Rated: R

Running Time: 96 Minutes

Year: 2008

Nudity: None

One Sentence: The poster is way cooler than the movie. 

The Machine Girl was another movie from Fantastic Fest 2008 that I did not make it to.  Too many movies, too little time.  So I added this one to my netflix queue, and has been sitting at home for a long time.  Finally I had some time to check it out, and I have to say that I am glad I did not waste my time with this one during Fantastic Fest.  Compared to everything else I saw at Fantastic Fest this movie was a far lower quality, and really in my opinion not worthy of being at Fantastic Fest, and I was amazed that everything I saw was so good there.  

I thought low budget basement level D, gore movies were an American invention, and that this type of release would never make it out of Japan.  I thought the Japanese did it up right when it came to their gore, I guess they have to have a starting off point as well.  That is what The Machine Girl is, someone's student film that somehow got shipped to America.  It had some good things you come to expect from a Japenese gore movie, but failed in a lot of other places to make it very good. 

It felt like teens and early adults making a silly movie about a girl who loses her arm and then attaches a gun to it.  All the actors, even the parents looked very young and the whole movie just felt like it was unpolished and was someones drunk idea.  They script, acting, and characters were not very good, the whole thing mostly came to a boring movie with a bunch of spraying blood everywhere.  They didn't even really push the limits on this and just had things chopped off, nothing really crazy.  I was expecting a lot more craziness or gore or something, but it was just too lackluster to reccomend or say was very good.  I would skip it, as there are far better Japenese crazy movies to check out.  

My Coke Rewards Code: F60TPBH77KT4

Running Time: 93 Minutes

Year: 2008

Nudity: None

One Sentence: The scariest movie at Fantastic Fest.

For a genre film festival the amount of scary movies I have sen at this fest has been very little.  Movies that were meant to be scary were not, and others that I thought were going to be horror did not really end up being horror at all.  This movie Sauna however, was scary, and quite good as well.  Sauna was an unexpected surprise and I am happy I saw it. 

Sauna takes place in the 1500's after the Russian/Sweedish war, where a group is out on the borderlands drawing the lines between the countries.  The film was shot for 1 million dollars and feels like they had all the money in the world.  It has great cinematagrophy, and uses silence and the shots to tell the story over dialog.  

The film deals with sins, and retrubition and while it has very little blood or killing, is a chilling scary movie that draws you in and makes you fell the fear that is on screen.  It is real, strong and disturbing.  It is rare that a movie will cause this level of fear in me and Sauna did it well.  Sadly this is a Finnish film and most likely will be hard to find in the US, but I would keep an eye out if you are looking for a scary movie that doesn't involve monsters, legends, gore or all that hollywood type horror.  

Rated: R

Running Time: 91 Minutes

Year: 2007

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: The same old Wes, but I don't have a problem with that.

Ok first, I have to say that if you are going to watch this movie, then it would be in your best intrest to go watch this short movie which is like a prologue to the movie.  It will help with jokes and story later.  http://www.hotelchevalier.com/  There are rumors it will be included before the movie, and there are other rumors that you can only watch it online.  It was in front of our print so I am not sure what to tell you.  It's 12 minutes long and Natalie Portman gets kinda naked in it, so it's worth the watch twice I guess.

The Darjeeling Limited, is the same movie as the Royal Tannenbaums, except it's on a train, in India, and has different people in it.  It's exceptionally beautiful, very funny at times and very touching at times.  It is pretty much the formula that we have come to expect and love from Wes Anderson.  I am not complaining about this.  While the format was similar the story was a little different and the situations and dialog were all different, so I was entertained by it and at no point during the watching of the film was I bored, or let down by the fact that this feels very similar to his other movies.  I think it was just good enough to not care that it is very similar. 

The acting, is where his movies shine, the simple moves, and actions, make for a surreal yet realistic journey and they seem to show that level of emotion that we miss with a lot of films.  Of all his movies, this one I think the one that touched me the most, showing familiar situations, conversations, and uncomfortable fights, silences, and moments that made me feel awkwardly at home.  I think Adrian Brodie was the best of the three, but that is only by a small margin if any, they all three, did an excellent job, along with the entire supporting cast that we come to expect from Wes.  Odd characters, amazing people and magical moments that make up this odd life.

Rated: R

Running Time: 114 minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: This is not a kung fu movie.

Yes, this is not a kung fu movie.  There is some fighting in it, but that is not the focus of this film.  I think we were all led to believe by the many many imports that look like this, and the previews that this is a fighting movie and it is not.  I would not even rate it as an action movie.  This is a foreign drama.  A beautiful foreign drama, but drama none the less.  So keep a heads up for that if you are wanting to rent this.

Visually this movie has very few better than it.  Sets, costuming, lighting and usage of color, it is truly a vibrant and beautiful film.  Each scene is put together, so well that I could probably be ok with just watching these scenes over and over again with no plot or story, and it would keep me entertained for a while.  Gold, red, yellow, and every other color turned the Forbidden City in a living breathing palace worthy of the Emperor Of China.

A tale of betrayal and power, this story is almost as wonderfully told as it looks.  Wonderful acting by Li Gong as Empress Phoenix was powerful and believable, even spoken in Chinese.  It felt so right.  Everything put together in a way that gave way to a life and time that I was in and could secretly peer into.  It is a beautiful movie and a good story.  I think many would enjoy this if you can get over the subtitles. 

Rated: R

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: I don't think I understand Korean culture.

The Host, the only Korean comedy action horror monster movie I will most likely review this year.  I first heard about this movie when it was shown at last year's Fantastic Fest.  Which is a film festival in Austin.  It buzzed like mad.  Everyone saying it was awesome, worth seeing, and so very good.  So I finally saw it.  Either I don't get Korean culture, or I just don't get it. 

This movie is not a comedy, at least I don't think it should be.  However throughout the movie there are these scenes that would rival Monty Python in sillyness.  Just bizarre acting and behavior that just didn't make sense to me.  Is this movie a comedy or not.  It is scary and sad too, so I just don't know how to feel about it.  This is where I think maybe I don't get the culture.  Maybe the comedy is supposed to be there to lessen the blow of the movie, but to me it came off as campy or overdone.  Not something to maybe take the edge off.   This also included the actors that seemed to also carry this overacted air about them.  However it seemed so deliberate that I think it might be the culture, and not the movie itself.  That the behavior was perhaps normal to someone from Korea, but seems odd to me.  Which I think seems like a reasonable assumption. 

If you get past the acting and comedy, the movie is not bad, but I am not going to be jumping on The Host lovers band wagon.  It was scary, and did make me jump, but not exactly a horror movie.  It had a very cool monster in it, and it convinced me and I think did better at me believing it was there, than King Kong or some of the newer CG fests we have been releasing.  It had action and a good story, but the weird breaks and side steps left me a bit confused.  

I am also not sure of the point.  I think there was a grand big story here that I missed and again it might have been lost in translation.  There was a hint of anti-American sentiment in the movie, and I think that it might have been a stab at current policies.  Which I am fine with let them speak it if they want to, but if that is what it was, or some other commentary on society, I also didn't quite get it.  It seemed to try to speak to something like that, and it just went over my head.  So I guess.  Rentable if you want to go for it, but I don't think its a must rent like some have been saying.  

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 103 Minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: Jet Li's last martial arts epic.

I have been spoiled with a couple of movies.  Hero and Crouching Tiger, have led me to become a jaded watcher of Martial Arts movies.  Tiger was my first experience with a wire-fu martial arts movie.  Might have been my first experience with any type of Asian martial art's movie.  I had never seen old Kung Fu movies.  I just got one of the best the first time, so now everything is compared against that, and Hero, which I thought was amazing.

Fearless, has nothing wrong with it.  The story is worth telling, and is thoughtful and reflective.  The martial art's are well done, and did not have a overdone polished look to them.  The movie had all the elements it needed to and that I was expecting.  It just didn't have anything more and made me just feel ok.  I can not say anything bad about the movie.  I just can't really say that it was an amazing piece of martial arts work, that would be left as Jet Li's last and best film.   

There were no particular scenes that took your breath away.  There was nothing inventive, or outside of the street and shop fights that we have come to know in these types of movies.   It seems that with a billing of Jet Li's last martial arts epic, that we would see something maybe just one scene that was memorable.  There was nothing like that.  It fit into a expected format and executed that format.  It is completely rentable, but just don't expect something amazing.   

Rated: R

Running Time: 112 Minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence:  This movie is not in English.

You might be shocked to hear this movie is in Spanish.  It almost slipped by me, but then I became suspicious when I could not read any credits, then I was almost 100% sure it wasn't in English when everyone was speaking Spanish.  I know one would think with all the hype and the acclaim and marketing, they might give a hint that it is in Spanish, or do something to make you aware.  They didn't.  I don't mind it.  I just was not prepared for it.   

The movie itself is far darker and not the Jim Henson production we all suspect or hoped it would be, based on what the marketers have given us as promotional materials.  A post WWII story about a girl and her new father and their life hunting down rebels in the forest.  This tale while good, does not have David Bowie, singing goblins, or anything of the sort, it is shrouded in evil and despair, throughout the real world and the underworld of Pan's Labyrinth.  

Executed with perfection, being in Spanish is only a minor issue, as we can not view the amazing scenes without looking down to read what was said.    The story line is given to us with style, wonder and power.  The acting seems to get you at your core and feel what is meant to be felt.  What that means is that when there is evil, you feel that evil and in the end, this movie, can leave you alone, sad and cold.  If you can get over that, and are willing to take the trip, it is a fine movie, and worth the netflix add.  It while not the pure fantasy movie I was expecting did not leave me disappointed, maybe a bit sad, but not disappointed. 

Rated: R Running Time: 85 minutes Year: 2004 Boobs: Zero One Sentence: In France there are a lot more white gangsters. We hit up District B13 or Banlieue 13 in French. The Alamo South had it so we hit it up for our Monday night movie. I know nothing about this movie as far as History, all I know is it was made in 2004 and the Alamo thought it was good enough to run. I am not sure if it is in any of your theaters, or if you can even rent it. The idea is that it is 2010 in Paris, and they have walled off all the bad ghettos, from the rest of Paris, and the worst one B13 is a crime ridden hell hole. Led by gangsters and drugs. One day these gangsters get a big old bomb and it is bad news for all the people in Paris. So they send in a cop and a former thug to take care of the situation. So the movie is pretty much an all action super cool freestyle walking/fighting music video. With music produced by Dr. Octopus. A name I have not heard in a long while. The pulse of the movie is awesome, just fast paced with good music and solid fight and chase scenes. It's totally popcorn in every way. Oh the movie is all in French however, so you will have to read subtitles. Anyway, they got these two guys who do all that wall climbing super cool freestyle walking. I think there is a name for it but I can't think of it. So they exploit that to no end, having all these cool action fight sequences and chance scenes on foot. Also some tricked out ricers and just over all felt very stylish and fun. It had a pulse like Run Lola Run. The plot was a little cheesy but I didn't really care, it had a good opening title sequence and just held on throughout most of the movie, with very little slow down to build up any plot, so I didn't really care. The only thing I have to complain about was that I wish they had at least one more cool fight or chase scene, it was only 85 minutes and they could have fit it in without seeming over reaching. I guess if you see it as a rentable, then you could add it, I think most people would have fun with it.

Rated: R

Running Time: 90 Minutes

Year: 2004

At first, I thought this was an actual dramaization of a real story…the movie implied it and all the DJ's talking about him like he was real implied it. However after some reasearch I did find out that this is in fact not real. This is a fictional story. But I do have to say that this is such a real story that if you didn't know that you would think it was real. However even though the reality of the story helps send the message through, this as a movie is only so-so. The main character, played the part of superstar DJ, gone coked up crazy, gone tragedity is quite good, and portrayed the image very well. However we have see this image so many times before that for the first half of the movie I was pretty bored with the story…superstar all drugged up, with bitch wife, and horrible super star life. YAWN. Additionally it did not help that the character "Frankie Wilde" was not that great to look at at all. His teeth were horrible. As it progressed I was really not that into it, and then a change happend. It got more tragic, and yet, clearer. It cleaned up it's act about half way through and started heading to a resolution. This helped out a lot and the subject matter was interesting to me. Around the DJing world. I left the movie changed just as the main character did half way through and the whole outlook on the movie changed. In the end I felt a quite bit better about the whole thing, but so-so acting, and a bit too much of the same old same old could't make this movie great. But it wasn't bad. I don't think you should think about renting unless you are into the DJ scene and need to see it.