There is a condition called Anteretrograde Amnesia whereby a person who has suffered traumatic brain injury cannot form new memories. They can remember things from before their trauma, and can form temporary short-term memories, i.e. they can carry on a conversation and even learn new skills but this new information soon fades and they no longer recall anything from after their trauma. So that would suck.

But if you’re a Japanese college student the obvious solution to this crappy situation would be to join your school’s pro wrestling team. Igarashi was a fan of pro wrestling before his accident and once he joins the team it gives him a sense of purpose and focus. His love of the sport keeps his spirits high in spite of his disability and though he can’t remember any of the moves he learns, his body remembers and he is able to perform them when needed. (My online research indicates this is indeed realistic).

“Gachi Boy” is a screwball, sports comedy and it is quite amusing, sometimes cheesy and over the top in that classic Japanese way (overdone facial expressions and whatnot) but because of the unique protagonist it also turns out to be a genuinely touching story of overcoming adversity. Not that I was crying during the climactic final bout or anything. *cough* I swear I have a heart of stone.

[rating:35]

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Let’s see… how should I put this? “Infection” is… not good. It’s a play for one thing, not a movie, so right away one goes in with a seperate set of expectations. It’s billed as a zombie play to boot, and having seen “Evil Dead: The Musical”, maybe I went in expecting too much.

The concept sounded great; it’s the story of a group of actors rehearsing for a show (a play within a play, how meta!) who are then attacked by zombies. Well, hot diggedy damn, it sure took fucking long enough for the first zombie to show up. First of all, the house lights never went down, so it was sort of awkward for the audience because we weren’t quite sure if it had even began, which wasn’t helped by the false start due to technical difficulties. Then it was just a series of little singing/dancing acts that were horribly paced. Seriously, some dude behind me commented to his companion that the pacing was shit and all I could do was silently agree. I kept waiting for the zombies to show up and at one point looked at my watch out of exasperation, only to realize that an hour had already gone by! One hour in and NOTHING had happened yet!

But I feel bad trashing this show because the thing is, I thouroughly enjoyed myself. Some of the show-within-a-show acts were really amusing and I laughed my ass off. Others were more painful but overall I was entertained. And when the zombies finally showed up things continued to be hilariously entertaining. I mean, still no narrative whatsoever, but lots of good fun.

I must also note that there were a few moments of innovation, with a drop screen showing video footage being used to nice effect. Again there were some technical difficulties but the actor playing the unseen “sound guy” improvised his way through them beautifully.

It’s a home-grown production. The brainchild of Isabelle Stephen, Quebec’s scream queen (who knew?) So I wanted to like it. I wanted to support local talent. It’s just, you know… not that good.

I have a few other complaints but there’s no point going into them. It is what it is. So all I can say is: good effort.

[rating:25]

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Have y’all been watching this thing? It’s awesome. By Buffy creator Joss Whedon and starring Neil Patrick Harris! Whoo! It’s free this week but coming down tomorrow so go watch it now! It’s seriously good. Hilarious and fun! 5 niqueheads!

[rating:50]

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It is the near future and organ failure is rampant. Enter GeneCo to finance organ replacement. And then enter RepoMen who reposess organs from those who can’t pay their installments.

This movie musical is based on a stage play and I kind of wish I would have seen the play instead. I love musicals and I love horror so I really like the idea of a musical horror but it’s tough to pull off. I think it’s pretty inevitable that musical trumps horror and the mere presence of showtunes takes away any scaryness that might be present. Sweeney Todd is an example of this. Sweeney Todd however is rolicking good fun. But in the case of Repo, the pacing was just too frenetic for me to keep up with.

In every musical I’ve ever seen the musical numbers are spaced out and tempered by spoken dialogue that acts as narrative but also as transitions between the musical acts. Repo makes it clear why these breaks are necessary. No such breaks were present here and my head almost exploded from the lack of downtime. All dialogue is sung and that sounds cool and innovative in theory but it just didn’t work. There was no time to calm down and absorb anything that happened because as soon as one musical number is over the next begins. I can see where the writers and director were going with this as I realize the over-the-topness is part of the point. It is meant to be high energy and chaotic and wild and it is but maybe I’m just too old and withered to be able to handle it.

As I said, I’d be curious to see the stage play because it might be more effective in that environment. Sometimes music just works better live and stage musicals are fun in a way that movie musicals have a tough time recapturing. I also feel that the writing isn’t exactly genius level and some of the lines were a little clunky, although they might be more amusing in a play, which can be more exagerrated and deliberately silly.

But that’s not to imply this film is a failure. The art direction is stunning, and the costumes are spot-on. I really enjoyed the interspersped comic book panels as story-telling device (maybe because they provided the only “down” moments in the whole film). Overall the look and feel of the film is cool and stylish.

The casting is hit and miss. It was great to see Anthony Stewart Head again (Gilles from Buffy) and surprisingly I found Paris Hilton to be perfectly cast (I almost avoided this film merely because of her presence but she is actually quite effective in her role). Sarah Brightman as Blind Mag is great and Ogre as Pavi was appropriately creepy but everyone else… meh.

Alexa Vega plays the main character and my opinion of her wavered throughout. Sometimes I felt her voice wasn’t ethereal enough for her appearance but then again, I guess the character as written is not really meant to be ethereal. She’s just a typical caged teenager who wants to be free and she embodied that sentiment quite well. It’s just that sometimes I wasn’t sure the typical teenager archetype worked for the pop-goth setting. And yet, the number where she rocks out about being seventeen is her best act in the show. So yeah. I’m all over the place on this one. Maybe I’m just tired of “girl victim” as protagonist. The stereotype is lazy and boring. So not really Alexa Vega’s fault there. Holy crap she’s tiny though. She and and some other actors as well as the director and writers were there to present the show and damn, on screen she looked normal but in person she’s like a miniature version of a real human being. Not that that’s relevant or anything, I was just stunned by her Poly-pocketness.

Anyhoo, if you like musicals and/or horror that is stylish but not actually scary in any way whatsoever you might enjoy Repo. It’s also worth it just for the coolness and originality but, you know, it’s not gonna win any Oscars or anything.

[rating:30]

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