So we checked out the new Zac Efron movie last night.
Settle down, settle down. The only real heat came before the movie even started rolling.
We were out at Silver City and there was a scuffle between 4 men and 2 women (and 6 heavy french accents) in our row. The theatre had had to be emptied because security hadn’t had a chance to do proper bag checks and wanding but of course people dragged their heels, hesitant to leave their precious seats. When we eventually got back in, the clever draping they’d done with those flimsy free magazines wasn’t quite enough to make clear their “reservations” and – scandalous! – a couple of women were sitting right where the men had wanted to be sitting! And even though there were plenty of other spots the men could have moved to, or the women for that matter, both groups were equal parts obstinate and hard-headed, and a good old-fashioned stand-off ensued. Security was called but even they couldn’t convince either group to budge, at which time I said pointedly to Sean “Want to move? Let’s move.” Yes, it was a means to an end, but I’d also decided that no matter who won, they were losers, and I didn’t really want to spend the next two hours sitting beside them. So Sean and I moved down toward the front while the rest of the theatre applauded and security thanked us profusely.
We Are Your Friends is about a group of young, 20-something friends who are still trying to 
figure out who they are and what they want to be when they group up (and yet are still more mature than the feuding 40-somethings in our theatre). Zac Efron plays an aspiring DJ who believes that all he needs to be successful is “a laptop, some talent, and 1 track”. So he’s always working on that one track, and veteran\famous DJ James Reed (Wes Bentley) sort of takes him under his wing and shows him a slightly more authentic approach to creating music from computers.
This movie is not very interesting or realistic but it did succeed at making me feel awfully old (and I think I’m maybe 5 year older than Zac). But the truth is, “kids today” are learning to DJ with their iphones and their macbooks. I used to date a DJ, back when a DJ booth was tricked out with gear, decks and controllers and motherfucking turntables. Sounds were mixed from vinyl, not Apple. Some things appear to have stayed the same: the obsessive recording, the 
ubiquitous headphones, and the lifestyle of drinks and drugs and all-night parties. But the culture is different. Efron and friends believe they can be rich and famous doing these gigs. DJs used to live in obscurity. They got paid for their work, but they were background players unless they managed to hook up with a Fresh Prince. Today they have whole festivals devoted to EDM; 20 000 people watching 1 guy slightly adjusting levers on a box hooked up to his laptop. Calvin Harris was 2014’s highest-paid DJ, raking in $66 million dollars, but even making half that like Avicii and Steve Aoki is pretty decent scratch for kids who started with your basic bass sample and have evolved into beat scientists.
The movie manages to be pretty clichéd about a subject matter we’ve rarely seen on-screen (and no, Anna Kendrick’s turn as an “alternative” masher-upper of pop songs in Pitch Perfect doesn’t count); it’s vapid, but stylish as hell (so trendy it’ll probably look dated 10 minutes from now). It strikes me as Entourage-Lite: the millennial take on ambition and aimlessness. Take that for what you will.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
You summed up my feelings about EDM “concerts” very well. I’d rather watch Neil Peart spin his drum sticks for hours on end, than watch a DJ push a button and twiddle a fader.
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Sounds alright, I’d watch it for light entertainment. Zac Efron is so nice to look at I’d be happy to watch him in ‘most’ things.
Now it was your story at the beginning I REALLY liked!! You definitely made the right decision to move, I bet they would have talked through the movie. I HATE cinema noises. Hate, hate, hate them.
Kinda cool you got an applause too!
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I hate disturbances in the theater as well. I’ve reported numerous people on their cellphones because they are so distracting.
I also hate that one random guy who thinks every little thing is funny – even when the movie is not a comedy and he just laughs through the whole thing.
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I know, and there’s always THAT guy!
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I don’t think the movie would appeal to my demographics and it sounds like it was pretty cliche, but I loved hearing your theater antics. You were the smart ones who decided to move away from the commotion.
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Yes, exactly, we were pretty motivated to not wind up sitting beside them for any longer than necessary!
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I quite like Max Joseph, the director, and was really excited about his first major movie. Your review kind of lowered my enthusiasm, but maybe that’s for the better. Having too high expectations isn’t exactly the best thing anyway 🙂
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That’s right. It’s not super strong but it does try some different things and it’s not a bad first effort.
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I find this rather funny about the title of the film you saw and what had happened in the theatre. It’s pretty sad when people become that brainless. Talk about old….I remember hearing the National Anthem in the theatre and we all had to stand before the film started.
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That’s kind of cool! I wonder when they decided to stop that?
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I hated absolutely the movie, “Neighbors.” I fid not like the characters who played very bad parents. I did not mind the “frat boys” since they were not endangering a baby. The scene which is low class is the woman played by Rose Byrne, gets on all fours to get her “bad milk out,” like she doesn’t understand there are easier and more mature ways to ungorge her breasts of milk tainted by both pot and alcohol. She get husband pled by Seth Rogen to “help.” There is a sex scene the frat boys can see in between the curtains. They could have concentrated on age differences, along with loud music and partying and kept it funny.
Anyway, since I endured the other film I won’t try this one. By the way, my 29 year old wanted to leave “Neighbors” before I did but I had seen friends in the theater and for some reason, felt compelled to stay. As if leaving would make them feel stupid by staying. Silly me. Thanks for sharing this movie review.
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I always feel compelled to stay too, but we really should just get up and go when we’re not enjoying something! Life is too short!
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Back when I was living in Japan, we had seat assignments for movies. It was really odd at first, but I did eventually get used to it – an added bonus would have been to avoid seat issues like this (though that never struck my mind while I was there).
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Yeah, we get assigned seats if we got to the VIP theatre, or the rumble seats, so I’m not sure why it’s otherwise a free for all where adults can’t behave like adults.
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Your theater ‘pre-show’ experience sounds like a more memorable time than the movie itself.
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Definitely!
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Absolutely nothing about this movie appeals to me. lol. I hate the title, I’m not a fan of EDM or Zac Efron and the story doesn’t sound interesting either.
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Good call on all fronts, friend.
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