Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Movie Review

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World hit theaters in 2010, only a few years after the graphic novel upon which it is based hit shelves.  I’d never heard of the Scott Pilgrim comics before seeing the movie trailer. It’s another strange genre-bender. Action-romance, maybe? It’s a genuinely fresh type of movie; I haven’t seen anything quite like this before.

22-year-old Canadian, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) plays in an amateur rock band called “Sex Bob-omb” that is trying to gain popularity and get an album recorded. He dates Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), a high-school girl five years younger than him. Scott hasn’t quite recovered from being dumped by his former girlfriend, who is now a success with her own band. After a concert, Scott’s band attends a party to try to schmooze with some sponsors. There he meets a mysterious American girl named Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and falls head over heels for her. Scott has trouble breaking up with Knives while also trying to romance Ramona. As if juggling two women wasn’t enough, Ramona comes with baggage; seven ex-lovers who form “The League of Evil Exes.” Each one wants Scott dead, and he must fight to the death in order to win Ramona.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is really creative and funny. The most overt element to this movie is all the video game references. It’s not based on a video game, but the flashy visuals and sound effects make lots of references to video games and anime. We’re talking back when video games were good; Super Nintendo-style video games, not X-Box 360 junk. It’s almost like a movie based off of an action video game about dating. The fight scenes resemble the Street Fighter video game and Dragon Ball Z episodes. Scott’s pick up lines involve facts about Pac-Man. At one point, Scott even gets a “1-Up.” The social parody in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is hilarious enough on its own, but all the video game-isms rack up the humor and style by several notches.

Another neat thing about this movie is all the subcultures that appear in it. Independent musicians, vegans, video gamers, skaters, the LGTB community, and hipsters all make appearances in this movie. But unlike most comedies that crack jokes at the expense of such subcultures, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World doesn’t put down or mock anyone. For example, one of the evil exes is vegan, and being vegan gives him psychic superpowers. Chris Evans plays Lucas Lee, another evil ex, who is a “pretty good” skateboarder turned “pretty good” action movie star. Every skater I’ve met seems to treat their board as an extension of themselves, and Lucas uses his ever-present skateboard not only to do stunts, but also as a weapon. Every subculture in this movie is depicted as a normal part of society, not a bizarre thing to be mocked.

The pacing is a bit slow, despite the constant action. Nevertheless, it remains entertaining and fun to watch. The story gets a little repetitive, though. It’s a series of fights with evil exes with scenes of amusing romantic awkwardness linking them together. That’s not to say it’s bad, it just falls into a predictable pattern about half way through the movie. There’s some impressive cinematography and fight-scene choreography. They do some really neat things with the lighting. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was written and directed by Edgar Wright. He also did Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007), which are both great comedy movies. Wright really does an impressive job with the writing and direction of this movie.

Music plays a strong role in the movie. I’m of the opinion that there hasn’t been any good music released in well over a decade. Most of the music didn’t appeal to me. A lot of it sounded like music a group of amateur teenagers might put together in their mom’s garage. Incidentally, that’s kind of what the band members in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World were doing. So the music fit well into the movie. They also convinced Nintendo to let them use some classic tunes from The Legend of Zelda video game series, which was hilariously implemented.

If you enjoy classic video games, anime, or have ever had relationship problems, you’ll find something to enjoy in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It’s refreshing in its lack of pretension and lack of smirking irony. Depending on your age you could probably interpret it as a postmodern epic for the Nintendo generation or a statement on modern youth detachment from actual human emotions though the advent of technology. Young adults and teens that grew up with Nintendo (like I did) will probably get a huge kick out of this movie. Older adults might become irritated with the flashy visuals and constant dialogue about the modern dating scene. It has become a cult classic in only a couple of years and is a great cinema spectacle to behold. I recommend seeing it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World seems to be the first of a “video game” movie genre; not actually based on a specific video game, but is designed to look like a video game. The upcoming Wreck-It Ralph movie looks like it will be similar. Do you think video game movies like these will become a legitimate movie genre? Why or why not? 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!

A Dangerous Method Movie Review

As a psychology major, I was psyched to see this movie (forgive the pun). I’ve heard the tale of Sigmund Freud’s and Carl Jung’s diverging theories a good many times over in various psychology classes. Occasionally I have thought it could have potential to be a good biopic movie. A Dangerous Method (2011) was finally released, and I was anxious to see it. When I finally got the chance, turns out it was quite different from what I was expecting.

Suffering from hysteria, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). Jung has recently begun using the talking cure developed by Dr. Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) on some of his patients.  Spielrein’s psychological problems are deeply rooted in her childhood and violent father. She is highly intelligent and hopes to become a doctor, and eventually a psychiatrist. Later, Jung receives Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel) as a patient. Gross is a brilliant, promiscuous, and unstable psychoanalyst who prods Jung into the idea of an affair. The married Jung and Spielrein eventually become lovers. Meanwhile, Jung and Freud develop an almost father-son relationship. Freud sees the young Jung as a likely successor and standard-bearer of his theories. A deep rift develops between them when Jung begins to diverge from Freud’s belief that while psychoanalysis can reveal the cause of psychological problems, it cannot cure the patient.

Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud is not a casting decision I would have made. I see him better suited in action roles, like in Lord of the Rings or Hidalgo.  I didn’t even think Mortensen looked the part of Freud. Once I saw A Dangerous Method my doubts were diminished.  Mortensen really does look and sound the part. He’s even smoking a cigar in every scene. Only once in a while did he seem to lapse into dramatic low tone that was more on par with Aragorn than with Freud.

Impressive as Mortensen is, the real credit must be given to Keira Knightley. She grants us a mind-blowing performance that seems to have been influenced by real patients suffering from hysteria. We see psychological fragility coupled with an intellectual toughness, which makes for an interesting character. She’s laughing like a madwoman one moment and frantically crying the next, and contorting her body in defensive positions. Then we see her slowing growing out of that state and into a calm and collected woman as her healing progresses. She played the mental condition so well, it’s disquieting to watch.

The way the story here is presented is not what I was expecting to see. It’s a very dialogue driven story. The dialogue is great and interesting, and you get a feel for Freud’s and Jung’s theories and views. But it’s almost as though most of the actual story was happening between scenes and we are mostly witnessing the characters discussing among themselves the real meat of the story after it happened. The movie does a lot more telling than showing. Granted the story is about the characters and how events affected them, but I would have liked to see more of the events themselves to understand why the characters are affected they way that they are.

There are two really great parts of the movie that are exceptions. The first part of the movie shows us Jung using Freud’s talking cure to help Spielrein. It’s still dialogue driven, but it was fascinating to see Freud’s theory at work. As a psychology major, it was almost like getting to witness the early psychoanalytic process as it was in the early 1900’s. Later we get to see Jung and Freud talking about their views. Freud is advocating the scientific method while Jung is discussing abstract supernatural concepts, and the tension mounts as their views conflict. Here we really see events happening; most other scenes simply talk about events happening.

Freud’s theories revolved a lot around the idea of sexual repression as the source of neurosis. As such, sex is discussed frequently in A Dangerous Method, though generally in an academic sense. There are also several brief sex scenes; you can’t seem make a movie about marital infidelity without them. The sexual content isn’t there to get a reaction from the audience; it really is pertinent to the story. But if you are offended by sexual imagery, discussion, or even partial nudity you may want steer clear of this film. Also because of this content, I wouldn’t recommend showing A Dangerous Method to young viewers.

A Dangerous Method isn’t what I was expecting from a Freud/Jung biopic, but it’s still a good drama. Even the details in costuming, lighting, and cinematography are impressive. If you don’t care for dialogue driven stories you may get bored with it. It would help to know something about psychoanalysis, or at least have an interest in learning, before seeing this movie. It’s a good movie that I think will appeal to only a small group of people, so I don’t recommend buying a copy or seeing it unless you are in that group.

What’s a dramatic movie about psychological problems that you thought was impressive? Comment below and tell me why!

The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review

We finally get to see the conclusion of an epic trilogy. Christopher Nolan has delivered to us two phenomenal Batman movies that I believe redefined superhero movies for us. They were more grounded and less flashy, they had stories with deep meaning, and discussed some philosophical ideas while still keeping us at the edge of our seats. So does The Dark Knight Rises (2012) deliver what we’ve come to expect from Nolan?

Eight years have passed since Batman (Christian Bale) vanished after taking the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent. Batman took the fall for Dent’s crimes, a move that he and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) both hoped was for the greater good. Criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed by the anti-crime Dent Act which was founded upon the lie of Dent’s pure reputation. That is, until a cunning cat burglar named Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) emerges with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous is the appearance of Bane (Tom Hardy), a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drives Bruce Wayne out of his self-imposed exile. But even if Bruce Wayne becomes The Dark Knight once again to protect the city that has branded him an enemy, Batman is no match for this powerful opponent.

Sometimes in a sequel, the movie will rush through some setting or character development on the assumption that you have seen the previous movies. That’s not an unreasonable assumption, but it makes for some pretty sloppy writing. In The Dark Knight Rises, key events from both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are still weighing heavily on the main characters. We see Bruce Wayne draw inspiration from events that caused him to don the cape and cowl in the first place. We see Commissioner Gordon grieving the fact he is protecting the villain who attempted to kill his family. These plot points are developed enough in this movie to be significant within their context, but if you haven’t seen the previous two movies you may not appreciate their impact.

Bane is an intriguing villain. I’ve seen Bane in other media; in the 1990’s Batman cartoon show, The Batman & Robin movie, and even in the recent Arkham Asylum video games Bane is depicted as being little more than an immensely muscle-bound thug. The Dark Knight Rises shows us Bane as he is in the comics; he’s highly intelligent and physically monstrous. There’s this menacing discrepancy between his voice and his physical appearance. Thanks to his mask he sounds almost like Sean Connery speaking into an Optimus Prime voice box. Hardy gained thirty pounds of muscle for this role. As if that wasn’t enough, we learn that Bane knows all of Batman’s tricks of distraction and leverage. Batman cannot face this guy and hope to win. He is a genuinely unstoppable menace and an outstanding villain!

Anne Hathaway brilliantly plays Salina Kyle, Catwoman. Unlike Bane, we don’t get to hear much of her back story. She is manipulative, smart, cunning, and sexy. She can really take care of herself; she’s just about as tough as Batman is. People try to take advantage of her or overpower her and she twists the whole thing around to her advantage, sometimes without her oppressors knowing it until later. Catwoman and Batman share a lot of similarities, which makes the dynamics between their characters really interesting!

The Dark Knight Rises is almost like a superhero movie without the superhero. Bruce Wayne’s alter ego, Batman, doesn’t show up a whole lot. When he does it's great, but this story is about Bruce Wayne having to become Batman again after his self-imposed exile. Thanks to Bane, Bruce has lost literally everything; his wealth, home, physical wellbeing, freedom, his gadgets and even his anonymity as Batman. There is nothing else that can be taken from him; he is at his lowest low.  It’s harder to become Batman again than it was the first time, but his wounded, emotional arc is deep and interesting.

The story in The Dark Knight Rises can be interpreted more politically than philosophically than the previous two movies. Bane is an anti-capitalist villain with a plan similar to the Occupy Wall Street movement to destroy Gotham City, and their only hope is an unpopular billionaire entrepreneur. I could see some viewers getting politically offended by the story, but I don’t really think that Christopher Nolan was going out of his way to make a political statement. I think Bane simply saw the flaws in the society of Gotham (namely the class discrepancy which was a plot device in the previous movies), drove a wedge into it, and let the world crumble around him.  You can infer political and philosophical concepts from any movie. People will get different meanings from the same movie based on their views. You shouldn’t write off this movie just because you see a political analogy that contradicts your own views. It’s still a good movie.

My biggest complaint is that the tone of The Dark Knight Rises was much more somber and even more depressing than the previous ones. In The Dark Knight, The Joker rigs two ferries with bombs and invites each one to blow up the other before they are blown up themselves. But the passengers on each boat refuse to kill the others, showing that even when faced with death they still choose to believe in good. In The Dark Knight Rises as soon as Bane shakes the foundation of the social stratification, the lower-class immediately seizes the upper-class with hardly any provocation. These don’t sound like the same citizens who refused to blow each other up eight years ago. The Dark Knight Rises shows us a much darker view of people, and it didn’t settle well with me. We also see Batman sink to his lowest low and stay there for most of the movie. We see Gotham essentially destroyed, and see people lose hope. Sure, we need to see a good conflict or the story wouldn’t be interesting. But so much of the movie is spent in a somber tone it almost becomes depressing.

The Dark Knight Rises was painstakingly well crafted to give us a satisfying sense of closure to the trilogy. It gets a little bit convoluted here and there, and the pacing slows down in the middle. It’s easy to get swept up in some political allegories. If you take it at its face value, The Dark Knight Rises brings the trilogy home with a bang, even if it doesn’t quite meet the exceedingly high standards of its predecessors. Catch this in theaters if you can; I may go see it again. I’ll be getting this on Blu-Ray to complete my trilogy.

There are a lot of movie Trilogies out there now; Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones, and The Matrix to name a few. Which is your favorite movie trilogy? Comment below and tell me why!

Osmosis Jones Movie Review

Do you remember being in elementary school and having to watch animated videos about the immune system? I recall germs being compared to criminals and white blood cells being compared to police officers. Evidently someone thought to take this concept and make a full length movie about it. Peter and Bobby Farrelly take their usually body function-inspired humor to a creative extreme in Osmosis Jones (2001) with a mixture of live action and animation.

Frank (Bill Murray) is an unhygienic zoo keeper, and a father of a bright young girl named Shane (Elena Franklin). Frank follows the “Ten-Second Rule” which dictates that dropped food is still safe to eat after ten seconds on the ground. But Frank doesn’t seem to consider the fact that his hardboiled egg had been in a monkey’s mouth and on the cage floor. The egg is crawling with germs, sending “The City of Frank” into a panic. At the Cellular level, we meet Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock), a maverick white blood cell cop working for The City of Frank Immunity Department. Also on the egg is deadly virus named Thrax (Laurence Fishburne) that begins terrorizing the city. Thrax is intent on becoming the next big viral disease, attempting to kill each new victim faster than the previous one. Meanwhile, Osmosis Jones teams up with a cold pill named Drix (David Hyde Pierce) that Frank took to try to combat his symptoms. They have 48 hours to stop Thrax before he destroys Frank.

Osmosis Jones flips back and forth between live action and animation. The scenes outside of Frank feature comedy actors like Bill Murry, Molly Shannon, and Chris Elliott, all Saturday Night Live alumni. Bill Murry is amazing in everything he is in, and he’s particularly good at comedy. I’m fairly certain that most of the scenes that featured Bill Murry were improvised. He’s amusingly gross and unsanitary. You’ll both cringe and laugh at his performance.

Roughly two-thirds of the movie is set in the fictionalized human body where anthropomorphic micro-organisms go about their business in the City of Frank. This is where the movie really shines. The art style is highly colorful and very creative. The animation looks slimy, goopy, and drippy. The characters move like blobs, rather than figures with a bone structure. The buildings sway and jiggle like gelatinous structures. Everything is just fascinating to watch.

The way the human body is depicted as a city is so creative. Various body parts represent different neighborhoods. The slums of the Lower East Backside, the stomach is the airport with regular departures for the colon, the Mafia hangs out in sweat glands in the armpit, and the brain is City Hall where Mayor Phlegmming (William Shatner) is planning his reelection against his opponent Tom Colonic (Ron Howard). Osmosis Jones and Drix gallivant all over the body chasing Thrax, yet the movie graciously avoids adventuring in the genital area.

There is a lot of bodily humor in this movie. In response to an inquiry about the housing shortage, Mayor Phlegmming announces the construction of a third chin. Tom Clonic’s campaign ad promises exercising and eating bran. There’s even a scene when Frank is trying to hide a runny nose which is pretty disgusting.  Yet it fits so well into the story and setting.

There are two stories going on here. Are they good? No, not really. It’s a very generic parent and child trying to bond in spite of different personalities and interests. It’s also a very typical buddy cop movie. Neither story does much to set them apart from others of their kind. While the plot is pretty standard and the characters are all common and predictable, the anthropomorphizing of cellular organisms is remarkably imaginative and the dialogue is usually witty.

Osmosis Jones is pretty good for what it is. Most critics seemed to dismiss it for its crude humor. I’m not a fan of crude humor, but I didn’t think it was a drawback. If anything the unconventional implementation of the crude bodily humor made it better. If you’re not too put off by Murray’s scratching and gas-passing antics, you’re in for an imaginative and eye catching tour of the human body. Kids will love the exciting action and the anatomical plumbing jokes and adults will enjoy the fanciful animation of this energetic movie. I recommend seeing Osmosis Jones and possibly buying a copy for your shelves at home; it’s good enough to see more than once.

Shaolin Soccer Movie Review

I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again; Americans should watch more foreign films. I still think most Americans are scared off by having to put forth the effort to read subtitles. Get over yourself and watch a good foreign film! I suggest seeing Shaolin Soccer (2001).  Shaolin Soccer is the top-grossing action comedy in Hong Kong history, and was a big hit in 2002 Toronto film festival. And with good reason; it’s hysterical! Stephen Chow co-wrote, directed, and stars in this movie that blend of sports, action, and humor.

Sing (Stephen Chow) is a modern-day Shaolin monk who is a master of traditional fighting skills. He’s renowned for his “leg of steel” techniques. But there just isn’t much need for a Shaolin warrior these days. He and his fellow monks earn their keep working menial jobs. One day Sing meets an old, washed-out soccer player, Fung (Ng Man Tat), with a desire to coach a soccer team that will win the championship. The two decide to combine Fung’s soccer knowledge with Sing’s Kung Fu expertise and take on the Hong Kong open cup competition. They gather Sing’s fellow Shaolin brothers, each with their own martial arts technique, and form Team Shaolin. Sing meets a nice young lady named Mui (Vicki Zhao), a baker with severe acne who uses T’ai Chi to make steamed sweet buns. Sing tries to help her gain confidence and come out of her shell. As Team Shaolin climbs the tournament roster they draw ever closer to facing Team Evil which is owned by the malicious Hung (Patrick Tse).

This movie is just hilarious. It’s rife with slapstick nonsense, goofy situations, ridiculous action reminiscent of anime shows like Dragonball Z, and some ironic use of melodrama that parodies old Kung Fu films. Shaolin Soccer is silly, but it’s a high-quality silly that I don’t see in comedy movies very often.

The story is simple and easy to follow. It’s even predictable here and there. As soon as you see the pizza-faced Mui, you know she’ll be a stunning beauty before the end of the film. The role she ultimately plays in the overall story isn’t anticipated, though. It’s also unexpected that Sing manages to get seven soccer players from his former monastic order to form a team. The movie’s opening scene involves a young Fung in his prime as a soccer hero getting his leg broken by Hung. Hung now rules the soccer world and owns Team Evil (that right, Team Evil). We know Fung is going to teach Hung a lesson, we know Team Shaolin is going to face Team Evil, and we know that Sing will get a chance to show the world how useful Kung Fu is. But we get to those points in unpredictable ways.

I’m not a sports person, but even I know these aren’t the actual rules for soccer. The silly humor and action is what’s driving the movie, not the sports drama. Players leap high into the air, performing impossible acrobatic stunts before kicking the ball. It reminded me more of the Quidditch games Harry Potter plays than it did soccer. Thanks to their martial arts training the ball is kicked so hard it catches fire as it flies through the air, sometimes digging grooves in the ground as it goes. It’s a whole lot like superheroes trying to play a game of soccer and causing the whole thing to get way out of hand. It’s not realistic at all, but the movie isn’t taking itself so seriously that this mockery of Newtonian physics ends up being entertaining rather than distracting or annoying.

Foreign comedies don’t always do well in other countries since humor is usually specific to the culture it came from; some comedy nuance gets lost in translation. Not so in Shaolin Soccer. It is full of surprises; from a ridiculous musical number, to the team of female soccer players trying to pose as men simply by wearing obviously fake Snidely Whiplash-style moustaches. Even with a few crude jokes thrown in, I think it’s probably safe for audience’s age eight and up. The humor is comical and unrelenting, and the action is ridiculous and fun. Of course I highly recommend seeing it in its original Chinese with English subtitles, but an English dubbed version is also available on the DVD for viewers who aren’t able to read as quickly. If you enjoy over the top physical comedy, you’ll love Shaolin Soccer. I recommend seeing it at least once. It’s worth owning if this is your style of humor.

Have you seen a really good foreign comedy? What was it and what made it so funny? Comment below and tell me all about it!

The Dark Knight Movie Review

When we last left our intrepid director, Christopher Nolan completely blew our minds with Batman Begins. He showed us that comic book movies can be more grounded and believable than what superhero movies have previously been. We were all psyched about the teaser at the conclusion of Batman Begins where Gordon shows Batman a “calling card” left by the new criminal in town. Finally, three years later, The Dark Knight (2008) hits theaters. We had high expectations, but we weren’t prepared for a movie this good.

It begins to appear as if Batman (Christian Bale), Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the remaining criminal organizations that plague Gotham City. Their partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to an unstoppable force of chaos. A psychotic criminal known only as “The Joker” (Heath Ledger) begins shaking things up, seeking to humiliate the forces of good and expose Batman’s secret identity. The Joker targets Dent and Gordon and contrives cruel tricks that pose moral dilemmas, while sending the people of Gotham into a panicked frenzy.

This movie is nothing short of amazing. The characters were complex, the story was fascinating, the acting was impeccable, the writing was phenomenal, and the direction was remarkable. The acting was so powerful that it doesn't let the outstanding special effects take center stage. For a superhero movie, it’s astounding how deeply the drama affects us.

The Joker has been Batman’s arch nemesis since the comic books came about and many actors have taken up the role, including Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamil to name a few better known ones. I don’t follow the comic books, but I’d hazard a guess that there has not been a Joker quite like Heath Ledger, who posthumously earned an Academy Award for the role. The Joker in The Dark Knight was unquestionably evil. He wasn’t just bad; he was also completely creepy and insane! Ledger’s delivery was extraordinary and intense. Everything The Joker did was full of subtle quirks and blatant gestures that make us viewers genuinely uncomfortable. After The Joker’s first threat video is aired on Gotham’s news station, you could hear a pin drop; we are so stunned by Ledger’s performance of a genuine madman. The laugh is genuinely scary and at times sends a shiver down my spine.

Part of what sets this Joker apart from those before him is that all of his actions are sadistically designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies. Batman has a code of ethics that he adheres to, so The Joker makes a public announcement that he will kill public officials every day until Batman removes his mask and publicly reveals his identity. Towards the end of the movie, The Joker rigs two ferries with bombs and invites each one to blow up the other before they are blown up themselves. Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent are posed with impossible ethical decisions, threatening the foundation of the Batman legend. There is enough meaty content in this film to philosophically analyze for days.

As for the scripting and dialogue, we get few of the usual jabs and banter most superhero movies have. The dialogue is psychologically evocative. Through dialogue we get an understanding of the situations and what the reasons for them are, all while developing the characters. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a script as well written as this one. I can’t help but relish it.

Comic book have been touching on deep fears, traumas, fantasies, and hopes for years. It wasn’t until recently that comic book movies have started reflecting this attitude. Nolan has again brought us a vision of Batman with a much broader scope of emotion than even the Tim Burton Batman movies did. These Batman movies have so much more gravity and are so relatable that you can’t help but be drawn into them. It’s not just about saving the world, or even the lives of innocent people. It’s about holding to your own code of conduct, doing what is right in your eyes, standing up to challenges, and not letting others get the better of you.

The Dark Knight was nothing short of amazing. I didn’t think movies were allowed to be as incredible as this one was. Once again, Christopher Nolan delivers a Batman movie that has a deep and meaningful story with interesting complex characters. It’s rare that a sequel is better than its predecessor, but this one certainly is! This one is worth owning. Go buy it right now. It is worth every penny. I have a copy on my shelf and you should, too.

Who is your favorite Joker so far? It could be from the movies, TV show, cartoons, or video games. Comment below and tell me why!