Larry Crowne Reviews Thread

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:12 am

OK all you amateur Siskel and Eberts out there, it's Larry Crowne time. Add your reviews and share your thoughts below. Out of consideration for the people who haven't seen the movie, please avoid any spoilers.

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I saw the movie premiere tonight and I've gotta say, I really liked it. Scooters or no, it was a really fun, well written, well acted, feel good movie. A good date movie for sure. Most likely due to be in the romantic comedy rotation for quite a while. (To avoid any spoilers I will leave it at that for now.)

As for the scooters, IMO, Genuine stole the show. I think there were as many or more Genuine scooters in there than any other one brand. Lots of Stellas, an Italia, a nice black Buddy 125, and more that I can't recall. There were of course a bunch of really nice Vespas too (both new and vintage). But only one scooter company was mentioned in the credits... Genuine.

Nice to see a couple LA Scooter Group members made it through the cutting room and were recognizable as extras in the movie! Represent!

zilla86 · Post by **zilla86** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:47 am

I really enjoyed this movie

I thought it was funny and of course the scooters were just to cool.It moved along well and I thought they cast all of the right people for the parts.

I took my Daughter with me on the Blackjack and this was her first ride ever with Dad and she had a absolute blast!!!

I met another MB member at the event and also Tom Hanks who was so cool and took a picture with my Daughter

I was on the epic ride from Route66 Modern Classics in Marina Del Rey
to the screening in Hollywood at the Grauman's Chinese theater.

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:55 am

Hey that St. Tropez with the silver helmet hanging off it is mine! Sorry I didn't get to say hi Zilla. Another case of not knowing who is standing right in front of you! I remember seeing you and your daughter but didn't know it was you. Hope to see you on another ride and say hi then.

zilla86 · Post by **zilla86** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:12 am

^^^ haha what a trip

We needed name badges with our screen names

heck you were right in front of us
I met Desmolicious (sp) and lot's of others who were probably MB members too

I'll see ya on a upcomming ride for sure

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:22 am

zilla86 wrote:^^^ haha what a trip We needed name badges with our screen names

heck you were right in front of us
I met Desmolicious (sp) and lot's of others who were probably MB members too

I'll see ya on a upcomming ride for sure

Ya know, that's not a bad idea! A MB version of "HELLO! MY NAME IS _____". Either that or cool Gundam Wing-like logos for each rider's helmet and cowls

Yeah... I'm a nerd.

Raiderfn31 · Post by **Raiderfn31** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:25 am

Skootz Kabootz wrote:Hey that St. Tropez with the silver helmet hanging off it is mine! Sorry I didn't get to say hi Zilla. Another case of not knowing who is standing right in front of you! I remember seeing you and your daughter but didn't know it was you. Hope to see you on another ride and say hi then.

I like the chrome on that Skootz!

jprestonian · Post by **jprestonian** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:31 pm

So where's Eric's vertical video that Mr. Bedell already has up at 2sb?
.

desmolicious · Post by **desmolicious** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:44 pm

The best part was the police escorted ride to the event. They blocked every intersection and I've never run so many red lights in my life!

Really nice meeting Zilla with his daughter and Eric. Hanks was cool too...

Thumbs up to Rte 66 in Marina Del Rey for organizing this.

texepictetus · Post by **texepictetus** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:35 pm

Off to the DC screening tonight!

peabody99 · Post by **peabody99** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:25 pm

while this entire clip is rather mind numbing, there is a brief glimpse toward the beginning of the scooters coming in. Anyone see themselves?
http://www.accesshollywood.com/access-e ... source=omg

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:37 pm

You can see me, desmolicious, Skootz, Alex from Motorsports, Mike from NoHo, Glenn from Rt. 66, Philip McCaleb and Jim Kolbe from Genuine, Arlene from GoGo Gear, Desiree from GoGo Gear riding cupcake on my Stella and many others in this vid…

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:31 am

ericalm wrote:Hanks is irresistibly likable and knows how to write/direct/act to his own strengths. There are a couple of scenes where he's driving, not saying anything, and I could completely relate to the anxiety behind his eyes, that "Crap, what happened to my life?" look. That's acting!

Or in my case: projecting.

peabody99 · Post by **peabody99** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:29 am

we are doing a little get together in San Diego Saturday...no celebs but thats ok

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:05 am

Just got back from a free preview. I liked it. I mean Hanks, Roberts Cedric and scooters....how could I not!

BootScootin'FireFighter · Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:37 am

texepictetus wrote:Off to the DC screening tonight!

unfortunately, Tex and I and our girls weren't able to get in, sold out show. I'll have to wait a little bit to see it.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:39 am

There are probably a dozen scooter groups I've heard of seeing preview screenings of the movie tonight or later this week. Kind of interesting that they're getting all the groups to go—and are interested in the community at all.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:55 am

peabody99 wrote:while this entire clip is rather mind numbing, there is a brief glimpse toward the beginning of the scooters coming in. Anyone see themselves?
http://www.accesshollywood.com/access-e ... source=omg

I saw this on TV. You can see Skootz's butt for a half second!

Alex from Motorsport is VERY visible in the clip from Extra. I'll try to get a screencap of it off my TV (the video online is edited differently).

lilguy · Post by **lilguy** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:21 am

I thought it was a good movie, very enjoyable. We cheered loudly during the part that Eric mentioned. I'll post pics from the event here in Boston once I get them. We all got Larry Crowne t-shirts before the ride. Once we arrived to the theater it was a big photo-op and then we were rushed into the theater to take our reserved seats (past the line of waiting fans, of course). There weren't any celebrities, but we were treated quite nicely. I had fun

MYSCTR · Post by **MYSCTR** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:43 am

We rode down to Dallas Vespa to join the throng of scooterists just about to head over to the theater. In all we heard a count of 87 scooters that made it to the Angelica theater in time to "cut in line" and pick seats. Loved the film, will second on a great date night movie. As we were leaving my wife even said this was one she would buy. It was great to see the mixture of scooters used in the movie as not to be he main focus yet a part of the movie. When the movie ended we went next door to the pub and they had bread pudding for everyone and bags of goodies several peeps won (including my better half) and it came with several Larry Crowne items including the t-shirt and movie sound track!

Jackie F · Post by **Jackie F** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:55 am

I saw the movie. A couple different rides were scheduled, but fell short. I don't think they reserved any seats for us if we did ride. The cinema is on the 4th for a premier shopping mall, so no ooohs or ahs if we scooted there.

It was an enjoyable film. It was funny and I liked it. They crammed alot in 99 minutes.

Recognized a blonde Rita Wilson and it was killing me that I couldn't think of Pam Grier's name. All I could think of was Jackie Brown.

I will admit. I leaned a tiny bit when the they went around a corner during the group ride. Plus, the scene shown in the preview where he crashes into the table, I felt it.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:56 am

What is the scoot Talia rides?

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:04 am

Syd wrote:What is the scoot Talia rides?

Italjet Velocifero.

It's an interesting scoot with an interesting history among moderns. It came out a year or two before Vespa returned to the US with the ET, sparking off a pre-Vespa scooter resurgence. Lots of celebrities bought 'em. They were in one of the first couple issues of Scoot!

The legshield and lower half of the body are actually (I think) off a Bajaj Vespa clone.

I've only seen a couple in person—they were hard to get in TX and disappeared not long after the new Vespa debuted. I have a strong personal connection with them because their debut helped re-stoke my dormant scooter lust. Only took me 10 more years to get one!

Parts are VERY hard to get for these in the US now. They had to buy two for the movie to keep one running.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:24 am

Most of the seats in the best area of your modern area-seating-styled movie theater (center, above the handrail), were cordoned off, someone said, for the media. There's not that much media in the State of Arizona.

Movie was good, much better, in fact, than I feared it might be. There's no way you could possibly post a spoiler - all the major plot points are in the ads and trailers, but making your way through those points was still enjoyable. Did anyone else stick around for the sequel teaser after the credits? Larry gets a Genuine cruiser.*

*Just kidding

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:20 am

I *nearly* bought an Italjet Velocifero!!! I was still in college and when a shop sold me a '92 Nighthawk 250 that they some how could not get running again (when a cycle shop can't figure out why a 250 won't charge for 2 weeks, that's a sign to run away). After lots of arguing and my father even getting involved (it was my first dealer purchase out of high school), I was able to negotiate a straight across trade for a different bike.

They had A couple of Italjets used, a Maluguti Yesterday (yet another unique scooter from the 90's) complete with factory saddlebags and faux continental tire kit, a Honda Rebel and some of the first China Scooters. I ended up buying an Italjet Torpedo 125 because it was the closest to wheelsize and power to the Nighthawk without being a Harley wannabe. It was a fantastic scooter that you could never get parts for. Used a LEADER 125 Piaggio engine, 15 or 16 inch wheels (can't remember) and the most awkward upright seating you could imagine, but it was so light you could touch 70mph on the spedo. It was one of the first scooters I remember noticing that didn't have 10" wheels and looked like a Honda Cub but a bit more classy

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/industrial ... 883439369/" title="Italjet Torpedo front by industrial_strength_bard, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5261/588 ... 48f7_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Italjet Torpedo front"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/industrial ... 883439359/" title="Italjet Torpedo side by industrial_strength_bard, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/588 ... b05d_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Italjet Torpedo side"></a>

The Velocifero was a close second, but at 49cc's it was too slow. I'm sad but at the same time relieved looking back that I didn't buy it. I busted a rim on the Italjet and was without wheels for a MONTH while they waited for a rim to come from South Africa, and when it did get to the shop... it was BENT right out of the box! Not much you could do on those bikes since by 2004 Italjet was done for in the US. I was lucky that the shop could even find a part for it.

I ended up trading the Torpedo in on an '05 Stella with less than 500 miles on it, and that sold me on shifter scooters until I got diagnosed and my health turned South. Italjet made some really sweet designs

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:02 pm

ericalm wrote:You can see me, desmolicious, Skootz, Alex from Motorsports, Mike from NoHo, Glenn from Rt. 66, Philip McCaleb and Jim Kolbe from Genuine, Arlene from GoGo Gear, Desiree from GoGo Gear riding cupcake on my Stella and many others in this vid…

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R-E9zoCGHtc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

is that YOU on the red Stella / Vespa deal?

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:17 pm

took a quick look at the small number of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. mostly negative reviews, and even some positive ones are lukewarm, at best

hopefully the public finds more favor with it then critics so far

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:41 pm

JHScoot wrote:took a quick look at the small number of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. mostly negative reviews, and even some positive ones are lukewarm, at best

hopefully the public finds more favor with it then critics so far

Well everyone i know who's seen it has really liked it. What's your review?

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:49 pm

^ i haven't seen it. looking forward to it, though.

us civilians among the scootering elite have to wait until it officially opens, apparently

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:51 pm

JHScoot wrote:took a quick look at the small number of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. mostly negative reviews, and even some positive ones are lukewarm, at best

hopefully the public finds more favor with it then critics so far

Sadly, because I know a bunch of critics, reviews have little bearing on public popularity and box office these days. Of the current top 10, only 4 have tomatoes.

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:14 pm

pfft. where is Siskel and Ebert when we need them....

Raiderfn31 · Post by **Raiderfn31** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:16 pm

JHScoot wrote:pfft. where is Siskel and Ebert when we need them....

The answer to that question is sad.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:22 pm

JHScoot wrote:is that YOU on the red Stella / Vespa deal?

Yup. Me on the Stella.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:24 pm

Raiderfn31 wrote:
JHScoot wrote:pfft. where is Siskel and Ebert when we need them....
The answer to that question is sad.

I am going to hell for snickering at this.

And a bunch of other stuff.

AtlBuddy · Post by **AtlBuddy** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:42 pm

The Atlanta scooter club went to an early showing last night and where able to park our bikeon a street they closed down for us. They were nice enough to reserve our seating for us so that we could all sit together. I thought the movie was pretty good. Sort ofxa typical light-hearted summer flick. The scooters probably made us a little biased though.

Rippinyarn · Post by **Rippinyarn** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:42 pm

I went to the preview last night in Royal Oak, MI. The event was at our new Emagine complex and mine was the only scooter there, other than the Stella 4t that Blackbeard Powersports brought in for the occasion. I got to give the little introduction to the crowd!

I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I thought I would and somehow made it through the cringeworthy "playing up of the scooter dork syndrome" parts. Yes, it will make a great scooter sweetie date movie and even better if you and your significant other can ride to it. I know that it's a future date night for my wife and me

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:22 pm

Larry Crowne somehow becomes cooler by becoming a dork. He was way beyond dork pre-scooter. And hey, that dork bags the hot teacher. Dorks win!

At the very least, the producers had the wisdom not go with, "He's over 50! He belongs on a Burgman!" The Riva was perfect casting.

For me, there was one cringe-worthy moment when he starts riding with the l'il gang… I think it was meant as more of a joke than it came across.

I also think a lot of riding got cut from the movie. I'd heard there was a rally scene. Riders who were not in the core gang were asked to be there for several days of shooting that didn't make the final edit. There were some bonding with the scooter kids scenes that didn't make it as well. Guess we'll all have to BUY the DVD, since studios have started yanking the extras from rental versions (grrrr!).

GrittyTacoman · Post by **GrittyTacoman** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:36 pm

Excited to see this movie. I'm a rottentomatoes addict too but whatever the rating I'm going to go to this movie predisposed to like it.

Fun to see MB'ers in the video of the premiere. So Julia Roberts didn't arrive in the sidecar of a Stella, huh?

Seeing how the crowd acts towards Tom and Julia makes me want to rethink my pursuit of fame and fortune. And I'm sure that feeding frenzy was tame compared to the crowds around a Beyonce or a Carrot Top. That clamoring would get really old!

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:48 pm

GrittyTacoman wrote:Seeing how the crowd acts towards Tom and Julia makes me want to rethink my pursuit of fame and fortune. And I'm sure that feeding frenzy was tame compared to the crowds around a Beyonce or a Carrot Top. That clamoring would get really old!

You should have seen the Trekkers there to see George Takei! They put the Tom and Julia fans to shame.

A lot of people—media included—thought Julia would be riding with Tom. She opted not to, which has stoked rumors that she's pregnant. Same goes for her outfit: Gucci pantsuit instead of dress.

desmolicious · Post by **desmolicious** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:17 pm

ericalm wrote:Larry Crowne somehow becomes cooler by becoming a dork. He was way beyond dork pre-scooter.

Yup, he was waaay dorkier before he became a scooterist.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:30 pm

illnoise doesn't often crosspost 2StrokeBuzz links here, so I'll do it for him. He's got a good perspective on "Larry Crowne" here:
http://2strokebuzz.com/2011/06/29/larry ... scooterist

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:31 pm

Haven't seen it yet. Prolly this weekend. But, just wanted to mention how cool it was that you guys got to ride along and got yourselves into the videos! Way to go!

Post by **polianarchy** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:02 pm

Philly had a sneak preview last night, and about 25 of us rode from Philadelphia Scooters to the Ritz Five movie theatre.

It was nice to be able to do a short little group ride and then get treated like celebrities with priority parking, seating, and free shirts & passes.

CBS3 interviewed Sean, the shop's manager, but I don't think it made the news.

I didn't score a teeshirt (which is fine, because I have WAYYY too many as it is), but I won the pre-screening trivia contest & snagged the soundtrack CD as well as a little notepad with the "Larry Crowne" logo.

You can see the rest of my cellphone snapshots here.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:13 pm

You have houndstooth nails?!? The modern world rules.

Should I mention that the scooter in their l'il logo is not the one in the movie? Or that it's flipped horizontally? Probably not. Still cool!

moriahskies · Post by **moriahskies** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:53 pm

I attended the screening in Dallas last night at the angelika. We apparently had 85 scooterists! (A universal rep gave me that number.) And some scooterists had to be turned away because they showed up too late, and the movie police wanted to let some of the general moviegoers waiting in line in to see the film.

I really enjoyed the film. It's just clever, easy-going humor. I get so tired of all the bathroom humor that passes for comedy these days. Wilmer Valderama was the highlight of the film for me. He was so funny.

All the scooters were parked in one big group on the sidewalk in front of the theater. Sorry, I don't have any pix to post. My riding pal is a photographer, so if she sends me one, I'll upload it.

BootScootin'FireFighter · Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:03 am

Tom Hanks is special guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight.

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:03 am

ericalm wrote:
JHScoot wrote:is that YOU on the red Stella / Vespa deal?
Yup. Me on the Stella.

With no helmet?

Jackie F · Post by **Jackie F** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 4:14 am

Syd wrote:Most of the seats in the best area of your modern area-seating-styled movie theater (center, above the handrail), were cordoned off, someone said, for the media. There's not that much media in the State of Arizona.

Same thing here.

Raiderfn31 wrote:
JHScoot wrote:pfft. where is Siskel and Ebert when we need them....
The answer to that question is sad.

Ebert still gives revies at his web site. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage). He updates it on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

DirtyRAT · Post by **DirtyRAT** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 4:38 am

peabody99 wrote:we are doing a little get together in San Diego Saturday...no celebs but thats ok

45+ scooters isn't 'little'.

I predict a mob of scooters. Here's hoping someone ride sweeps the post movie ride!

Post by **ericalm** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:22 am

pugbuddy wrote:
ericalm wrote:
JHScoot wrote:is that YOU on the red Stella / Vespa deal?
Yup. Me on the Stella.
With no helmet?

Indeed. (I knew someone would mention that!) My longest sans-helmet ride ever—about a block.

Desiree wanted to ride in with us so we could all stick together but she didn't have her helmet. We were basically told "parade rules" for the ride. I wasn't going to wear one if my pillion wasn't. (That sort of made sense at the time.)

I figured a 20mph ride in a crowd of 50 scooters on streets closed to traffic would be an acceptable risk!

Jackie F · Post by **Jackie F** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:28 pm

Ebert gave it 2 out of 4 stars. This is what he had to say about the scooter subplot:

Larry is assisted in his lifestyle transition by the fetching Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who supervises a makeover; he ditches the regular-guy duds for basic black and gets a cool haircut. He also becomes a member of her motor scooter club, which is like a motorcycle gang of environmentalists. How many scooter clubs are there in Los Angeles? Don't tell me. I don't want to know.

Obviously unaware of 2 stroke.

Modern Buddy

Larry Crowne Reviews Thread

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