THEBASEMENT

 Ladies and Gentleman: THIS is American comedy!

Various teen comedies try to pummel adolescent romance into the ground, using humiliation as a comedic selling point, or are set in previous decades in order to boost art direction and nostalgia. They attempt to take us back to a time we can relate to and include events that make us truly empathize with the characters on the screen. Adventureland, the latest film from director, Greg Mottola (Superbad), misses that mark.

The great Stan Lee has always been known for calling his loyal comic book readers, “true believers.” The term seems to be more and more apropos over the years. Comic book loyalists, geeks, freaks, fanboys, and further nomenclatures believe and escape so full-heartedly in their graphic art medium that it seems as though they will go to the ends of the Earth to bend and blend reality with their fantasies. One of the best exhibitions of this dream-come-true scenario is the great COMIC-CON – the right of passage for the true believer.

“My name is Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you!” These are the powerful words of California’s first openly gay polotician. The story of Mr. Milk is a sad, yet powerful tale of overcoming adversity and persecution for speaking out for what you belive in. Using a flashback from a recording Harvey made about his life, this movie takes us through the life of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn). Starting at his 40th birthday he decides to leave New York and move to San Francisco. He opens a camera shop with his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) and it soon becomes a meeting place for the growing gay community in San Francisco. He soon became a Gay Rights activist, and soon city politician. He ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors three times. The first two times didn’t end up in his favor. Loosing both elections was hard, but he kept on going and pursued his seat on the board. After a third attempt at the board Harvey finally got his seat. Making him the first openly gay man to be elected to a public office in the US. After a year of fighing for gay rights in office, Harvey was assasinated by a former city supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin). His legacy would live on for years to come.

Revolutionary Road is a story about a couple during the 1950′s living in the suburbs of Connecticut. Trying to come to terms with their lives, by trying to escape to a more exciting lifestyle. The story focuses on Frank (Leo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler and their, what seems like perfect life. April works as a house wife, and her husband Frank commutes to NYC for his boring office job, working in a cubicle every day of his life. April aspires to become an actress, but Frank is always there for a reality check explaining that she will not go anywhere with a career like that.

The first thing you see when the film starts is a question, How did Jamal Malik win 20 million rupees? A. He cheated, B. He’s a genius, C. He cheated, D. It is written. This one question is what the story of Slumdog Millionaire is all about. Adapted from the novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup, this is the story of Jamal Malik, played by Dev Patel, a kid from the slums of Mumbai, India. He becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and is rapidly approaching the top prize of 20 million rupees. As he approaches the level of 20 million rupees, just before the final question, he is arrested on the suspicion of cheating. Doctors, lawyers, and professors have all been on the show and not surpassed 60 thousand rupees. No one knew how a slumdog could know the answers to every question without cheating. While being interrogated he must explain how he knew the answer to each question by explaining the life events that gave him the knowledge.

After a year of legal bickering and the lawyer equivalent of wet willies, the highly anticipated film finally found its way out of court, and will find its way, as scheduled, on the silver screen on March 6th. Michael Cieply of the New York Times reports that Fox’s screen blocking days are over, and will [...]