Moofies - Devilman, Superbad, After The Wedding, Cashback, The Number 23

A bit of a moofie catch up. I rented a few dvds over the last few days. These were those dvds.

Devilman is a live action version of an anime and manga that I remember being into in high school. It was very adult and dark and I thought it was the coolest. I remember my parents being wierded out that I had a comic book with a naked girl in it. They didn't read all of my comics or anything. I think they just picked it up because it had the word 'devil' in the title. That reminds me of another funny story. I used to go to church with my parents in this rec centre that was near the old sunday markets in Rockingham (for those of you who know what I'm talking about it was when church was at the P.C.Y.C.). This guy who was friends with my folks and I grew up knowing as Uncle Alistare had a comic stall at the markets and one time after church I bought a reprint of the first issue of 'Ghost Rider'. When we were walking back to the car from the markets my dad was like 'Hold it so that the back of the comic is showing. I don't want anyone from church to see the picture on the front'. I remember finding that hilarious even back then. Offensive skull on fire. Ooooo. Anyway, enough tangenting. The live action version of Devilman was whacko and great. Some digital effects that look cheap, but at the same time were extremely well used. A movie that starts with a normal high school kid and ends with armageddon. So epic and over dramatic and cool. I liked this a lot.

Superbad wasn't directed by Judd Apatow, but he produced it and it kind of wears his stamp too. It's a movie with a bunch of dirty jokes (mostly dick jokes) that I found amusing, but it's also filled with likeable characters and a well structured story. It's kind of like 'Dazed and Confused' if it was set in the present and was more focussed on humour. I really dug it.

After The Wedding is a danish movie that was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. I have to say, I have no idea why. It was okay, but it just kind of felt like a dramatic soap opera idea slapped on an almost arty film. I didn't give a crap about any of the characters except this little orphan kid who was only in it at the beginning and the end. Pretty forgettable.

Cashback (below) is an odd film. You know how normally the first act of a film is pretty good, and it's not until later on that the film lets you down? This one breaks that rule. This film started and I was yawning. Some guy breaks up with his girlfriend of 2 years (who is the new Bionic Woman RORW!) and can't get over it. Boo Hoo! I didn't care. It was just annoying. Then he gets a job at a 24 hour supermarket. That's when this film shines. If the whole thing took place in a supermarket I would probably be writing a glowing review. The film has a lot of nudity going on too. There are whole segments about the main characters obsession with beauty of the female form. I didn't mind all that so much. It was mostly well done, but the humour in the film was VERY 'Ralph' magazine, and it just didn't mix well with what could of been a really decent film. There's also a soccer scene that goes for waaaaay too long and I just didn't care. There are some fantastic visuals in this one and some great effects so if this person directs anything else I'll check it out. I just hope and pray it will be a film written and edited by someone else.



Last of all is the latest DVD release for Joel Schumaker, The Number 23. There are some film makers that I just have to watch. Shcumaker is one of them. He wierds me out. He flies from making these odd action movies, to camp Batman movies, to pretty solid but a little odd dramas. I just have to see what he does. I don't know why. i just do. So this 23 movie is about Jim Carrey reading some novel about a character who is obsessed with the number 23 and he becomes obsessed himself. It isn't as awful as it sounds, really. For almost the entire running time it had my absolute attention. The 'twist' at the end kind of made sense, so that was okay. This just isn't my kind of movie. I'm kind of sick of twist movies. The obsession part is semi interesting I guess, but the best obsession movies I've seen so far were Zodiac and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford from last year. Those were both great films that I highly recommend. The Number 23 was a fun way to kill 93 minutes.

jej