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Star Wreck

I finally watched Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (torrent) (IMdb) last night, a film which is self-described as the “first-ever Finnish science fiction adventure”, and declared by wikipedia to be “the most popular Finnish movie ever.”

Being a completely independent, home-made film, I certainly have to give these guys credit. They’ve done a wonderful job demonstrating the potential for grassroots artists to create media assets that not only rival more expensive productions, but also attract a strong, viral fan base. It’s excellent foreshadowing for the changes coming to the motion picture business.

As for the film itself, I found the story to be a bit odd (although after having seen the film and investigated a bit, I now realize that it is part of an on-going story, and I haven’t seen the previous segments.) What I found unique is that the main character is almost an anti-hero, but doesn’t actually do anything good. His motivation is to conquer the universe, but he has no plans or reasoning for doing so. By the end, I found myself not being concerned with the outcome of any of the main characters, neither rooting for or against them.

Even still, if you’re a fan of foreign cult and/or grassroots films, this one should be on your list. Especially if you visit Finland on occasion.

Movie suggestions

I watch way too many movies, but I rarely blog about it. I guess part of me doesn’t want to sound like a pompous film critic, and accepting comments from strangers about movies is just asking for a flame war. However, for this post I thought I’d give it try and see how it goes. I won’t dive into full reviews or plot spoilers, but instead, make a couple recommendations based on some recent viewings:

First, is “Shawn of the Dead” (imdb). I watched it last night and loved it. Personally I don’t care for horror films, but “Shawn of the Dead” isn’t your average horror film. Instead, it’s a British comedy that takes place in the context of a horror film. It’s not a spoof-horror or parody, and this makes it somewhat of a unique genre. Definitely gets two thumbs up, although like most movies I watch, it probably isn’t kid-friendly.

If “Shawn of the Dead” is checked out and you’re still trolling the video store, grab “Donnie Darko, The Director’s Cut” (imdb, amazon) if you haven’t seen it. I’m not sure why I waited so long to see this movie, but I have a feeling it’s because I heard mixed reviews from people who didn’t quite understand it. That’s not to say that the story was perfectly clear to me either, but I did enjoy it.

While talking about movies over lunch, Karl also threw out “Good Bye Lenin!” (imdb) which is another great film and a fascinating look at the social impact of East Germany’s transition from socialism to capitalism.

Beyond Black Rock

I was invited to a pre-screening of “Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock” last night, an independent documentary about Burning Man and the artists that make it happen. The film still has a few rounds of editing to go before it’s finished, but even in it’s current state it’s an impressive piece of work. There are a few more pre-screening dates, the next is in Austin, TX, and if the topic interests you it will be worth going

Before Sunset

I saw Before Sunset last night, and if you liked the first one (Before Sunrise) the sequel should be enjoyable. I won’t give away any plot points here, but the sequel does a great job staying true to the original while expanding the commentary on life and relationships. The story telling uses the same approach — the entire film is really just close up dialog of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), but it works very well. Surprisingly, a number of people walked out during the movie. I can only guess that they hadn’t seen the first movie and were thus lost in the story.