Have you seen Girls Trip?

What I like about this film overall is that it's not a "black movie." And I mean to say that this is the GET OUT of comedy. It's not a film about racial stereotypes, but it's a film that doesn't ignore them either. It's a good movie if you like raunchy comedies that deign to attempt to transcend their genre.

Think Farrelly brothers at their best meets Ice Cube at his best.

Every time it panders to the lowest common denominator with piss or penis jokes, it buys you back with a lesson about loyalty and sisterhood that comes off as genuine because it's not acknowledged until the films denouement, which is predictable, but worth it.

There's even a stupid trope about the dangers of absinthe sold in a Michael Epps cameo that's derivative, but everything in comedy is just another cue telling us when to laugh, so it's excusable or at least as excusable as when they did it in EURO TRIP. It's a hallmark of the genre of buddy trip comedies, and they do it well enough.

I think it's the only decent comedy I've seen this year, and that's sad since this country needs it so much right now. Maybe this country always needs it.

DEAR HOLLYWOOD, MORE GOOD COMEDY, PLEASE!

The Spectacular Now

I saw the Spectacular Now this weekend. It was spectacular, but it was also personally difficult to watch. The lead, Sutter, played by Miles Teller, resonated with me in a way that was uncomfortable because it felt like I was looking into a mirror in many respects.

Miles plays a high school kid who drinks too much and thinks that he's unlovable. But he plays like he's cool with it all, and everyone thinks he's just a laid back guy who isn't all fucked up inside. This sets the stage for a deep look into the tumult of the teenage years and the manner by which humans strive to be moral toward one another in a world of American individualism.

Jeez, that reminded me of me. 

The film had me on the verge of tears, laughing out loud, and introspect. This is what the movies are supposed to do at their highest level. This is what all art should do. 

Meanwhile, someone should make a biopic of Robert Mitchum just so that Miles Teller can play the title role. If this kid stays on his shit, he can be the next big American man's man star. He's physically quite large, not too good looking or pretty, scarred all to hell, as deep as Montgomery Clift, and as likable as Brendan Fraser.

3 Bros. Coffee Breath

Probably the worst video I've done, but it's a really good beer. Apparently, I couldn't come up with a better word than "amazing" seeing as how I say it like five times.

So here's what I meant to say: Troy Lucas is a local coffee roaster. He cold brewed a huge batch of coffee for this nut brown from Three Brothers Brewing. So, locally roasted and brewed coffee meets locally brewed and fermented beer for a delicious beverage called Coffee Breath. I like that.

This video was made on the fly at a steal the glass night at Capital Ale House in Harrisonburg. And even though I make this video suck (kind of distracted by how busy the place is), it's only a minute long, and you can see Troy Lucas and Adam Shifflett for a second (the coffee guy and the beer guy, respectively).