Monday, July 9, 2012

Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D


Okay, this is some funny shit. On Friday, my good friend Evan sent me a text message saying he was planning on catching a few flicks this weekend. As a joke, he threw Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D out there, and, as a joke, I told him that if he wrote a review of it, I’d post it on my blog.

Well, given the lack of tone and context in text messages, at some point, one of us stopped taking the other one seriously, which not only resulted in this poor bastard sitting through the Katy Perry movie last night, but actually writing me a review of it this morning.

After we figured out that something had been seriously lost in translation, I was mortified. I wouldn’t wish a movie like this on my worst enemy, and to make them write 700+ words on it is utter torture. So, to try and save face, here is Evan’s review of Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D in all its glory. Thank god for Evan, he as willing to go where very few of us are. 


Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D, review by Evan Djukic
I've never listened to Katy Perry’s music, so I honestly had no idea what to expect when I pulled open the theater door to her new 3D movie. I can, however, say that I genuinely felt embarrassed when it came time to hand my ticket to the usher. And once I settled into my seat in the nearly empty auditorium, I was ready for anything.

Katy Perry begins with several confessions from fans about how Katy's music has changed their lives. None of which are convincing because they're being said by 10 year olds. Eventually, we transition into the formulaic outline for every film like this: interviews with friends and family members, the subject’s basic life story, the struggle to find success, with concert footage mixed in throughout.

There were, in all honesty, moments that genuinely interested me. For example, I was unaware that Perry grew up in a very strict Pentecostal home where her parents were traveling preachers. But while interesting, this certainly wasn't enough to make the film worthy.

Not being familiar with Perry's singing career, I believe the live concert footage is what upset me the most. It's just way too much. You've got outlandish costumes, enormous sets, dozens of background dancers, etc. It's all so choreographed and forced. As the friend seated next to me said, “It's like Dr. Seuss on Acid.” 

I always take issue with musical acts that focus less on music and more about putting on a show. Once you take away the costumes and sets, you've got the same generic, unoriginal pop that already floods the market. As one Perry fan remarks in the film,  “I love that her lyrics come from life experiences.” I'm not sure I can name a musician whose lyrics don't come from life experiences.

The film attempts to inject drama by following Perry as she goes through her ups and downs with her then-husband Russell Brand, who briefly appears in a few scenes and says merely a word or two. There's never any attempt to establish an emotional connection to their relationship, and eventually, as we all know, they divorce and we're subjected to Perry's depression.

There is a scene very late in the film that contains a genuine moment of authenticity that makes the rest of the film feel staged and safe.  After Perry’s relationship has hit rock bottom, she sits weeping backstage before a show. She debates canceling the show, but is soon helped up by her crew, and as she makes her way to the stage, she perks up, smiles and heads out like nothing’s wrong. Amongst the overdone, glittery mess of the rest of the film, there was this pleasing cinematic moment.
Katy Perry spends a great deal of time discussing the singer’s initial struggle for success, which was not the least bit captivating. Virtually every musician has struggled early on in his or her career - this isn't anything to write home about, we've seen it all before.

It may sound like I'm being too harsh or brash on this film, but I honestly don't see the point in making it, and the box office seems to agree with me. I believe Perry is a genuinely kind and sweet person, as evidenced by the interaction with her fans and crew, but I simply don't see any reason for this to be released in theaters. Sadly, continuing the 3D concert/biography film series that Justin Bieber kicked off last summer, I fully expect a Lady Gaga picture within the next year. D+

28 comments:

  1. Hey Evan,

    This is a cool review.

    Thanks,

    DLee

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  2. That was a nice review. The only reason I would see this if Katy goes topless but alas, that doesn't happen. She has a few songs I like but most of it is just bleh...

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    1. Thanks, still new to it, but it was a worthy challenge.

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    2. Yes, that would be a damn fine reason to see this movie haha

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  3. It's just another way for (a) execs to make some more $, (b) her fan base to connect with her even more (it's 3D after all, it's like she's basically there--right?) and (c) execs to make some more $. We obviously aren't the target audience. Kudos for sitting through it though!

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    1. I'm not sure it had a target audience, I mean, 10 mil for opening weekend is pretty weak. Either way, much kudos indeed!

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    2. The opening weekend has been pretty abysmal. There were maybe 6 people in the huge theatre with me, mostly 13ish year old girls with their moms.

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  4. Good review! I enjoy some of her songs when I'm in the club and heavily intoxicated but I don't really care about her life enough to see the movie.

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    1. Yeah same here. I've rage danced to her tunes a handful of times, but you couldn't pay me to sit through this.

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  5. i totally understand. it looks like garbage.

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  6. Please no, not a Lady Gaga biopic :/
    Evan, you are braver than me for sitting through this. My goodness. Good review!

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    1. Thanks, appreciate the support.

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    2. You know, I did see Lady Gaga on Anderson Cooper, and it was a pretty solid interview. I'm not saying a cheesy ass concert movie is what she needs, but she was, I dunno... cool.

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    3. perry seems like a genuinely nice and cool person too, but it doesn't mean it warrants a film.
      i like how joanna newsom described her:
      "I may have contradicted myself. My problem isn't actually with Lady Gaga. But there's not much in her music to distinguish it from other glossy, formulaic pop. She just happens to wear slightly weirder outfits than Britney Spears. But they're not that weird-- they're mostly just skimpy. She's fully marketing her body/sexuality; she's just doing it while wearing, like, a 'fierce' telephone hair-hat. Her sexuality has no scuzziness, no frank raunchiness, in the way that, say, Peaches, or even Grace Jones, have-- she's Arty Spice! And, meanwhile, she seems to take herself so oddly seriously, the way she talks about her music in the third person, like she's Brecht or something. She just makes me miss Cyndi Lauper. [...] I shouldn't have called Madonna a dumb-ass. Her music and she have just gotten so boring to me, this last decade. I think maybe she doesn't hold her money very gracefully, the way some people can't hold their drink. But one thing she is surely not is dumb."

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  7. Her song Firework is decent, but that's the only Perry song I've listened to that I kinda liked, i very much prefer Leonard Cohen.

    Sati is correct, i've enjoyed them while drink, but I'll enjoy anything while drunk.

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  8. Dr. Suess on acid XD Yes.

    Dear Lord, after I was forced to see Justin Bieber's Never Say Never I was done with these kind of films. They follow the same formula (with Biebs it was some kind of throat issue that might've prevented him performing at Madison Square Garden) and I have lost complete interest.

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    1. Wasn't that "story arc" with the Biebs just great? He almost cries but, alas, takes to Twitter! Fans unite!

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  9. the same company produced the bieber flick and, having seen both, i can tell you they're both exactly the same format.

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  10. thanks for the review. now, i have insights of what this movie is about

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  11. I thought the movie was VH1 storytellers meets 3D concert footage. While I think her music is okay, I didn't need to see a movie about her. Thanks for reviewing it so I don't have too.

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    1. Hahah, we really can't thank Evan enough, can we?

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    2. I'm here whenever you need me.

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  12. I really didn't hate this movie all that much. I liked Perry's personality, liked to see what she was going through, and I thought some of the music stuff was entertaining. However, if you don't like these types of movies, chances are, this won't change your mind. Good review Alex.

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  13. why in god's earth would you pay money and sit through a film about someone that you *supposedly* don't like or know anything about? who does that? i think someone's masculine pride is getting in the way of him admitting that he likes katy perry and looking "uncool"! anyways, i agree that alot of the film does look "safe" compared to her mini-breakdown at the end (which was really sad btw) but i just found out that katy herself was a co-producer and could pick and choose what she wanted in the film so that's why. i still like it though. one more thing-you said you take issue with artists who are more about putting on a show than music. people go to concerts to be entertained! period. there's a reason why people like madonna and britney spears break records for their tours-because they have dancers, crazy costumes and sets ect. being a good performer and being able to put on an awesome show is part of being an artist. NOONE wants to go to a show where the artist just stands there and sings. it's boring and it won't sell. if your not gonna put on a decent show, what's the point? anyways, that's my 2 cents.

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    1. I didn't write this post, but I am the editor and moderator of this blog. So, at the risk of speaking for the author, I will say that:

      As a film critic, it's my job to pay money to sit through films about people I don't like and know anything about. Who does that? I do that.

      "People go to concerts to be entrained"... they do? I go to concerts to hear good music, not for costumes and stage dancers and lip-synched vocals.

      "NOONE wants to go to a show where the artist just stands there and sings. it's boring and it won't sell." Adele just stands there and sings. She sells.

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