ori & spoof reviews

so over the past month or so, we used Netflix to "study" two sets of "ori & spoof" films:

SET ONE: "300" vs "Meet the Spartans"
When this came out, I had no interest in seeing it: seemed like a testosterone movie to me. In fact, it was only when "Meet the Spartans" came out did either Kosh or I have the motivation to see "300" if only to see the original before its spoof. Because as atrociously bad as we expect these spoof movies to be, chances are we'll watch them: sometimes it's nice to have a no-brainer to watch when Kosh needs to wind down after work.

"300" was better than expected: the CGI effects were pretty cool, it really did seem like a comic strip graphic novel come to life. Story-wise, okay lah. Its spoof was about as expected, with plenty of gags / effects that just. weren't. funny. and just didn't need to be there. BUT!! Having Kevin Sorbo in it? Kinda cool. Especially since he'd bulked down so I thought it was just a lookalike... until he screams "I'm gonna go Hercules on your ass!",,, yeeaah,,, it's Kevin Sorbo, LoL!

SET TWO: "Walk the Line" vs "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison was one of the cassette tapes of my parents' that I listened to over and over back when I was a young'un. My absolute fave song on the whole album? 25 minutes to go. It's about a prisoner's last 25 mins alive, follows his interactions with the sheriff, the priest, etc, and ends with him swinging on the gallows. My fave song. At age 11 (or thereabouts). And if THAT doesn't help explain my unusual slightly twisted take on life, well, I dunno what to say, LMAO :D

Anyways - so "Walk the Line" was okay. Sure, it was interesting to find out more about the man in black, but the self-destructive behaviour, the majorly screwed-up family (read: father) interactions, the all-too-typical alcohol and drug abuse... bleah... same ol' same ol', ainnit? What was impressive was that Joachim Phoenix and Rheese Witherspoon both sang all of their songs for the film. Dunno if Rheese's performance was oscar-worthy, but whatever :p I was certainly nice to see her in a non-LegallyBlonde role :p

And the spoof? Well, I've seen about half of it right now. So far it's matching the original pretty closely; while I've not been impressed, neither have I been grossed out (which seems to be the objective of the "usual" spoof movies)... but, ummm, the version we have must be the uncut unrated version because, ummm.. we've got sightings of male dingly-danglies... I'm no prude, but still, are such sights necessary to the storyline? Nope.

Jury's still out on Dewey Cox (might finish watching it today), but it's safe to assume I'll rank it as a better spoof than Meet the Spartans :p

ONE MORE THING: we also got all CGI'd out by watching Beowulf - it was such a disappointment, because despite having Neil Gaiman among the screenplay writers, the story seemed to be less important than the special effects (rather like why Star Wars Episodes I - II were such letdowns). I *do* like, however, that the movie took us "beyond" what I'd known about the tale - the dragon that comes to wreak havoc, and how its vanquishing mirrors Grendel's defeat, is genius :) However.. the irritating CGI combined with Angelina Jolie's small part yet utterly irritating due to a ridiculous accent, make this an utterly un-recommended movie. Really, don't bother. If you're interested in the Grendel story, look at this movie instead (Beowulf & Grendel): no CGI, and breathtaking views of Iceland, make for a much better tale overall.