Netflix Review: Across the Universe

This movie has nothing interesting or new to say, but wow, what a beautiful way to say nothing. Sometimes I am just in the mood for a film that's just all aesthetic. Across the Universe tells the story of Jude (Jim Sturgess), a Liverpudlian who crosses the Atlantic in search of his father who he thinks is a Princeton professor, but turns out to be a janitor. Jude ends up settling down in one of Princeton's steam tunnels where he soon falls in with carefree student Max (Joe Anderson) and then enamored of his younger sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Princeton doesn't hold the three for long, and it's off to the Big Apple where they rent a room from Sadie (Dana Fuchs), who, would you know it, is sexy...and also a Janis Joplin knockoff. They are joined by Prudence (TV Carpio), a runaway cheerleader, and a guy whose name I can't remember, but for all intents and purposes is Jimi Hendrix. Together they experience THE SIXTIES.

Pitch Perfect review

Full disclosure, I was an a cappella nerd in a college, so a lot of Pitch Perfect hit very close to home. It was adapted from the book of the same name that profiled a cappella groups at Tufts University. How accurate is it? I can report that yes, there were intense intra-a cappella rivalries, bizarre freshman hazing rituals, and very often groups were differentiated by their brand: stoner guys, classical glee club nerds, the party group, the gay group. And all-girl groups were definitely at the bottom of the totem pole. By focusing on the fictional all-girls Barden Bellas, Pitch Perfect has a built in underdog story.

The Bellas are trying to rebuild after a disastrous showing at nationals at Lincoln Center where aca-veteran Aubrey (Anna Camp) spews Exorcist style during a rendition of Ace of Base's "The Sign." The Bellas' reputation has been tainted and the following year, returning members Aubrey and Chloe's (Brittany Snow) recruiting difficulties lead to a group composed not of cardio-happy Greeks, but of misfits including the self-styled Fat Amy ("So twig bitches like you don't call me it behind my back") played by Rebel Wilson, Lilly, a practically mute Asian girl in the tradition of Sister Act's Sister Mary Roberts, a promiscuous ditz, and a lesbian with a gambling addiction.