Review: Bucky Larson

After a mini hiatus over Christmas, I am back (with a vengeance).

Bucky Larson.  A much maligned and misunderstood protagonist from the 'venerable' creative loins of Adam Sandler's troupe. With a 2.3/10 rating on IMDB, it is with much chagrin that I begrudgingly admit that I enjoyed it.

Yes, I said it - I enjoyed this film.

It certainly isn't going to win awards for writing, acting, credibility or cinematography, but in the end it works ... at least in my mind. It follows the pursuits of Bucky who discovers his parents were porn stars and embarks on a journey to follow in their footsteps.

There are a number of situations which take on a David Lynch-like diversion into humour; like when Bucky with his two fake teeth gets into a smiling competition with a toothless granny.  You can't help but be fascinated and horrified at the same time. The story is both crass and also sweet, which seems like a strange combination.  Bucky has a child-like belief in his abilities while following a very adult pursuit in the porn industry. I guess those contradictions make things interesting and quite cringe-worthy at times.

I won't ruin any punchlines other than to say the monkey noises will haunt you.

...those monkey noises.

...monkeys. 

Bought but not owned

It seems like every device you purchase nowadays is not actually yours. It's simply an interface to purchase more things through a restrictive scope of functionality. It shouldn't be the case that you are penalised by the item you buy. This almost validates why someone would prefer piracy over an inferior legitimate experience.

I bought a DVD of Zatoichi that almost mirrored this experience. When I inserted this legitimate copy into my machine and pressed play, the first thing I was welcomed with an unskippable message detailing that piracy is a crime.

Give that a moment to sink in ...

I bought a legitimate copy and I am treated like a pirate? Every time I see a message to that effect (especially when paying $20 at the cinemas), I get a strong impulse to penalise the company that subjects paying customers to this - in case you didn't notice, we are not the criminals. The pirates, meanwhile, are not being subjected to unskippable piracy messages as they are able to rip and cut that kind of crud out.

When modern TV's have the capability of technically blocking any signal that is not properly authenticated, music devices block content that wasn't purchased through their store and your game console blocks any movies, games and regions of software they deem invalid, something has to be wrong with the picture. When you purchase a modern-day electronic device, you have to agree to the terms of use, which invariably includes something along the lines of 'you agree to use this device as we see see fit'. I do not like this. Whether I have nefarious intentions or not, it should be my choice. The device should not dictate what I am allowed to do. Should it?