Zeitgeist, The Movie - 2007

What It Is: Documentary about controversial conspiracy theories regarding Christianity, the 9/11 attacks, and the NWO.

Why I Watched It: I heard it mentioned on Hometown Tales just before a buddy said "it'll literally change your life."

What I Thought: Extremely thought provoking.

Any of you that know me already know my #1 rule for movie watching. Have No Expectations. Did you ever notice how many people don't say a movie was bad or poorly edited, but instead say they were "let down"? You can't be let down if you never expected anything from the film to begin with. Forgetting what you want or need the film to be and simply enjoying it for what it actually is is the key to being a movie slut.

That said, I'm guessing no one knows my #1 rule for documentary film watching, but it should be no surprise. Documentaries Are Biased. A documentary, and media in general, is biased because the people creating it are biased. It's human nature and it's unavoidable. Even an American made historical documentary about Napoleon's exploits of 200 years ago would be selling a completely different view than a French made film about the same events. Does this mean documentaries are pointless to watch? Absolutely not! It just means you may have to watch more than one to get the whole story. Zeitgeist in particular, is selling a fairly unique viewpoint. These views have been around for a while, of course, but not readily available.

What views are we talking about? Well, Zeitgeist posits that Christianity as a whole is just a poor mash up of the Egyptian religion and pagan astrology, but it's links to pagan tradition should be pretty common knowledge to most. The film then puts forth evidence that 9/11 was a False Flag operation. In all honesty, that was my gut reaction when I watched it live on the news and I haven't yet been convinced otherwise. The last section of the film covers the (not at all)Federal Reserve Bank, secret cabals of international bankers, and their plans to unite the world under a global government that would make Emperor Palpatine proud. This last part was completely new to me.

Zeitgeist was a lot of thought provoking fun. Much like a Michael Moore documentary, the film was heavy handed with its sales pitch. But just like a Moore documentary, Zeitgeist's particular pitch was a side of the story we weren't hearing anywhere else. With the media covering the "War on Terror" every day, it's nice to finally see another side of the coin. Hell, it's nice to be reminded that coins are two-sided to begin with!

Ready for the best part? Zeitgeist is completely free! Watch it online via the website or download it with Bit Torrent for free. Watch this movie, but retain your critical thinking skills and stay just as skeptical of their facts as you are of everyone else's.

Highlights: Far too many juicy bits to mention. The whole movie is chock full of conspiracy, cover-ups, secrets, and more.

Who Should See It: Free thinkers, conspiracy theorists, skeptics, and anyone that doesn't eat what's shoved in their face without first asking "Wait. Where did this come from?"

How Soon: Now! Why not? It's fucking free!

Hamburger Hill - 1987

What It Is: War movie about one of the most pointless battles of the Vietnam war.

Why I Watched It: A sucker for Vietnam films, I hadn't seen it years and recalled it being one of the best.

What I Thought: It's one of the best Vietnam movies I know of!

There are a lot of damn good 'Nam movies. What makes Hamburger Hill so cool, aside from the awesome cast and exceptional performance by Courtney B. Vance, is the film's tight focus. We don't see the soldiers at home and we don't follow them through Basic Training or anything else. We just see a couple days leading up to the battle and the battle itself.

I think it's this focus that allows the movie to cover so much more than battle alone. We see the aloofness of the command structure, we see the mistreatment of new soldiers, we see further mistreatment by protesters at home. Hamburger Hill is as much about the politics of the Vietnam War as it is about the actual battle. And it portrays both with equal prowess.

Great fucking war movie!

Highlights: All the colorful 'Nam slang, a great cast, meaningful violence, good drama, profoundly pointless casualties, and kick ass monologue after kick ass monologue!

Who Should See It: History buffs and war movie fans.

How Soon: Anytime.

Review Dump - March 2008

I can't remember the last time I was this busy. My schedule is just full and it's been hard to find time for reviews. Without including all the boring details, here's the first ever Movie Slut Review Dump. Perhaps I'll give some or all of these titles a proper treatment someday down the road. Meanwhile, I hope you don't find the temporary change of format too offensive.














The Bank Job - 2008
What It Is: Dramatization of a real-life 1971 bank robbery.
What I Thought: A damn fine hiest film.














Hell Comes To Frogtown - 1987
What It Is: Post-apocalyptic cult film starring Rowdy Roddy.
What I Thought: Terrible enough to be pretty fun.














Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte Des Loups) - 2001
What It Is: Werewolves vs. Native American martial artists, in 18th century France.
What I Thought: Ridiculous...ly awesome!














Night Hawks - 1981
What It Is: Stalone the cop chases Rutger the arsonist.
What I Thought: Good cop movie with a good villain.














Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-Hime)- 1997
What It Is: Anime about nature vs. industry/humanity.
What I Thought: One of the best Anime films ever!














Hard Boiled (Lat Sau San Taam) - 1992
What It Is: John Woo's last film before Hollywood.
What I Thought: Ranking #5 for the highest on-screen body count, what the fuck do you think? One of the greatest action films ever made!














Falling Down - 1993
What It Is: The Warriors with a shirt and tie.
What I Thought: Funny and frightening in the best possible way!














The Quest - 1996
What It Is: Van Damme and Roger Moore in a pulpy adventure flick.
What I Thought: Enjoyable when not taken seriously.














Perfect Creature - 2006
What It Is: The vampire film The Breed should've been.
What I Thought: Weak plot, gorgeous movie.











Planet Earth - 2006
What It Is: Most expensive nature show ever.
What I Thought: Best nature documentary ever!














The Beastmaster - 1982
What It Is: Classic sword and sorcery flick.
What I Thought: A little cheesy, but very very fun.














Targets - 1968
What It Is: Aging Boris Karloff vs. a psycho sniper.
What I Thought: A darkly enjoyable classic.














Doomsday - 2008
What It Is: Another Underworld/Equilibrium/Resident...
What I Thought: Just as good/bad as the movies it rips off.

Apocalypto - 2006

What It Is: Crazy Mel Gibson's chase tale set during the downfall of Mayan civilization.

Why I Watched It: I heard surprisingly good things about it from a handful of trusted sources.

What I Thought: The sources were right, it was surprisingly good! The movie follows one man's experience through the beginning of the end for Maya. Don't be thrown off by Gibson's name or the fact that it's subtitled. Apocalypto has a lot more to do with The Fugitive, Most Dangerous Game, or Running Man than it does with Passion of the Christ.

Apocalypto is an action movie and a good one at that. The Mayan language used throughout the film doesn't feel as historical as it feels primal. The movie's about survival, death, revenge, etc.

I also particularly like the film's theme of conquering one's own fear. It's a powerful message that's made considerably more powerful by it's delivery.

Highlights: Flint Sky's last words, "releasing" the prisoners, Jaguar Paw's rebirth as a hero, and the film's constant adrenaline rush!

Who Should See It: Action fans, Joseph Campbell fans, and anyone interested in one man's best guess regarding Mayan culture.

How Soon: Rent it anytime, you won't be sorry!

The Baron of Arizona - 1950

What It Is: A Vincent Price classic based on the little known true story of a con man that attempted to steal Arizona in the late 1800s.

Why I Watched It: I love con movies!

What I Thought: Vincent Price was incredible and the story of the "Baron" was so preposterous I couldn't take my eyes off the screen!

Anyone that doesn't know the Baron's story should definitely check it out. That dude had some balls!

Highlights: An outrageous plot made even more outrageous by being true!

Who Should See It: Old movie fans, Vincent Price fans, and anyone wanting to learn one of the weirder stories in US history.

How Soon: Save it for an evening of educational nostalgia.

Scaramouche - 1952

What It Is: A classic swashbuckling tale of love and revenge.

Why I Watched It: Scaramouche reportedly contained an "epic sword duel over 6 minutes long!"

What I Thought: It was surprisingly good. It more than entertained me and my roommate and we don't typically get excited about vintage Hollywood.

The story involves revenge and romance in pre-revolution France. I was reminded of The Count of Monte Cristo, but in all the best ways. The love story is fun in that old-fashioned kind of way, but the fencing in the movie really shines!

Highlights: Decent story, funny scenes involving the comedy troop, and an above par sword duel ranging through 5 different sets!

Who Should See It: Classic movie buffs and swashbuckler fans.

How Soon: Whenever.

Across the Universe - 2007

What It Is: A motherfucking Beatles musical!

Why I Watched It: See above comment.

What I Thought: It was amazing!

Across the Universe tells the story of Jude and Lucy, brought together in a bohemian enclave in New York and subsequently torn apart by turbulent politics surrounding the Vietnam War. Much of the story as well as inner feelings of the characters are conveyed through the singing of many awesome Beatles songs. Between the music and the images, the film might as well be a documentary on the raging political climate of the '60s.

The main cast was fantastic, doing all their own singing and acting as well as anyone. The treat was spotting all the star cameos throughout the film when Joe Cocker, Bono, and Selma Hayek popped in to sing a song here and there.

Across the Universe reminded me of Moulin Rouge in all the best possible ways except this film was a little easier to get into since the time period was much more real to me. I don't have any real sense of connection to the Bohemian Revolution in turn-of-the-century France, but 1960's USA I can understand!

Highlights: Star cameos, visual stylings, awesome imagery, and the best soundtrack you could ask for!

Who Should See It: Anyone that liked Moulin Rouge and everyone that likes the Beatles!

How Soon: Right now! It will make a great date movie, but it was equally awesome to see with just a group of friends.

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid - 1969

What It Is: A classic western loosely based on the pair of infamous bank robbers.

Why I Watched It: It's a classic that I've never seen, it was written by William Goldman (author of The Princess Bride), and it features Paul Newman before he wrinkled up and started selling salad dressing.

What I Thought: This movie was funny, dramatic, and very quotable. It was everything I wanted from a Hollywood classic and considerably more than I expected from a film made in 1969.

Paul Newman played an excellent Butch Cassidy, the 'thinker' and the leader of the Hole In The Wall Gang. His always clever character reminded me a lot of all the things I loved in Cool Hand Luke. Robert Redford played the lightning quick gunslinger known as the Sundance Kid. The movie didn't feature too much quick-draw action, but the bit of gun play it did have was more than satisfying.

Overall, the absolute coolest thing about Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid was onscreen chemistry between the two leads. They functioned as an awesome team, always watching the other's back, but they still shot each other wisecracks and snarky comments the whole time. It reminded me of some of my own favorite friendships, where the most heinous accusation possible is always known to be meant jokingly and the trust is unwavering.

Highlights: "Guns or knives Butch", the train employee with the worst luck, Sundance's lovely way of sugar coating everything, too much dynamite, and an awesome ending!

Who Should See It: Western fans, Newman fans (the acting, not the dressing), film buffs, and most others.

How Soon: Whenever you want!

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

300 - 2007

What It Is: A brilliant adaptation of Frank Miller's (Sin City) highly stylized graphic novel about a Spartan last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Why I Watched It: Cause it looked like Gladiator on speed!

What I Thought: Liquid awesome.

The movie was pulled scene-for-scene from Miller's book with some decent political intrigue scenes filling out what be a pretty short movie otherwise. Even Ephialtes' suicide was filmed but cut for pacing reasons (a decision I fully support this time around).

The action was incredible with the movie living up to every expectation I had from the trailer. Even the drama was successfully pulled off and resulted in me tearing up when King Leonidas died.

I can't say enough about the movie. 300 is not a movie to be discussed, it's a movie to be experienced. 300 is not an accurate historical documentary, it's a visceral rush of blood, guts, and glory!

Highlights: The stylishness, the action, the blood, the glory, the heroism, the Spartan awesome, and the scene-for-scene transfer from the graphic novel!

Who Should See It: Comic fans, action fans, and history buffs that aren't snobby.

How Soon: Watch this fucking movie! It's on DVD, buy the fucking thing!

300 (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Nomad - 2005

What It Is: A historical epic from Kazakhstan and the country's most expensive film to date.

Why I Watched It: The little boy in me loves to see sword fights.

What I Thought: It was good. I wasn't Braveheart good, but it was enjoyable, if a bit slow at times. Nomad didn't have any of the artistic license taken with recent Asian epics like Hero or House of Flying Daggers. It also didn't have any of the inserted pop music weirdness of Asoka.

The combat was fun, but I'll stick with Braveheart or even The 13th Warrior if visceral swordplay is all I'm in the mood for. The story was decent as well, but doesn't hold a candle to great epics like Hero. Nomad still kicked the shit out of schlock like Alexander though!

Ultimately, Nomad felt like a really strong effort that just didn't quite reach the mark. I'll definitely keep an eye out for anything else coming out of Kazakhstan, however.

Highlights: Mark Dacascos, Jason Scott Lee as a fun Obi-Wan style mentor type and brother vs. brother gladiatorial action!

Who Should See It: History buffs and other fans of epic action.

How Soon: You can take your time.