Paul (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) (2011)

I was a bit hesitant about seeing Paul from the critical reviews and from the trailer, but found myself enjoying it quite a bit when I took a chance and saw it. There's a lot to see in Paul, and much like Galaxy Quest (1999), Paul both mocks its subject matter while at the same time treating it with both understanding and great affection. A lot of talent went into Paul and it shows. Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland, TV's Arrested Development) and written by Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, TV's Spaced) and Nick Frost, Paul hits all the right comic notes, skewering its target audience knowingly and lovingly.

What makes Paul work is that, at its heart, it's the ultimate scifi road trip. Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost), two major scifi/comics/UFOs fanboys from the UK, are visiting the US on a pilgrimage of sorts, hitting the biggest scifi/comics/gaming convention on the West Coast and making the grand tour of all the famous UFO-lore sites (Area 51, Roswell, 'The Black Mailbox', etc) in a huge honkin' RV. While on the road out in the desert, they witness a car spin out of control and crash. When they hurry to see if they can help, they come face to face with the classic little green alien with huge head and enormous oval eyes. Except that he's smoking a cigarette, introduces himself as 'Paul', and talks like Seth Rogen (mainly because he's voiced by Seth Rogen, absolutely the perfect choice for this role). Paul tells Graeme (Clive's fainted) of his need to escape the government people coming after him and the road trip is on.

The cast is great. Pegg and Frost are perfect in their roles as fanboys who've been buddies since childhood and have never really grown up, Frost's Clive hoping to finish his breakthrough novel and Pegg's Graeme doing the illustrations for it (the triple-breasted alien woman on the cover is a running gag that keeps getting funnier). Rogen gives Paul his personality, quite literally, making him a fairly unique creation: the stoner/slacker alien who's gone native in a lot of ways but has decided it's time to phone home (largely because the powers that be have apparently decided to quit merely picking his brain and remove it instead). Jason Bateman is great as the deadpan Agent Zoil, the 'man in black' hot on Paul's trail. Bill Hader and Joe LoTruglio are excellent comic foils as his low-grade backups, Agents Haggard and O'Reilly. Jeffrey Tambor is a scene-stealer in his role as the arrogant fanboys' icon, Adam Shadowchild. Kristen Wiig adds a lot to the comic mix as Ruth Buggs, a repressed Christian fundamentalist (she wears a t-shirt with Jesus shooting Darwin through the head) whose close-encounter with Paul ends up liberating her in a completely over-the-top way (think Jessica from True Blood, just with aliens instead of vampires). And there's a major cameo that's held in reserve until the climactic scene, but once it's revealed, your reaction will be "Of course! Who else?"

Another fun part of Paul is picking up all of the movie references, and Paul contains a _lot_ of them, sometimes in lines that are either quotes or parodies of quotes, sometimes in scenes or visuals, from just about every major scifi movie imagineable. Star Wars, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aliens, Back To The Future, E.T., Predator, Starman. You name it, it's probably in there somewhere. My personal favorite is a scene with a country & western band in a biker bar, playing their version of about the last thing you'd ever expect to hear in that context. I really want to get the DVD when it comes out so I can go back and catch all the ones I missed the first time.

There are a few places where things do drag a bit, usually where the toilet/grossout humor (it's Seth Rogen after all) goes on a little too long. But for the most part Paul keeps things going fast and furious, and the cast are so into their roles that even when you can sense the joke coming, it's still funny when it hits you.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves sci-fi/alien films and for anyone who's ever been a fanboy of anything.

So heads up

If your christian faith in god is so weak that you cannot handle a computer generated alien making jokes and presenting logical facts regarding your faith and its almost complete lack of science.... this movie is not for you.

If you cant handle a smart ass little alien who drinks, smokes dope, and tells dirty jokes...this movie is not for you.

If you have no humor at all and find things in a "comedy" offensive...this movie is not for you

if you find two gross British nerds taking the trip of a lifetime and doing what they love un funny or offensive...this movie is not for you

If you find large explosions or the men in black overly scary and offensive... this movie is not for you.

However,

If you enjoy crude humor, atheist overtones, large explosions, smoking dope, telling dirty jokes AND some nerdtastic adventures... this movie is for you.

I went into this flick not expecting much but I left happy and I cant wait to buy it!

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As of writing, this film isn't out in Canada, however a CAM version of the UK release is out, so I am reviewing it based on the version I saw.

When it comes to Brit comedy, nobody does it quite like the Frost/Pegg duo. Both are phenomenal actors and seeing them on screen is a charm. So when I saw the trailer for "Paul" with The Green Hornet,, I must say I was very excited. And I must say, the film didn't disappoint. Is it quite on the same level as the Blood and Ice Cream movies? Definitely not, but it's a great piece of brain popcorn and I believe you will definitely love it.

This movie is basically the plot of E.T. with the humour of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, and it works! Of course you can't go wrong with that combination. Although Edgar Wright didn't direct the film, and the film feels very different from the mentioned two, this film actually manages to have the same level of charm and entertainment as those two. Also, the film has a wide range of good actorsincluding Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch, and even David Koechner!

Two British nerds, Graeme and Clive, are on a road trip across the US, which they have been dreaming of as kids. They've been dreaming of this as kids, and the highlight so far has been Comic Con San Diego. They

even have met Adam Shadowchild. One night, while in Area 51, Nevada, they witness a car crash, and come across the foul-mouthed alien slacker Paul. But this ain't no District 9 or E.T. Paul is, as mentioned above, is a slacker, and a loud/foul mouth. He is being chased by US government agents, and Graeme and Clive have no choice but

to take them with him. Along the way, they pick up a religious chick, an old lady who was wronged by Paul, and it all becomes one wacky and zany adventure.

This is definitely an adults-only version of E.T., and one that manages to entertain all the way through. Tonnes of gross moments and WTF moments as well as belly laughs and crude humour. Seth Rogen is

surprisingly great as the said alien Paul, his voice is surprisingly fitting. He was great in his past year's The Green Hornet, and he does amazingly well here. Pegg and Frost are their usual charming selves,

and manage to make a great team. But the highlight of the movie was Kristen Wiigshe was HILARIOUS!!!! Every line from her mouth was gold, and she definitely stole the show. This movie also had lots of heart too, and there is a VERY touching scene near the end I will not spoil.

Overall, this definitely is not Wright material, but if you go into it with an open mind, you will enjoy this movie like I did. Definitely recommended for sure.

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I love this movie, the witty, dry, silly comedy from Hot Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead were back in full force. A great no brainer movie with a lot of heart, just like summer movies should be. Although I agree that if you are offended by movies that question religion, steer clear of this one.

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Simon Pegg + Nick Case = Sheer magic. All the time. This movie is hialarious, despite having a cast full of comedic stars, it's believable and is basically every Con fan's dream come true. I can't watch it enough, it always makes me laugh.

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Let the Bullets Fly (Collector's Edition) (2010)

Fast paced, beautifully choreographed, and downright silly, Jiang Wen's Let the Bullets Fly is what you'd get if combining the action and comedy of John Woo and Stephen Chow. Wen, who also co-stars and co-wrote the script, reportedly agonized over the writing to the point where he went through 30 drafts until he finally got it right. While the multiple characters and multiple double-crossings can get a touch convoluted and hard to follow, Wen's film is frequently hilarious and pays homage to classic Hollywood movies better than many Hollywood productions do.

An old school Western at its core, Let the Bullets Fly has the dusty old look of a John Ford film, with Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo also a clear influence. Don't be confused by seeing so many stylistically different directors referenced, as the film mashes up and switches genres at the drop of a hat, making for a wildly off balance experience that is an absolute blast.

Set in 1920s China, the story begins with an expertly staged train robbery by a bandit leader who claims to be the infamous "Pocky" Zhang(Jiang Wen). The only people left alive are Tang(Feng Xiaogang), a jittery con man who has bought the governorship of a place called Goose Town after the guy who was supposed to take over died en route. Along with him is the old governor's treacherous wife, now Tang's mistress. Zhang, who sees a chance to earn some real cash in Goose Town, spares Tang's life but assumes his identity as the governor, bringing the weaselly trickster along as his couselor.

Their arrival in Goose Town is met with drums and much celebration, except there's one who isn't so happy to see them make it safely. The dusty old town, which despite the Asian architecture looks like it's due for a tumbleweed crossing, is already under the iron grip of local gangster named Master Huang(Chow Yun-Fat). Huang shows his arrogance and ultimate displeasure by only sending his favorite hat to the introduction party, and from there let's just say neither side will be having each other over for tea.

Well, that's not completely true. Huang, who has killed off all of Goose Town's other governors, immediately sees Zhang as a threat and sets out to undermine his authority immediately. Zhang wants to string Huang up by his neck, but not before taking every last bit of his money. Good luck following their often mystifying schemes, as the story seems to have been developed intentionally to leave you scratching your head. Between Huang's goons and Zhang's seven-man squad, all of whom where the same masks at different stages, it's impossible to keep track of what's going on at times. Throw in some body doubles, a fake "Pocky" Zhang, and Tang's consistently inconsistent allegiances, and Let the Bullets Fly is often the height of lunacy.Perhaps as a by product of Wen's struggles perfecting the script, he seems a little confused how to wind down such a roller coaster in a sensible way. At 130 minutes, it's too long by about twenty minutes, and with so many swirling subplots a couple of the less important ones could have been cut without damaging the momentum one bit.

And yet it's undeniably fun, and the characters all memorable. Wen, who is as charismatic an actor as he is one of China's elite directors,is the perfect foil to Chow Yun-Fat's scene chewing villainy. The pace is brisk and never slows down, nor do the many homages to other of Wen's many influences. When you can somehow emulate George C. Scott's Patton and still have it make sense you're doing something right. Already the highest grossing production in Chinese history, Wen has an undeniable hit on his hands, one that would fare well if given a chance here in America.

If you require your Chinese movies to be ponderous, self-serious period dramas, then this is not your movie. I think this is the reason why this movie does not get higher review ratings. Also, if you don't like movies that require you to pay attention from start to finish or you miss something important, again this is not your movie. This is also not a preposterous kung-fu movie, thank goodness. This is action comedy, like Indiana Jones or those awful Tarantino ripoff films, but with much better humor. The movie is dialog-driven, which can be demanding when reading subtitles; but it is worth the effort, as clever dialog is the strongest merit of the film: lots of puns, quotables, double-entendre, farce, and idiomatically entertaining profanity (this is the movie with the "F you" scene, where everybody ends up shouting "F you" at each other back and forth). This movie is hilarious, brilliantly acted by the three main stars, and very clever. Chow Yun Fat is especially outstanding, I never knew he could do comedy; he had me laughing almost every time he was on screen, this is my favorite role that I've seen Chow in. If this movie doesn't make you smile, then you are probably dead inside.

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The box office of this movie is the 2nd in China for all time. The first one is Avatar. This is the best Chinese movie in my opinion. Three top Chinese actors showed they excellent performance in this movie. A must buy blu ray. I own the Hong Kong editon for a much higher price at the first day of 2011. I don't know how the English Audio, but I think it's better use Chinese Audio and English subtitle.

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"Let the Bullets Fly" ("Rang zidan fei") stars Chow Yun-Fat, but you will soon realize this is no ordinary action movie, the moment he appears on the screen in a double role as a "villain" Master Huang and his "body double" mimicking him in a farce-like scene. No, bullets may fly, but Chow Yun-Fat's latest movie is not a John Woo-style hyper-intense action film that you might be looking forward to.

In fact, Chow Yun-Fat's role is more like a supporting one, as the film's star is Wen Jiang (who also directs) as a smart bandit Pocky Zhang, who, disguised as a newly appointed mayor, has just arrived at Goose Town, a provincial town relentless Master Huang dominates. It is nearly impossible to summarize what follows, twists and turns resulting from their never-ending conflict. All I can say that "Let the Bullets Fly" contains intrigues and double-crossing, but not the "action" you have seen in "Hard Boiled."

Set in 1920s, China, "Let the Bullets Fly" looks like a spaghetti Western with more chaotic and outrageous events. Many characters die in a violent (and sometimes silly) way. Most female characters are relegated to marginal roles (even Carina Lau disappears unceremoniously). Wen Jiang adopts a hodge-podge style of narrative that may remind you of either Tarantino or Kusturica.

With several familiar faces from the Chinese film industry, the film has already become one of the hugest commercial hits in mainland China, but "Let the Bullets Fly" may owe its success to what its story suggests in the subtext. It is often pointed out that the film is really a political parable masked as entertainment. Naturally Wen Jiang as director would not admit that, though even non-Chinese audiences would sense the film's satirical jabs at what he thinks constitutes the modern society of China. Sadly, however, most of the references would be lost on non-Chinese speakers like me.

Probably the 132-minute film, of which structure seems bloated, should be watched and appreciated in this context. Even so, however, I couldn't help feeling that the film's quirky charms would be more effective with more restrained direction.

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'Let The Bullets Fly' is a funny, classy, profane Chinese spaghetti western with rice noodles and hot sour sauce substituting for spaghetti.

The film's humour goes over the top (with CGI assistance), with one of its funniest and most reference-laden scenes of a train holdup by bandits in 1920 warlord China during the first few minutes leading into the titles. The steam railway engine belches smoke, like any fire chariot... but wait, it's being drawn by horses. All that smoke is from the biggest Sichuan hotpot you've ever seen, that almost fills a luxurious private carriage in which a new provincial governor (Ge You), his wife (Carina Lau), and counselor (Feng Xiaogang) are carousing and banqueting as they journey to their new post, protected by a second carriage full of highly alert Republican guards armed with ancient matchlocks. All are unaware that they are targeted for ambush by bandit leader Zhang (Jiang Wen).

This is the fourth film directed by Jiang Wen, a famous Chinese actor who extends the noodle western metaphor of this film by acting and directing, somewhat in the footprints of Clint Eastwood, but very much in his own style. This is a funny movie with high production values, humour darker and less accessible to non-Chinese audiences than that of Jackie Chan without the martial arts showmanship and slapstick that Chan brings to his films. The film is not at all in the familiar historical epic/kung fu genre of Chinese movies recently popular in the west.

The script, by Jiang Wen, is adapted from a story by Sichuanese author and satirist Ma Shitu 马识途, 'Dao Guan Ji' 盗官记 ('Tale of the Bandit Official'), from his fictional work published in 1983, 'Ye Tan Shi Ji' 《夜谭十记》('Ten Night-time Tales').

Jiang Wen's cast is well chosen, with particularly good work by his four very capable lead actors, including himself. The most recognizable member of the cast to western audiences, Chow Yun-Fat, plays against type as a villain, Huang, the mob boss of Goose Town. One of China's favourite cinema clowns, Ge You a Chinese Cantinflas shows great comic timing throughout in the role of conman Ma Bangde. Carina Lau has the only standout female role as the much-widowed governor's wife. Jiang Wen himself plays the wily, whimsical bandit leader Zhang.

The Emperor Motion Pictures Blu-ray release available through Amazon resellers has excellent image and sound quality, and a second special features disc. Unfortunately for most of the non-Chinese speaking audience, the sound track options are only Mandarin, and unusually Sichuan dialect. The English sub-titles are good, but being necessarily abbreviated cannot carry all nuances of the script, or even its Chinese profanity.

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Mystic Pizza (1988)

I first saw this movie after seeing Pretty Woman in the theater back in 1990, I instantly became a Julia fan. This is great movie with a great cast, the only thing I don't like about the DVD is it doesn't have the original cover/poster that has most of the cast on it. I think it's a better cover because this isn't just a Julia movie, and I know she would say the same.

Julia stars as Daisy, a girl who's never been able to live up to her mothers expectations so she only lives for herself, and is happy with it, until a rich young boy named Charles shows up at the local pool hall. He instantly falls for her, but Daisy is afraid that he is just using her to get back at his snobbish parents. "Bring home your poor Portuguese girlfriend, shake up the family a little bit." But Charlie isn't like that, and it isn't until Daisy discovers more about herself that she realizes this. Then there's her younger sister Kat(Annabeth Gish), whom her mother is so proud of because she will be attending Yale. Kat has never been in love and ends up falling for the married father of the young girl she babysits for; in this short time she gets to expierience the joys of love and the pain of being heartbroken when his wife returns.

Their friend Jo (Lili Taylor) is another story altogether. She loves her boyfriend Bill (Vincent Denofrio), a local fisherman, but every time she tries to walk down the isle she pictures herself fat and ugly with all these kids hanging around and ends up passing out.

In the end they all pass major milestones that come with life, and the movie ends with the girls looking into the stars. This wasn't a starting point for Annabeth Gish whom had already appeared in many movies, but was a bit of a launching pad for Julia who dyed her hair black with mouse just to audition for the role (and walked home in the rain ruining her blouse). This was only her third feature film, and she seems to grow in this role. It's no surprise she received an Oscar nomination for her next role in "Steel Magnolias."

Since Matt Damon has become a household name, I've seen this movie mentioned some places as starring him as well as the main actors, but I must advise that if you're renting it JUST for Matt, you're in for a big disappointment. Matt is only in one scene and only utters the lines "Mom, do you want my green stuff." So, it really isn't HIS film, but he is in it.

What makes the DVD special is being able to see the film's actual trailer and watch the movie in widescreen.

Julia has a line at the beginning of the film that kind of makes me smile:

"Don't worry about me, I'm not going to be slinging pizza for the rest of my life." Words that ring so true, if only she knew then the big star she would be.

It's hard to believe that this little 1988 film has endured in popularity for so long. It is a simple story of three 'sisters' in the small fishing village of Mystic, CT who have just graduated highschool, work as waitress in the town Mystic Pizza parlor, and face decisions about the future of their lives. There are three less than fairytale romances with three male characters of varying potential as partners and it is the 'coming of age' in a small Portuguese clan that sparks the tenderness and the sadness of this story written by Amy Holden Jones and directed by Donald Petrie.

One of the most interesting aspects of this low budget film is how it catapulted Julia Roberts and Matt Damon (who plays such a bit part he nearly goes unnoticed) to fame, reinforced the careers of fine character actors Conchata Ferrell, Lili Taylor and Vincent D'Onofrio while pushing the then promising Annabeth Gish, William R. Moses and Adam Storke over into TV land roles.

The film is a bit of nostalgia for a better time, has charm and innocence, and will always be one of those movies everyone who is a film collector will keep in their library for times when a return to simple little movies just makes you feel good. Grady Harp, January 06

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Watched the 1988 movie "Mystic Pizza" today. It was one of the first movies for the female leads Julia Roberts , Annabeth Gish (native of Cedar Falls, Iowa), and Lili Taylor. Interestingly, Gish's name appears before Roberts in the credits at the end. Gish has gone on to a productive career, mostly in television, Taylor has moved into a career in more independent, quirky movies while Roberts has gone on to...well, you know.

I read Roger Ebert's review and he gave the movie 3 1/2 starts (out of 4) when it came out. I wouldn't rate it that high (maybe 2 1/2 or 3 out of 4), but the movie has kind of a comfortable feeling to it and gets better as it goes along. You don't see many movies about work & work environments these days and I think the scenes in the Mystic Pizza Parlor are pretty good. The romantic storylines are pretty standard and as Ebert says, "The movie isn't really about three girls in love; it's about three girls discovering what their standards for love are going to be." All-in-all I liked the movie. Oh, and watch carefully for Matt Damon in his big-screen debut!

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There's a line from American Pie in which one of the young guys declares, "Women are like fine wine. They just get better with age." So true. All of the women in this movie are living proof of that, especially Annabeth Gish, who went from being merely girl-next-door pretty in Mystic Pizza, to the mature goddess we have seen on the X-Files.

Mystic Pizza is very much an ensemble movie, with no one person standing out above the rest. A very strong female cast is counterpointed by some solid male performances, such as that of the always superb Vince D'Onofrio also check out The Cell, with Jennifer Lopez.

Beautifully filmed in Conn. New England, the movie is also a visual delight, and captures the reassuring simplicity of life in an Atlantic fishing community. I love Nova Scotia and Maine for the same reason. The original Mystic Pizza restaurant is still going strong and their website is well worth a visit.

All in all, a very sweet movie about real people and real family situations, and it remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I literally never tire of this modern classic. My only quibble is that the last spoken line is disturbingly unimaginative and anti-climactic. After crafting such a superb screenplay, the writers just seemed to run out of inspiration at the last hurdle. As Mr. Spock would say, "Fascinating."

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Good but by no means great. I am not really a Julia Roberts Fan and it was the fact that this is one of Vincent D'Onofrio's first films that made me watch it. Early on the film drags but about halfway through I began to find it absorbing. My plroblem in the early part was that the three women characters seemed like such airheads that I really did not care what happened to them. I give all three actresses credit for giving performances that kept me fairly interested until the mid-part of the film. There are two surprises at the end of the film that really made me glad I stuck with it. This really is a "Girl Movie" and the men in it are mostly wasted. Especially Mr. D'Onofrio. None the less it is worth watching.

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