When they're not doing awesome relationship stuff like watching endless loops of 30 Rock episodes on Netflix and figuring out what a vegan and omnivore should make for
dinner, New Times writers Becky Bartkowski and Jason Woodbury go to the movies.
Last night they went to see Footloose. Yup, a remake of the '80s Kevin Bacon dance-as-rebellion movie.
Jason: Yeah. It's a world were the only true act of rebellion is to dance. So I was expecting it to be cheesy. Of course it's cheesy. At first I was sort of bummed out that it didn't acknowledge the cheesiness, but now I sort of like that it played it straight. Do I want to see it again? No.
Becky: Yeah. Me neither. We did make it through the whole thing relatively painlessly though. I didn't realize this going in, but Julianne Hough is a big deal. She's a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars. She also apparently dates Ryan Seacrest. Eek.
Jason: And she wasn't terrible at the acting bit. I know these things aren't supposed to get very deep-- and this didn't -- but some of the scenes with her and Dennis Quaid, who plays her preacher father, weren't awful.
Becky: Quaid is a good actor. I also enjoyed his performance as Lindsay Lohan's dad in the Parent Trap remake.
Jason: Seriously though -- I am so sick of remakes?
Becky: What other remakes have contributed to your sickness?
Jason: All of them except Star Trek. Which I don't count as a remake.
Becky: Because it isn't!
Jason: I just feel like it's so cheesy -- do we have to remake everything? Constantly? Can't we just be respectful and rip movie plots off and call them new things? That's what you're supposed to do -- that's what artists do. I thought the soundtrack was pretty good. I mean -- I liked the Lissie song, at least. And when they used the real Kenny Loggins.
Becky: I enjoyed the Lissie, too. At what point did we hear the real Kenny Loggins? I think there were two covers of "Footloose," but I don't remember hearing his version.
Jason: Oh, I thought they played his at the beginning , but you are right. They should have played his.I just kept thinking about the Jimmy Buffett/"Footloose" episode of Yacht Rock.
Becky: Yeah, they had plenty of nods to the original film, but no Kenny. I kept thinking about the scene in Romy and Michelle where Lisa Kudrow tries to sing "Footloose," but doesn't know the words. (See hilarious clips here and here.)
Jason: Yeah, Footloose is pop culture gold. Revered ground. I haven't seen it in so long. Does the Bacon really anger dance like that?
Becky: The angry dancing was true to the original. He's so mad. He has to dance it out. In a warehouse. Because, c'mon where else are you gonna angry dance?
Jason: That's the only place. That was hilarious to me. I was laughing, really laughing. I kept thinking about Hot Rod. This movie only served to remind me of other, better things, ultimately.
Becky: I wish the Baconator had made a cameo.
