rev-ewe 15: A Town Called Panic

Pannique au Village (French: A Town Called Panic)
France
Stéphane Aubier


WOW. I loved this movie. It is as out there as possible, but absolutely hilarious at almost every moment of the film. I was absolutely blown away! I turned it on and thought 'gee this is cheesy animation' then right away I was laughing hysterically! The animation fits perfectly for the type of film and humor and everything that it is. While nothing in it makes sense, within its own world, it makes perfect sense. The voice acting was exceptional and beyond entertaining. The characters were so cute, the situations outrageously bizarre, the movie...awesome. Very funny and totally and absolutely worth watching.

All I can say about the plot is it is about a Horse, an Indian, and a Cowboy. And their adventures.

An absolute masterpiece. If you like strange, out there animated films, this is the one. The Mecca of WTF-dome. The Holy Grail of WHY-ianity. The third coming of LOL-esus! 102091 thumbs up!!

rev-ewe 14: He Died With a Felafel in His Hand

He Died With a Felafel in His Hand
Australia
Richard Lowenstein


Another film I'm not so sure about. Its good points were its sense of humor, aesthetics, and character development. Its low points were (for me) a meaningless story line, and a bit too slow. I know pace is not usually something I would complain about, but its lack of a story or even character conflict in addition to the slow pace makes it hard to watch without doing something else at the same time (I was doing laundry while watching, so I was able to keep going). Though, it does have quite a few points that are funny and interesting. The film felt influenced by Guy Ritchie style Snatch or Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels. The humor was quite unconventional but just the way I like it. The small story lines that exist are quite strange, but I can dig it.

It sortof follows one man named Danny and the various shared houses he lives in throughout Australia. There are 3 consistent characters beside him; Flip, an endearing drug addict.. Sam, his best female friend.. and another girl whose name I can't remember, but is some sort of ethnic European "chaos-freak". That's about as much as needs to be said about the plot.

While I enjoyed the humor and visual story-telling, I still don't know how I feel at the end of it all and it seemed a bit too unfulfilled to make me feel like it was worth watching. But, for the sake of seeing something visually interesting and having a film to laugh at, this film does the job. I recommend watching while having something else to do, and it will keep you going.

rev-ewe 13: Paradise Now

Paradise Now
Palestine
Hany Abu-Assad


Well. I am still contemplating this film but I feel like writing a review about it without completely coming to a conclusion (alliteration ftw). What I did like about the film was it showed how hard the lives are of Palestinians and how suicide bombing would seem like a logical solution. It made people who (especially in America) seem heartless and insane appear as human and loving people. This created such a dark contrast that made one question ethics all together. While it did follow a sortof expected path of a film about suicide bombers, it did it in such a way that it really made me think, which I truly appreciate.

Two men, best friends, have been chosen to execute a suicide bombing mission together in Tel Aviv. The two are ecstatic to make such a sacrifice for a movement they strongly believe in. When the plans face a sudden change, the two men become separated and suddenly their paths seem invariably altered.

The characters are interesting, camera work is beautiful... predictable, but probably worth watching anyway. I did not love it, I may grow to love it, but currently I'm at a 'really liked it'.

rev-ewe 12: The Maid

The Maid (Spanish: La Nana)
Spain
Sebastian Silva


Well this film was much more than what I was expecting! I'm pretty sure Netflix categorized it as a comedy, so when I started watching it I thought it would be funny.. Either the Spanish have no sense of humor, or Netflix never actually watched the film. I may just need to watch it again.. I guess looking back on it, it's sortof silly.. but at the time, it feels super intense. There's no exact plot line, but there is tension that builds and is sometimes released but at the end you feel good and fulfilled. It kept me really interested and it offered interesting little perspectives into power and family relationships.

There is only one setting, the house of a family where a maid works and has worked for 23 years. When she starts suffering major headaches and fainting, the family decides it's time to hire help -- but when the maid misinterprets this as an attempt to get rid of her, she pulls all sorts of antics to get rid of whoever is hired.

While talking about it with my dad, I realized this film is the complete parallel but opposite of the film Happy-Go-Lucky (incase you've seen it). More of a climactic understanding of the character rather than the plot. While I suppose the film can be looked at in a humorous way, for me it felt really psychological and intense.. but still really interesting! I'm going to tag it as a comedy incase other people get the humor, but it's not exactly the type of humor that is outrageously funny. Just in-your-head funny.

Oh, and plenty of boobs.

rev-ewe 11: In the Mood for Love

In the Mood for Love
Hong Kong
Kar Wai Wong


What a beautiful composition! Almost every shot, angle, and composition was extremely thought out. The pace is veeery, very slow... but I would not say boring, because it visually captures you, and the story itself keeps you interested enough. This is very French in the sense that there is no actual plot or typical conflict-resolution story. You just sortof follow the two main characters and then suddenly it's over. You still think about it long after it has finished and think 'wait.. was there a point? there must have been.. did I miss it?' and you think and think about it, which I think is successful for a film if it can keep you thinking. Definitely the strong point of the film was the aesthetics and visual story-telling. Much of the composition added to the development of the story, probably in ways only my AP literature teacher would recognize.

Set in 1960s Hong Kong, two couples move in next to each other and soon Mr. Chan and Mrs. Chow find out their respective spouses have started seeing each other. Sharing their loneliness, they spend much time together but vow to never act the way their spouses have been. Though the time they spend together is mostly innocent, they are more concerned about not being seen by others than their actual cheating partners are.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, the costume designer was FANTASTIC, and the characters are immediately known. Everything is very subtle and slow, but to the point. Definitely recommend watching it!

rev-ewe 10: The Price of Milk

The Price of Milk
New Zealand
Harry Sinclair


I'm on a bit of a New Zealand roll here, but this film may have different reactions from different people. I would suggest it to those who are down for a bit of a mindfuck, but it is a sweet mindfuck, if I may say so. I was not really sure how I felt about the film the first time I saw it, but after watching it a 2nd time (the fact that I even got to a 2nd time I think is saying something) I realized I really liked it. The direction is more than strange, and it takes such a bizarre way of approaching the topic of love. It probably does not work for everyone, and when I read the reviews on Netflix (Yes, it's on instant view! So, maybe give it a shot?) many people gave it a 'Hated it' rating and said things like 'New Zealand should stick to raising sheep and not making films!' A bit harsh (actually way harsh, considering LOTR came from NZ...) but clearly a sign that maybe this film really does not appeal to the masses.

The film, in short, is about a woman pushing her fiance to the limits to test how much he truly loves her. They live on a dairy farm, and one day she sells his cows to get her blanket back from an old woman (again, it's a bizarre film and it makes sense ..or not.. when you see it), which enrages him and strains their relationship to a breaking point.

I would completely understand if people did not like this film because I think it could be a bit much to take in, but in the end I think it makes for a nice statement about love and appreciating your partner. And did I mention Karl Urban is in it?? The mega-hot horse lord from LOTR!

I award this film 5 pairs of baby shoes.

rev-ewe 9: Sione's Wedding

Sione's Wedding (US title: Samoan Wedding)
New Zealand
Chris Graham


My friends from New Zealand probably will not agree with this review, but I actually loved this movie. Yes, it is typical boy humor -- but it was the right kind of boy humor that I could appreciate. While I did not spend much time with Samoans or Pacific Islanders, I can imagine this was a fairly accurate depiction. There was absolutely nothing to be taken seriously in the film and it was neither original nor thought-provoking, but for a light film it was more than just entertaining. If you are interested in watching something about New Zealand (and since Boy is still unavailable in the US) and/or Samoan culture, I'd suggest watching this movie. I found that a decent amount of people in NZ were not too fond of this film, but I think enough people liked it... and I like it.

Four friends -- Albert, Stanley, Sefa and Michael, are extremely immature adults who still love to party.. a bit too much. When one of their younger brother's is about to be married, the four are banned because of the amount of weddings they have already ruined from being too drunk. In order to attend, they must each bring a date to keep them in line, and the movie follows their attempts at wooing women.

Predictable, silly, but still totally worth watching. Not to mention 'Albert' totally looks like my grandfather did. And 'Michael' is played by the same actor as 'Maxwell' from Shortland Street! (a NZ tv show that is absolutely horrible, but I LOVE it.) It was hard getting used to seeing him be serious Maxwell after watching Sione's Wedding, but hey sometimes you just got to let things go.

Rating? 4 bottles of beer! Try and figure that one out..