Seven Trainspotters - Seven Psychopaths Review

I haven't blogged about anything for a while and out of everything I could blog about right now I would like to talk about the film Seven Psychopaths...obviously.I may have hurt Mr. Tarantino's feelings here (not that I know him personally, but still!), as I've left out a review of Django. I just wrote a long bit about how I think Tarantino should become just a writer, and I believe it, all these people who say he doesn't have a single original idea don't see what I do. He takes ideas, yes, but to me a director who can't be inspired by what is around them can't possibly have the imagination to create something world-implodingly mind-blowing.

I digress....kind of. My next point was going to be that Seven Psychopaths is Tarantino-esque. Sudden, over the top moments of violence, ridiculously quirky characters, with a crazy ensemble of renegade, veteran actors. You've got Sam Rockwell (MEGA talented actor who has somehow never even seen an Oscar nomination!? WTF MOVIE PEOPLE), Christopher Walken (also a MEGA talented actor who, if I won the lottery, I would gladly hire to narrate the rest of my life), Woody Harrelson (weird-crazy-but-funny dude), Tom Waits (no waaayyy!! What is he doing in this movie! Love his music) and...er, Colin Farrell.

Seven Psychopaths is a DARK COMEDY people, it isn't a thriller or horror. Every time I start telling someone how awesome this movie is they seem to think it sounds scary. It probably could have done with some Americanisms added into the middle of the title, and a Britishism to balance it out, just to give it a bit more of an Indie Dark Comedy feel, how about....'Seven Mega, Fricken, Bloody Awesome Psychopaths'.

In Seven Mega, Fricken, Bloody Awesome Psychopaths there is a guy, and another guy. The first guy steals a dog from a someone else who isn't happy about it. The second guy is writing a screenplay about Seven Psychopaths (OH the irony!!) and along the way, the story he is writing seems to be integrated into the 'real world'. Some of the mini background stories for the psychopaths are utterly fascinating and the impact they make is astounding. Definitely listen to the last psychopaths story. Each psychopath is introduced in a way similar to Kill Bill and Borderlands (I'm sure this was probably done by something else before these two...no idea what though.)

This film is so good it already has cult status. From me.

WonderOri recommends the following: Kill Bill, True Romance, Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs...Anything by Quentin Tarantino. Stranger than Fiction, Suicide Kings, Borderlands.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day civilians! It’s that time of the year again, the day we all celebrate the wonderful woman who gave us life, and in my case the woman who began the creation of a hero. 

Mother’s Day is my recommendation to go with the theme of the day! Although it isn't for the faint-hearted and not a nice as it sounds! It starts with the aftermath of a bank robbery gone wrong (no doubt I am sure this is because a hero stepped in). The opening scene is an obvious homage to Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs – guy in the back clutching his stomach screaming in pain, guts thrown all over the car whilst the driver tells him everything is going to be all right. The two armed thieves take refuge in their old home, which they find out has new owners who are having a party downstairs, and subsequently taken hostage. That’s when their mother is called in to sort out the whole mess.

This horror/thriller movie verges on torture porn, but doesn’t quite have the same level of gratuitous violence as Saw, Hostel and the like. Instead the film plays on stress levels by refusing to be predictable. In short it is a great little suspense movie with little twists and turns and a pinch (or punch) of violence.

If you like movies where weirdos invade other people's homes WonderOri recommends: Funny Games, Eden Lake, Thems (Ils), The Loved Ones, You're Next.

Top 10 Hyper Characters

There's always the odd character in movies, games and tv that you just think, 'That character is mental.'

Having thought about some of my favourite hyper, crazy, slightly over-the-top characters I have compiled a list of my top ten.

10) Stitch - Lilo and Stitch   
                                                                      

Stitch is a very hyper blue alien armed with intergalactic laser beams - he lives in Hawaii disguised as a dog, and speaks in gobbledogook, likes listening to the king of rock 'n' roll with Lilo, eating furniture, and wreaking havoc pretty much any way possible. Nuff said.

9) The Black Knight - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

You'd think some people would give up after losing a limb in a fight, but not this guy. It's a surprise this feisty fellow wasn't missing anything to begin with, apart from his sanity of course.

'It's just a flesh wound!'

8) Bubbles - Finding Nemo

He's only in Finding Nemo briefly, but he instantly gets me giggling everytime I see it. If you haven't seen Finding Nemo (which, come on now, you must have), but if you really, seriously haven't, the aptly named Bubbles is a yellow regal fish who is obsessed with, well, bubbles! I wish I had a fish like him...

7) Daffy the hyper Gremlin - Gremlins 2

Daffy's laughter is contagious, and how anyone could mistake him for Gizmo is beyond me! Although he is the most hyper character of all time he just isn't the funniest.

6) Joker - Batman: Arkham Asylum

The eccentric arch-nemesis to my favourite superhero. With an extravaggant plot to break out every crazy and unleash them into Gotham City, the Joker never likes to think small time. And even with such dark motives he still has time for a joke. He follows Batman throughout the whole game taunting him with surprises and some pretty dark humour...but you just can't help but find some of it funny. And if there was no Joker it would be like having just the biscuit part of an oreo without the middle.

5) Zach Gallyfallyanakis - Hangover/Due Date

He plays Alan in The Hangover, The Hangover 2, and Due Date...no, wait, apparently he doesn't play the same character in Due Date...Are you sure? He plays a clueless guy who seems to get everyone into trouble wherever he goes. Unlike a lot of hyper characters he's not completely useless to the narrative, infact without him there probably wouldn't be much to tell! Although his character seemed to lose something in the second movie, Alan still cracks me up in Hangover 2 with his badly timed facts on 'Thighland' and completely deluded thoughts that he openly shares with the 'wolf pack'.

I've heard he is going to be a hobo in the new Muppets movie, and speaking of the Muppets...

4) Animal - The Muppets Show

The lovable drummer of the Muppets Show band, Electric Mayhem. He's simply known for his hilariously random outbursts on the drums and takes everything people say to him literally. Love it.


3) Max - Sam & Max

Max is a naked, violent rabbit thingy who works alongside a detective dog named Sam. He's deranged, loves guns and always asks Sam for permission to do evil things. The voice of reason - as the only one who seems to be able to control him - Sam, usually answers with 'I don't think so little buddy.' He also very worryingly becomes president of the USA in 'Sam & Max Save the World'.

2) Spacey the Space core - Portal 2

I have no idea if this little dude has an actual name or not...all I know is he is VERY enthusiastic about space. He doesn't say much apart from 'Space. Let's go to space!' and 'SPPPPAAAACCEEE'. Very random.

1) Barney Stinson - How I Met your Mother

Barney probably has some of the most quotable quotes, ever. He's a lazer tagging, suit-obsessed womaniser, with a never-ending cash flow. Barney's rules and theories are hilarious, from the 'Cheerleader effect' to his need to 'Suit up!' He certainly is legen...wait for it...

WonderOri's big up to: Dorothy Mills

Just a quick one - I've been thinking about a movie I saw a couple of months ago called Dorothy Mills. I'd never heard of it before, and I was surprised at how well it was made. If you are a horror junkie or thriller loonatic like myself then I suggest you try to find yourself a copy!


A psychiatrist from Dublin is sent to investigate a case in which a girl is accused of abusing a baby. She gets to know the girl, the autonomous Dorothy and realises there's something darker/eviler going on.

When I was first given this movie to watch by a friend I studied the cover, the pictures and the back synopsis, and concluded it was another exorcism movie. It isn't really, but I do find myself comparing it to The Last Exorcism.

They both come under the same genre and the narratives are similar - a young girl who is 'possessed', and someone is trying to find out the reason behind their actions.

However, Dorothy Mills has a really interesting and slightly quirky atmosphere which reminded me of The Wicker Man (1973).

I have to also mention that Jenn Murray (the girl who plays Dorothy) was fantastic in this movie and if she hadn't played the role so perfectly the whole thing would have fell short. I would really like to see her in more stuff in the future.

Insidious - Unscary..ous

Insidious. The posters, which we've all seen, have an evil looking boy on the front who has writing in his eyeballs. It says 'Insidious' in the left and 'is' in the right. Underneath is the tag line 'It's not the house that's haunted.' ....Insidious is what? I ask!

I still don't know what this poster is on about, am I missing something?

The title sequence featured a black and white tour of each room in 'the house' accompanied with a dark but simple piano score. It whispered in my ear promises of a continuous spooky atmosphere and seductive cinematography.

We are introduced to a family who have recently moved into our newly acquainted title sequence house. There isn't much in terms of character development before the narrative catalyst event. Dalton, the youngest son doesn't wake up one day. The parents find out that Dalton is in an unexplained coma.

Up to this point the movie leans towards the idea that he might become evil or possessed and start doing some freaky shit. But no, this isn't what happens. It's not as obvious as you think, which some people are probably thankful for. It turns out that he wandered off somewhere in his sleep and now his subconscious mind is being held hostage by a demon. Ok...so are you really happy with it not being obvious now?

My fright meter was unfortunately not satisfied enough...I don't know, maybe this is just because I am a fearless hero. Maybe it's different for civilians like yourself. It just came across as one of those horror films that is perfect for thirteen year olds to watch at a sleepover in order to scare themselves silly and show off about it the next day at school.

You're probably thinking right now that I must be one of those people who prefers gore horror to the psychological sub-genre. Well, you are incorrect. There are the odd scares in the movie which I enjoyed, I would have liked to have seen more spirits and had less of the demon talk.

And what was with the Darth Maul demon-lookalike? I was half expecting to see Darth Sidious pop by in demon land seeing as his name is in the title.


Considering this film seems to be about demon land 'The Further', I would have loved to have seen more of it. There was potential for some of those promises I had been given in the beginning to have finally been granted. But no, this is why I am not satisfied, even the climax of the film was weak. If Insidious had been a potential mate it would have been rubbish in bed. The end.

If you like this film WonderOri recommends: Sinister, Paranormal Activity....Star Wars?

In the cinema no-one can hear you...

It all began with a scream over 911...apparently.

We all remember the days when we used to go around asking people what their favourite scary movie was, you couldn't go out at Halloween without seeing at least one Ghostface.

Ten years have passed since Sidney last visited her hometown Woodsboro. As soon as she's back not even one day passes before Ghostface is after her again.

The thing I love about the Scream franchise has always been attitude and irony, which the new installment, Scre4m is definitely not lacking in.

"What's a four letter word for courage?" One policeman asks whilst doing his crossword. "Guts." Replies the other.


There are brilliant moments in the film. I realised at one point the tension had made my shoulders raise up so high that I looked like I had no neck. Then a few minutes later I was spraying my popcorn all over the place from laughter.

We are reminded of the 'rules' behind horror movies (luckily there's a movie geek to fill us in, although he's not Randy!...I mean, Randy the character from the previous Scream movies). However, Ghostface isn't playing by the rules this time and recreates some of the previous murders. Literally, people can say 'Be right back' and sure enough, they come back unharmed!

The film doesn't stray far from the original, but adds aspects of modern day life. Needless to say iPhones, Facebook, Twitter and webcams are all incorporated. This is done quite subtly in places and not enough to take over the movie and ruin what it's all about. There are also countless mentions and tributes to other cult horror movies to look out for.

Having not seen Neve Campbell in anything since Scream 3, I couldn't believe how little she has aged. Considering it has been ten whole years since we last saw Sidney I was also hoping to have a bit of a background story to what she's been up to all this time, but it all seemed pretty vague and mysterious. I even expected her to suddenly bring out some legendary martial arts moves that she might have learnt whilst she was away so she was prepared to kick some Ghostface butt.

Dewey and Gale (David Arquette and Courtney Cox) returned as the other two 'originals'. Their relationship was rocky in the movie and I'm sure I'm not the only one who couldn't help but sense that the tension between them was a bit too realistic.

Along with the three originals making their appearances, Ghostface was also voiced by the same actor as in the first three movies (Roger L. Jackson). It sounded completely different to me, it was like the transition from Christian Bale's voice in Batman Begins to Dark Knight.

I am more than certain there will be another addition to the Scream franchise in the next couple of years, I can only hope Arquette and Cox will both opt in, and it had better not be named 5cream. Otherwise I will ask for a ticket to see Five Cream. And I can't wait to see the look on Sidney's face when the next Ghostface turns up. Let's hope she never puts two and two together and leaves Woodsboro for good!

You're High-ness

The first time I saw the trailer I didn't have high hopes, the main character Danny McBride came across as a Tom Green wannabe...Or a potato which was brought to life by a mad scientist, only fed sugary foods and fizzy drinks and then pumped full of some sort of super-adrenaline...same difference either way.

This picture I'd painted in my mind of some mental-hyper potato jumping about on screen was then completely transformed (to an optimus prime extent) when I came across a review on imdb where someone had compared it to one of the best movies ever made within the adventure-comedy genre, The Princess Bride.

So I got out my paintbrushes and painted a new picture of Your Highness - giants, revenge, true love, pirates, swamps, R.O.U.S's? Yes please!!

Fabious (James Franco) is a warrior prince, loved by his country and favourited by his father. When he returns from a quest with his new bride the celebrations are abruptly interrupted when the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) kidnaps her. Fabious has to convince his lazy slacker brother Thadeous (Danny McBride) to join him on a quest to save his princess-to-be.

I was slightly disappointed. It IS funny in places, I'll give it that. It has enough charm to just be able to get away with having a cheeky humour. If it had lacked said charm there was definitely the danger of it having some mental potato moments.

I would say this film was not without 'stoner humour'. The film was written by the minds behind Pineapple Express (which Franco and McB were also in) and reflects a similar style of comedy. Some of it verged on crude, but most of the banter was very witty and full of memorable quotes. They chucked a few swear words in every now and then which surprisingly didn't get old...there's something funny about a knight swearing. The only part of the movie that I didn't find funny was pervy yoda...awkward!

Apart from that, Dan McB was more toned down than I expected (to around about Jack Black's level of insanity). The actors performed to a high standard and the effects were made on a big budget scale.

I personally can't compare this to Princess Bride, just like I wouldn't compare it to Monty Python and the Holy Grail - they are similar in genre, but the style and humour is more reminiscent of the themed spoof type comedies such as Tropic Thunder, Kick Ass and probably anything that Zack Galifi...something or other has been involved in.

If I had to sum up Your Highness I would say it is perfect at not being a masterpiece (in a good way).

If you like this movie WonderOri picks: Pineapple Express, This is the End, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Superbad.