Of quick flix

Or rather, quick movie reviews of stuff I've watched recently. No more than four sentences per movie, and no I don't promise.

Max Payne
I wanted a big dumb action flick. This is certainly a dumb action flick. I kept thinking I was watching a mixture of Sin City and the Bourne movies (not helped by Mark Wahlberg looking a bit like Matt Damon), but without the quality of either. Fun escapism and very silly. Oh and it's based on a video game.

Somers Town
My antidote to Max Payne. Shane Meadows' (who did This is England) lovely portrait of societal clashes in London, a friendship between two boys, and a chick who works in the cafe. At times painful, at times sweet, but certainly mesmerising. Very direct storytelling, involving the viewer in the developing friendship of the boys. Unlike some social realism movies, this one is short, at 70 mins. Very recommended.

Nudist Colony of the Dead
Firstly, not much nudity in it. I put the opening credits up recently, and the entire movie is that good. Very funny, very catchy song, and superb plot. Religious right-wingers close nudist camp. So the nudists all commit suicide, becoming, yup you guessed it, zombies. So when group of troubled children turn up for a religious camp, and big-number sing-a-longs, all hell breaks loose. Ok it sounds like my usual crap b-grade stuff, but honestly this is well paced and funny without the more normal b-grade pitfalls. Sure it looks cheap and trashy, but the songs more than make up for any acting shortcomings.

I Sell the Dead
I think Andrew recommended this one. More zombie action, but this time set in 19th century - and with the tagline 'never trust a corpse'. It tells the story of a condemned grave robber, how he got into the business, and how he found the extra money in the walking dead. Starring Dominic Monaghan (one of hobbits who wasn't showing midgit love up a mountain) and Ron Perlman, it's a fun romp through 19th century graves, zombies, double-crossing gangs, and taverns. There's always a tavern (probably where they found the hobbit). I see some of the IMDB reviews were quite negative, but I enjoyed this. Reminded me a bit of the books by Tim Powers - same sort of blending of sci fi, history, and weirdness.

H6: Diary of a Serial Killer
What is it with the Spanish and their horrors? Reasonably predictable but still enjoyable horror about a serial killer. No really. It's twisted and has levels of sado-sexual torture in there, but then again, what serial killer doesn't. Nicely character driven and well paced.

This weekend I have two winners lined up Grave of the Vampire and, more importantly, Flesh Eating Mothers.

Me.