percussive tones and a succession of loud noises. “It’s more ethereally complex and layered and kind of spooky and moody and dreamy, yet still profound…. the spirit of the Red Hot Chili Peppers remains and changes and moves on. It’s us, with a whole new thing,” lead singer Anthony Kiedis said in an MTV interview. After the “Stadium Arcadium“ tour, the RHCP band members were exhausted and took an almost two year break. Anthony Kiedis reasoning was that he had to spend time with his child. Flea, the bass guitarist took classes on music theory at the University of Southern California in order to include more instrumental sections in their music.With an amazing new lead guitarist, a new perspective of music and a long, well-needed break, the Red Hot Chili Peppers kept on recording.“Brendan’s Death Song,” a personal favorite, was written because of the death of a close friend of Anthony Kiedis. The song ties in beautiful metaphors of life after death. “When the boatman comes to ferry me away, to where we all belong.”“Brendan’s Death Song,” literally make’s every moment in life sound amazing, even death. RHCP’s did an excellent job saying goodbye to a beloved friend. The Red Hot Chili Peppers finally released a single on July 15 entitled “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie.” “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,” song was the first single since they released “Hump de Bump,” in 2007, and with the new lead guitar-ist Josh Klinghoffer. It showcased his true potential.The song is about someone that was in Kiedis’s life and a combination of the memories they shared in his life.“The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,” music video was aired for its first time on MTV. The music video rose to a rooftop overlooking Venice Beach, California. Hundreds of people gather to enjoy the rhythmic beats and beats of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album’s last and most upbeat song is the last track “Dance, Dance, Dance.” Fast tempos and a hypnotizing guitar intro draws an audience in and well, makes them dance. It definitely stands to be the most upbeat song of the album.The two year hibernation was worth every single second. The band entered being drowsy and tired of performing and woke up excited and full of creative ideas.

----henryHOOK

     

“With an amazing new lead guitarist, a new perspective of music and a long, well-needed break, the Red Hot Chili

Peppers kept on recording.”

GRADE

BEST TRACKS1. Brendan’s Death Song2. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie3. Dance Dance Dance

Sept. 9 2011

Red Hot Chili Peppers reawaken their funk rock style