MOVIES!!

Nothing but awesome movies this week.

Red Cliff is epic Woo. The drama is as over the top as the action. Which is as it should be. Lots of shots of dudes staring off into the distance. Lots of mulling, contemplating, introspection. But also lots of grand gestures. Lots of musical instrument playing. Lots of knowing smiles. Everything is so big. So big. Even the little moments.

But then there is even more goodness. The females in this movie are actually important. They contribute to the plot. They have character. They're not just pretty and helpless. And the planning! The counter planning! Epic battles as chess!

I loved this film. I had a smile on my face for basically the whole run time. Which wasn't as much of a problem as I had feared. I saw the American version, the two and a half hour version, not the four hour two part version. But the cuts weren't obvious, the film still flowed fine. It wasn't all just action chopped together willy nilly. But I look forward to watching the super long version just for more Woo-y goodness.

Woo!

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is insane. It starts out kinda kooky, then veers into its own special version of a typical police procedural, then it goes shitballs retarded. Just gloriously unhinged. Which is helped enormously by Nic Cage's performance. After this movie, you'll wonder if he was actually partaking of all the drugs he takes onscreen. Cuz I don't think Herzog would have a problem with that.

The day after we (friend and wife and me and wife) saw this film, my friend texted me "I think I love that film." I had to agree. We texted back and forth about all sorts of awesomeness. And we decided that Nic Cage is best when he is paired with a filmmaker as insane as he is. This film is a match made in heaven.

But it's not a film for everyone. My wife almost walked out of the film. Whereas as I was giddy by the end of the film. And man, that ending. Man!

The ending may well be the worst part of Black Dynamite, but it had built up such good will with me that I didn't really care. And it has an awesome beginning. I was ready for a sequel about 15 minutes in.

This film is, of course, a spoof of the blackspoitation films of the 70's. The main problem with this film is that it veers between the sublime spoof of Wright/Pegg (Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead) and the dated parody of Zucker Abrams Zucker (Airplane et all). The film was awesome enough that it didn't need to have boom mics visible in shots.

Black Dynamite, the character is awesome and he is well supported by the rest of the cast. And the music is just perfect. I want the soundtrack. I wants it!

I highly recommend all three.