Slashers and Sequels

Slashers ~ Presented by Fangoria, Slashers is the ultimate Japanese game show crossed with The Running Man and a bucketful of gore. Really, what more do you need? There are enough beautiful Asian girls in short skirts any anime fan happy and enough blood and gore to thrill any torture porn Saw/Hostel fan. If you can take it, Slashers is an entertaining look at reality television and humanity in general, but it’s also an exercise in extreme bad taste that needs to be watched with a sense of humor – a sick one. That said, I liked it, a lot. And of course it’s got the catchiest theme song of any flick in a long long time. You’ll be singing it for days afterwards.



The Lost Boys: The Tribe ~ What a disappointment. If you’re going to make a remake using the same plot as the original with different characters, don’t call it a sequel. Especially when it’s a movie that people have been begging and waiting for a sequel to for decades. This makes me wonder whatever happened to the Lost Girls script that floated around Hollywood for so long. There are no surprises here, nothing you haven’t seen before, and seen better – especially the Two Coreys. Give this one a miss.



WarGames: The Dead Code ~ There was considerable, if a bit under the radar, promotion for this one – most notably a preview that premiered alongside the 25th anniversary showing of the original WarGames in selected theatres this summer. Wired magazine even had a write-up that interviewed many celebrities, of the political, technical and Hollywood type, regarding how the original affected the world when it first came out. After watching the new one, I doubt they’ll be doing the same thing with it in twenty-five years, or ever.



While it tries very hard to be cutting edge and in the moment, it is also very much the same formula as the original movie. And so, while it’s well done, if a bit predictable, I have the same problem here as with Lost Boys, is it really a sequel if it’s the same plot with different characters? Like I said, it’s well done, possibly worth watching on free cable, but don’t pay for it.

Quickies 5-31-2007

"Afro Samurai" - Almost anything with Samuel L. Jackson is a good time as far as I'm concerned, and this English translation of this oddball anime is no exception. Jackson voices the hero as only he can, backed up by Ron Perlman as the villain and Kelly Hu in the small role of the girl. What at first seems like any mindless nonsensical manga actually has an edge and some classy M. Night surprises, so keep sharp while you watch. Blaxploitation meets Ralph Bakshi meets Toshiro Mifune. This is definitely worth a look.

WarGames - I just recently caught this one after not having seen it since its theatrical release. What seemed brilliant to a teenager now comes off as amateurish and just a bit preachy. It's still fun however to see the young Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy.

Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story - Long title, I sure hope the review is longer than that at least. This rushed-onto-the-small-screen telemovie was written and directed by John Herzfeld who has also done stuff like "The Ryan White Story" and "The Preppie Murder" as well as a couple Afterschool Specials. It's not all good and true though, he also directed 15 Minutes and 2 days in the Valley. This story seems to take Joey Buttafucco's side in the infamous Amy Fischer story. Fischer is played with hysterical histrionics by Alyssa Milano, late of "Who's the Boss." This is not one of her better moments.

The Good German - This was advertised as a good old-fashioned film noir, it was even filmed in black and white. The flick, set in post-war Nazi Germany, does all the right noir tricks but it's scarred by current day language and violence. Tobey MacGuire does a sinister turn worthy of an Oscar as a complete bastard. Cate Blanchett eats up scenery like an early Bette Davis and George Clooney (of whom there is far too little) mugs for the camera when he's not getting beaten up. The plot is complex but compelling, must see.

Everything Is Illuminated - This touching story of an obsessive accountant, played by Elijah Wood, who tries to find the woman who helped his grandfather escape from the Nazis sometimes feels like the love child of Pedro Almodovar and Borat. Although it's funny and bizarre where Borat was simply insulting and hateful. It's also a must see though.