I'm trying, probably in vain, to get back on schedule with my blogging. The past two weeks have been stressful and painful enough that I need to get back to some sort of routine. Sticking with that theme I am trying to explain that while I named my blog "Mr. Unhappy's Movie Blog" I am not always unhappy. There have been times, like now, when I personify the moniker but for the most part, I am happy. I created the character of Mr. Unhappy for a movie I was writing, in which a spirit of vengeance stalks and kills people with the name Mr. Unhappy whenever the unhappy souls call for him. One night, I was getting ready for bed when I looked at my movie bookcase and saw these little Mr. Unhappy face calling cards I had created and thought "That would be the perfect name for a movie review blog." I didn't look back and began this blog because I wanted to create a blog where the reviewer was just a fan of movies and was not looking to insult the people who create movies but give people a view of movies they may not have seen or thought they wanted to see. That's why I don't review obvious movies on Instant Watch. I review a movie that you don't necessarily want to see but maybe you should. There are a lot of good movies out and all you need is a nudge to see them. So, no dear readers/reader, I am not deathly depressed , I just had a character in my mind and I used the name so that I wouldn't be Peter Griffin's movie blog.
On to this week's addition to a must see movie currently one step away from every Netflix viewer on their Instant Watch collection.
The Virginity Hit
The loss of someone’s virginity is different for the different sexes. For women, at least from what I’ve heard, it is a painful unmemorable event that leads to better times in the future. For men, and thankfully I have a little experience in this arena, it is a moment that lasts forever in your mind as the moment when you became an adult in a relationship. I don’t think I will ever forget the 4 am run to the store for a box of condoms. The car could not go fast enough. For Matt, in the movie “The Virginity Hit”, he is finally reaching the nexus of manhood with the love of his life Nicole and his friends are filming the build up to the glorious event. The film starts with the premise for the film being that the day the first of the 4 friends lost his virginity he was given a bong that he pronounces will only be smoked when another of his group loses his virginity. They then run through the glorious days when the other 2 lose their virginity and the appropriate virginity hits are taken off the bong. Which leaves us with the protagonist Matt.
Matt is a good kid, who seems to have had a tough life with a Mom who died and a drug addicted father so he lives with his best friend. He’s a genuinely nice guy with a girlfriend who loves him and he has the proper respect for sex that his other friends don’t. He treats it as the culmination of a loving relationship. He has Nicole who seems to be perfect and they are the perfect wonder couple you see so rarely in movies today. The problem is that as the day of Matt’s deflowering a story comes out that Nicole went to a frat party and cheated on Matt with one of the fraternity members.
Matt is devastated and he plans his revenge by going through with his plan for the perfect night leading up to the deflowering and once the act is culminated, his friends would come in and Matt could throw Nicole to the curb for cheating on him. The problem lies that Matt is still in love with Nicole and doesn’t want to hurt her so he gives up the plan before it can go too far. He is again the good guy but he still breaks up with Nicole and embarrasses her on video that Matt’s friends promptly post on Youtube. I’d be rather bummed if my friend Phil took amusement out of my misfortunes with women and I can’t see why Matt’s friends all think that making a fool of Matt is funny but they keep doing it.
Matt’s adventure for love and sexual release leads him down many dark alley’s like a girl who responds to the Youtube video offering to take his virginity to Matt’s favorite porn star who is paid to sleep with the kid but pulls out (so to speak) at the last moment. I suppose the movie is telling us the story of a kid who seems as uninterested in losing his virginity while his friends seem bent on making it happen. I can see the rush to lose one’s virginity but it is rare to see a character stand up for his ideals and show himself to be a mature man. This journey is not about the final sex act which was probably quick and unmemorable for the girl but about the act of growing up and realizing that the petty stuff we carry around in our daily lives is not what love is about. This movie is less a sex farce than it is a story of a guy finding his maturity.
While the end is probably pretty predictable and the route often seems implausible you can see the desire of these friends to finish out their high school lives with each other and create a whole new set of memories that can carry them through their adult lives together. Sex, while an integral part of the film, is the b story to the love and commitment that sex entails. I, for one, root for Matt and feel for his character. The documentary style of the film allows you, the viewer, to play voyeur in the very intimate details of Matt’s life and live as a member of the group who only want the best for their friend. At the end of the day you may not remember the details of the sex but you will always remember the story of how you got there.
Mr. Unhappy Sez: It is worth the time and effort to both have sex and watch this movie. It is cringe worthy at times but in the end has a sweet undertone.
Some classic virginity losing quests:
Porky's
This is perhaps the granddaddy of all virgin ending quests when these kids in the fifties attempt to lose their virginity through any means necessary finally attempting to pay a local strip club owner money to sleep with a couple of his strippers but being bamboozled out of their money and embarrassed by the owner until they return and get revenge. This movie is a teenage boys dream of what high school should be, from spying on girls in the high school showers to the girl of your dreams that you wish you could be with and just can't say the right thing to make it happen. Porky's is a young man's journey to adulthood in the raunchiest way possible. Let's face it, teenagers are perverts and not until you grow a bit older do you see that your actions are not good.
American Pie
American Pie is my generation's answer to Porky's and a return of sorts to the R rated sex comedy. Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and the kid from Rookie of The Year make a pact to lose their virginity by high school's end. Some are more successful than others but everyone learns that the real consequences of sex in the 90's and gain a little respect for the act by the end of the movie. Well maybe not Stiffler. The series also introduced me to the term MILF and the perils of attempting to webcam the hot foreign exchange student you want. This is a movie where mostly what can go wrong does. American Pie 2 and American Wedding moved the characters through their college lives but they never recaptured the imagination or enjoyment of the first piece of pie. Yeah I said it.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast times is a movie that we all grew up with that spoke for the teen generation. It still does. This movie is as relevant today for teens as it was when I was a kid learning that the penis is used for more than a pee. The movie shows several scenes in which people are affected by sex in high school and just how tough it is to be a kid growing up and becoming adults. Such weighty issues as abortion, masturbation, and the point of view of the teenage girl who is just as interested in sex...just maybe not ruled by it as a guy is. Fast Times is one of the movies when you are a kid that you can watch when you want to see a movie told from all sides, fairly and without prejudice to men or women. Most movies create the illusion of teens and this one is told as a teen. If you can't see the difference, you're probably too old.
Youth In Revolt
Youth in Revolt is a sub par effort to recapture the best book I've ever read. The story involves Nick Twisp and his adventures to lose his virginity with the goddess of his dreams, Sheeni Saunders. What this kid does to finally have sex with Sheeni is both embarrassing and hilarious. In the book, it is told over the course of six months and each day is a new trial in the world's attempt to keep Nick from his girl. The movie seems too fast paced and while it is great for a guy like me who has lived with Nick, in book form, since he was Nick's age, it was a good trip of nostalgia but as a movie it seems uneven and forced. The jokes don't hit as hard as they could and entire character arcs are thrown away in the interest of time. I recommend the movie but for God's sake please read the book first. It will give a you a context that the film just glosses over.
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