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Invader_J
Reviews
18 Fingers of Death! (2006)
Great idea, but...
The idea of a mockumentary on creating a stereotypical low-budget martial arts movie is great. This movie definitely had some potential - some of Lew's lines on the aspects of these martial arts movies are great! But the whole thing is just too corny to be genuinely funny. Silly celebrity sound-alike names really take away from the celebrity impersonators ("Steven Seafood"? Why not just like, "Steven Seagull," or just use his real name? I think laws on parody would have had them covered).
Add to that very poor editing, with lines obviously recorded afterwards and edited in (they even overlap what the on screen character is saying) and a "fart fight" scene, and the whole thing just goes down the chutes.
It's really unfortunate that some of the best scenes are in the trailer! It opened promisingly enough ("I'm Deadly Thug #1!") but just couldn't keep up. Worth a rent maybe, but that's about it.
Running Scared (2006)
Holy Freaking Cow.
I went to see this movie expecting nothing more than an action flick involving the mob - Paul Walker trying to get some piece of evidence back. No big deal.
What I got was one of the most bizarre, twisted, multi-subplot movie ever. This flick is going to be a cult classic, shown at midnight screenings all over the place.
Mix up a bunch of great movies such as A Clockwork Orange, Reservoir Dogs, Fight Club and more, add some David Fincher-style directing, and you've got Running Scared. While it more than borrows from it's predecessors, it never rips them off and creates an oddly unique picture.
Make no mistake - if you want "cinema" you're in the wrong place. This is pure, unadulterated over-the-top entertainment, and is more than worth the price of admission. The trailers do a great job of hooking you with the "just an action flick" look, then surprises you with a huge storyline covering multiple characters, multiple subplots and some of the most _bizarre_ situations one could ever run into - in real life or in fiction.
Paul Walker, whom I've disliked since Fast and the Furious, definitely cuts it as a badass. The supporting cast is equally good - Vera Farminga is fantastic and definitely lives the part. Johnny Messner is great as the unhinged Mafia prince. Both the kids, and especially Cameron Bright are perfectly convincing despite all the strange goings-on - I never once thought "yeah right, a kid is going to do that."
This movie is not for the squeamish not faint of heart, and while it does push the limits of what could be considered "acceptable" entertainment, it all balances out in the end. Even the end credits are incredibly strange, but really satisfying as once you see them, you see exactly what the filmmakers were trying to do, and that they knew _exactly_ what they were doing.
Don't listen to the critics - if you're any sort of movie-goer, you need to pony up the cash to see this movie. Love it or hate it, it's worth seeing. If this review sounds like I'm overly praising it, it is just that I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing - that's how much "stuff" it throws at you. Sure, the characters were somewhat cliché, but it didn't matter - it was all about the wild, ridiculous, often unbelievable story.
I'm glad I saw it, and I think you will be too!