Critics Be Damned, I Like It Okay - 2009 Edition

Maybe it's because it's just so damn cold in January that it freezes my brain but this is becoming an annual thing. Last year it was 27 Dresses, OneRepublic's "Stop and Stare", and Carpoolers.

This year, I can't help liking Karl Wolf's "Africa", Gran Torino and Gary Unmarried.
I know. So wrong.

Seriously, I LOVE this new single from Karl Wolf - "Africa":



First of all, I'm not even a big fan of Toto's original, and while I'm not against remakes (and sometimes usually like the updated cover), there's still something inherently wrong and lazy about it, yet I love everything about Karl Wolf's new version. The beats, his high notes, even the gratuitous booby shaking video which is hilariously low class and/or satirical (is it?).

And I just realized Karl Wolf is from Quebec (he's Lebanese Canadian) and has worked with Mitsou. MITSOU! Whoa Mon Cowboy! What happened to her!?

Meanwhile, I was watching Gran Torino a few weeks ago just before it went into wide release (and became the number 1 film the following weekend, which sort of shocked me), and I knew while watching that it was NOT a good movie and yet, I totally enjoyed it. It was like a feelgood politically incorrect film. Clint grunted cartoonishly through his role and then yelled at a lot of hoodlums, befriends Asians, and conveniently becomes the hero with some convenient (and obvious) plot device.

The movie is really a C- but with self-assured direction from good'ol Clint, I loved every cliched riden moment of the film (even when my head was telling me not to). It did NOT deserve the Oscar nominations everyone thought it would get so I'm glad it got snubbed, but doesn't mean I hated it.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie so much, I'm giving it a B+. The movie critic in me says I shouldn't. The sentimentalist in me says I should.

Meanwhile, the TV critic in me says I should be making fun of Gary Unmarried the same way I make fun of Two and a Half Men and According to Jim. On the other hand, I've been watching a few episodes of Standing Still while I'm at the gym (usually when there's no Friends, Oprah or good music videos to watch), and finding that while it's not a GOOD show, I'm actually enjoying the kids who I found amusing (and the main daughter has now found her way onto The Secret Life of the American Teenager as a hilariously gossipy friend).

Now I'm totally finding myself enjoying Gary Unmarried again for Ryan Malgarini's performance as Gary's son Tom, as well as Kathryn Newton as daughter who upstage the adults (though Jay Mohr, Jaime King, Paula Marshall and Ed Begley Jr. are at least far better than Mark Addy and Jami Gertz).

I know I know... must be the brain freeze.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com