The Screen Actors Guild Awards went off without a hitch despite the ongoing strike with the screen writer’s guild. There were, of course, a few surprises and a few bad clothing decisions, but overall the 2008 SAG awards were memorable and worthy of an evening spent inside with the television. This is especially notable as there may not be another prominent awards show this season as the writer’s strike continues.

Walking the Red Carpet

The Red Carpet has taken on almost as much significance as the award shows. The SAG awards were no different this year. There was great anticipation over the gowns the actresses would wear and we weren’t disappointed. Fashion icons looked their best. Michelle Pfeiffer looked positively ageless and Debra Messing was glamorous. Even Tina Fey, the quirky Saturday Night Live star showed up looking radiant and more like a grown-up movie star than the offbeat comedian we know and love.

Of course there were a few blips on the carpet as well. Viggo Morrison took the cake as the worst dressed male with an odd combination of mismatched colors and patterns. But the number one surprise of the red carpet was Angelina Jolie. For such a beautiful and well styled star, Angelina showed up looking more like a discarded pile of shawls and blankets. The dress was interesting at best, but the long flowing design actually caused a different kind of speculation. Did the flowing lines hide a budding baby belly? Only time and a good publicist will tell us for sure. (more…)

An obvious shoe-in for a frat and high school film legend, Super Bad plays on the emotions and humor of young people, but leaves many viewers wanting just a bit more in the way of plot flow and censure. Super Bad tells the story of three horny teenagers on the cusp of becoming college men. The three friends spend one of their last nights together before heading separate ways to college doing what else? Buying beer and getting laid.

The only problem for the three is that they are eternally geeky and simply not the kind of guy that high school girls, or college women, fall into bed with. The story line is familiar as we’ve seen it before in American Pie, but this time the getting-laid-or-else story is told with a bit of a conscious. The beer run has the ring of so many teenage movies before it including the cult classic Teen Wolf.

While the movie could easily have been set in the days of Animal House or other classic college films, the language and situations are decidedly modern. In short, the level of profanity and crudeness onscreen would not have passed censors a decade ago. Today however, crudely drawn phalluses and outlandish claims and jokes are standard fare for movies, and this one makes it a point to include as many as possible.

In the film, the typical funny, obnoxious fat kid and his thin, nerdy friend are looking for a bit of sexual experience before heading off to higher learning. They see the golden glimmer of opportunity when the hottest girl in school invites them to a party on the condition they bring the beer. They pick up another ultra-skinny, ultra-dweeby friend for the rest of the evening as they become involved in a liquor store robbery, wind up at other parties and handle a run-in with the cops. (more…)