Iro's Reviews

I seriously doubt that most people on this forum need an introduction to this film, but I'll throw one in anyway. The notorious comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, whose 2006 mockumentary Borat caused a wave of controversy due to the bulk of its humour consisting of the titular character, a weird hybrid of every politically incorrect stereotype about foreigners, being set loose on unsuspecting Americans and enacting one big practical joke on everyone he meets.

Brüno follows virtually the same formula, except this time Cohen plays one entirely different character - a gay Austrian fashion reporter who's obsessed with the superficial culture of fashion, celebrities and sex. The plot (at least what there is) revolves around Brüno, once a famous Austrian fashion reporter, getting a bad reputation in the industry after ruining one particular fashion show. He sets off for America, hoping to achieve nothing more than to become famous. However, as you can expect, all his attempts to do so are multiple and disastrous.

Okay, so onto the film itself - er, okay. Brüno very nearly got an NC-17 in America (and up until a few days before its Australian release, had an R18+ which was later worked down to MA15+, thus making it a little more "family-friendly") and even in what I suspect is an edited version, it still pushes the boundaries of good taste quite far. There were countless groans emanating from the audience as a result of sequences I probably can't describe in this review, but needless to say that if gross-out humour isn't your thing, you'd do best to steer away. Of course, that's pretty obvious, but what about the laugh factor for the people who can take it?

Of course, this is just opinion, but Brüno is just not that funny. It's got a handful of good laughs spread across its brief running time, but they are spread rather thin and there are quite a few sequences that are both prolonged and largely (if not totally) unfunny. Whether he's doing some ridiculous pratfalls or maybe just some random off-the-cuff remark, there's plenty here that just seems like he's trying too hard to out-do Borat. That or he's not trying hard enough. I have no idea. Even the parts that I genuinely laughed at were parts that I knew were more or less on the same level as the ones I didn't laugh at, and I'm sure that other people will probably laugh at the parts I didn't like and vice versa. It makes the whole comedy aspect seem very uneven - given that most comedies aim to be consistently amusing all the way through, the sporadic nature of Brüno's humour is a strike against it.

While I admit that it's actually not a bad film, it's not exactly great either. While Borat, for all its faults, was at least a reasonably fresh character-based take on the whole "candid camera" brand of comedy, Brüno falls fairly short by more or less repeating the exact same formula that Borat had, with the only real changes aimed at trying to push the envelope of good taste, and while it's still a fairly in-your-face experience, it's still not that great. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't try and expect a comedy blockbuster.

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I wasn't a big fan of Borat so will wait for this to come on DVD thanks for the review Iro

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Everyone's seen the trailer that kick-started one very fishy-looking viral campaign, interviewing several humans and an alien in quick succession. That marks many people's first exposure to Neill Blomkamp's District 9, and the trailer - which had a decently executed "mockumentary" feel to it, which only served to make its sci-fi content seem even more surprising. This same element of surprise is still present throughout the film proper, and it is quite a cinematic treat.

District 9 takes place in an alternate timeline where, twenty years ago, an alien spaceship came to a halt above the city of Johannesburg. The inhabitants of the ship are unable to operate the ship anymore, so they end up being segregrated to their own slum within the city below. Eventually, the government calls for the eviction of the aliens (nicknamed "prawns" due to their appearance) from the slum. The film's ostensible protagonist is Wikus (Sharlto Copley), who through a series of events too complicated to recount in a synopsis, ends up undergoing some rather dramatic changes and before long he's thrust into the middle of something far too big for him to handle...

The best thing about District 9 is that it always manages to stay fresh and surprising throughout. As the trailers indicate, it starts off as a mockumentary in order to expose the gist of the story. The film gradually crosses over to being a more conventional film, although still filmed with a very documentarian look and interspersed with occasional news footage or interviews. Despite the unexpected change in presentation, you don't really notice because you're so wrapped up in the ingenious premise. Then you're presented with the plight of Wikus, whose story is one I don't really want to expose too much because watching it all unfold was just amazing to watch. He's a perfect example of the Everyman, trying to survive as best he can in the face of everything that the world throws at him over the course of the film. His development, along with that Chris, the prawn he befriends (who is surprisingly well-rounded for a CGI character) raises this above your average science-fiction film. Even when the film's final third act becomes incredibly action-packed, it still doesn't jar with the mood of the film and doesn't forsake its characters and intelligence for the sake of cheap action sequences.

On that subject, the action sequences are far from "cheap". Given that Blomkamp and collaborator Peter Jackson were originally aiming to make a film adaptation of Halo before changing to this, there's still plenty of moments that feel quite reminiscient of Bungie's game, from the alien technology to the frantic battles. The effects work looks great in even the simplest of situations, to say nothing of the bombastic finale. There's just something about the way it all comes together, especially when it is combined with one very uncompromising storyline and subject.

District 9 is a rare find nowadays. It doesn't sacrifice the intelligence or raw power that its story affords it for the sake of appeasing your "typical" blockbuster crowd with a lighter rating and less focus on the story. It's a damned fine thriller that is not without its flaws, but is still several cuts above your average summer film and is well worth watching - but only if you can handle the heat. And it does get quite hot.

Awesome review, Iro. The word-of-mouth keeps piling up. I'm practically giddy to see it this weekend.

Can't wait to see this...

Great review!

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Nice review, Iroquois! I really like your reviews.

This is getting great word-of-mouth like Yoda said. I'm excited!

Gah, it's not out til Sept 4th in UK. I'll fourth all the 'good reviews' tho - nice one Iro

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Ultra-good review for District 9, Iro. Up until this point in time, I've been completely on the fence about going to see it. On one hand, the trailers look really cool, but on the other hand, there are quite a few other movies I also want to see in the theater coming out soon (The Final Destination and Halloween 2 among them), and I only have so much money to spend.

But, after reading your review, I'll likely skip one of the others and see District 9 instead. You gave me that little extra push I needed to come to that decision.

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My Movie Review Thread | My Top 100

I haven't.

I know you don't care, but that doesn't matter.

I haven't seen it either.

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That's what I get for making assumptions, I guess.

Sorry, but District 9 isn't a title that makes me want to take it any further than that. Reading your review, at least it seems to be a better film that I'd have though.

What if I told you that Drew was in it?

If Drew was in it, then I'd see it. Them's the rules.

Yeah, excellent review on District 9, mate. Hadn't heard much about this but you've definitely made it sound like it could be a sleeper. I'm very intrigued now.

What she said ^

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When I was about fifteen years old, I found out about this list and immediately resolved to see every single film on it. This is no easy task, considering the obstacles in my path. Whether it was a genuine lack of interest (I never got around to finishing Grey Gardens) or, more commonly, that a fairly good number of those films are near impossible to find and watch, I had picked a tough task to complete. But one day I'll finish it - and after seeing Penelope Spheeris's heavy metal rockumentary (the 48th film on the list), I'm now one step closer to that goal. And after four years of waiting to see this bombastic slice of metal life, I was not disappointed.

Like the previous entry in the Decline... series, The Metal Years focuses on a particularly interesting rock music scene busting out onto the streets on L.A. While the original focused on the underground punk rock scene of the late 1970s, The Metal Years obviously focuses on - you guessed it - metal. To be more specific, the subgenre of metal known as either "glam" or "hair" metal, depending on how judgmental you want to be. To this end, Spheeris interviews a wide range of people involved in the scene, however loosely they are actually related to what's going on. They range from the famous (luminaries of heavy metal music such as Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper) to the up-and-coming (a handful of glam bands trying to make a name for themselves on the Sunset Strip) to the nobodies (a veritable army of random fans of the metal scene). Much of the film consists of interviews regarding various subjects that surround the metal subculture - sex, drugs, appearances, the whole gamut really. Spheeris also focuses on the hopeful band members as they talk of how they're going to "make it" in the music world.

The interesting thing about this documentary is just how much of it comes across as very broad comedy. Granted, such exaggeration is to be expected from a musical sub-culture that encourages style over substance, but the subjects of The Metal Years take it to an all-new "high". It's hard not to draw comparisons to This Is Spinal Tap, but that was an intentionally funny and, while you knew it had its root in some truth, you still kind of knew it was fake. Most of the bands in The Metal Years manage to match Spinal Tap in virtually every regard, and the thing that makes it especially golden is that it's all real. The music doesn't even sound that good, even compared to other glam metal stalwarts such as Guns N' Roses or Motley Crue.

The true standout of these wannabe bands is Odin, a band where the lead singer wears pants with the seat cut out and insists that if Odin never makes it big, he'll have no option but to kill himself. Such starkly ridiculous scenes can only really be seen as blackly comic, yet also carry a sense of pathos. After all, with the benefit of hindsight you can see that Odin never made it big, so you have to wonder about it (and the other bands). The same goes for many of the random fans that also get roped in for interviews - several seem utterly incapable of realising that their dreams of being rich and famous (for being a musician or otherwise) might not work out and they'll never reach their lofty goals. Plenty of them lack anything else in their lives but the simple pleasures presented by glam - again, whether this is something to laugh at or pity is never quite clear.

The bigger names in the film are also never quite portrayed as perfect either. Ozzy complains about being ripped off by managers while being unable to pour orange juice, Steven Tyler talks about wasting lots of his money on drug abuse...but all of them pale in comparison to the film's most notorious scene, where Chris Holmes (of W.A.S.P. infamy) drunkenly pours vodka all over himself in a swimming pool while his own mother watches. While there are countless scenes in The Metal Years that show just how vapid the glam scene can be, no other scene truly illustrates just how low it can really sink.



The one band in the film not portrayed as incompetent or gimmicky is the thrash metal juggernaut known as Megadeth. After an hour and a half of effeminate-looking guys forming bands purely as a means to have a fun time by getting loads of money and women, Spheeris gives us Megadeth, the antidote to glam - frontman Dave Mustaine calls out the glam scene and proves that, in the end, it's all about the music. The film ends with Megadeth performing the most exciting gig in the entire film - this is the heavy metal happy ending. The decline has stopped.

While I liked the film enough, I did find myself bothered slightly by Spheeris's presentation. The Metal Years is certainly informative about LA's metal scene circa 1988, and it certainly covers what it's like to be there, but it still feels somewhat biased against its subject matter. This could be attributed the inclusion of countless moments that made the entire scene out to be nothing more than moronic hedonism, yet the fact that Spheeris felt the need to fake Ozzy's juice-spilling moment says something. It's an entertaining moment, no doubt, but undercut by the fact that it's a lie in a film that has otherwise basked in an admittedly silly truth, but truth nonetheless.

I like metal. I make no bones about it. While glam metal has spawned a couple of decent bands, it still remains an admittedly embarrassing sub-genre. If you needed any proof, just watch The Metal Years. It almost counts as "edutainment" as there are still plenty of ideas that are prevalent in any metal scene, plus the unintentionally comedic value of the subjects is always amusing to watch. Insofar as taking a proper journalistic approach to the subject goes, it does feel very rough when compared to Sam Dunn's Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, which has taken up the reins as the go-to documentary on heavy metal. That is not to say that The Metal Years is without merit, as it functions as an entertaining enough documentary.



One last thing - I actually got to see Megadeth live last month. This made the ending ever so slightly more awesome to me.

I havent seen the above film mate but I think I really need to see and you lucky s.o.b to of seen Megadeath \m/ awesome \m/

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Wow interesting list nice review Thanks

Yeah, like I said, it's really hard to find, but they have the whole thing available for free on Google Video. Be sure to check it out, I'm sure you'll be interested.

And yeah, Megadeth were quite awesome when I saw them. Are they not coming to your part of the world anytime soon or something? That's a shame.

The list is quite interesting - as of writing, I have now seen 37 out of 50.