Warm Bodies Movie Review

Gentlemen, I have good news! If you've ever had a girlfriend make you sit through an appalling Twilight movie, then you will definitely have grounds to make her watch this supernatural/romance/comedy/horror movie with you. It's hard not to compare Warm Bodies (2013) to Twilight, but I guarantee Warm Bodies is a fun movie that you will both enjoy.

With much of the future world's population rendered into an undead horde, R (Nicholas Hoult) is a young and oddly introspective zombie. On a feeding encounter with a human gathering party, R meets a human named Julie (Teresa Palmer) and feels an unusual urge to protect her. What happens with that is the beginning of a strangely warm relationship that causes R to start to regain his humanity. As this change spreads throughout the undead population, Julie and R eventually find they are facing a larger issue even as their friendship is challenged. Caught between paranoid human forces and the ferocious "Bony" zombies who are a mutual threat, R and Julie must find a way to bridge the sides of the fight for a better world no one thought possible.

There isn't much of a way to describe Warm Bodies without it sounding silly and cheesy. It's a romance story between a girl and a zombie amidst a zombie apocalypse. Yes, that sounds just like Twilight with zombies instead of vampires. That is a completely justified reaction, but there is more to it than that. Warm Bodies is creative, funny, and doesn't take itself too seriously. It's also got some highly interesting social commentary on interpersonal connection and dating. Twilight didn't do anything beyond the dreadful relationship, but Warm Bodies does. Besides, I think most of us could believe a story where a girl falls in love with rotting corps rather than a sparkly one.

This is the first time that I can think of where we get to see the zombie apocalypse from the zombie's perspective. R has some remarkably hilarious inner monologue as he thinks about the state of the world, the dull repetition in his life, and longing to connect with people. It's not really clear why R still has complex, civilized thoughts but still shambles around eating people.  The setting isn't quite detailed enough to explain that, but that's a silly thing to get hung up on. The Bonies were too convenient of an antagonist; they are just there to be a mutual problem. I understand the zombies and humans needed a reason to unite, but I think a little more thought could have been put into it. R narrates the only functional difference between them and the zombies, "They call these guys Bonies. They don't bother us, much, but they'll eat anything with a heartbeat. I mean, I will too, but at least I'm conflicted about it..."

Good science fiction makes commentary on contemporary issues in a unique, metaphorical way. Early in the movie R is lamenting how he's surrounded by dead beings who don't communicate with one another and tries to imagine what it was like before the apocalypse. It cuts away to the same pre-apocalyptic airport with living people who are all aimlessly wandering around while focused on their cell phones and electronic devices and not making eye contact. Our technologies and portable instant gratification devices are killing our ability to converse and meaningfully connect with others; we really are becoming zombie-like in a way. Warm Bodies also comments on the awkwardness of dating. R is a dead decomposing corpse and is looming over Julie and thinks, Don't be creepy! Don't be creepy! Later, R is trying to impress and thinks to himself, Play it cool, say something intelligent. He groans out the words, "How...are... you..?" then thinks, Nailed it. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't had a similar thoughts stemming from their own lack of confidence.

Warm Bodies makes some very subtle allusions to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The two characters are R (Romeo) and Julie (Juliet) and they come from warring "families." Julie's former boyfriend is Perry (Dave Franco) references Paris, R's zombie friend M (Rob Corddry) is a reference to Mercutio, and Julie's friend Nora (Analeigh Tipton) is a nurse referencing Juliet's nurse. Julie's father (John Malkovich) is the hardcore military zombie-killing authority figure and kind of resembles Juliet's family who refuses to allow her to be with someone from the opposing family. There is also the infamous "balcony scene" parodied in Warm Bodies. These are pretty subtle; the movie isn't technically based on Romeo and Juliet, they just reference it in creative, subtle ways.

Warm Bodies features fairly simple but very relatable characters, zombie mayhem, some special effects that falter a little bit on occasion, some great social commentary, a well written script, some strangely sweet romantic scenes, good acting, and hilarious comedy. It managed to do this without screwing up our well-loved concept of zombies the way Twilight did with vampires. Yeah, there is some violent imagery but most of the nasty gore and such takes place just off screen; the imagery is suitable for its PG-13 rating. I took a friend to see Warm Bodies with me; she doesn't like zombie movies but she said she enjoyed this one. Warm Bodies probably isn't going stand the test of time. It's good, but not great; but still a better love story than Twilight. At just over an hour and a half, it's a nice, fun romp that never seems to quite fit into one genre. I'm going to say this is worth renting when it hits home video, however I enjoyed it enough to buy it on Blu-Ray.

Here's the trailer to show you how humorous Warm Bodies is:

Stephenie Meyer totally raped the concept of a vampire then left it wounded and crying. Warm Bodies put a slightly new spin on our beloved zombie model, but it's okay since it didn't twist it around into something shameful, deplorable, or irritating. Can you think of a movie or book that puts a new spin on a classic fictional creature idea that still respects the original? Comment below and tell me about it! I don't want to miss anything good.

Color Me Kubrick Movie Review

Foreign films rarely seem to get a lot of publicity in the US. It’s a shame, really. The US hardly has a monopoly on movies. True, not all foreign films are all that great, but then not all American films are good either. I discovered Color Me Kubrick (2006) while rummaging around in a used DVD bin at my local Blockbuster. What drew me to it was the fact that John Malkovich looks nothing like Stanley Kubrick. I figured this was a sure indicator of a lousy film, or at best lousy casting. But I watched it anyway and I was pleasantly surprised.

Set in London in 1990’s, a balding alcoholic with an unsteady American accent introduces himself in pubs and other social setting as Stanley Kubrick. Drinks and meals are suddenly on the house or paid for by an admiring person who finds Stanley fascinating. But this man is not Stanley Kubrick. He’s an Englishman by the name of Alan Conway (John Malkovich). He has conned many people into believing that he is the reclusive American director, despite the fact that Conway is openly gay, bares no physical resemblance to Kubrick, and knows little about the director’s work. The clever conman scrounges drinks, cash, and sexual favors from an array of unsuspecting victims ranging from heavy metal bands to wine bar owner (Richard E. Grant) to a British lounge singer (Jim Davidson). All are awestruck by his alleged fame and fortune, and overlook Conway’s genuinely bizarre behavior in hopes of impressing the great director. But when he tries to fool New York Times theater critic Frank Rich (William Hootkins), Conway’s act begins to unravel.

You could call Color Me Kubrick a kind of satire of celebrity worship. The people Conway interacts with are instantly star struck and are willing to bend over backwards to impress this person who claims to be a famous movie director. Few people even bother to think that in no way does Conway resemble Kubrick. Sure, his ruse is caught by a few people, but most of the characters simply worship Conway for no reason other than he says he’s famous. We really do often give unmerited glory and honor to people of a celebrity status simply because they are famous. Color Me Kubrick kind of shows us how we get so caught up in that fanaticism that we could easily be taken advantage of. What’s scary is this movie is based on true events.

Conway’s character was brilliantly acted. Conway doesn’t seem to have any idea who Stanley Kubrick is and puts on different personas with each con job. Sometimes acting like an English gentleman, other times acting like a flamboyant Jewish stereotype. We don’t seem to see enough of Conway’s real self, which makes the character a bit difficult to relate to, but that fits into the story. No one seems to know who this man really is, and neither do we. Malkovich did a great job with all the “Kubrick” masks he wears.

One of the really neat parts of Color Me Kubrick was periodic homage to Kubrick’s films. In fact, the opening scene is a direct homage to A Clockwork Orange, in which we see the after-effects of Conway’s minor cons. Two thugs are sent to collect a bar bill that Conway has generated by impersonating Kubrick. Conway had provided the address of an elderly couple as Kubrick’s home address. Of course the elderly couple has no idea who Conway is nor do they know Stanley Kubrick. The two thugs (one wearing a bowler hat) try to force their way into the couple’s home and get arrested for causing a ruckus. This wasn’t part of Conway’s design, just a very clever artistic license taken by the director.

The movie also uses classical music pieces that were famously used in Kubrick films. Some of the songs include The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss, as used in the docking scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also used Henry Purcell’s Funeral of Queen Mary and Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture as they each appear in A Clockwork Orange. The film isn’t trying to imitate Kubrick’s directing style, and the Kubrick homage isn’t terribly overt. You probably wouldn’t even recognize them if you hadn’t seen some of Kubrick’s well known films.

The movie does become repetitive since it is mostly a series of anecdotes about Conway swindling people. It still remains amusing to watch nonetheless. The film is not rated, and even though sexual themes are alluded to, there’s nothing I could see offending anyone. It does use some language, though; F-bombs are frequently used by some of the Heavy Metal band characters and a few others. I thought it was an okay movie. I’m glad I saw it. I recommend seeing it if you have seen several Kubrick films, otherwise you probably won’t appreciate it that much.

What is your favorite Stanly Kubrick film? Comment below and tell me why!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Review

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a sci-fi/British comedy series by Douglas Adams. It started out as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 in 1978 and was later adapted into other formats. The most popular of these formats is a set of five books that make up the “Hitchhiker’s Trilogy.” It has become a multimedia phenomenon; other adaptations include stage shows, comic books, a TV series, a computer game, and additional radio shows. Finally in 2005, a much anticipated movie was released with posthumous credit to Douglas Adams as a producer and screenplay writer. Hitchhiker’s Guide is a fun outer space romp, but seems to have been made more for existing fans than a means of indoctrinating newcomers on the usefulness of a Babel fish.

Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is an ordinary man who is having an unusual day. He discovers that his best friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), is actually an alien. Ford tells him that the planet Earth is going to be destroyed so that other aliens can make room for a hyperspace bypass. Since Arthur accidentally saved Ford’s life years ago, Ford returns the favor by helping Arthur hitch a ride on a passing spaceship and then giving him a guidebook that tells a beginner everything he needs to know as he hitchhikes through outer space. They hitch a ride with the incompetent president of the galaxy, Zaphod Beebelbrox (Sam Rockwell), on his stolen spaceship, The Heart of Gold. Also on board is Tricia McMillan (Zooey Deschanel), an earth girl that Arthur had previously met and fallen in love with, and the perpetually glum robot, Marvin (Alan Rickman). They are being chased by a fleet of Vogons intent on bringing President Beebelbrox and The Heart of Gold home. Meanwhile Zaphod seeks the legendary computer that will tell him the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything (in the interest of fame and fortune, of course).

The story in Hitchhiker’s Guide is influenced by the first four original radio shows as well as the novel. It is full of ironic, dry British humor as well as some totally wacky randomness. For an action comedy, it’s not bad. But if you’re unfamiliar with the source material, some of the humor may be lost to you. It’s almost as if the script sometimes has only part of the joke; if you don’t already know what multi-functional towels actually are, then seeing Ford use one as a weapon or umbrella just won’t be as funny.

The movie captures the curious, quasi-spiritual nature of Douglas Adams’ philosophies and satirical opinions.  There is a lot of unflattering commentary about the mundanity of life and the stupidity of human constructs, while also talking about the value of life and the happiness to be found therein. The Vogons seem to encapsulate all that is tedious, dull, and lifeless. The in-movie book (voiced by Stephen Fry) says this about Vogons. “Not actually evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious, and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the ravenous Bug-Blatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, lost, found, queried, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighter.” I can’t help but wonder what kind of experiences Adams had to get this kind of amusingly bleak view of the world.

One of the neat things about Hitchhikers Guide is the special effects. Sure there’s plenty of computer generated effects, but they use a lot of practical effects, too. All of the aliens are brilliantly constructed by the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop; this gives them a very realistic and organic quality to them. There is a difference when actors have something to actually interact with rather than being told where to look and having a digitally animated creature put in later. There are other puppets used when Ford and Arthur find themselves temporarily turned into sofas, and even a brief section of stop-motion animation when everyone is made of yarn. It gives the film more heart than if everything was done exclusively with CGI effects.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was a fun movie. It has a pretty good cast with brief appearances from John Malkovich and Bill Nighy. The effects were fun, and complemented the film well. The lighting and camera work was pretty impressive. The art design was diverse and stimulating to watch. But if you aren’t already a fan of either British comedy or the geeky Hitchhiker’s Guide cult following, you probably won’t enjoy it all that much. It’s not a film for the ages, but it seems to have become a cult classic. I own a copy and enjoy it from time to time.

What is your favorite cult classic movie? Comment below and tell me all about it!