21 Jump Street and Chocolate Redemption

I thought 21 Jump Street was going to be a half-baked movie, full of drab jokes, but it turned out I had no idea what I was talking about.  This movie rocked the laughs so much that I went back and saw it again.

I'll just refer to the first experience, which includes a difficult chocolate episode.   We went in without remembering to snag some Jones Soda or decent chocolate beforehand.  Yikes.

We ended up grabbing a combo that included popcorn, fountain pop, and a candy I used enjoyed while growing up redneck in Hick Town Canada, called Rolo.  Well, the truth of the matter is, that chocolate is sub par compared to what I snack on now. It barely had any flavour and although it didn't burn my throat like a lot of other cheap mainstream chocolate, it was so bland that after the movie, I went to Laura Secord and bought a giant Easter egg to help my tongue recover from the how ordeal.

I've reviewed the same egg here before, but in a smaller size.  Of course, it tasted delicious compared to that other stuff.

Anyway, back to the movie.  It opened up with Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) as these two high school enemies that forge a friendship in the police academy in order to survive until graduation.  They go on to be bumbling cops stuck on chump assignments and eventually find their way into the old 21 Jump Street assignment of the 1980s TV show.

The entire time, the movie laughed at itself and the unbelievable premise that these guys were passable as high school students.  Something to note here, even Schmidt's crush, Molly, played by Brie Larson, didn't come across as a teen, at least, for me.  The only main character who did was James Franco's little brother, Dave, who did an excellent job as high school year book editor slash drug dealer.

Unlike the original TV show, these guys look and appear too old and out of the loop for the high school scene.  I remember Johnny Depp, Peter DeLuise, and Holly Robinson, who have cameos here, as baby-faced cops that fit in.  Course, that was many many moons ago, so maybe I'm off with my assessment.

But that's part of the point, since it's a humorous send up of the whole concept.  Even the fictional drug, HFS, that looks like a church wafer with a pic of a pile of shit and a halo over it, lampoons the drug culture.

The attention to minute details in the film, such as the wafers, add to the high quality presentation.  A shiny Z28 Camaro, almost like the one I used to drive, Johnny Depp's long haired biker disguise, and even the villain's um, appendage, all got the right reaction from me.

One of the best elements of the movie, for somebody like me, who grew up in the late 80s and 90s, had to be Ice Cube, who rocked it as the stereotypical angry police chief, Capt. Dickson.  What a d*ck.  Yeah.

Ice Cube was part of N.W.A. which was big during the airing of the original 21 Jump Street.  Back then, a lot of us kids listened to the group.  And if you came from anti-establishment, like I did, you took on several of their anthems, like F*ck tha Police.  Jump Street's soundtrack includes songs like their Straight Outta Compton.  As backdrop to Schmidt's Slip Shady wannabe getup in his high school days, Eminem's The Real Slim Shady is also included.

So we've got lots of humor, fast paced gut-busting action, cameos from the original crew, kick-a** music, and oh yeah, several silly subplots like a play that Schmidt wants to star in and the stages of an HFS trip.

It's all good.

21 Jump Street:  10 / 10  - Nothing but praise here.  Try it, you might be surprised at how much you laugh.  And you definitely don't need prior Jump Street experience to enjoy it!

Rolo:  3 / 10 - You know I'm being too generous here.

Laura Secord egg:   8.9 / 10  -  This chocolate came through for me when I really needed it.

Hangover 1 & Eating Like You've Got One...

Hangover Part II comes out May 26th.  Oh my.  Bradley Cooper is in it.  I have no idea who the other actors are, except for Mike Tyson (only because of his infamy, I can't really call him an actor).  Yes, it is wrong to slight the rest of the team--but it's all about The Coop.

In order to celebrate the coming event of HPII, we decided to obtain a copy of The Hangover.  Now, just to be clear here, we did in fact purchase it, as we do all our movies/music/books.  As an artist, I believe in giving other artisans their due payment.

To watch such a fun movie, we needed to prepare for the optimum viewing experience. It included making sure we had enough food and drink to stuff our glutinous mouths continuously.  Such decisions need to be made with careful consideration.  We ended up choosing Jones' Soda Blue Bubble Gum, Kernels' cheese popcorn, and a couple of Laura Secord's "Easter Eggs."*

*Warning:  Do not try this at home unless you have the tolerance for way too much sugar all at once.

The movie, which I'd seen before, turned out to be just as hilarious the second time round.  Say what you want about the bachelor party debate, but I didn't watch it to critique the societal significance of various themes.  The Coop, action, and absurd possibilities were about all that interested me, and the movie did not disappoint.  Yes, the Coop as an underpaid school teacher...

While the whole cast was solid, Ken Jeong, the actor who played Mr. Chow, went above and beyond during his short on-screen appearances. He pulled off some great comedic timing.  From the previews of HPII, it appears that he's going to be back and in fine form.  Good.  On a sad note, Heather Graham won't be returning.

The subplot that revolved around the tiger bothered me enough that even suspended disbelief couldn't cut it, I'll admit.  First, doesn't keeping a tiger in a hotel room over night mean that the place would stink up with mountains of cat crap, and second, would any exotic animal owner in their right mind let a bunch of hungover idiots transport the pet back home?  I mean, come on, not even Tyson would let that go down. None of that ruined the tasty eating, though, fortunately.

While observing the scene where Phil (The Coop), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zack Galifianakis) and Baby Tyler (played by a bunch of different infant actors) are sitting at a table, trying to figure out the night before, I had an epiphany:  Jones Soda needs to create a flavour called 'The Coop.'  It's a great idea, I hope that other soda companies don't read this and make it first...


Ratings:


The Hangover:  8.5 / 10  - Great action, lively interaction, funny scenes, suspension of disbelief worked, but, sadly, there wasn't enough screen time given to The Coop.  Oh well.

Jones Soda:  9 / 10 - Mmm, refreshing blue bubble gum taste, done up with inverted cane sugar (always a bonus, if you're gonna choose sugar), and looked quite pretty in the glass mug with ice cubes.  The only draw back was that damn, those bottles are so small.

Kernels:  6.5 / 10 - Not bad for fresh popcorn to chew on like a hungry cow while watching a movie, but it didn't have the best cheese flavour and the popcorn was nowhere near as firm and crunchy as traditional movie popcorn.  Lesson learned.

Laura Secord:  8.5 / 10 - To be honest, I didn't even look at the ingredients before devouring the 75g egg. Crazy.  I knew that the taste of Secord chocolates is on average, good.  My mouth enjoyed the gooey insides and breaking off bits of the outer chocolate shell.  The only downside to such a treat was the price; which was steep even on sale.