thoughts on The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring follows a group of L.A. teens who rob a series of celebrities' houses (Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Lindsay Lohan, etc.).  The houses are all so easy to get into that I would find the robberies unbelievable if this film weren't based on a true story.  I'm used to these elaborate heist movies where the would-be thieves spend considerable time researching how to override or sidestep security systems; here, the teens simply find out via the Internet when specific celebrities are going to be out of town, then walk into their homes by way of keys hidden under the mat, through dog doors, or through back doors carelessly left unlocked.  Once in, the teens basically just go shopping; they typically just take an item or two each, seemingly more interested in having things that are owned by celebrities and hanging out in their houses than in seeking out specific items, or the most expensive items. 

I suppose that is what is compelling enough about the real-life story to make it into a movie: these kids are not your typical thieves, but rather a group of teens living just outside the celebrity world and wanting to find a way in.  They party at the same clubs as people like Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton but don't personally know them.  Two of the teens, Nicki and Sam (Emma Watson and Taissa Farmiga), are homeschooled by Nicki's mom, Laurie (Leslie Mann), and Laurie presents a "vision board" of Angelina Jolie as a role model that the girls should aspire to as part of a school lesson.  Nicki and Sam also at one point discuss going on auditions for modeling and acting roles, but other than that, none of these kids seem to have any real goals or interests or really care about anything.  After one robbery, they casually brag at a party that they "were at Rachel Bilson's," as if Rachel Bilson had invited them there.  At another point, a character named Chloe (Claire Julien) gets a DUI, and she just laughs about how high her BAC was; there doesn't seem to be any concern about how this might affect her future.  Even when the teens face charges for the crimes, Nicki talks about it as a "learning lesson" and uses the experience as an opportunity to get interviews/exposure.  Another character, Rebecca (Katie Chang), asks, during her interrogation, whether the investigator has talked to the celebrities and eagerly wonders aloud what Lindsay Lohan said.  Only one member of the group (Marc, played by Israel Broussard) seems to feel any guilt or unease about the robberies, and only he and Rebecca seem particularly upset about having been caught.

The end result is a movie that I found fairly disturbing. I can kind of understand why the kids are the way they are; the only parent we spend much time with is a complete flake, and most of the other parents seem to be largely absent from their kids' lives, which is maybe why they have so little fear of consequences. At times I almost got all "Kids these days!" about the movie, but not only are the teens in this movie not typical thieves, I also don't really believe they represent that many teens. If we were to believe that the teens in this movie are simply extreme examples of teens in a culture that celebrates/glorifies fame and wealth, the film could, theoretically, be making a statement about the perils of celebrity and surveillance culture.  Because I believe the teens in this film are pretty far off the map in terms of morals, values, and life goals, though, I think it's basically just an interesting, well-told and reasonably well-acted story.

thoughts on This is the End

Jay Baruchel (all of the actors in this movie play versions of themselves, BTW) goes to visit Seth Rogen in L.A. Jay claims to hate L.A., and Seth's L.A. friends; he complains when Seth suggests that they go to a party at James Franco's house. They go anyway, and while they are there, the apocalypse begins; some people are raptured up to Heaven, while others (including a coked-up Michael Cera) are sucked down into Hell. Others, including Jay, Seth, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride, are left to stick it out on Earth, where they will remain until they either a) do a good enough deed to be raptured up to Heaven or b) kill each other. These rules are never exactly spelled out, but the guys (who hunker down in James Franco's house) eventually figure it out. In the meantime, they (in no particular order) do all the drugs in the house; chisel through the floor to get to the jugs of water in the basement; are chased and attacked by demons; are visited by Emma Watson, who robs them with an axe after overhearing a disturbing conversation; and (and this was my personal favorite part) film a sequel to Pineapple Express, with Jonah Hill playing Woody Harrelson. Oh yeah, and eventually they have occasion to perform an exorcism. And also, when they finally leave the house, they have a run-in with a gang of cannibals (and Channing Tatum). And also, eventually there is a choreographed dance number with the Backstreet Boys.

In other words, it is basically a movie with few rules, where anything can happen at any time. Basically, any time you start to feel like things are getting a little bit tedious, something new happens to shake things up. Sometimes it's funny. Often it's crude. I laughed several times, but also was more than ready for it to be over by the end.

Probably the most interesting part of the whole thing was the group dynamic, and how it changes over the course of the movie. James Franco seems to be sort of in love with Seth Rogen (though nothing really ever comes of this; it just creates some funny/awkward moments). Jay dislikes everyone except Seth, but especially Jonah Hill. Jonah seems to be over-the-top nice, but secretly also hates Jay, to the extent of actually praying for his death. James hates Danny McBride; this starts out as more of a secret dislike, but grows over the course of the movie. Danny is generally obnoxious and disregards all of the rules the group tries to put in place.

I don't know. Like I said, there are some funny parts, and I like some of the actors in it, though not all. It seems like a better comedy about how people act when they're trapped together for a long period of time and facing the end of the world could have been made with the same cast, though. This all just kind of seemed random and thrown together.