Book Review: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

 Title: Hyperbole and a Half

Author: Allie Brosh

Rating: 5 Stars

Genres: Humor, Memoir

During one of my trips to the local bookstore, I noticed Hyperbole and a Half’s bright, yellow cover surrounded by the muted greys and blacks of other recent titles. As a fan of the website with the same name, I knew I had to pick it up. Especially when the back cover’s description reads as magical as this:

For those not familiar with her blog, Allie Brosh irreverently depicts her life’s events and situations with illustrated stories in a purposefully simplistic style. Pro-tip: Because of the simplicity, she’s possibly the best at bringing the young, stubborn, and frequently one-track child perspective to life convincingly.

The Hyperbole and a Half book mixes both new and previously featured stories. A couple of my (and fan) favorites that made it in include “The God of Cake,” “Dinosaur (The Goose Story),” and “This is Why I’ll Never be an Adult.” My favorite book-exclusive story is titled “Warning Signs,” in which Brosh hilariously replies to a letter she wrote as a 10 year old to her adult self.

”The God of Cake” has an almighty NEED

While one of my favorites, “The Alot is Better Than You at Everything,” didn’t make it in, that just makes me hope there will be a sequel. *Fingers crossed* Either way, I’ll be revisiting the book and blog quite a few times.

Also good to note, this book is printed on wonderful paper! It’s meant for images. It isn’t your low-quality, sometimes-smudgy paper that will die unless carefully preserved in plastic. No, this paper will last a long time. Bonus: The paper makes the book hefty so you can bludgeon anyone who makes the mistake of trying to destroy you laughter times by stealing it.

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Movie Review: Pitch Perfect

Title:  Pitch Perfect
Rated:  PG-13
Genre:  Comedy, musical
Director:  Jason Moore
Writers:  Kay Cannon (screenplay), Mickey Rapkin (book)
Stars:  Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Ben Platt, Adam DeVine, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins
Rating:  4 Stars

Description:
Beca (Anna Kendrick) is an aspiring DJ who wants nothing more than to move to L.A. and start paying her dues. But her professor father is making her give college, and the college life, a shot, on-campus club required. Beca reluctantly joins the Barden Bellas, an all-girls a cappella singing group.

Barden Bella leader Aubrey (Anna Camp) is determined to make it to the finals using their signature methods:  perfect looks and a song repertoire of famous female hits. But after last year’s disastrous showing, the recruits are anything but perfect.

Can Beca remix Aubrey’s thoughts and tired playlist to beat the rival a cappella group, The Treble Makers?

Pitch Perfect TV spot

My Thoughts: 
I went into this film with low expectations. It looked like a Glee rehash, and I am no fan of Glee (though, some of their mash-ups are wonderful). Pitch Perfect just slaughtered those low expectations.

While the competition and romance plot lines are a bit clichéd, the actors make it fresh and entertaining. Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, and Brittany Snow have some fantastic comedic lines. There’s also a great cameo from Christopher Mintz-Plasse, in which he pokes fun at Glee.

The soundtrack was also much better than I expected. I feared hearing all my least favorite pop songs that had been overplayed during the year or two before the film’s release. Granted, there was one of them—Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”—but for the most part, it was music I loved. When Yeasayer’s “Rome” came on, I froze in shock. Good thing there wasn’t any dialogue happening then. Other great tracks include “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis, “No Diggity” by Blackstreet, “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds, and “Don’t Move” by Phantogram.

Pitch Perfect music video: "Starships" performed by Mike Tompkins, Pitch Perfect cast, and fans

Pitch Perfect is a fun, comedic film. It has a heart, but never gets too serious with itself. I highly recommend it.

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Movie Review: Butter

Title:  Butter
Rated:  R
Genres:  Comedy, Satire
Director:  Jim Field Smith
Writer:  Jason A. Micallef
Stars:  Jennifer Garner, Yara Shahidi, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Ashley Greene, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry, Hugh Jackman
Rating:  4 Stars

Description: 
After winning 15 years in a row, master butter carver Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell) is forced to step down and let others have a shot at butter fame. Understanding this as a personal shot at the Pickler family status, his wife, Laura (Jennifer Garner) enters the refrigerated room and begins her butter quest.

But our young narrator and main character, Destiny (Yara Shahidi), becomes a sticker in Laura Pickler’s side. After being bounced between comically horrible foster families, Destiny finds a stable home with Ethan and Julie (Rob Corddry and Alicia Silverstone). They encourage her to find a hobby she likes, which just so happens to be butter carving, something she is a bit of a prodigy at.
This butter battle boasts contenders from butter carving groupies, to a stripper (Olivia Wilde), to a good ol’ car salesmen (Hugh Jackman). Expect satire, manipulation, and farcical levels of competition.

My Thoughts: 
Set in Iowa, this quirky comedy takes full advantage of its Midwest setting. From the Iowa State Fair to the odd assortment of characters, the script felt genuinely Midwest to this Minnesotan. And while the accents weren’t perfect the whole time, I can tell you that my Minnesoooootan accent comes waves, so it didn’t particularly bother me.

You can't have a State Fair or butter carving competition without getting religious or polical

The casting decisions were great. Jennifer Garner plays the controlling wife in that wonderful way we’ve seen before (think of her character in Juno, but harden her heart a bit). Ty Burrell plays his fumbling dad routine with a little more seriousness injected. Olivia Wilde hits the mark as an extortionist stripper. Mostly the actors play variations on what I already knew them for, with the exception of Wilde and Hugh Jackman, both wonderful and surprising roles. This was also my introduction to Yara Shahidi, who did an excellent job portraying Destiny.

I recommend Butter to those looking for something quirky, as well as to fans of other Midwest comedies, such as Drop Dead Gorgeous, Juno, Fargo, and Grumpy Old Men.

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Movie Review: The Campaign

Title:  The Campaign
Rated:  R
Genre:  Comedy
Director:  Jay Roach
Writers:  Chris Henchy, Shawn Harwell
Stars:  Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd
Rating:  3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
When four-term Congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) makes a political faux pas, the rich Motch brothers (Lithgow and Aykroyd) see an opportunity to fund a rival politician that will allow their shady business practices. Who do they choose? None other than Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), the oddball son of a local politico legend. As election day closes in, campaign tactics get more outlandish with each candidate fighting for the top of the polls.

My Thoughts:
The Campaign does its best at political satire without actually getting very political. The main focus, instead, is placed with the characters and outrageous media scandals. We see everything from manufactured public images and attack ads to sex scandals and baby punching. Some of the gags hit close to reality, while others push farcical.

While I love Ferrell and Galifianakis, my favorite was Dylan McDermott, who plays Huggins’ evil-ish campaign manager. He creepily appears behind candidates, is foul-mouthed, and a super jerk. Next to the happy-go-lucky Huggins family, he becomes a hysterical opposing force.

McDermott being all evil ninja in the backseat

From the ads and my favorability towards the cast, I expected The Candidate to be full of strong laughs. However, I found it to be a more subtle amusement for me. There are a few lowball laughs, but most of the funny parts didn’t even get a chuckle from me. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, which I did. It just wasn’t as funny as I expected.

That being the case, I would still highly recommend this film to fans of Ferrell and Galifianakis. Both play their typical roles to their strengths. Just don’t expect it to be the best you’ve seen from either of these actors.

What did you think of The Campaign? Tell me in the comments below.

Movie Review: Detention

Title:  Detention
Rated:  R
Genres:  Comedy, Horror, Sci-fi
Director:  Joseph Kahn
Writers:  Joseph Kahn, Mark Palermo
Stars:  Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Dane Cook
Rating:  4 Stars

Synopsis from Redbox:

17-year-old Riley Jones must survive her final year of high school. The problem is that she has been sentenced to detention on the night of her prom, her friends are apparently being murdered by the fictional villain of a horror film series, and worst of all, the boy with whom she's in love is infatuated with her biggest rival. It becomes a race against time to save the world as she knows it.

My Thoughts:

Based on this description, I was expecting a B-horror movie. Detention turned out to be so much better than that expectation.

Detention is a meta-tribute to teen comedy and horror films, as well as the 90s. There are clear references to The Breakfast Club, Scream, The Fly, Freaky Friday and so many more. I love when films (or any media) lovingly, and jokingly, reference other things. It gives the film another layer, and a game I can play during a second (or third, or fourth) viewing.



Not only does Detention make tribute to previous films, it also captures the quick, ADHD nature of today’s youth. Characters spew rapid-fire references and quips as the story careens at texting speeds. While I enjoyed this for the most part, sometimes things moved a little too fast to catch everything.

Overall I found Detention to be hilarious and not scary at all. I will definitely be purchasing this film and watching it several more times. However, I find it difficult to recommend to a general audience. Detention is destined to become a cult film. I know many people will tire of the references. Others will despise the overall attitude and ridiculousness. And some people are looking for another Josh Hutcherson movie—which this is much different from his previous work. If you enjoy comedy-horror benders, or cult films, I give a tentative recommendation.

What were your thoughts on Detention? What do you think of cross-genre films? Let me know in the comments below.