FUNside

So we all knew about Sacha Baron Cohen’s next movie project and we were wondering how socking it will be, right? Well, was it shocking: - Yes. Was it funny: - Hell Yeah! Was it satisfying? - Sort of…

To be honest I was one of those people that questioned if it was a good idea to go see it in a theater, fearing that it will make people feel too awkward and the social fun won’t sparkle. But I think everyone that goes to see this movie has already an idea what to expect so even if they have to bite their lips in a couple of scenes they force themselves (so to speak) to have fun.

The scenario intelligently used all Bruno’s failed attempts to impress people as part of his downfall and his struggle to be accepted again. And there are catch phrases that you simply can’t get out of your head once you hear them, like “Bono’s got AIDS” and “Osama is like a dirty wizard or a homeless Santa”. There is a nice twist at the end were Bruno becomes “Straight Dave”, but that’s just for laughs as well…

As expected the movie shines in the spontaneous humor and improvised comebacks from real life reactions. The whole scene when Bruno goes through military training is hilarious and funnier than anything “Police Academy” had to offer. And listening a priest talk about what to do not to be gay just made me think that all the stereotypes are well and doing fine (don’t listen to beach boys music and do exercise? Really??)

My biggest problem is the presentation of the movie, mainly the direction. I mean for this kinda story I was expecting to see something in the likes of Zoolander - flashy and superficial. Instead we are treated with the same reality TV gritty look - almost identical to what we saw in Borat. In fact it’s so similar that I can spot identical scenes in the two movies - does running in the dark to escape from imminent danger (falsely) remind you anything?

Anyway, I’m sure Sasha wanted the relation with the previous movie and it was all intentional but if he makes a third on of the likes (a trilogy pre se) I’m sure it won’t have the same impact as these two. Even now, people are already aware of Sasha’s kookiness and aren’t that surprised by his antics as they were before. On the plus side I don’t think he’ll get as many law suits either - so all’s good.

In the end, it was an enjoyable movie, our brain was traumatized forever with a couple of pictures but that came as no surprise either. Dear I say that we were counting on it?

Oh and I should say that I liked the original look of Bruno - not the new improved one. Or is this too 90’s look now?

Having played the Max Payne games years ago, I didn’t really feel the connection when the movie adaptation was released in cinemas. Still I was eager to watch it the first weekend it came out and I can simply say it was a warm welcome to a familiar atmosphere from the past.

IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467197/

It’s really interesting how they recreated everything for the movies. The visuals resemble a lot the video game and reminded me of specific levels and settings. The core storyline of the game was converted to a viewable screenplay. The hired actors where drafted suitably - everyone resembled their in-game persona.

Even the smaller details, like the way the snow is animated and the “dream” sequences are trademarks for the name and they were all pulled off elegantly. I particularly liked Mark Walberg’s performance - I initially had doubts that he would capture the pain in Payne but thankfully I was wrong….

Not to say that the movie is perfect though. A couple of issues really bug me and I think they are fatal flaws that will stop letting this movie become a classic. For one, the use of bullet time is totally circumstantial and not an integral part of the action sequences. My personal evaluation is that the director didn’t know how to use bullet time and just slapped in a couple of slow speed shots only because it was in the game. As a result, the scenes that use bullet time often seem to stretch more than they should and other scenes where the fast action dictates the use of bullet time (but in fact isn’t), simply past too fast - before the viewer can absorb all the details. As the Matrix is the definitive example of this kind of technique, this movie is a hit and miss in that regards.

The other biggy that really comes as a surprise for me is why they didn’t put a comic strip for the introduction of the story as both games have it (heck, even the Marvel movies do it…). They actually tried it for a trailer as shown below but didn’t want to include this narration in the movie - I can only wonder why:

!!!!!!!!!!! Spoiler Alert !!!!!!!!!!!
Lastly, I cannot understand why the “bad guy” is killed so easily, leaving the movie without a real climax for the ending. No big boss fight, no nothing. If I remember correctly one of the games ended with a helicopter battle. Yet in the movie the helicopter is called back and never confronts Max Payne. And what happened with Mona? The last time I saw her she was entering an elevator?
!!!!!!!!!!! END Spoiler Alert !!!!!!!!!!!

The ending is unsatisfying but that is in sync with the rest of the movie. Compared to the game, the movie has very few gunfights - sparse and with weak energy. It seems as if the movie is a compilation of just the cinematics of the game, leaving all the gameplay action aside.

As far as the other innovations of the movie, introducing new mythical elements, new characters etc. I don’t really have a problem with them - they seem to comply with the overall atmosphere that derives from the game and has been portrayed in the movie exceptionally well. Generally speaking, I liked the movie, I recommend you go see it and even buy it when it comes out on DVD. It’s one of those stories that we’ll frequently like re-visiting every now and then - I would compare it with something like “Underworld” rather than a more “heavy-weight” title.

Voila:

Yes, I did it. I made a movie comparison with the Matrix. I always detested when an action movie was compared with the Matrix but I think that enough time has passed and bullet-time could be cool again…

“Wanted” doesn’t even try to replicate its predecessors. I think the director understands the essence of what made those movies a success and doesn’t try to follow any specific recipe of success.

But the general outline is the same: Take a normal human with an ordinary life and seconds-thoughts about the meaning of his existence and put him trough a mind expanding journey. From there on, it has the bullet time and all the stunt work of the Matrix and the brutality and self-narration of Fight Club.

Generally, I applaud these kinds of stories because they help all us with the 9-5 lives make a reality check and consider that there could be something different out there. And although I like the attitude I don’t think that this movie will change anything in the common people minds.

Don’t forget that both the Matrix and Fight Club are already a decade old - and what has changed since then? But this is not the point. The movies are created to entertain - and if they have underlying criticism about society all the better but that’s just an artist’s voice against the world.

In the end all that remains is the visual impact (which was outstanding in this movie) and the joy it brought to the masses (I have a feeling it will go well there too). I kinda got bored seeing each bullet being stopped by another bullet (yeah right…) and I have a few other objections like the one dimensional characters of the fraternity, but the good certainly overthrow the rest:

Good performances from the actors, natural blending of the special effects, a screenplay with a fine balance between the action and story telling and a realistic ending that is satisfactory.

I would recommend this movie simply because its a notch above other action movies you can see at cinemas these days, but if you also want to get into a self-realization experience it would indeed be what you’re looking for…

I know I’m late for X-mas stories, but what if I told you that Santa Claus was kidnapped by Martians!

Ehh, that drew your attention, right? That’s a nice setup for a movie - especially if it’s low budget and people UI (under the influence…) are creating it

Synopsis:
Martians, upset that their children have become obsessed with TV shows from Earth which extoll the virtues of Santa Claus, start an expedition to Earth to kidnap the one and only Santa. While on Earth, they kidnap two lively children that lead the group of Martians to the North Pole and Santa. The Martians then take Santa and the two children back to Mars with them. Voldar, a particularly grumpy Martian, attempts to do away with the children and Santa before they get to Mars, but their leader Lomas stops him. When they arrive on Mars, Santa, with the help of the two Earth children and a rather simple-minded Martian lackey, overcomes the Martians by bringing fun, happiness and Christmas cheer to the children of Mars.

More info: Wikipedia, IMDB

Need I say more? This is definitely one of the all time classic b-movies. I just found it on Joost in and couldn’t help myself writing a post. I first saw it on late midnight TV and was laughing my balls off (sorry for the expression, just stating the facts). Then I found it in a DVD store for $1 and always regretted for not buying it. And now we can all can see it online for FREE!

You can even download it from Archive.org

Cult movie fans, feast your eyes with this galore delight!

I consider myself a cinephile and would never compare Ed Wood with a filmmaker of our time if I hadn’t come across the most peculiar persona - Uwe Boll - and his latest film called Postal.

Now I was actually happy to hear that Uwe Boll was quiting making high-profile movies a few months back and was even one of the people that signed the online petition to make him stop making movies.

Who can blame me? I hated how he salvaged the game licenses to make his movies and wrecked one game franchise after the other. How can I ever go back to playing “Alone in the Dark” without remembering his stupid version of the story?

But all this started to change after I saw his latest movie release:

At first I thought to myself “This guy will never stop, will he?”. But almost at the same time, the images of such surrealism brought me to mind Ed Wood’s work (anyone recalls his aliens and vampires mash-up?). I’m not yet ready to “crown” Uwe Boll as a phenomenon of same magnitude as Ed Wood is today but I’ll be looking into his future work with this point of view from now on.

If I could dare a comparison between the two, I’d say that:
- both were focused on low budget special effects to excite people
- that “different” element they wanted to bring to cinema was simply awkwardness
- a quality storyline was beyond them

Actually, I think you can do the comparison effortlessly as Uwe seems to be walking on his predecessors footsteps.

Can he be so persistent against what everyone says as to becoming the next big thing in cult cinema? Will he continue to release movies so bad you can only appreciate them for the craft of making them so bad?

I must admit this sounds intriguing and I can only hope my prediction comes true. Uwe Boll, you’ve made a fan out of me