Dead-Alive

For You

Don't kid yourself, this is a genre film. Directed by Peter Jackson, and released as Braindead (why rename it?), this movie is about a hilarious rat-monkey who bites and old woman, and her son who tries to cover the whole thing up. When people say its gross (pretty much the only word I'd ever heard sandwiched next to Dead-Alive), they mean its over the top ridiculous. I was imagining Saw II type gore, but its delightful, fun, and completely unbelievable. No nightmares.

For Me

Even watching alone, I laughed out loud and at one point just stood up I was so shocked by how far Peter Jackson was willing to go. I often rant about how stunted the Zombie genre is (completely enjoyable, but impossibly hard to escape the ending), and Dead-Alive really challenges this. Maybe because its more a horror-comedy movie than a zombie one, but its structure truly surprised and refreshed my wary mind. I also liked that the allegory being told was front and center. I'd rather not have a film take itself completely seriously while trying to convince the audience that the "meaning" was an accident. Ooops!

(Does anyone else remember seeing this at the rental store when they were twelve and having a seizure?)

Dead-Alive Trailer

Good Dick

For Us

This is my new developmentally inappropriate obsession — I haven't been able to watch any other movie for three days. All you need to know is that its a tale about a boy who is crushing hard on a girl. Original? Yes. Watch the trailer (it'll give you a good sense of who these people are), then forget you ever saw it. The characters aren't what you think, and even though the back stories are a teensy bit weak, this is Marianna Palka's first movie. That she directed, wrote, produced, and starred in. What a slacker.

PS Good Dick is being independently released (even on DVD), so if you like it, buy a copy right away from this site. Limited amounts.

Goodbye Lenin!

For You

Goodbye Lenin! was nominated for about eighty billion awards. Which one did it win the most of? Audience! People went ape shit for this movie. Its quirky (coasting on the success of Amelie), makes for great talking points, and has a happy ending. Watchable with EVERYONE, even the people listed in your phone who you never remember meeting. And Moms. My public service announcement is that it takes place in Berlin, between 1989 and 1990. If you are space cadetting on what was happening then, look it up for Christ's sake.

For Me

Cute. Not cute enough. The two plot lines:
1. Family
2. Country
never quite meet. One needed to win the battle, and instead they accidentally collide, both of them feeling unfinished and sloppy. During the "precious moments," when you are supposed to really FEEL something (kill me), what I felt was the need to clip my toe-nails. This is because I'm a BRAT. Honestly, audience award! It'll only be the die hard compulsive alone movie watchers like myself that see wasted potential. And this is because I've seen more movies than you. Which basically means I qualify for Mensa.

Inglourious Basterds

For You

That rumor about Brad Pitt only being in the movie for thirty-seven minutes? Its true. This is also how much of the film is spoken in English. This isn't Quentin Tarantino's WWII movie, its his foreign film. Most of the things you love about his movies, if you do love them, aren't there, and its his weakest "story" to date. If you aren't willing to drink wine coolers with Tarantino, you might as well skip it and have a martini with your friends.

For Me

Tarantino dialogue is BRILLIANT when read! This is not a joke. I heart Death Proof, but I could barely stand the monologues. Too talkie talk talk. Inglourious Basterds is one giant conversation (yea, its violent, but only for twenty minutes and they're spread out like bread crumbs) and I never once got bored. Reading is fun! The Jew Hunter is fab — best thing in the movie, not counting my new lady crush Shosanna — and the opening scene is well worth putting up with Brad Pitt. I hate to say it, but Tarantino is basically a genius, and although this is not my favorite of his films, there is nothing truly wrong with it. Except the story. That's a little bunk, but I already said that. I will fo sho see it again. Preferably in a movie theater. (This will make sense once you see the movie. I hope. Does that put too much pressure on you?)