Image courtesy of (impawards.com)

Notable Cast Members:

Billy Crudup..……..FH
Samantha Morton..……..Michelle
Denis Leary……….Wayne
Jack Black..……..Georgie
Dennis Hopper..……..Bill
Holly Hunter..……..Mira

Film Synopsis:

Georgie: Does everything you touch turn to shit? Does this happen to you every time?
FH: (weeping) No wonder everybody calls me “Fuckhead.”
Georgie: It’s a name that’s going to stick.
FH: I realize that.
Georgie: “Fuckhead” is gonna ride you to your grave.
FH: I already said so, I agreed with you in advance.

When the main character of the film is named “Fuckhead” (Billy Crudup) you know you’re not in for a regular movie. FH is a lovable loser type character who stumbles through this film getting himself into one odd situation after another. A bulk of the film focuses on his relationship with Michelle (Samantha Morton) but that isn’t really what the film is “about.” In fact the film doesn’t really come off as being “about” anything and that’s the beauty of it.

As FH wanders through this film he meets a series of very colorful characters. He goes out with his drinking buddy Wayne (Denis Leary) to take the copper out of a house so they can sell it for drugs. FH goes on to work overnights as an orderly in a hospital with fellow orderly and drug addict Georgie (Jack Black in one of his finest and earlier roles). FH later finds himself in a rehab ward where he helps fellow inmate Bill (Dennis Hopper) shave. And finally FH winds up working in an old folks home and he meets Mira (Holly Hunter) and they save some pleasant moments together.

There isn’t much of a plot here, but that’s not why you watch it. Jesus’ Sons strength lies in its moments. FH and Wayne watching a topless woman parasailing, FH and Georgie helping a man with a knife in his eye, FH spying on a Mennonite family that he passes on his walk home. These moments are wonderful and fill you with a kind of childish glee that feels similar to that of what FH himself must be going through. It’s the kind of movie you can pop into your DVD player and just watch a scene or two to put a smile on your face.

FH narrates the film as well, guiding the audience through this seemingly pointless movie giving us insight into who he is and where he’s coming from in all of this. Even though he’s doing drugs and other illegal activities FH has a kind of juvenile naivety that just puts a smile on your face.

”We’ll breakfast on it’s haunches!”

The Story Behind It:

After seeing Almost Famous, my wife and I fell in love with Billy Crudup and wanted to see other films of his. At the video store we rented Jesus’ Son and Waking The Dead to see what else he had to offer. We were instantly entranced by flighty narration that Crudup provided the film. We were also sucked into FH’s life and the events that transpired throughout. We loved Waking The Dead as well, but it was Jesus’ Son that suck with us long after we saw it and I bought it soon after.

I’ve seen the film many times now and I love it more and more after each viewing. While it’s hard to pick a favorite scene, the one that always stands out to me is the time FH spends with Georgie. While driving down the road Georgie hits a rabbit. He stops the car, turns to FH and in a totally serious tone says, “Rabbit Stew! We’ll camp in the wilderness, and I nthe morning we’ll breakfast on its haunches!” Hilarious!

At the time Jack Black was making his way up the acting ladder as well and was still making an impression in small roles like High Fidelity and A Cradle Will Rock. Seeing him in Jesus’ Son cemented my love of him. Sure, he’s made some bad films since then, but nobody’s perfect.

The Director
Bob Clark

The Cast
Olivia Hussey……….Jessica Bradford
Keir Dullea……….Peter Smythe
Margot Kidder……….Barbie Coard
John Saxon……….Lieutenant Kenneth Fuller
Marian Waldman……….Mrs. Mac
Andrea Martin……….Phyllis Carlson
James Edmond……….Mr. Harrison
Doug McGrath……….Sergeant Nash (as Douglas McGrath)
Art Hindle……….Chris Hayden
Lynne Griffin……….Clare Harrison
Michael Rapport……….Patrick
Leslie Carlson……….Graham (as Les Carlson)

There are a few horror movies that have gone on the beaten path recently. The Wicker Man and When A Stranger Calls were relatively obscure titles until they were remade. Black Christmas is another one of those films. A remake of the classic 1974 trend setting film is scheduled for release this holiday season. So what makes Black Christmas worth checking out? Tons of stuff.

First off, Black Christmas is really the “first” of the modern slasher films. Like Dark City to The Matrix, Black Christmas serves a similar role in being a much less popular film that has some of it’s best tricks stolen by an arguably better film. Black Christmas is worth seeing simply as the missing link between Psycho and Peeping Tom and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween.

Black Christmas is the story of a sorority house that is being bombarded by horrible prank phone calls by a heavy breathing pervert. What is thought to be a simplistic joke at first turns out to be a horrible man who has broken into the attic of the house and is coming down to kill the residents.

Unlike Halloween, Black Christmas is just as much a mystery as it is a horror film. The film centers around the relationship of Jessica Bradford (Hussey) and Peter Smythe (Dullea). Jessica and Peter had been having some problems. Also, Peter may or may not be a bit crazy; so much so that he might be the person killing everyone in the sorority house.

Black Christmas doesn’t have as many scares in it as Psycho or Halloween, but it more then equals the creepiness of those other films. There’s a sense of dread that permeates the entire film. Black Christmas has some ugly scenes in it that are rather unsettling. It has one of the creepiest images in the history of film with it’s closing shot.

Black Christmas isn’t a great movie, but it is certainly a good film. There’s enough here worth checking it out simply for historical purposes. Unfortunaetly, the chances of the remake generating any interest in the original will be pretty minimal if the track record of remakes is to be believed. Don’t pass on this film if the remake sucks. You’ll be missing out on one of the most influential films in horror history.

The Film : Zulu

Notable Cast Members: Michael Caine, James Booth, Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson

DVD available on Amazon.com here

Film Synopsis :

The British Army has extended the British Empire’s reach to the furthest reaches of the globe. Upon taking control of South Africa they were met with resistance from many sides. Eventually the Anglo-Zulu War broke out in 1879 between the British and the Zulu nation, whose land had been taken over by the British. The film Zulu depicts the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, which took place on Jan. 22, 1879.

In that battle 139 British soldiers held off over 4,000 Zulu warriors. Admittedly the British had far superior military technology. It was a true guns versus spears battle. Ok, the Zulus did have some firepower, but it wasn’t nearly up to the standard of the British rifles. But with superior numbers it seemed the British were doomed to defeat, as reinforcements were unlikely for at least another day.

The Zulus kept pouring men towards the British, who were behind the walls of a small outpost. The British, running out of water, men and ammunition refused to surrender. The battle lasted 12 hours and at the end of it 11 British soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross.

The movie is based on a true story. No doubt some liberties were taken, but not being an expert on the Anglo-Zulu War, I am not one to point them out.

The Story Behind It :

The legend that is Michael Caine began with this movie. Ok, perhaps a bit of an overstatement but Zulu was Caine’s first big film role and brought him international acclaim. It’s pretty interesting seeing a young Michael Caine in the film, you can sure see the promise he has as an actor.

Not that Caine steals the movie, although I wouldn’t argue with people who claim he does, but the movie is more of an ensemble cast, as most war movies are.

Since the movie was made in 1964 one might think the movie would be dated 40 years later, but that really isn’t the case. Sure it might not have the special effects or technical quality of films like Saving Private Ryan, but it has some solid acting and real-life drama. I placed it in the honourable mentions of the Top Ten War Movies and it could have easily slipped into ninth or tenth depending on the day.

The movie really brings the audience into the action and you really feel the stress of the soldiers, who assume their death is only a matter of moments away.

The Film : The Tao of Steve

Notable Cast Members: Donal Logue

DVD available on Amazon.com here

Film Synopsis :

The Tao of Steve is an interesting film on two levels. On the one hand it’s a testament that the clichéd formula of the romantic comedy works when you have a strong story and good characters around it.

Steve focuses on Dex (Donal Logue), a part-time teacher who lives in a world of relative simplicity. He sleeps with anything that breathes, smokes pot on his off-days and gets to be the king of his domain with a plethora of roommates. Highly intellectual with a host of books that would put most philosophy majors to shame, Dex is the guy in college everyone thought was going to be something big and has wound up being the epitome of the phrase “wasted potential.”

Life is comfortable for Dex, as he moves from woman to woman by using the guide that serves as his gospel: be like Steve. All coolness, it’s supposed, stems from guys who are “Steves” like Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Steve McQueen. James Bond would be a Steve as well; Steve is the name for those guys who personify the ideal man. He’s cool and collected; never pursuing the girl yet always manages to get her. Dex has lived his life by the rules of this game, but when a woman from his past (Greer Goodman) comes into his life again, Dex has to reevaluate everything about his life.

It’s an interesting film that works on several levels. On the one hand it’s full of existential philosophy for the intellectual set; it’s filled with a lot of great things to think about when it comes to life. It’s also a well-written romantic comedy, as we follow the usual clichés and plot twists but the characters are so well-defined that it becomes a matter of great story-telling.

The Story Behind It :

2001 was alternately one of the best years of my life and one of the worst as well. I graduated from college that year, joined the work force, bought a car and became close with a friend of mine I never expected to. Shoulder surgery, some ill-advised decisions and a whole lot of alcohol made a lot of things in my life much more complicated than they were supposed to be.

I had ripped apart several ligaments in my shoulder in the fall, which effectively prevented me from working out as well as placing me in the worst frame of mind. I was 21 and lived with a couple guys who brought out some of the baser instincts in me. I stumbled home to the greater Chicagoland area in May, nine months of drinking and skirt-chasing effectively closing a chapter on one part of my life. My grandmother had always said that God and a good woman was all I needed in life; I suppose that interpreting that to mean many pitchers of beer followed by playing the age old game of “I am drunk, you’ll do” to whichever highly intoxicated sorority girl had the most relaxed morals of the night was perhaps the wrong one.

So when I came home from what is now my Alma matter I was in a pretty bad place. Couple that with a pretty massive shoulder reconstruction, one that has left me a massive scar on my right shoulder to go with some limits on the range of motion that keep the shoulder socket in joint, and my year was a roller coaster. Once I was cleared by the doctor to go back to working out after the physical therapy in mid-July, I had nothing to do but look for work and find something besides working out to fill my day. So, being low of cash, I opted for the next best thing: renting movies at Blockbuster. Being a relative novice at to what was good and what wasn’t left me at odds; video store clerks are generally people whose opinions I still don’t trust, so I did what any sane rational human being would do. I scoured the aisles looking for something that looked cool.

One day I was cruising through the aisles, having exhausted the section devoted to action movies, and stumbled on a film whose title directly related to what I was reading at that point. I was reading the “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu. Plus the back cover sounded roughly interesting, so I plopped down some cash and walked back home. I watched it twice that day, and the next day shelled out the cash to buy it on VHS.

This is one of the few movies I own on VHS as well as DVD, as it combines some great philosophy with a well-acted plot. It’s a romantic comedy, and pretty paint by numbers I whole-heartedly admit, but the philosophy is sound and the message is good.

Notable Cast Members: Ryan Phillippe, Benicio del Toro, James Caan, Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, Juliette Lewis

Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie

Film Synopsis:

“For the record I’ll call myself Mr. Parker. My associate will be Mr. Longbaugh.”

With those words, Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio del Toro) take the audience on a wild journey as they decide to go in search of the fortune they felt due them in Christopher McQuarrie’s modern action masterpiece, The Way of the Gun.

Parker and Longbaugh are a couple of drifters, looking for the big score. While at a sperm bank trying to make some quick cash, they overhear one side of a phone conversation about a surrogate mother for some rich folks. And that’s all it takes: “some deep pockets, a pregnant woman, some bodyguards… and a doctor’s name.”

Parker and Longbaugh find the doctor mentioned in the phone conversation in the phone book, and stake out his office. When the surrogate mother, Robin (Juliette Lewis), comes out with her bodyguards Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt), Parker and Longbaugh make their play, only to find out that the bodyguards would rather kill Robin and the baby than lose her to kidnappers.

Parker and Longbaugh make their escape, followed by Jeffers and Obecks, who tell Robin to go to the top floor of the building. But instead she tries to escape but gets found by Parker, who grabs her and takes off. Obecks and Jeffers follow, only to be injured in a car wreck when Parker and Longbaugh crash into them.

Parker and Longbaugh call the family that Robin’s surrogate mothering for. But what they don’t realize is that the man they’re blackmailing, Hale Chidduck, is a major mover in the underworld, the man who washes the Mob’s dirty money. Chidduck sends out his cleaner, Joe Sarno (James Caan), to retrieve Robin and the baby. Jeffers and Obecks are also looking for Robin, as they realize that she’s worth nothing but her child’s worth everything. It all boils over at an old Mexican presidio that’s been converted into a brothel, as everyone converges, with Robin’s child and a $15 million ransom the big prizes.

The Story Behind It:

I was a monster fan of The Usual Suspects, and while Bryan Singer had kept his name out there with Apt Pupil and the news he would be directing X-Men, his partner in crime Chris McQuarrie had been preternaturally silent. So when I heard about his new flick, I was giddy to see it. Then I found out it had Ryan Phillippe and the dude from How Stella Got Her Groove Back in it and I began to lose my ardor for seeing the film.

Good thing I didn’t totally lose it.

The Way of the Gun is a film I love discussing with people because, frankly, I think most folks missed the point. This flick was the ultimate deconstructionist anti-action Action flick, sort of how The Wild Bunch was for Westerns. With this flick, McQuarrie was showing people that there was absolutely nothing glamorous about guns and violence.

The way he worked was amazing, as he took every conventional Action cliché and turned them on their heads. He has an ultraviolent gun battle in the beginning of the film that leaves corpses strewn all over a parking lot, but the bulk of the battle happens offscreen, leaving the particulars to your own imagination as you hear the hail of bullets. There’s a car chase that occurs that goes at the speed of an AARP convention, as the cars crawl through the alleyways at less than 5 MPH. When the ransom call is made and Longbaugh demands $15 million in small bills, he’s told that would weigh a couple tons. And at the end of the day, youth and vigor are outdone by grizzled experience.

Sadly, most people would completely miss the point of the film, complaining about the action sequences and the apparent lack of motivation of the two leads. Well, guess what? Most crimes are impulsive in nature, rarely planned well. What McQuarrie did was to pull the veil off the glorification of violence, showing us that it’s never as fun as it looks.

Call me an evangelist, because I’m preaching the virtues of The Way of the Gun. It’s a film that can set you free, just as it did me.

Image courtesy of (amazon.com)

Notable Cast Members:

Tsutomu Tatsumi……….Seita (voice)
Ayano Shiraishi……….Setsuko (voice)

J. Robert Spencer……….Seita (voice: English version)
Rhoda Chrosite……….Setsuko (voice: English version)

Directed By: Isao Takahata

Film Synopsis:

“Sept. 21, 1945, that was the night I died,” is the opening line of this heart wrenching film. We see a young man, Seita, skinny from lack of food, sitting alone in a bus station. He is dirty, he is worn down, he slides to the floor and utters a name with his last breath, “Setsuko.” Outside the bus station the spirit of a young girl sees him and goes to run inside. This is Setsuko, Seita’s four-year-old sister. A hand falls on her shoulder, stopping her. The young girl looks up to see Seita. Brother and sister are reunited and with that we go into flashback and the astonishing story of Seita and Setsuko is told.

When their small Japanese village is fire bombed by the Americans during WWII and their parents are killed, this brother and sister must survive by any means necessary. But as we learn from the first moments of the film, there is no happy ending for these kids. Seita does everything in his power to keep his sister’s spirits up and her stomach full. But he is powerless to stop the inevitable.

This hardly seems the proper story of a cartoon and one might ask: why didn’t they just make this live action? I don’t think this film could have been done live action. You could never find a girl to play Setsuko. No one could play the pain and anguish that Setsuko goes through. Also, if made live action it would easily be rated R and would limit the amount of people who can see this phenomenal and important story.

It’s not an easy film to watch, and not for everyone, certainly not a movie to show little kids. But it’s an important film that I think everyone should give a chance. It shows a side of war rarely, if ever, seen in cinema.

Seita and Setsuko collecting fireflies.

The Story Behind It:

I’ve never been an anime fan. In fact I used to make fun of my roommates who watched anime in college. All that changed when I saw Spirited Away in the theater. That movie blew me away and made me think that there might be more to anime that I previously thought.

So my wife and I went to Blockbuster to check out the anime section and see if anything else looked interesting. I picked up the DVD you see pictured above. My wife and I were both intrigued so we rented it. While we watched the movie we were both silent. By the end the tears were streaming. This movie moved me in ways no live action film could ever dream of doing.

This is one of the most powerful war films I’ve ever seen. You keep hoping and praying that they make it, that though all their hardship and struggle that something good will come of it. Anyone who watches this film and doesn’t cry has no soul. Seriously.

I’m still not a huge anime fan. I pretty much stick to later Miyazaki films and Grave Of The Fireflies, which was also produced by Studio Ghibli. But I rate Fireflies as one of my all time favorite movies, so that’s a start.

Notable Cast Members: Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida Sahar, Mohamad Nader Khadjeh, Mohamad Haref Harati

Directed By: Siddiq Barmak

There’s been a slight glut in recent memory about films dealing strictly with the Taliban, either directly or indirectly. While a film that is almost universally praised like United 93 focuses strictly on the effects of terrorism in the United States, there’s been a few films made about the culture of America directly effecting the Middle East. Turtles Can Fly is a brilliant film about the constant despair found in Iraq, both before and after the fall of Saddam Hussein. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Osama, a film set in Afghanistan before the Taliban fell. Without one mention of the United States, Osama is a piece of art that is absolute justification for taking down the evil of Taliban. It is a brilliant film that really resonantes with a Western audience.

Osama at its core is a film about survival. In Taliban controlled Afghanistan, a family of women is starving simply because the Taliban will not allow them to be out on the street, let alone working, without a man. The family has to disguise their daughter as a boy to try and make some money to avoid starving. The girl shaves her head and takes on the name Osama.

Osama is a rather beautiful tale as it mixes three stories. The film at its core is a discussion of the dangers of being female in the hateful culture of the Taliban. Thankfully, it never devolves into simply saying “all men are horrible”. Instead, Osama stays relatively neutral with its regard for men. The evil men in this film align themselves with the Taliban.

The second narrative that emerges from this film is the journey of young men into the Taliban. Osama is lumped into a militia camp for boys. The film reveals something that could easily be pigeonholed as brainwashing but is much closer to a system of valid beliefs being perverted into something hateful. Osama shows the Muslim religion as an ever present force in the film, but it is being used simply to control and harm a ton of people.

The third narrative of Osama is that of being a child and how drastically different it is in Afghanistan. There is a perversion of the family in Afghanistan in that the child is providing for the mother and the grandmother. There is simply something upsetting to our American sensibilities in that a child is being tossed into a terrible and awful situation under potential death to try and stave off death.

Osama ends in a way that this story can only end. Osama is the individual story of an absolute tragedy of humanity. The film never develops into a world picture, other then one female photographer from France who is caught and executed. Instead, it provides the audience with a uniquely isolated picture of the evil of a society as a warning. This was the first film made in Afghanistan by an Afghan director and crew since the Taliban fell. Knowing that they are regaining power in that country is a terrifying prospect. Osama serves as a document of abuse, an abuse that should never be repeated. Sadly, with Afghanistan’s current political direction, this real life horror looks to potentially be oozing back into Afghanistan. Try watching this film remembering that this is an Afghan vision meant to be exported to the West and just imagine that horror being repeated again and again. It’s a terrifying reality that is brilliant in presenting a truly ghastly picture.

image courtesy www.wikimedia.org

Notable Cast Members: Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow, Charlton Heston

Directed By:John Carpenter

Film Synopsis:

Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow), a best selling horror writer, vanishes just before the release of his newest book. A book which, it turns out, is driving anyone who reads it insane. His publisher (Charlton Heston) hires investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) to find Cane, and sends along They end up in the supposedly fictional New England town of Hobb’s End, where Trent discovers, despite his initial disbelief, that they have indeed stepped into the living embodiment of Cane’s literary world. And it turns out this is a not a safe world to be in: the townspeople are populated by psychotic maniacs at every turn, including the kindly old innkeeper, who keeps her husband chained to the floor.

And the worst is yet to come: Cane is opening a door between his world and one that is populated by unspeakable monstrosities. These horrifying, unimaginable beings are set to be loosed upon the “real” world, bringing with them chaos, madness, and utter destruction. If you’re expecting a last-minute miracle happy ending - think ago, bucko.

The Story Behind It:

This movie came out in 1995, and barely made a dent in the box office: it ended up grossing only $8,946,600 in the U.S. So, it can definitely be counted as one of John Carpenter’s true “failures”. But it did succeed in being the only modern movie that attempted to transmit a Lovecraftian feel to its audience, and succeeded.

Lovecraftian horror is extremely tricky to pull off correctly, because it does not rely on what modern audiences now recognize as “horror” - there is almost no blood or gore required, nothing jumping out of the dark, no cheap tricks to get the audience to jump. Instead, the entire genre is based upon the idea that there are creatures in the universe so great and powerful that we humans, despite what we consider to be all of our accomplishments, and despite all of our vaunted technology - we are nothing to them. We are mere specks, to be given no more notice than an insect. Humankind, in Lovecraft’s world, is absolutely and irredeemably doomed. In the movie, the reason for Cane’s success as a writer has been his ability to tap into some of the power of these beings, and to transmit them through his writing. Of course, exposure to this level of power is bound to drive its readers insane.

My personal experience with the genre comes from the fact that, between the years 1996 and 1998, I ran a Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) game based upon Lovecraftian horror, with Xanodrian Productions Inc. (Currently, they only run a Medieval Fantasy game - the Horror genre was closed up soon after I resigned.) Shortly before I took over the genre, the guy who had founded the genre mentioned that In the Mouth of Madness was his opinion of the perfect Lovecraftian LARP game. So, out of curiosity, I rented the DVD - and then bought it for myself the very next day. The mix of suspense, horror, and comedy - combined with the fact that it was one of the few movies I’ve watched where I literally had absolutely no idea what was coming next - completely hooked me.

My take on the genre (since I wrote and ran almost every game during my time there), was heavily influenced by this movie (in fact, we had a game with a character locked into an insane asylum who had covered the entire room and his own body with black crosses and other markings, similar to how we see Trent at the very beginning and end of the movie). I also managed to wrap in other concepts that intrigued me, such as Neil Gaiman’s take on angels and demons from The Sandman, various occult groups such as the Freemasons, the Golden Dawn, and the Rosicrucian. and random Judeo-Christian influences. In fact, I ran a game based upon the idea of the Grail and what it actually was. (But, did I think to write a novel about it, and make a few billion dollars? No, of course not. And no, I’m not bitter. Not at all.)

Image courtesy of (impawards.com)

Notable Cast Members:

Michael Showalter……….Coop/Alan Shemper
Marguerite Moreau……….Katie
David Hyde Pierce……….Henry
Janeane Garofalo……….Beth
Paul Rudd……….Andy
Michael Ian Black……….McKinley
Christopher Meloni……….Gene
Molly Shannon……….Gail
Ken Marino……….Victor
Joe Lo Truglio……….Neil
Amy Poehler……….Susie
Zak Orth……….J.J.
A.D. Miles……….Gary

Film Synopsis:

If one has ever seen MTV’s The State, Reno: 911! or Stella then it’s easy to have an idea of what happens when you sit down to watch anything by these comic geniuses. With this film, these New York comedians set their sights on 80’s Summer Camp movies and went to town! Then they brought in some other funny actors to round out the cast. While there are plenty of nice things one could say about everyone in this film; the stand our performance award goes to Christopher Meloni who plays Gene, the camp cook. Usually Meloni is seen in very dramatic rolls like in Oz, so to see him do funny in not only refreshing, but has an element of shock to it that adds the humor.

While the plot of the film is not very important, there is one so I’ll tell you about it. It’s the last day of camp; Michael Showalter plays Coop, a shy counselor who has a crush on fellow counselor Katie (Marguerite Moreau). Too bad she’s got the hots for Andy (a very hilarious Paul Rudd). Meanwhile the Head Counselor, Beth (Janeane Garofalo) meets and falls for a college professor who lives near by, Henry (David Hyde Pierce). Lots of antics and craziness fill out the rest of the film leading up to the big event of the summer: the talent show, which is being produced by Susie (Amy Poehler).

Other subplots include: Gail (Molly Shannon) seeks the counsel of the kids in her art class to deal with recent divorce. J.J. (Zak Orth) and Gary (A.D. Miles) are shocked to learn their friend McKinley (Michael Ian Black) is gay! Counselors Victor (Ken Marino) and Neil (Joe Lo Truglio) take a group of kids on a rafting trip that turns disastrous! Also, Henry is shocked to learn that a satellite is going to crash on the talent show and only he and the camp rejects can save the day!

This movie is utterly ridiculous and will have you rolling on the floor the whole way through. One of the funniest moments in the film comes when a group of counselors go into town for an hour. This is perhaps the best montage sequence you’ll ever see! They do everything from robbing old ladies, to drinking booze and dipping into hard-core narcotics. Wet Hot also contains some wonderful non sequitur humor, like when Neil jumps on a motorcycle to ride back to camp he suddenly has a raging mullet. But once he’s off the bike, the mullet is gone. Not to mention, that if you’re watching the DVD there is an alternate audio track with extra farts for extra lowbrow humor, just in case the movie itself wasn’t enough.

The Counselors just kickin’ back!

The Story Behind It:

I remember back in high school when The State first aired on MTV. I was addicted right off the bat. I recorded every episode I could and watched them over and over till I had them memorized. Then I watched them some more. I didn’t cry when The State went off the air, but I was really sad. Sure Viva Variety followed, but it wasn’t the same, and it didn’t last very long either.

I continued watching my recorded episodes but I wanted more. I prayed to every deity I could find that those wacky kids called The State would bring joy into my life once again. Well, one of those gods must have listened, cause in 2001 The State crew reunited and delivered us this wonderful film.

I can honestly save I’ve watched this movie more than any other. When I bought it I watched it every day for a week, showing everyone I could the hilarious fart track.

Don’t know what else I can say about this film. It’s one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t, go out and rent, no, buy it. Yes. Go out and buy this movie right now. You won’t regret it.

Notable Cast Members: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, Mark Addy, and Shannyn Sossamon

Directed By: Brian Helgeland

Film Synopsis:

Will Thatcher (Heath Ledger) is a squire in service of Sir Ector, a knight who travels around Europe competing in jousting tournaments. Sir Ector’s not the best jouster and is broke, and it’s been a few days since his squires Will, Roland (Mark Addy), and Wat (Alan Tudyk) have eaten. But he’s made the finals of the latest jousting tournament, which means if he wins they’ll all finally be able to eat. But during a break in the finals, Sir Ector drops dead. If the tournament officials discovered that Ector had died he would be disqualified, so Will puts on Ector’s armor and competes in his stead, winning the tournament.

After splitting the winnings, everyone’s ready to go their separate ways, but Will has an idea. Jousting, he says, comes down to a battle of wills. He may not have much in the way of technique, but one advantage he has is that he’s not afraid to take a lance to his chest or head. He convinces Roland and Wat to stay and pool their share of the winnings, in order to train Will to enter other tournaments. Between the joust and the sword competitions, they’re convinced they can make a good living.

On the way to their first tournament they meet Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), walking down the road naked because of gambling debts. Chaucer, who is a writer of some skill (yes, the same Canterbury Tales Chaucer), tells the group that they will need proof of nobility for Will (now known as Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein), and offers to forge proof for them in exchange for clothes and food. Will agrees, and Chaucer joins their merry band as Will’s herald.

Will dominates and wins the sword competition, and makes the finals of the joust, but comes up short against Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell), who has never lost a tournament. Adhemar is the epitome of nobility: arrogant and cold-hearted, with a thin veneer of courtesy that, combined with his other traits, makes him all the more despicable. After the joust, Will proclaims that he will no longer enter the sword competitions, as the glory is only in winning the joust.

Will begins racking up wins on the tournament circuit, but it doesn’t satisfy him, as he never has to face Adhemar, who’s off at war, commanding a regiment for Edward, the Black Prince. He also has to deal with his feelings for Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), who has fallen in love with him but is unaware that he’s not really a knight. Everything comes to a head at the biggest tournament of the year in London. Can Will win the girl, the tournament, and his knighthood? Can he, as his father suggested, change the stars?

The Story Behind It:

Peter Travers is pretty much a joke as a credible movie reviewer nowadays, but he’s actually the reason I saw this flick. A couple months before the film came out, I was at the theater seeing something else. In every movie theater they have the big cardboard stands advertising upcoming movies. Well, there was a stand for A Knight’s Tale, but all it was was a huge blowup of a review Travers had written about the film.

Now, as I was growing up Peter Travers had as big an impact in shaping my moviegoing habits as Siskel and Ebert. But as I got older I began noticing that he was shilling more and more crap, until it became hard for me to give him any type of credibility. Still, I was intrigued that he’d written so passionately about a film, that I resolved to check it out when it hit theaters.

A Knight’s Tale is probably best known for incorporating classic rock songs into a medieval setting. It could have easily been a one-gimmick flick. Yet, there were some strong performances in the film that elevated it above gimmicks. I’d never seen 10 Things I Hate About You, so I had no idea who Heath Ledger was. But he blew me away with his portrayal of a common man who refuses to settle for a common life. And my breath was taken away by Shannyn Sossamon, who reminded me of a slightly thinner Angelina Jolie.

But it was Paul Bettany who ran away with the film like he was being chased through Camp Crystal Lake by Jason. His portrayal of Geoffrey Chaucer stole the movie. And very close behind him was Alan Tudyk, whose name I was familiar with because he was a local boy (Tudyk went to high school in Plano, a suburb of Dallas). Chaucer and Wat had all the best lines in the film, and any time they were on screen I was guaranteed at least one belly laugh.

Every movie needs a good villain, and Rufus Sewell filled the bill admirably as Count Adhemar, the smarmy, slimy jousting champion who was the epitome of nobility, which didn’t say much for nobility. I’d wondered what happened to him, as I’d seen him in the criminally underseen Dark City and nothing since. But he was great here, perfectly counterbalancing Ledger and putting on one of the best villainous roles I’d seen in a while.

Sadly, not too many people went to see A Knight’s Tale in theaters, and then it got caught up in the David Manning quagmire (”David Manning” was a creation of Sony which they used to plant phony positive reviews for, among other films, The Animal and The Patriot). Most people assumed that if the film had a Manning review it must have sucked ass. How wrong they were. A Knight’s Tale has found new life on DVD and cable, which is great. But nothing will replace me seeing it on the big screen.