Saturday, January 13, 2007
Movie Reviews: PAN'S LABYRINTH & IDIOCRACY
In theaters
PAN'S LABYRINTH
To escape from postwar repression during the fascist regime in Spain in 1944, Ofelia, a lonely kid living with her mom and adoptive father, creates a dream world filled with fantastic creatures.
Cast Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez, Ariadna Gil, Maribel Verdú, Alex Angulo,
Roger Casamajor (more)
Director(s) Guillermo Del Toro
Writer(s) Guillermo Del Toro
Status In theaters (limited)
Genre(s) Drama
Release Date Dec. 29, 2006 — limited; Jan. 12, 2007 —: top ten markets;
Jan. 19, 2007 —: wide release
MPAA Rating R - for graphic violence and some language.
Review:
Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is a wonderful adult fairy tale. This film is defiantly not for children. It's resembles the original Grimm fairy tales, not the Disney saccharine versions, which mostly were populated with frightening creatures and a nightmarish dreamscape. Del Toro's previous foreign language film, The Devil's Backbone, was a fine example of the director's talent and creativity. His American films, Hellboy Blade 2, have been good but rarely match what he's capable of doing when not restrained by Hollywood. Here Del Toro perfects his craft, giving us one of the most imaginative brutal and original films of recent memory. This film has the ability to frighten through a perfect sense of foreboding created by beautifully atmosphere settings and scenes. This masterwork is acted to perfection by the Spanish cast with Sergi Lopez giving us the most sadistic and cruel solider since Ralph Fiennes Amon Goeth in Schindler's List. Pan's Labyrinth is a true gem especially when the cinematic landscape is littered with such a lack or originality and creativity, one of the best films of the year.
A+
On DVD
IDIOCRACY
Put in a cryogenic sleep state, a regular Joe (Luke Wilson) wakes up 1,000 years in the future and discovers that the world has become so stupidly oversimplified that he's the smartest man on the planet.
Cast Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard (more)
Director(s) Mike Judge
Writer(s) Mike Judge, Etan Cohen
Status Coming soon to DVD
Genre(s) Comedy
Release Date Sept. 1, 2006 — undisclosed theaters
DVD Release Date Dec. 19, 2006
MPAA Rating R - for language and sex-related humor.
Review:
I'm not particularly sure why Fox hates Mike Judge. All he's ever done is give them 11 seasons of the hit animated show King of the Hill and the massive cult hit Office Space. Still, for some reason they chose to bury his first film since the wildly popular Office Space. After watching this film I still don't particularly understand the thinking. Idiocray is a biting satire which holds no punches as it mock our lowest common denominator commercialized society by extrapolating our present state to the nth degree. The film is both funny and a great example of social satire on steroids. While some satires try to place its message between the lines this film place it right in your face and unashamedly dares you to ignore the truth behind the matter. Idiocray is still a Mike Judge film and there is plent of potty humor here, he did create Beavis and Butt Head after all. The cast does a good job of playing it with a slight wink and nod and are effective. The film's plot, which plays like a live action Futurama lose a bit of steam near the end but by then it's message has been delivered. This film my have been buried but it was done for all the wrong reasons.
B+
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