Post by StevePulaski on Nov 4, 2010 18:11:46 GMT -5
Shawn C. Phillips and M.J. Kelley star in their film Around the Country.
Rating: ★★★½
For those who don't know who internet personalities Shawn and M.J. are I'll give you a quick little rundown. Both make videos on Youtube which generate quite a few thousands views each. Shawn C. Phillips' Youtube channel is "Coolduder" and he makes videos of his vast DVD collection and played Don on The Don & Murph Show. M.J. Kelly is his partner who played Murph on the show and is featured in a show called Around the Town which featured both Shawn and M.J. going to a film or doing an activity on a Friday. Around the Country is the conclusion to the series and is the last Around the Town to feature M.J.
Shawn and M.J. have over 1,000 videos on Youtube and have been lifelong friends. The video pretty much shows how they act when their squeaky clean image is removed. In most Around the Town videos, swear words are changed to "sheet", "arse", and "biatch" to keep a cleaner persona. The movie on the other hand is pretty much them in the raw. It's a lot more graphic than previous videos they did and overall, if rated by the MPAA, would most likely earn an R rating for strong language and brief nudity.
The movie is only available on shopping sites like Amazon and Createspace. It's manufactured on DVD-r and is obviously not an official DVD. Most of Shawn and M.J.'s things come on regular DVDs, but since this is one of their things and not distributed by any specific company it's on a DVD-r. It's available for a mere $8 on the internet and is well worth that price seeing as some things wouldn't be allowed on Youtube and it's just very nice to have a long movie of this. Plus it's good to put emphasis on something that's the last of it's kind. Although the show still continues on Youtube, M.J. went back to Maryland around two weeks after arriving in San Diego leaving Shawn alone with his family. His Around the Town videos now just feature him or some friends/family rather than M.J. which is a huge shame to see a duo split up. After M.J. left it's just not the same.
The whole movie is based around Shawn going on a cross country road trip from his hometown Baltimore, Maryland to his new home in San Diego, California. The idea for the movie came from movies that have a road trip part. Films like National Lampoon's Vacation and Road Trip inspired this little gem and though the protagonist's view on road trips drastically change their opinion on road trips when finally arriving to California, they do their best to keep the spirit.
Along the way we see the trip from Shawn's perspective and briefly M.J.'s as well. The Around the Town videos were brought to us in a first person perspective so it's no shock why this is too. Never once do we see Shawn and M.J. in the same shot is interesting to note as well. We see scenic driving, visiting malls, eating food, hotels, random dialogue scenes/moments that are classic, and fights from the duo as well. I just want to state that most of the fight scenes between Shawn and M.J. are scripted much like how some of the events in the show was too, so don't expect a huge climactic point in the film.
There isn't a whole lot to say about Around the Country other than it's a highly entertaining film. It's plot is something I've wanted to see done for years; a movie where a group of friends film their travels, misadventures, and encounters on a road trip. It's something simple that finally got made. Shawn and M.J. are my favorite Youtubers on the web and even if one day I become a critic with taste in movies hard to come by, Shawn, M.J., and their film work will always have a place in my heart.
Starring: Shawn C. Phillips, M.J. Kelley, Ethan Phillips, Kim Phillips, and Stephen John Phillips. Directed by: Shawn C. Phillips, and M.J. Kelley.
