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Nobody said being a movie star would be easy... well, unless you count porn, in which case...
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just take off your pants, and we'll begin. This is Movie Night!
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Hello and welcome to Movie Night, YouTube's #1 interactive weekly movie review show - hi,
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I'm your host Jonathan Paula. Tonight on the program will be talking a look at a couple
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porn-inspired comedies. The first of which is brand new on home media this week, "Bucky
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Larson: Born To Be A Star"
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Released on September 9th to scathing reviews, this raunchy Nick Swardson vehicle performed
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so abysmally at theaters, it was pulled from its nationwide run just a week after premiering.
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Even on its very cheap $10-million dollar budget, "Bucky Larson" failed to earn back
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even 30% of that, making it one of the biggest box-office-bombs of recent memory. With that
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in mind, I went into this picture fully expecting to despise every minute of it's insulting
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drivel and lowest-common-dominator writing. Which is why I pleasantly surprised with what
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this film is actually able to achieve. Far from ground-breaking, or even memorable, it
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is, at the very least, an earnest and positive film with endearing characters - however clichéd
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they may be. In his first starring role, Swardson is Bucky Larson - a hillbilly from Iowa who
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dreams of following in the footsteps of his porn-star parents, and so, he sets out to
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Hollywood to chase his dream. Bucky is an off-balance character full of quirks and bizarrely
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distracting buck-teeth and a terrible mop-top - but his foolish optimism and kind-hearted
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nature is a contagious quality that makes him a protagonist worth cheering for. Playing
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opposite him is Christina Ricci, in a charmingly cute role who curiously finds something of
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merit to love in Bucky. Don Johnson, Kevin Nealon and Stephen Doff all contribute with
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exaggerated performances that manage to grab a few laughs every couple scenes. Strikingly
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unrealistic at times, it's a wonder Bucky is able walk a straight line, let alone star
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in his own porno movies... but such is point of this haphazard story of a lovable goofball
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with an embarrassingly small penis. The story fails to really spark any excitement or consequence,
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but at this film's center is a love story that effectively saves this 97-minute feature
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from being a total waste of time. It's innocent enough to be enjoyable, but raunchy enough
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to limit its audience... resulting in a motion picture that was perhaps better suited as
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a made-for-cable movie. "Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star", "Admirably pleasant, if formulaically
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sophomoric." Now that you've heard my review, let's read some of yours from the YouTube
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comments.
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Here's the Rate-O-Matic now to show us our scores for "Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star"
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-- a FOUR and a TWO. More evidence that the internet is entirely incapable of nuance,
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your score seems to represent a cultural knee-jerk reaction, the net result of which was a "Crappy"
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movie. Taking a look at our newest feature, Factor Facts - I felt this was an enjoyable
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movie with decent acting, but it suffered from a poor story and drab staying power.
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I felt it was "Meh". Our second porn-themed movie tonight is "The Girl Next Door",
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Perhaps owning to its risqué material, this modern-day teen angst dramedy failed to perform
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well at the box office when it was originally released in 2004. Which is truly unfortunate,
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because this is a brilliantly made film that far outshines its adult-themed story line.
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Emile Hirsch stars as an ambitious high school whiz kid and social outcast who falls in love
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with his porn-star next door neighbor, played delicately by the drop-dead gorgeous Elisha
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Cuthbert. The first act of this movie is teen-drama at its finest, beautifully capturing all the
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feelings and details of senior year, while struggling to deal with your first true love.
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Hirsch and Cuthbert are positively fantastic here, playing off each other with adorable
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chemistry you can't help but root for. Carefully hesitant, but determined - Hirsch is the breakout
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performer in this film, playfully instigated into wild behavior from a girl who has finally
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found a boy who doesn't see her as just an object. -CLIP- Paul Dano and Timothy Olyphant
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round out the supporting cast - both of whom turn in very memorable performances, especially
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Olyphant who is a steal-stealer as the smarmy porn-director womanizer. Although this 108-minute
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film contains a great deal of skin and four-letter-words, it is a far cry from the raunchy-sex comedy
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it was originally advertised as. Unfortunately, as a result, this may have been the most overlooked
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and underrated movie of 2004 - one that every high school graduate owes it to themselves
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to view at least once. Seemingly borrowing elements from 1983's Risky Business, this
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movie is a nostalgic and mature story that carefully, and adeptly examines these teen
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experiences in a very intelligent slice-of-life film, one that is passionately directed by
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Luke Greenfield with a steadfast purpose. From The Who, Queen, David Gray and others
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that litter the poignant soundtrack that underscore key-scenes, to the crafty and masterful editing
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- "The Girl Next Door" is an absolute treasure of 21st-century filmmaking. Stumbling it a
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bit in the middle-act with some more unnecessary plot developments, this story's determination
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thankfully comes roaring back in the final act, with a tremendously effective twist that
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puts an applause-worthy exclamation mark on a wonderfully enjoyably motion picture. "The
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Girl Next Door", a "Beautifully magical portrayal of adolescence". Well, those are my thoughts
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- now let's read some of yours from the YouTube comments!
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Back again is the Rate-O-Matic to highlight our scores for "The Girl Next Door"... a NINE
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and an EIGHT. You enjoyed this film, praising it for it's accuracy, humor, acting, and of
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course, Elisha Cuthbert - you thought it was GREAT. Meanwhile, I truly loved this film
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- it was an immensely enjoyable movie with fantastic writing, editing, music, and emotional
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impact -- but the overly-involved second-act hurt this film's tempo. This film gets a very
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respectable "Awesome". But that doesn't it for tonight's films... so let's take a look
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at what's currently playing in theaters with some Tweet Critiques.
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Remember, if you're going to the movies this weekend make sure to submit your Twitter reviews
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using the #JPMN hashtag to have it featured on an upcoming episode. Next we'll be taking
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a look at couple of guy-friendly films, "Abduction" with Taylor Lautner is an intense action-thriller
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starring everyone's favorite former-Werewolf, and "Real Steel" a rock-'em'sock'em robots-style
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adventure with Hugh Jackman. As always, I encourage you buy, rent, or download these
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films - and then let me know what you think about them by voting in the polls below, or
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by leaving a comment review - and remember, I read them all! Once again, my name is Jonathan
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Paula - thank you for watching Movie Night, I hope to see you, right back here next Friday!