http://vimeo.com/11278009

I will be shooting my swine flu comedy soon so look foward to that.

The film of the week this time is THE FIFTH ELEMENT!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/

I remember the first time i saw a bit of this film. It was on tv and I was flipping through channels when I saw the scene where Chris Tucker's character is introduced. That scene made my brain bleed at first because I had no idea what the hell was going on so I turned it off and took a cold shower. Not to long after I rented it after a friend told me it was ridiculous. I like a few of Luc Besson's films like Leon: The Professional, but lately his films have been pretty mediocre so I wasn't expecting much from this. Also it has Milla Jovovich who I only knew from the crappy Resident Evil movies. What a surprise this was. It was one of the weirdest and most ridiculous sci fi movies i have seen in ages. If I had summarize it in one sentence I would say Die Hard in space. The plot is just as over the top and nuts as everything else. Milla Jovovich, who was fantasic by the way, plays Leeloo who is the supreme being sent to save humanity. Bruce Willis plays John McClane, I mean Korben Dallas. A lot of the plot doesn't really make much sense and it can get a bit convoluted at times, but it is worth seeing to see how crazy it is.

I like how it doesn't take itself that seriously most of the time. Also pretty much every woman in it was scantily clad and showing off their boobs for some reason. There is also a blue alien that sings opera whose head looks inflatable and glows. Gary Oldman is amazing as usual as Zorg. He also has a southern accent. I'm not sure why since nobody else in the movie does but why the hell not? He also has amazingly awful hair. If you want to see a fun action sci fi film with some interesting spiritual themes that is very silly and over the top at times I highly recommend this. Just don't expect something like The Professional. I hope Milla Jovovich stops doing crappy action movies. She is a good actress but she never shows it. This is a fun film, so watch it. Oh and Don't forget your multipass:P

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139328/

After the crap fest that was Death at a funeral I needed to see something like this. I have always been a fan of Roman Polanski despite his personal life. I know what he did was bad and blah blah blah but I really don't give a crap. I am not funding NAMBLA by seeing this so I have no guilt at all. This is the kind of thriller I love. Something with mystery, and suspense rather than fight scenes very 10 minutes. I like the Bourne movies but this is the kind of thriller that I will remember. It is very slow paced which could turn some people off and there is barely any action. I was a bit hesitant to see this since I don't like Pierce Brosnan or Ewan McGregor much. I was pleasently surprised to see them both give very good performances. Pierce Brosnan especially has great intensity as Adam Lang the disgraced ex prime minister. Adam is very similar to Tony Blair in many ways. He started pretty young for a politician and many people were hoping he would bring change. However like most politicans he got involved in a few scandals that he has been forced to confront. You could also say this film is autobiographical in a way since Polanski has had to answer for a crime he did in the past like Adam Lang. Many of Polanski's films could be seen as autobiographical in some ways.

This film is about a ghost writer who is helping a disgraced politican write his memoirs. The circumstance that lead to him being hired is very mysterious since the last ghost writer drowned. I don't want to spoil the film so I won't get into the plot much. I will say though that it is almost like a Hitchcock film at times. The plot can be a bit predictable, but it's the journey and the mystery that draws us in. Adam Lang's wife is having an affair but he seems to distacted to care about it even though she suspects he is having one too so she starts talking to Ewan McGregor's character more and he voices how suspicious the situation with the last ghost writer Mike is. She is very critical of her husband and even seems to be more politcal than he is. Despite this she gets left at home while he tries to defend his war crimes.

For a lot of the film we are given a backstory through a memoir that explains who Adam is and how he rose to power, which of course is not at accurate as it seems. Eventually Ewan McGregor investigates the death of the last Ghost Writer Mike by talking to people Adam used to know and through this he uncovers many dark secrets. Some that Adam doesn't even realize. I can understand why people would not want to see this film and I won't try to convince you to see it because in the end if you don't it means nothing to me. However you will be missing out on one of the best thrillers in years. This is the best film of 2010 so far.

Overall I give it a 9 out of 10.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1321509/

Death at a funeral is a remake of a British film from 2007. This remake had a lot of potential since is directed by Neil Labute who directed the very good and underrated films The Shape of things, and In the company of men. He also directed The recent Wicker Man remake and we all know how that turned out. Even though he isn't known for remaking films well, Neil Labute is a very good director. Another reason this film has potential is it's cast. Keith David, Danny Glover, Chris Rock, and Luke Wilson are just a few of the stars in this film. They also cast the always fantastic Peter Dinklage, who was also in the original film. Sadly he is one of the only good parts of the film. People have complained about the change from an all white cast to a mostly black cast. While the change is a bit random, it also doesn't really matter. The race of an actor doesn't make a film any worse. Just like how Will Smith being black didn't make I am legend any worse, he actually made that piece of crap watchable. I don't like Martin Lawrence or Tracey Morgan, but they play their roles well. Danny Glover is by far the best part of the film though. He has great comic timing and his character is one of the film's best. James Marsden is also surprisingly good, though nowhere near as good as Alan Tudyk in the original. There are not really many changes made to this remake, so fans of the original can at least take comfort in that. The main problem with this film is how raunchy it is. I don't want to sound like a prude, but most of the jokes are delivered in a very over the top way that makes them almost painful to watch.

There is also the occasional racial joke thrown in for no reason. I like raunchy and dirty humor a lot, but here it just feels like a desperate attempt to get laughs. We never really get much insight into the characters. They have the occasional quirk that is meant to be funny and had the potential to make their characters more interesting but instead they are just flat and bland. There is a joke involving Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, and feces that seems like it was written by a 12 year old. I was hoping this film would redeem Neil Labute after the disaster of Wicker Man, and the dissapointment of Lakeview Terrace. Every film he picks to direct recently seems to get worse and worse. The only time I get to see his talents is in his theater work. I saw a play he wrote recently that was a long monologue delivered by Ed harris and it was fantastic. I guess sometimes theater writers shouldn't make films. This film just piles on gross jokes constantly and in the end I feel numb to it because I don't care about any of the characters. The original film had the repressed emotional aspect that many British films have which worked because I got to like and understand all the characters. The remake seems more interesting in poor slapstick and gross out humor rather than any interesting characters. There is really nothing about this film that I can recommend. Maybe if you like gross humor you may like it, but I personally thought it was crap. I think it is even worse than The Wicker man. At least that film was fun to watch because it was unintentionally hilarious. This is just a poorly written film that wastes the talents of it's actors.

Overall I give it a 2 out of 10.

The film of the week this time is Withnail and I!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/

This is one of the best British dark comedies ever. It is a great mix of ridiculous farce and dark satire. Richard E. Grant is fantastic as the Alcoholic coward Withnail. This movie has some of the best comedy dialogue you will ever see. Some of the humor is a tad dated and a few references might be lost on the non brits, but I still highly recommend it to anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90P8R4MjNkE

It's silly but I had fun making it. We just put some chairs we found in the middle of an intersection and filmed people's confusion.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485601/

Wow this movie came out of nowhere. I remember it being nominated for an Oscar, but I don't remember it coming out. Let's start with the best part of the film which is the animation. This is what I miss in animated movies. A sense of real beauty and styl e. We have been flooded with CGI animation movies which all look the same. Even Pixar's films start to blur together visually after a while. They look nice and realistic, but they have no beauty. It has been a while since an animated movie has actually fascinated me with it's visuals. The visuals in this film look a bit like Samurai jack, but much smoother and more vivid. I could write pages about how much I loved the animation. The viking attack on kells, and the underwater snake battle especially are breathtaking. but let's move on. The story is quite interesting too. The film takes place in a small village called Kells where the abbot Cellach is building a large wall to protect everyone from the invading vikings. He takes care of his nephew Brendan. One day an old man comes the village with a mystic and powerful book that is said to blind sinner who read it. Brendan ends up helping the old man write the book.

Quick side note, the book this film is based on is The Book of Kells. It is an illustrated manuscript of the first four gospels of the New Testament. Even if you are not religous I urge you to find a copy. It really is quite a beautiful book. Some of the drawings are wonderfullly complex. I am not religious in the slightest but I loved the Book of Kells. The story is deeply rooted in Celtic myths, which do happen to be religious at times. Don't let that turn you off the film though. The story is still enjoyable even if you don't believe in any of it.

Eventually Brendan runs into a young wolf girl called Aisling. She is the protector of the forest and doesn't like unwelcome guests. She helps Brendan along the way. I don't want go to into detail about the story though. The only real problem I had with this film is that is feels very rushed at times. There are many beautiful images, but at times they seem to overpower the story. Some of the main characters like Aisling don't feel very developed. However this works in context since the myths the story is based on are not too detailed about the characters either. I still would have liked to have seen more character backstory and development. That doesn't detract too much from the film since all the characters work and the story comes together in the end. Another thing I loved about this film is the great soundtrack by Bruno Coulais. For those who don't know he did the wonderful score to Coraline. The Irish flute, and fiddle sound amazing mixed with the film. Heck they would probably sound good on their own too. I have always found folklore and myths fascianting, especially Celtic. I highly recommend this film, and I also highly recommend the actual Book of Kells. This is a visually stunning film that could have been a masterpiece if it was a bit longer. Even with it's short length and slightly abrupt ending I loved it. It may have come out last year in other countries but since I just saw it in my country I say it is the best film of 2010 so far.

Overall I give it a 9 out of 10.

The film of the week this time is BUBBA HO-TEP!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281686/

This is a fantastic campy horror film. The plot is pretty silly. Bruce Campbell plays the famous Elvis who lives in a retirement home. His friend is a black man who says he is actually JFK. His also says he was dyed black to hide his identity. Oh yeah and there is an evil Mummy who sucks out people's souls and leaves weird messages in bathroom stalls for no apparent reason. Eventually Elvis and JFK fight the evil Mummy. This is a silly movie in case you haven't noticed. There is a prequel announced with Ron Perlman playing Elvis instead, and Paul Giamatti playing a vampire.

April fools. Growl.

The film of the week this time is THE FORBIDDEN ZONE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdPE4glNLyA&feature=related

This is one of the weirdest films I have ever seen. Nothing in it makes any damn sense. There is lots of nudity, Danny elfman as the devil for no reason, a giant frog butler who gets kicked in the balls and runs off a cliff, farting, and a french lady who falls into the sixth dimension via a large anus in her basement that poops her out there among many other weird things. If you like Oingo Boingo you will like this film's music since it was Danny Elfman's first film he did the score to and his brother Richard directed it. It is pretty much a strange musical about sex and other such naughty things. It will make your brain hurt. Find the IMDB page yourself. I provided a clip so you can glimpse the madness.