The Triplets Of Belleville - I'm not surprised that this didn't get more play in the US, since it's got three strikes against it (for American audiences):
- it's French
- it's got no dialogue
- it's animated, but not Disney or Pixar
9 Dead Gay Guys - I laughed all the way through this. Self-described as 'politically incorrect', it was a really hella fun movie to watch. If you are a fan of "Snatch" or "Trainspotting", then you're gonna be a fan of this one, two. Short synopsis: Byron is a bum, basically. He hustles a little down at a local gay bar for beer money. His buddy Kenny shows up, and is appalled at this, but soon is broke...and soon thinks he might be gay. All this is small potatos, though, as it turns out that "the Queen" is dead, and the myth of a major stash of money leads our boys to try and find it. Along the way, they have to deal with several of the local names, including Donkey-Dick Dark, Dickcheese Deepak, the Iron Lady, and the Desparate Dwarf...all of whom want the money as well. As the bodies start to pile up (for various goofy reasons, the myth gets stronger. Sounds freakin' weird, but trust me, it's a riot. Loved it.
Amen. - This is the story of Kurt Gerstein, an SS offier in World War 2, who, seeing the gassing of Jews in the concentration camps, desparately tries to find a way to save them and put a stop to this, to the point of getting help from a young Jesuit priest, Riccardo Fontana, in getting word to Pope Pius XII. True story, too, as it turns out. Powerful movie...it was mesmerizing at times. Not an action flick, at all. Hell, not even a desperate run from the Nazis...and that made the film even more powerful. This was a drama, and a strong one, and you aren't gonna enjoy it if you're looking for a war film. That aside, it was well worth the watch, and made me go looking up more about the man (I didn''t realize it was true story until the end of the movie). Excellent, overall.
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 - You know, i wasn't going to bother with this review. I figure everyone's already seen it. But I wanted to go ahead for one simple reason: contrary to popular opinion, I wasn't the least bit impressed with this movie. In fact, I was downright bored in some places. It felt like Tarantino said to himself one day, "I'm now a big name, and i can get all the funding i require for whatever i want, and it'll be a hit, regardless...so I'm just gonna throw together what I've always wanted to do...who cares what anyone else thinks." And that's fine, but save your self-indulgence for your own private stuff. the whole thing came across as a live-action manga (except, of course, for the small part the really WAS manga-style animation). An "assassination squad" full of code names (mostly sexy ladies, at that) with a charismatic leader comes to kill the one that tries to leave, and of course she survives. When she wakes up, she tracks them down, one at a time, working her way back to the leader, each time engaging in some epic battle. Christ, this might as well be a video game: Level 1, get the bad-ass weapon and go through 100 lower level guards...end of level boss fight: while boss runs to the next area, take out the bodyguard (who has a cooler weapon), then take on the boss, one-on-one. Beat her? Congratulations, level up, cutscene of crossing out her name....Level 2: FIGHT! You get the idea. And that long-ass fight in the restaurant? That could have been cut to about a third of it's length and been much better...there was no need for all that shit. I just sat there, waiting for it to end (and what the fuck was up with that black and white?)...and don't get me started on the over-done bloodjets, all through the film. It just all got old, you know? I'm gonna see the second one, sure, but only because I hate leaving a story half-read...but I'm sure not geared up for it or anything.