Kick-Ass (2010)

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The Plot. This is a story of Dave (Aaron Johnson), a fan of superhero comics, who decides to put on a silly costume and fight crime. Dave doesn't have any superpowers, but he decides to try anyway. First time he does it he gets his ass kicked and ends up in a hospital. His injuries disable some of his nerve endings making him feel less pain. Shortly after his recovery, Dave tries again and is recorded by a group of witnesses and the video of Dave as Kick-Ass becomes viral. After a while, Dave meets two other heroes, Hit Girl and Big Daddy, who are more about killing the bad guys rather than helping the good guys. Soon Dave gets mixed up with some bad people and stuff just gets out of his hands.

General thoughts. This is an awesome movie. The main theme of the movie is a normal teenager, who instead of just fantasizing about being a superhero actually tries it. I'm not saying everybody should dress up and get their asses kicked, but I think this movie inspires people to stand up for the weaker ones and notice people in need. I know this movie has inspired some people to do exactly the same. Somewhere in the US, supposedly someone dressed up as a superhero and called the police on some criminals. He didn't interfere himself, but this is sort of what this movie was aiming for, I think.
This one is also based on a comic-book and it has some comic-book elements. Not as much as Scott Pilgrim, but there were a few elements used, one of which was the sequence about Hit Girl and Big Daddy's history.
Another thing I think this movie teaches is that even if you become this awesome hero, you'll still have to endure a lot of pain and bad situations. This movie had more of a realistic perspective on the whole superhero thing. None of the characters had any real superpowers. Sure, Hit Girl had some impossible moves for a ten year old girl, but they were still just martial arts and weapon handling. Sort of like, if you really really want to be a hero, it might kill you, so think before doing stupid stuff like this.
Well, I liked it. This movie gets your heart beating faster and it has a lot of awesome moments and is really fun to watch. The best hero in the whole movie is a 10 year old girl, so kids of all ages can relate to that.
I'd recommend this if you're into comic-book to movie adaptations, if you like fun action or if you like superheros. Just, don't try this at home. Contrary to popular belief, the police is actually quite capable of handling crime by itself.

7/10 Flogs

Jury Duty (1995)

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The plot. The story is about a young man, Tommy (Pauly Shore) who lives with his mother and his dog in a trailer and enjoys being unemployed and pampered by his mother. One day he receives a jury duty call, but discards it right away as being a waste of time. When some time later Tommy's mother goes to Vegas to marry his stepfather, they take the trailer with them leaving Tommy and his dog homeless. Tommy decides to take part in jury duty and joins a jury for a lengthy trial, which means that the jury will be secluded in a hotel. He then makes a deal with the hotel manager for better accommodations and doesn't want the case with an obviously guilty verdict to end when the time comes for the jury to vote.

General thoughts. I watched this movie just because it is the last Pauly Shore movie I hadn't yet seen. This one was simply more difficult to come by than any of the others and being a long time fan of Pauly Shore I simply had to see this. I was not disappointed.
Now, I can't say that this movie is good, because it isn't, but then again none of Shore's movies actually are. What I love about his movies is his own character, which is very similar in all of his roles. This goofy dude with a weird sense of humor just appeals to me for some unexplained reason.
This movie is pretty much the very standard court-type plot. The main character takes part in a case, decides that the defendant is not guilty and then proceeds to convince other jurors of the defendants innocence. As a standard, there is a hot chick amongst the other jurors that is the first one to support the main character. I guess if you've seen one, you've seen them all. A good reference is Twelve Angry Men, also shown and quoted in this movie.
But this movie is good for everything but the standard and predictable plot. The Pauly Shore style of wacky comedy is the reason for watching this. Him and his dog. As Peanut the dog, they used a rather ugly looking Chihuahua, who was actually a really interesting character.

So, all in all, this is not a very good movie, but you'll like it, if you like Pauly Shore. I'd recommend this if you liked movies like Biodome and In The Army Now. If you don't like childish wacky humor, you will not like this. This is for Pauly Shore fans and this is not even the best one.

4/10 Flogs

Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010)

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The Plot. This is an interesting documentary about modern street art. The main story is about a French-American amateur film-maker Thierry Guetta, who after meeting some street artists decides to start filming them and their work. For years Guetta follows all sorts of street artists and also helps them out. He gets to meet almost everybody, who matters in the world of street art, but the most influential and controversial street artist, Banksy, seems to elude him. At one point, by sheer luck, Guetta gets to meet Banksy. After earning his trust, Guetta is allowed to film Banksy, as he works on more and more influential material.

General thoughts. I'm not a huge fan of documentaries, but this one was truly interesting.
This film was directed by Banksy himself, while Guetta is more of a main character. At first the movie seems to be about street artists and finding Banksy, where Guetta just explores the world of street artists, but at one point the whole thing is turned around and Guetta himself becomes a street artist. This film is quite artistic itself, the way it's put together by excerpts of Guetta's amateur material, mixed with other people filming Guetta and some documented footage about Banksy from other sources and all of it is mixed together to form a story about not Banksy, as it would be expected, but about Thierry Guetta also known as Mister Brainwash.
It's difficult to say how much of this all is actually true, but this documentary presents a really interesting point of view on some of the street artists lives and their relations between each-other. It also simplifies the otherwise mystical view on the world of street art and personifies the actual people who come up with these awesome ideas. Some of the artists faces are not shown, including Banksy himself, but you get an insight on the way these people work.
This art form truly represents the evolution of art, moving it from stuffed galleries meant for rich people out into the streets, where any person walking by can enjoy these awesome ideas. This documentary really made me interested in this art movement. It made me want to cut up a stencil and smack it on a wall in a public place. Something with a brave message. So much more than just random graffiti, someone tagging their illegible name or just badly drawn depictions of genitals on garage walls.

I would recommend this documentary to anybody slightly interested in the evolution of modern art or anybody wondering why are there so many weird drawings all over the city. A remarkable piece of art on it's own.

7/10 Flogs