BEETLE TAKES HIS DELORAN TO 88 MPH FOR HIS REVIEW OF TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT

Apparently the 80s is the decade that everyone pines for today, as can be evidenced by an ever growing amount of films that attempt to evoke the feel of an 80s film. There was Hot Tub Time Machine, Macgruber, and now Take Me Home Tonight.

The year is 1988. A young MIT grad, Matt Franklin (Topher Grace), is stuck working a dead end job at a mall video store when his high-school crush, Tori Frederking ( Teresa Palmer), unexpectedly walks back into his life. When asked where he works Matt panics and lies, telling her that he works for a high end investment company. This leads to Tori inviting Matt to a local party where he will have to upkeep his ruse if he is going to get with her. Along for the ride are Matts twin sister Wendy (Anna Faris), and Matts best friend Barry (Dan Fogler). Together, they rediscover who they are, what they want, and whats important to them on what will go down as the best night ever.

When the first trailer for this film came out I was fairly excited for it. I have always been a huge fan of the 80's. In terms of films and music the 80's was a pretty culturally important decade that gave birth to such hits as Back To The Future and Jessie's Girl to name a few. So a film that was trying to evoke the feel of an 80's movie was bound to gain my interest. The trailer promised us a wild ride set to some killer 80s tunes (although the song the film takes its title from was nowhere to be sampled in the film, what a waste). I can confidently say that this is one of the few trailers that does not lie to moviegoers, it keeps its promises (more-or-less) and is the first adult comedy that I can remember seeing this year.

The movie's focal point is Matt Franklin. He is a young MIT Grad who, afraid of making any commitment, decides to pick up a job at a local mall video store seeing it as the only "safe" option at the moment. He is afraid to assert himself and refuses to take any risks with his life, assuming that no matter what he does, his life is headed for tragedy. In short he is a scared, lonely little man (but aren't we all deep down inside). He is played by the always enjoyable and funny Topher Grace. He plays the role with his best "my life sucks" face on for most of the film. Some may find it annoying, I found it believable. His character has been presented with the problem of what to do after college, he is overwhelmed by all of the choices that are placed in front of him, unable to take the pressure he panics and shuts down. He definently is a wimp, but he's a sympathetic, believable one that's easy to root for.

Matt's best friend, Barry, is pretty much the opposite of Matt. He is unafraid to take risks, in fact, he takes too many risks. One day at his job at a car dealership, Barry takes a risk that does not pay off, loses control of his anger over the loss, and is fired. Spiraling down into a deep state of depression, he does what any 20-something year old would do: he drinks away his problems. He is played by Dan Fogler in all of his adolescent, coked-up joy. Dan does go overboard at times with his portrayal, thank god Topher Grace is usually around to bring him back down to Earth.

Matt's twin sister, Wendy, is in a committed relationship to her jock boyfriend who is dim witted and controlling. Wendy thinks she is happy in the relationship despite Matt's complaints that she needs to move on to something better. He knows she can do better with her life, but like Matt, she is afraid she won't be able to prove herself out there alone. Wendy is played by Anna Faris, and this is her first real subtle role. Like all the other characters in this film she does have her own laugh out loud moments, but for most of the film she is more behind the scenes. Only at the end do we really dive deeper into her character.

Tori Frederking, Matt's unattainable high school crush, has been trying to get a job at another investment company. Matt, afraid she won't give him the time of day if she knows the truth, lies that he works at a high-end investment company similar to the one she is trying to work at. Of course, his lie works and he is invited to a party she is attending later that night. Tori is played by the super-hot (even with all that horrible 80's fashion she wears) Teresa Palmer. Tori is the typical high school popular girl we see every day that each of us has crushed on at least once. Teresa Palmer perfectly embodies this character making us yearn for her while also sympathizing with her plight. She is so used to conforming to peoples beliefs about her that she has never found the time to be true to herself.

Joining the colorful cast of characters is Matt's father, Bill, a policeman. Out of everyone we follow in this film he is the most disappointed with Matt. It crushes him to see his son refuse to take any initiative and he has just about given up trying to help him along. He is played by Michael Biehn (most famous for his role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator). He is pretty asshole-ish at times, but he acts this way because he cares.

Take Me Home Tonight tries to be a raunchy comedy like last years' Hot Tub Time Machine, and while it definitely has some laugh out loud moments its still not as funny as other comedies of recent years. The film seems to be more interested in the adult issues it presents throughut the film, and surprisingly I'm ok with that. I love how the movie is truthful about how difficult life is after college, and I love how it creates believable real characters that have to go through these challenges.

Another one of Take Me Home Tonight's achievements is that it perfectly creates a great 80s party atmosphere throughout the film and succeeds in making us feel like we are attending said party. Included in the party we are attending is a great 80's dance-off, an impromptu fight, a bathroom hook-up, and some coke-addled nonsense. In short, it's everything a great party should be.

In fact, one of the weirdest things about Take Me Home Tonight, is it's not really made for people that would have lived through the 80s, it's actually more for the 20-somethings of today (like myself). It's another piece of the puzzle that doesn't quite make sense, but still....whatever, you know...I've given up trying to make sense of it.

Although there really was no need to set Take Me Home Tonight in 1988, I'll be damned if the film doesn't take advantage of the setting to the best of its ability by throwing in a few nods to classic 80's culture. While the setting doesn't really add or detract any from the story at hand (which admittedly, is pretty threadbare) it does give the film somewhat of a nostalgic vibe. For me, any film that attempts to evoke the feel of a classic 80's comedy automatically gets a thumbs up.

Take Me Home Tonight somewhat follows the example of Hot Tub Time Machine. It's an adult comedy that tackles some pretty adult issues and also has a good dose of heart to boot. Don't let critics scare you away from what is sure to be one of the better comedies this year. Accept the invitation to one of the wildest parties I've ever been to, trust me, you won't regret it.

3.5/5 Stars

Be sure to keep an eye out for Michelle Trachtenberg as the hot goth girl at the party

BEETLE RANT: KIDS IN MOVIETHEATRES + RANGO REVIEW (UPDATED 7/30/11)

Yesterday I went to see a truly different animated films, believe me when I say it's nothing like you've ever seen before. It's a western thats animated. It's a western where the animals are the main characters. It's a western about the decline of the west and how people in those times that couldn't adapt were left behind. Quite simply, it's definently going to be on the slate for best animated film of the year. What film am I talking about? RANGO.

Now I came up with all this in retrospection, my reaction after coming out of the film was quite a different one. I was annoyed, angry, and tired. WHY??? Because, you see, Rango is being advertised as a kids film/family film. Now what does that mean, you may ask?? Well that means that a normally quiet theatre is invaded by loud, rambunctious children. Children were running up and down the aisles, kids could be heard laughing their tiny heads off at some of the more serious moments in the film (because Rango made a funny face, or walked a little funny, or said something that kids thought was funny). I had the misfortune of sitting in front of three of said kids. Of course, my reaction to the film was somewhat tainted by these little monsters, but I'll get to that later.

First, let us address the issue of Rango as a kids film. Is it even a kids film? Well let's see: It's got mature themes, a pretty adult story, it's a western, it's got a menacing rattlesnake, and it deals with some pretty serious issues about dehydration, authority, and the need to believe in something. Does all this sound like something a five year old could fully appreciate? Rango is either the greatest kids movie in the history of film, or it's not a kids movie....PERIOD. That's right, despite it's cutesy trailers and Nickelodeon's producing it (Thumbs up to them by the way, They took a real risk with this film and it paid off. It's always great to see Nickelodeon stepping it up and allowing a pretty adult film to associate itself with their studio) Rango is NOT a kids film. Imagine that, an animated film that's not geared mainly at kids, how revolutionary is that idea??!! I look forward to a future where animated films can be made for 20-somethings and over and are not marketed at kids out of fear of stepping out of the norm these days and doing something different.For all of the risks the film takes and out of all the things that it decides to do differently, the one thing that would have really impressed me it failed to do...and that was market itself to its real demographic...Adults (and older teens to a certain extent). For some strange reason someone decided that Rango was a kids film/family film and was marketed as such (If they had actually taken time to watch the damned film they would have seen that it was a weird, surreal western and not kiddie fare). It also doesn't help that most parents see the PG rating and automatically assume the film is for kids. Either way, because of stupid parents and dumb marketing decisions kids flocked in droves like a bunch of angry, loud seagulls to Rango which brings us to my experience.

Let me start out by stating that this is not the first time this has happened to me. It's also occurred in films like Coraline, Gnomeo and Juliet, Beowulf, etc but to be fair these films (with the exception of Beowulf) were actually kids films. My experiences in these films were also not as severe as my experience in Rango was, as in that the kids did not directly distract me from the film itself. In Rango the three little monsters behind were talking from the minute they sat down to the minute they left the theatre. Now this in itself would not be enough to truly bother me, but these kids took the extra step. They would occasionally pummel the back of my seat with their feet, it was almost like they were trying to push me to my breaking point. It took all my self control for me not to turn around and scream at those little brats. As you can imagine, this easily took me out of the movie and distracted me from what was going on on screen. This is why I wish I had waited for Rango on DVD, where I could watch it in the quiet of my room. (As of 7/30/11 I finally had the opportunity to sit down in the comfort of my own home and watch Rango on my blu-ray player. Let me say it really is a magnificent, superb film that is required viewing for any adult. The animation is stunning, the character design is inspired and delightfully wacky, the story respects the western while also lightly satirizing it. Not to mention the main character of Rango is wonderfully unique. He is a wanna-be thespian that lives in his own secluded world, he is a lonely creature that doesn't realize how lonely he actually is until he is thrust out of his glass box. Once outside he goes through an identity crisis that lasts pretty much throughout the whole film. While Rango does have a few jokes that are aimed at kids, and while I do believe that kids could definitely enjoy it, that doesn't change the fact that a good 90 % of the film has references, themes, and jokes that will soar high above the little ones heads. by all means, watch it with your kids, explain it to them, maybe it will make them more well cultured, but that doesn't change the fact that Rango really is not a kids film in the end. I must say this is probably the best animated film I have ever senn, no joke,. If Rango does not win the best animated film of the year then I have officially lost all hope in the Oscars. 5/5 stars- Better than Sex)

Why do parents insist on bringing their kids with them to every film that is PG-13 and under? Are they too lazy to hire a babysitter for the night??? It's the same deal with TV censorship. Parents complain about content shown on TV, well guess what??? Maybe if you spent time monitoring what your kids are watching they wouldn't be exposed to all that nasty stuff that you complain about. I find it funny they complain about bad stuff on Tv and then whisk their kids out to see an R rated movie like Take Me Home Tonight( that's right, there were several 7-10 year olds in the audience to that film...and those kids were laughing at stuff that wasn't even funny). So the bottom line here is that parents need to be more active in their kids lives and actually think before they take them to a movie or let them watch a certain show. Don't blame the kids, blame who brought them to the theatre.