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Potiche, a review by dfmorgan

Potiche

Year: 2010
DirectorCastOverviewWatched: 22nd. Oct 2011
My Thoughts: A wonderful gentle comedy. All three leads play off each other marvellously with general excellent support from the remaining cast. At times it almost descended into farce territory but managed to pull back from there and stay a lighthearted comedy.

My Rating: A wonderful 4



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on October 23rd, 2011)

The American Astronaut, a review by goodguy

The American Astronaut (2001) Written & Directed by: Cory McAbee Starring: Cory McAbee, Rocco Sisto, Greg Russell Cook, Annie Golden, James Ransone DVD: R0-US Facets (2005) My rating:

Cover Blurb: SPACE TRAVEL HAS BECOME A DIRTY WAY OF LIFE dominated by derelicts, grease monkeys, and hard-boiled interplanetary traders such as Samuel Curtis. Written, directed, and starring Cory McAbee of the legendary cult band The Billy Nayer Show, this sci-fi, musical western uses flinty black and white photography, rugged Lo-Fi sets and the spirit of the final frontier. We follow Curtis on his Homeric journey to provide the all-female planet of Venus with a suitable male, while pursued by an enigmatic killer, Professor Hess. The film features music by The Billy Nayer Show and some of the most original rock 'n' roll scenes ever committed to film.

When I said Star Trek it is not in the What'ya-got-thread, I didn't know the half of it. Described as a black & white sci-fi/western musical, I guess I expected something like "Firefly: The Musical", but even if you can picture that, it would still be way too conventional. And just to make note of it, the movie premiered in early 2001, nearly two years before Firefly.

Anyway. Words like eccentric, absurd, eclectic don't even begin to describe this oddity. The plot has Sam Curtis (played by Cory McAbee), a smuggler and the titular hero, do a complicated series of tradings in the hope to get rich. A black cat, a real-life-girl in a music box, and the-boy-who-saw-a-woman's-breast are the goods that are exchanged on a journey from Ceres to Jupiter to Venus, with a side-stop in an actual barn floating in space.

Still with me? The villain of the piece is Professor Hess (Rocco Sisto), who is also the narrator and has an unexplained history with our hero. Hess is a guy who kills without reason, which means, he can't kill you if he has one. Oh, and it's his birthday, as he likes to tell everyone.

The black & white visuals are as simple as they are stunning, with a strong expressionist touch. The special effects are decidedly lo-tech (a disintegrator pistol turns bodies into heaps of sand that are thrown from off-screen) and the space travel transitions are done via series of static paintings. The music numbers are probably best described as country-punk, mostly with nonsensical lyrics. It is absolutely exhilarating - if you are in that sort of thing. The performances are bold with a slightly amateurish feel, and I mean that in a good way.

The movie is an unbelievable and insane ride almost from beginning to end. It only fails to get full marks due to some really bad patches after the first hour, but it soon finds its footing again.

Trailer and Clip

Below are the trailer and a clip of the first song that happens in the movie (to give you an idea of the music numbers).






(From goodguy's Watch Log on January 6th, 2010)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Kingpin

Pilot
As the family leader Tio Jorge deteriorates in exile, the next generation of a powerful drug cartel family strategizes to take over 'La Corporacion', a multi-million dollar business. Stanford-educated Miguel Cadena is poised to take the reigns, but Jorge's son Ernesto presents a challenge that requires the efforts of Miguel as well as his brother Chato and wife Marlene to confront. Meanwhile, DEA agent Delia Flores faces setbacks as she works her contacts within the drug world to close in on the massive cartel.



After the death of his drug lord uncle, Stanford-educated Mexican-American businessman (Yancey Arias) finds himself in the position of the leader of his criminal family. Throughout their dealings, he and his wife (Sheryl Lee) attempt to keep the facts of their business away from their 8-year-old son while they dodge the efforts of relentless U.S. authorities who want to take them down. Originally aired on US television, this six-part mini series, from NYPD BLUE writer/producer David Mills, received critical acclaim.

Overly glitzy, Hollywood glamour taken to mexico gangsters, this felt a bit too unbelievable and the leads were much too clean and perfect.
It was pretty graphic in places, the violence stronger than I anticipated, and the backdrops expensive and locations varied.
Unsure whether this is a stinker or a hit, will need to view a few more of these and see how the finale from the pilot evolves.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on September 28th, 2009)