DVD Review: The Spirit

Rated PG13 for comicbook violence and action, sexuality, brief nudity

Starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes

In Central City, the masked Spirit is a vigilante who protects the city. After a tip from the Detective that something big is going on near the docks that could include Spirit's arch-nemesis The Octopus, he rushes to the scene, where he finds the Detective dead and only 1 of 2 chests remaining. He also encounter The Octopus and the 2 duke it out for quite sometime until The Spirit is knocked unconscious, waken up a bit later at the hospital, appearing fully healthy despite being shot. Trying to find who killed the Detective and why, The Spirit finds a golden locket on the Detective's body that he recognizes as belonging to his childhood friend Sand Saref.

The Spirit, directed by Frank Miller, is reminiscent of Miller's previous work in Sin City, having the same stylized action and comicbook feel to it. The plot however, if you're not paying attention, can become a bit confusing as well.

If you enjoy comicbook films and liked Sin City, be sure to check this one out as well, as it's much of the same, but on a PG13 scale, otherwise, you're not missing much if you decided to skip this one.

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Rated R for language, gore and a brief scene of sexuality

Starring Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton, Bill Moseley, Nivek Ogre, Terrance Zdunich

I LOVED IT!

If you like musicals and/or rock operas check this one out. The music is really good - a lot of well known rock musicians contributed to it.

It's like year 2050-something, a plague started causing mass organ failure, but a company, GeneCo, arose to mass supply organ transplants, however you miss your payments and they send in the Repoman to repossess the organs. But that's only part of the story. The main plot of the story focus on 17-year old Shilo (Vega) who has been locked away in her room for most her life, as she has a rare blood disease she inherited from her mother's genes - she desperately wants to go outside and see the world, but her father (Anthony Head) won't let her. She thinks her father is a doctor, set on finding a cure for her disease, but she doesn't know his dark secret. Meanwhile, Rotti Largo (Sorvino), founder of GeneCo, learns he has a fatal disease and must soon pick an heir to his fortune and legacy, however he considers his 3 offspring (Hilton, Moseley and Ogre) to be embarassments and disappointments, not worthy of his inheritance.

It's by the guy that did Saw 2, 3 and 4, but it's not much like Saw at all, other than there's a few minor 'gory' scenes, but id say the gore is on par with Sweeney Todd, imo.

I never heard much from Sarah Brightman before, but man can she sing! Yes, Paris Hilton's in it, but she has maybe 15 min of screentime, at most, and is a minor character. Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the tv series) is one of the leads and he can sing really well too, as can Alexa Vega (the girl from the Spy Kids movies, all grown up).

It was a short stage show for years, but they finally we were able to make into the film they always wanted. Lionsgate didn't really do much to promote it though and it was only limited released in 5 cities for 1 weekend back in November and is now on DVD. Universal wanted it when the writers/producers/directors were shopping for a film studio to back it, however Universal said no musical if they backed it. Now Universal's making their own similar film sans singing.

So go rent it!!!!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Rated R for violence, overexaggerated gore, implied rape

Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Sacha Baron Cohen

Originally a Broadway musical, Tim Burton's take on this dark tale is quite well done!

Barber Benjamin Barker had it all - a successul job, a beautiful wife and a gorgeous baby girl. That is, until his wife catches the eye of Judge Turpin, who has Barker sent off to an Austrialian prison for false charges, gets the missus intoxicated and takes advantage of her, having his way, which in turn, we learn, causes the poor thing to seek poision to end her pain. The judge adopts their daughter, keeping her locked up in the house to keep her from 'the dangers of the outside world', spying on her regularly.

Fast forward 15 years, Barker has escaped from prison and is heading home to London, Fleet Street to be exact, where he takes up the name of Sweeney Todd and opens shoppe above Mrs. Lovett's dirty ol' meat shoppe. Learning of what has become of his wife and daughter, he seeks revenge and his sights are set on Judge Turpin, with plans of giving him 'the closest shave he has ever had.'

It's a great tragic story of what can happen when someone focuses solely on revenge and how it can destroy them and those around them.

Mrs Lovett's idea for a secret ingredient to boost the sales of her meat pies was a bit odd... one of the more humorous numbers in the movie was when they're having a picnic on a hillside, looking completely without color. Mrs Lovett (who had a silent crush on Todd/Barker back when he was married, as she was his landlord back then as well) is completely overwhelmed with the idea of living happily ever after with Todd - imagining them at the beach, enjoying a day on a porch, getting married at a cute little chapel, strolling along on a boardwalk, etc - although we can tell he's only got one thing on his mind - Judge Turpin's revenge.

It was a bit over the top with the exaggerated bloody murders (think "Kill Bill") and especially in the number where he's slitting throats left and right and Mrs Lovett's making meat pies with their 'secret ingredient' but in this day and age, it's not that uncommon in films of this nature to have it as such (I've seen worse).

*hopefully* Johnny Depps gets an Oscar nom for this one or Pirates this year and maybe he'll finally win one, as he definately deserves it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - he's one of the greatest character actors of our time! Why the hell has he not won an Oscar yet?!

On that note, Tim Burton was recently signed on to do Disney's 3D verison of Alice in Wonderland - I can't wait! If we thought Lewis Carroll's story was trippy and messed up enough, I can't wait to see Burton's take on it! Especially if it's gonna be in 3D!

300

Only Spartan women give birth to real men: 300 review
Screened 300 last night and omg was it awesome!

It's based off the graphic novel written by Frank Miller (same guy that created Sin City) and tells the tale of Lionicies (i butchered that i know), the King of Sparta, and his 300 Spartans that take on the Persians and Xereces army.

Lots of violence but very stylized, and yes, for all you guys, there's plenty of boob shots too.

Also had lots of funny one-liners, such as:

Messenger: What makes this woman think she can speak among men?
Queen: Because only Spartan women give birth to real men.

Solider: It's just an eye, the gods of graced me with a spare.

King: Spartans, what is your profession?
Soliders chant
King: Looks like I brought more soliders than you.

It was an awesome movie - very stylized and creatively done, and witty as well. If you like action movies, go see it. If you like artsy movies, go see it. If you like titties, I guess go see it *shrug*. If you like greek history stories, go see it. It won't disappoint you.