Summer of Sam

New from the most self-indulgent man in show business, Summer of Sam is about the Summer of 1977, when I psychopath calling himself, "Son of Sam" is taking orders from a dog, and knocking off people left and right. Rather than focusing on the law enforcement end, the movie follows several people in the disco and punk scene of the era, and the reactions and aftershocks the killer causes. With excellent characterization and acting, this movie is very watch-able from a human interest point of view. Although it does lag in parts, and was way too long, the movie was entertaining as a whole. There is also a cameo from none other than Spike Lee, who’s character was told, "I thought you didn’t like the Black people." Although only Lee would put such a blatant reference to himself in a movie, it was still on of the more amusing lines. The movie does have its share or humor, as well as gratuitous violence. My personal favorite part of the movie, however, was what I can only hope to be a shout out to an old Jimmy Stewart classic, the dog, who Son of Sam took his orders from, was named Harvey.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Sometimes movies get a rating that will kill their audience, such as South Park. Originally, the bastards at the MPAA gave the film an NC 17, a virtual kiss of death to a movie with a target audience of 13. Luckily for it’s creators, the rating was lowered to R just before it went to the theatre. The reason I go into this is, this movie is one of the first I’ve seen that actually deserved an NC 17. In addition to having the filthiest language in a film, "Fuck you, Uncle Fucker", to graphic sex (Satan and Sadam Hussein spend most of their screen time in bed), to several phallic references (You get to see Big Gay Al’s wee-wee). So if you’re youngin’ wants to go see it, you might want to pull the plug. However, if you are 13 you will probably think this is the funniest movie ever. Basically, the boys go to see the new Terrence and Phillip movie, which is completely vulgar. They then walk around town using the language they have just learned. This starts the parents in a war with Canada (T& P are Canadian). You have to respect Trey Parker and Matt Stone for being clever, brilliantly mimicking the plots of SP and T&P, as well as throwing a stab at everyone’s favorite Jar Jar Binks. Although the film was certainly funny, it should have been made a year ago, before everyone got sick of it, and it only needed to be about 45 minutes long, it basically should have been a two part episode.

Run Lola Run

I know what you’re thinking, I’ve never heard of Run Lola Run. That would be because it wasn’t made in Hollywood, hell, it wasn’t even in English. So, why, might you ask, would anyone choose to see a movie that requires the reading of sub-titles? Well, it’s called culture, and it’s something which Americans have no where near enough of. On top of expanding your horizons by going to see this movie, you will also get to watch an incredibly good movie. Lola must track down 100,000 marks (it’s German) in twenty minutes or her boyfriend, Manni, will meet his certain demise. Although it might seem implausible to turn twenty minutes into an hour and half movie, the director did so by creating three similar, yet totally different scenarios. Each starts with Lola running down the stairs, but the film escapes monotony by creating minor changes which completely change the outcome. During Lola’s mad dash for cash (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) she does things like bump into a lady. Depending on how hard she bumps her, the lady goes on to win the lottery, die or become a religious activist and so on. This movie is what Sliding Doors attempted, yet miserably failed. The techno soundtrack, and Lola’s ear piercing screams add to the tension, and make Run Lola Run an extremely exciting, suspenseful film.

Big Daddy