From Aeon to Zebraman — capsulePalooza movie reviews
These past sixteen weeks have been insanely busy for me. A semester of Java, Discrete Math, Calculus and American History more than put a damper on my free time (I’m proud to say I passed all classes with flying colors). What I’d like to do is to present a few quick blurbs about films we saw over the past few months (and possibly longer) that I enjoyed, but did not have material for to warrant a full review. A sort of house-cleaning if you will. Note that if any of you would like to review one of these films fully, we always accept guest reviews. Here goes.
Aeon Flux
Shot like a perfume commercial whose set scouting was done on Getty images. The whole thing is quite faithful to the show. Though there is quite a bit more back-story for Aeon than creator Peter Chung ever intended, some of the most iconic elements of the show have been recreated as practically as possible. Things like the French-kiss data-pass, and the opening fly in the venus-eyelash trap, and the chick with hands for feet are present and accounted for. Theron gets Aeon’s voice right. The story’s a bit of an Logan’s Run hybrid, and it’s actually quite interesting. It’s a shame Paramount dropped the ball on promoting this one. And it’s a shame critics couldn’t look past their having to pay for a ticket to watch a film for once. This is a pretty movie that’s actually pretty good.
Battlefield Baseball
Okay, so this one has been out for a while now. I actually first watched our DVD over a year and a half ago. I bought it during the Bunny and Clydo shoot from Harry Knowles’ sister’s shop, Pedazo Chunk. The film is about what you would expect from Kitamura (even though he only has a proder’s role for this film): action-on-the-cheap, though with a good deal more absurdity than normal. The cutthroat baseball battles between the evil team and the good, involving explosives and zombies, are quite humorous and the bat-fights well choreographed. The mid-section of the film really drags, but you’re not really watching the film for its storyline anyway. On the whole Battlefield Baseball should prove quite fun, even for non-baseball fans.
The 40 Year-Old Virgin
The trailer and the name made this film seem like another Adam Sandler style raunchfest, but in reality 40 Year-Old Virgin has a lot of heart. And unlike most of the comedies of late, the humor never lags during the course of its 2 hour 12 minute runtime. Steve Carell’s virgin remains endearing throughout his trials and tribulations, whether they involve sacrificing his superhero collection, dealing with kinky-bookstore-vixens or suffering through a Date-a-Palooza meatgrinder. Smart and funny, Judd Apatow’s film is easily one of the best comedies of the year.
The Island
Another overlooked Sci-Fi flick. Reportedly a ripoff of the film Clonus, which admittedly I have not seen, the film brings to mind Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, The Fugitive, and, like Aeon, Logan’s Run. The film is a veritable action bonanza, though each sequence is of a palatable length that consistently shocks and energizes rather than overloading the audience (a la Kong). Performances are strong from all actors, and the story vastly intriguing. Lines such as Buscemi’s “People want to eat the cow. They don’t want to meet it” are immediately quotable, while driving home the story’s message regarding human selfishness. Whether or not the film ripped off Clonus I cannot say at this point. I just know it was a damn fun time at the movies.
Syriana
Dense. There is so much to take in and process from this film. While the other films on this list gave me too little material for a review, this one gives too much. Syriana is a great film. Clooney, Damon, et al turn in pitch perfect performances. The dialogue comes fast and furious and never repeats, so you really need to pay attention while watching. One of the few films this year to lend itself to multiple viewings, Syriana would make an excellent double feature bill with Medium Cool.
Zebraman
My new favorite Miike film, and my new favorite superhero film. Hilarious, heartfelt, and oddly affecting, Sho Aikawa’s portrayal of an ineffectual family-man, cum-cosplayer, turned real life superhero/alien fighter is one of his best performances ever. Miike’s film is a little tamer than his best known efforts, but there are a few trademark guffaw-inducing gross-outs to be seen. A meditation on dysfunctional family life, nostalgic guilty pleasures, and a bona-fide action-comedy film, Zebraman is a Miike brand crowd-pleaser. It will not disappoint.
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