Push - Yet another super hero movie?

Push – Yet another super hero movie?

Push was my second movie at this year’s Fantasy Filmfest. And it was for free! Many thanks to the organizers! But I thick they should change something for the next year regarding the free movie. They should take at least 2€ for the “free” movie, since many seats remain empty. I guess a lot of jerks grabbed the gratis tickets and didn’t show up…

Well, let’s go on with the movie itself. The most of you know the classical super hero movie: some people have special abilities and other have not. Some use their abilities to do bad things and the others try to stop them. And Push doesn’t differ from these established ideas. Today’s super hero movies can only stand out with showing an innovative look, idea, plot, etc. The latest movie I saw which does that was Watchman, which – of course – had was based on a standout comic.

But Push can convince by a very good setting and a good story. The special abilities in this movie are categorized: there are Movers, Pushers, Sniffers, Watchers and much more. Movers use telekinetic powers, Pushers can control the thoughts of others, Sniffers can smell very good and Watchers can predict the future.

The main character Nick is a mover. When he was a child, his dad was killed by the guys who control the experiment, which brought him his powers. Years later (his way of revenge has brought him to Hong Kong) he meets the 13 year old Cassie acted by Dakota Fanning. As special powered team (Cassie is a Watcher) they start a battle for revenge and justice against local bad guys and the big enemy in the Chinese metropolis. On their way they meet Kira (Nick’s ex) who turns heads… And she does it also literally – she is a Pusher.

Push found its ideal setting in Hong Kong. I guess that this is the city which fits perfectly for this movie. The special effects are pretty good. And so are the fights and imagery. There are a lot of funny scenes especially when Cassie tries to look (or be) grown up. But what I missed were the scenes in which the special powers are combined. There where some good attempts but the full potential was not used.

But overall it is a good flick and a big recommendation if you like this genre.

Release: 29th January 2009
Director: Paul McGuigan
Writer: David Bourla
Cast: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou, Camilla Belle

Wasting Away - zombies are people, too!

Did you ever wonder what the real intention of zombies is? Eating brains? I never thought that it is that simple. And Wasting Away provides a completely innovative view at the world outlook of zombies…

The movie starts with black white scenes showing a classical scenario: a strange experiment is performed at a soldier. Some green stuff turns the guy into a pretty strong but bad looking zombie. And since the attacks of these creatures are not that cool, the green stuff needs to disappear… And of course, on the way one of the barrels gets lost…
In the next scenes we get to know the protagonists of Wasting Away: two young couples hanging out a diner and making ale cream… But some of the ingredients are contaminated with the green stuff. And the stuff is really green – even in the black white scenes!
After eating the apparently tasty ale cream, something strange happens to the guys and to the look of the movie: we now see colored images. But the couples look pretty normal. I assumed that they became zombies. Is this the big surprise of this movie?
They leave the diner and recognize some changes: other people move and talk way faster, the gang itself got stronger and kind of invulnerable. Unfortunately the other people run away from them... What’s wrong with the world? A stranger seems to know the answer: the green stuff (to which he also was exposed) turned them into super warriors! And the other people are infected with a virus and need to be killed…

But unfortunately he is wrong… After the vision switched back to black and white, we see what is real: The gang members are classical Romero style zombies – but they still believe they are super warriors.

And this fallacy (which remains almost until the end) provides a lot of very entertaining and amusing situations. Did you ever wonder how it looks and sounds when zombies make out? I almost died in the chair… In some more scenes (while watching through the eyes of the zombies) I desperately wished to see the same scene in black and white. Even thinking about how it will look like makes me laugh…

The gore effects of this very funny movie are definitely low price. But this fits perfectly for Wasting Away. The flick doesn’t take itself serious. It wants to be a comedy – and it is horror comedy at its best! If you like Romero style zombies and flicks like Fido you should definitely have a look! Big recommendation!

Release Date: 16th October 2007
Director: Matthew Kohnen
Writers: Matthew Kohnen, Sean Kohnen
Cast: Matthew Davis, Betsy Beutler, Julianna Robinson

Fantasy Filmfest 2009

Sunny weather, warm evenings and a lot of guys spend whole days in the theater. Yes its time for Fantasy Filmfest 2009! Like last year I'm going to spend some time (not whole days) in the Cinecitta Nuremberg. I already made my list of movies I'm going to watch:

• Wasting Away (finally a zombie movie!)
• Push (for free)
• District 9
• Black Dynamite

So that is my first choice. But there is a lot of stuff I want to keep an eye on. There is Doghouse which is in the line-up next to Shaun of the Dead, which I like very much...

Other previews sound good, but won't bring me into the theater. Lake Mungo is a documentation like flick - does somebody said Blair Witch Project? Sounds great - but actually I got sick seeing a movie filmed with these shaky cameras...

What I miss this year are the movies, which already get called "shocking" in the preview. I remember last year's Martyrs. After reading the preview we hesitated to buy the tickets. It seems that the current agenda is filled with more comedy (OSS117 - Lost in Rio, Black Dynamite) and more high class productions. You can also see more stars this year: Renée Zellweger (Case 39), Jackie Chan (Shinjuku Incident), Tommy Lee Jones and John Goodman (In the Electric Mist). Even first class producer Peter Jackson takes part with District 9. Actually I can't find any cheap productions anymore...

Anyway, the current Fantasy Filmfest seems to be somehow themed: Children! There are a lot of movies about kids - of any age and creepiness. Examples are The Children, Hansel and Gretel and Grace. But I actually think movies about scary children are not that cutting-edge...

To get the point: I'm really looking forward for Friday with my first movie Wasting Away. See all the reviews at www.entertain-me.tv!

The final: Downloading Nancy

I choosed the movie Downloading Nancy to be my finish for this year’s Fantasy Filmfest. The preview used terms like "forbidding" and "morbid". Johan Rencks debut has caused intense reaction at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. I was looking forward to see what induced the critics to such response. It seemed to be a good bridge over to the next Fantasy Filmfest.

The movie is about a woman stuck in a loveless marriage. While her husband Albert is mainly interested in golf, she is just looking for some affection. At her way down in a spiral of self-contempt and self-harm she meets Louis. With him Nancy can act out her sadomasochistic tendencies. But "tendencies" doesn't describe what Nancy is finally looking for... After Nancy disappeared, Albert meets Louis and the husband (and the audience) gets to know the whole extend of Nancy’s obsession.

I can't say that I "like" this movie. Sometimes it was hard to keep watching – not only due to painful things, which Nancy received. It’s more shocking to see how apathetically the husband treats his wife in this cold "marriage".
It’s a very good movie you should have a look, if you like credible but somehow strange scenarios.


Release Date: 21st January 2008
Director: Johan Renck
Writers: Pamela Cuming, Lee Ross
Cast: Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell