Cinema Outcasts » leFrenchie

Shaun of the Dead

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Tired of zombie movies yet? Well here is one movie that my make you think twice about judging a movie by the presence of zombies in it. Zombies have become like special effects; remember all those movies with tons of big special effects, but no story whatsoever, most zombie movies are like that; however, Shaun of the Dead, is a movie about zombies, it is a movie with zombies in it; to be more specific the movie is a romantic comedy a la Sleepless in Seattle, in a world infested by zombies, and for most of it, Shaun of the Dead is closer from Sleepless in Seattle, than from Dawn of the Dead. The story penned by Simon Pegg who plays Shaun and Edgard Wright, tells about the failing relationship, between, Shaun, a clerk in an electronic store, and Lizzie, the archetype of the girl next door. Is Humanity going to survive another zombie outbreak? Will we find a cure? If you’re expecting to find answers to those questions, you might be disappointed, but you wonder how Shaun will get Lizzie’s love back, then you will probably enjoy this brilliant comedy.

Amelie

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:58:48 +0000

There are movies that come and go in Life and there are movies that haunt you, lingering in a corner of your soul waiting for a moment of sorrow to remind you that if you need them, they are here to make you feel better; Amelie is one of those. It’s not your average feel good movie, it’s a lucky charm, and ode to Life, the kind of movie that goes beyond Cinema and reaches into poetry. Amelie depicts the simple yet unordinary life of Amelie Poulain, portrayed by Audrey Tautou, who lives in a Paris filled with fantasy and colorful, yet adorable characters that makes leaving the world created by visionary director Jean‐Pierre Jeunet, very difficult.

The Name of the Rose

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:39:59 +0000

Umberto Eco is the one writer that can talk about the dark ages better than anyone, and his novel, the Name of the Rose is without a doubt the apogee of his writing, that’s why the movie directed by Jean‐Jacques Annaud and starring Sean Connery and a very young Christian Slater, is a marvel that controversial nature keeps away to be mainstream, despite being an absolute cinematic masterpiece. Guillaume de Baskerville, portrayed by Sean Connery, is an educated monk with a trouble past, who is summoned in an abbey where evil has claimed the life of a few recluses; opposing reason to blind faith in a time when inquisition was an oppressive and dominant force that ruled; the movie is never hiding or trying to put to the sides the dark themes from the story, quite often stinging at the demonic side of religions.

Battle Royale

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:53:24 +0000

Welcome to the dark world of tomorrow, where the Japanese government proclaimed the Battle Royale Act, which is a Life lesson taught to high school seniors; every year a class is taken on a deserted island, and each student needs to survive by killing his classmates, and staying alive. This premise is probably the most sadistic yet brilliant fable of what the world has in store for us… If being in high school was bad enough, this tops it all: it’s time to see the true nature of relationships between classmates, and to settle old rivalries. Brilliantly executed film, with an exquisite Takeshi “Beat” Kitano as the class professor; this movie is really a delectable gore fest, with a cynical sense of humor that not anyone can enjoy.

Vanilla Sky

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:42:44 +0000

Based on the movie “Abra Los Ojos”, Vanilla Sky doesn’t fall into the remake pitfalls; quite the contrary, it brings the story to a new height. Penelope Cruz reprises her role from the original movie and is joined by Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell and Jason Lee, under the direction of Almost Famous’ Cameron Crowe who brings his musical sense to direct this intriguing and surreal movie. Whatever you are expecting, whatever you believe this movie is, forget everything you think you know and open your eyes. This is a movie about Love, Life, Friendship, Sex, Jealousy, and what they are all worth. When you’ll wake up from this movie you will be haunted by the beautiful images of it, and the marvelous soundtrack which gather Paul McCartney, Radiohead and Sigur Ros, just to name a few.

Scream

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:31:27 +0000

To quote a song heard in Scream: “Save a prayer for the youth of America”, because the mind who brought us a Nightmare on Elm Street and the Last House on the Left, Wes Craven, teams up with the creator of Dawson’s Creek, Kevin Williamson to redefine the slasher movie. To put it back in context, the years leading up to the release of Scream the slasher movie genre almost got instinct due to the predicting storylines and the growing disconnect with the fears of the teenagers at the time compared to what movie executives were believing were the fears of youth. That’s when the master of horror stroke back to deliver a smart horror movie to his core audience, who took the movie that no one really was believing in and turned it into a cult movie for the post grunge era youth. Scream breaks many rules of the slasher genre, and that what transcends it; it takes a master to know what rules to bend or break, Wes Craven is that skillful in his craft.

Planet of the Apes

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:34:27 +0000

Movies that stand the test of times are a rarity, it’s even truer with science‐fiction movie, but the Charlton Heston timeless masterpiece is a different breed of a movie; despite spawning a slur of sequels, and spin off tv shows; the original Planet of the Apes, got stuck in popular culture thanks to a brilliant final plot twist photographed with brilliance, with imagery that is printed in the collective consciousness.
Under the simple premise of an astronaut crash landing on a planet where man is the animal and the ape is the dominant specie, lays a philosophical fable about human society, from the futility of war to racism, with a hint about the debate over evolution. The movie is filled with themes and ideas, that forty years later still resonate, and are still as valid now as they were then.

Romeo + Juliet

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:36:35 +0000

When thinking about Shakespeare’s plays, we imagine fancy costumes and decors drawn in classical music; Baz Luhrmann’s vision is far off from those cliches while being the adaptation the truest to the text. Romeo played by Leonardo Di Caprio will fall in love with Juliet portrayed by Claire Danes, and the two star crossed lover will have a tragic fate in the fair Verona, yet thy old English speaking lovers are living in the middle of a gang war between gun blazing, car hopping Montagues and Capulets, and the soundtrack of their lives range from Radiohead to Garbage. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, is a labor of love, where every set piece, every frame, every costume, every musical note is put together with care an attention, in order to put a dazzling rendition of the theater masterpiece.

Fight Club

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:28:47 +0000

Let’s break the first two rules of Fight Club, which is not to talk about Fight Club; Fight Club is a mind blowing roller coaster directed by one of the most gifted director of his generation, David Fincher and starring the absolutely brilliant Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. The movie follows Edward Norton’s character through his social and mental descent into an anarchist underworld created by Tyler Durden… Penned by the twisted mind of Chuck Palhaniuk, this controversially yet very esthetic movie will echo when it comes to the uneasiness of leaving in a pre‐formated and apathetic corporate world.

Bender’s Big Score

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:31:35 +0000

Futurama is back!… straight to DVD, the love child of Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening and David X Cohen, is coming back to life like a zombie robot from its space grave; and it is not a regular half assed bargain bin quality release, but an outstanding feature that will rejoice the fans as well as setting new standards when it comes to approach time travel in a storyline. Quick recap, Philip J Fry, a pizza delivery boy from the 20th century is frozen to awaken in the year 3000, and befriending, alcoholic and cigar smoking robot, Bender, and falling in love with mutant cyclop Leela. In this 2 hour episode, after losing the Earth to scammers, the secret for time travel is discovered on Fry’s ass, and that’s when mischief starts… What happens when you send a homicidal maniac robot back to 2000, can you escape fate, who is responsible for Al Gore losing the presidential election, what was the secret of time travel doing on Fry’s ass, what happens with time paradox? All those questions will be answer with a logic that will leave nerds in an estatic state as well as scratching their heads.