Reviews

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army I must admit right off the bat that I�m disappointed by the crop of superhero movies I�ve seen this summer. Originally, I wanted to see all six of them but that soon changed once I saw �Iron Man�. It left me severely unsatisfied while �The Incredible Hulk� just barely fed my cravings for ultra-violence. What else awaited me? �Hancock� and �Wanted�. I didn�t need to see those, thank you, and I crossed my fingers for a Hellboy sequel that would knock my dirty socks off.

My socks were on quite tightly in anticipation of seeing Bid Red once again. I knew it would take something special to impress me, as sequels don�t usually make it into my favorite DVDs, yet I reserved a special kind of hope for this one, having enjoyed the first Hellboy back in 2004. What bothered me most this time around is the fact that we, the viewers, are repeatedly patronized by the movie studios. Each sequel gives us the same treatment: develop the love story, make it seem like the main character will die by the end of the movie and throw in a couple lame gags for the lower-IQ crowd. Some of us have actually seen a lot of movies and we�re fed up with this generic garbage! But hey, if it�s a success at the box office, why stop there? Let�s make 8 of them! OK, that was a little harsh. The story wasn�t that bad, keeping in mind that most comic book adaptations are a lot worse (Superman 3 anyone?). We�re subjected to the developments between Liz and Hellboy, and although it holds no significant importance to the grandeur of the movie, it does provide a few chuckles, as well as a juicy hint about another sequel� The real reason we paid $12 to see this movie is to witness Hellboy destroy everything in sight, either with his gargantuan fist or his weapons. The real highlight in this movie, however, is the attention to detail. Guillermo Del Toro paints his prettiest canvas yet by creating the most visually stunning movie since Pan�s Labyrinth. The screen oozes with color and grandiosity, bringing us tantalizingly close to the myriad of characters Hellboy meets. The scene where he ventures into the troll market remains particularly vibrant in my mind. I was easily glued to the screen the entire time, trying to register every little detail that was projected back to me. Del Toro�s gutsy approach to filming and cinematography is one that more directors should employ.

So the entire premise is rather clich�d. Nothing here that hasn�t been told before. Yet by using the best visual elements from �Pan�s Labyrinth�, Del Toro stays true to the genre and entertains us to the end with an eclectic cast and creative action sequences. The success of the franchise will undoubtedly produce a third movie but a warning to anyone who hasn�t seen this yet: don�t expect the unexpected. Go in with a fresh mind, without expectations and you should thoroughly enjoy yourself.

Naked Lunch Radio

Fewer words, I imagine, strike greater fear in the minds of audiences and producers alike when the words "passion project" are thrown around. After helming three straight Saw sequels, long-suffering director Darren Lynn Bousman finally gets to cut loose creatively with his gory rock opera Repo, which evolved from a series of quickie stage improvisations courtesy of the film's writer/composers, Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich. Unfortunately, the film turns out to be more Across the Universe than Hedwig and the Angry Inch, eager to please but ultimately less than enjoyable for anyone not a devout enthusiast of its chosen musical framing – except in this case, it's a nostalgia-fest for turn-of-the-90's goths instead of baby boomers.

Bousman, to his credit, assembled an intriguing cast: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anothny Stewart Head (a stage veteran who's also appeared as Frank n' Furter in Rocky Horror), Spy Kids star Alexa Vega, elevator-music superstar Sarah Brightman, renowned character actor Paul Sorvino (Law and Order, Goodfellas), horror vet Bill Moseley, and, in a shrewd bit of meta-casting, tabloid magnet Paris Hilton. In much the same manner that reading the cast list seems to create a logic fissure in the universe, the film's disparate elements never coalesce into anything coherent. Ostensibly an elaborate comment on consumer society and celebrity obsession, Repo seems to serve mainly as a hyperactive springboard for a filmmaker overeager to prove his uniqueness.

Set in a cartoonishly grim future, Repo revolves principally around Nathan (Head), a "repo man" who impolitely collects organs from hapless citizens on behalf of GeneCo (led by Sorvino's sinister, dying Rotti), a massive conglomerate that swooped in to commodify healthy organs following a deadly epidemic of organ failures. His daughter, Shilo (Vega), is ill with the blood disease that claimed her mother, and is kept in unwilling sanctuary in his home. Meanwhile, Rotti's offspring (Moseley, Hilton and Skinny Puppy's Nivek Ogre) bicker, in an obvious nod to King Lear, over which one will inherit their decaying father's empire. Oh, and somewhere in the mix there's also Mag (Brightman), a celebrity singer with GeneCo-implanted holographic eyes who's trapped in a dead-end contract.

If the plot seems needlessly dense, that's because it is, and the film is crippled at the outset by its ludicrous number of characters and plot threads, never to recover. This undercuts both the plot's coherency – already tenuous at the outset – and the integrity of the performances proffered by its diverse cast. Particularly wasted is Moseley, who brings his character to slyly sadistic life, but doesn't get much chance to develop in his eight or so minutes of screen time. Others get shoehorned into thankless roles – Vega, who has Broadway experience and shows evidence of being a capable performer, is saddled with a bratty, shrill heroine, and Sorvino, as the film's principal villain, is never able to find a consistent tone either of internal anguish or righteous indignation, largely because he's provided with a few too many motivations relating to nearly every other character. The supporting cast is uniformly competent – including the widely reviled Hilton – but none besides Mosely leave much of an impression. Head's "repo man" suffers most - his character enjoys his grisly work at some points and is disturbed by it at others, simply at the film's convenience, making him useless either as a figure of scorn or sympathy.

Smith and Zdunich don't only botch the film's plotting but also its densely arranged musical score, which spends most of its time occupying a confounding space somewhere between Ministry and Evanescence that simply shouldn't exist. Occasionally, a novel vocal harmony or passably funny lyric will arise (particularly in scenes where Head and Sorvino duet), but none of the individual songs are at all memorable. There's an opportunity for redemption in the film's embrace of over-the-top satire near the film's conclusion (featuring a memorable moment where Hilton's character loses face a bit) but ultimately opts for a lame, sequel-ready non-ending. For all of the film's references and targets, its Vaseline-on-the-lens aesthetics, leaden musical numbers and generally witless approach keep it from joining the ranks of the beloved "outsider" musicals its creators so obviously worship.

Naked Lunch Radio naked-lunch.org

Definitely worth renting. Amongst all the Hollywood crap released week after week, I strongly recommend checking this film out. No CGI special effects but rather going back to the basics seen in old 80's horror movies. Decent script and acting for a straight to video release. Refreshinfly different, and even worth purchasing for DVD collectors. If there was an award show for straight to video releases, Deadbirds would be nominated if not win most awards. I realize that this is not saying much but trust me and just give it a chance. Definitely a hidden gem. I don't understand why it did not get any distribution in theatres.