War, Inc.

John Cusack, the star, co-writer and producer of War, Inc. (First Look)

If you ever wondered what might have happened to John Cusack's hit man from 1997's Grosse Pointe Blank, then check out War, Inc. (opening June 27 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). The character Cusack plays presents a possible fate for Martin Q. Blank, or at least a logical trajectory his killer could have taken. War, Inc., as with Grosse Pointe Blank, is also co-written by Cusack, co-stars his sister Joan as his assistant Marsha (she was Marcella in Grosse Pointe Blank), and boasts an appearance by Dan Aykroyd. But unlike Grosse Point Blank, which knew exactly what kind of dark comedy it wanted to be, War, Inc. is all over the map.

Bigger Stronger Faster*

Filmmaker Chris Bell explores steroid use in America in Bigger Stronger Faster* (HD Net)

That asterisk is actually part of the title of the new documentary Bigger Stronger Faster* (opening June 13 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) and it references the film's subtitle - The Side Effects of Being American. Chris Bell makes his documentary feature debut with Bigger Stronger Faster* and he uses his own family as a starting point to explore the issue of steroids in America. He opens the film by explaining that he wanted to be ripped like Hulk Hogan or Sly Stallone or the Terminator but in reality he "was a fat pale kid from Poughkeepsie."

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

The name's Bond... um, I mean Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath. (Music Box Films)

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (opening May 16 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) is one mouthful of a title. But it does exactly what a good title should do - it conveys something about the film. In this case, it signals that you are in for a spoof on spy movies. Most Americans will assume that it's simply poking fun at James Bond but that's only part of the joke. OSS 117 also refers to a famous French spy who appeared in nearly a 100 novels beginning in 1949, and a handful of movies in the 50s and 60s. So that may explain why the film's been such a hit in France where it plays on their own pop culture. It's been such a homegrown hit that there's already talk of sequels.

Cairo, 1955. Everyone suspects everyone of something; everyone is plotting against or double crossing everyone else; nobody trusts anybody; and the British, the French, the Soviets, the family of the deposed King Farouk, and the insurgent religious sect Eagles of Kheops are all engaged in some sort of covert activity in Egypt. Into this nest of spies, the President of the French Republic, Monsieur René Coty, sends his best weapon: Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, agent OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin). Or as one of the femme fatales he meets says, "numbered like a cow for slaughter." Any way, OSS 117 must discover who killed a fellow spy and restore order to Cairo and the world. Along the way he encounters a bevy of beauties, some with lethal intentions. (You can also listen to my Film Chat about OSS 117 and Son of Rambow.)

My Brother is an Only Child

Brothers Accio and Manrico in My Brother is an Only Child (THINKFilm)

The new Italian film My Brother is an Only Child (opening May 2 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) focuses on two siblings who choose opposite sides of the political spectrum in Italy during the 60s and 70s. The film swept Italy's Donatelli awards, their equivalent of Hollywood's Oscars. Italian screenwriters Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli see sibling rivalry as the perfect metaphor for exploring their country's often divisive politics. In 2003's The Best of Youth, two brothers reflect four decades of political turbulence beginning in 1963. In this year's My Brother is an Only Child, the writing duo partners with director Daniele Luchetti for another story set in the 60s and 70s, and focused on two very different brothers. (You can listen to my radio feature or read the extended review and interview.)

Charlie Wilson’s War on DVD

Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson's War (Universal)

All right, I have to apologize for losing this film in the holiday shuffle at the end of last year. Despite its big name celebrity stars (Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts), Charlie Wilson's War (coming out on DVD April 22) was no surefire box office draw. It probably could have used all the help it could have gotten to inspire people to overcome their fear of films about recent history and politics, and about the unsexy subject matter of Afghanistan. But with Mike Nichols at the helm, Aaron Sorkin adapting from George Crile's non-fiction book, and a disheveled Philip Seymour Hoffman as a boozing CIA agent, Charlie Wilson's War has a lot going for it.

It probably says something about both the state of our politics and our filmmaking that Charlie Wilson's War was up for best comedy and not best drama at the Golden Globes back in January. One filmmaker I spoke with recently said that he feels the current administration is writing comedy every time they open their mouths or hold a press conference so maybe the comic absurdity of Charlie Wilson's War is extremely apt and its place in the comedy category all the more fitting.

Zombie Strippers: FInal Round

By Eric Wilson

Wow... I think. I can honestly say I've never seen a movie quite like this before. It had zombies. It had strippers. It had Zombie Strippers! (Now playing exclusively at Pacific Gaslamp Theaters.)

Set in the near future, President Bush just got elected for his fourth term. He dismissed congress. He went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Iran, Canada, and Alaska. And he sent scientists on a mission to develop a zombie gene so soldiers killed in battle can pop back up and keep on fighting. He has also banned any form of public nudity, which has created underground "strip-easies."

During a training exercise, a special "anti-zombie" team is told to do something, which actually won't work. Unknown to the other members, their newest recruit is bitten by a zombie and runs away to keep from being killed. He stumbles into a strip club and, after about 15 minutes of stripping, bites the star stripper, Kat (Jenna Jameson), in the throat. She dies, then reanimates... with an increased energy for stripping and a craving for flesh.

She puts on a show, and then chooses a victim for a "private show," which ends with another zombie being created. It turns out that the zombie virus runs along the X chromosome, so women are given super powers and men are turned into the classic zombies.

One by one the other strippers [including Roxy Saint pictured above left] beg to be turned into zombies for "performance boosts," and more and more customers become prey. Eventually the cellar full of zombies is released, and it turns into a giant slaughter by zombies. During this time there is a topless zombie stripper fight in which Kat fires ping-pong balls and billiard balls at her rival from her "woo-ha."

With a few humans left hiding, naturally the Special Forces team enters the club to battle the zombies. They then discover that the zombie virus was intended to get out and infect civilians in order to "draw attention from the economy and foreign matters."

I honestly don't know if it was intended to be a strict parody or if it was just that poorly acted, but it was hilarious. Many of the gunshots didn't synch right, the lines were badly delivered (maybe they were rehearsed to sound poorly acted), and the plot was... incredibly unique. If you don't mind seeing A LOT of topless women and want to see something hilarious, I'd recommend Zombie Strippers (rated R). However, some scenes may disturb you, and always remember: It is impossible to un-see something.

-- Eric Wilson is a senior attending Mount Miguel High. He's a big fan of fantasy and adventure, and spends a lot of his free time playing World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons. He also enjoys spending time at Balboa Park, wandering the nature trails or messing around at the archery range. Although he has wanted to be an architect or engineer, he would love to be able to get paid to review movies and he hopes this experience might help him get his foot in the door.

The Good, the Bad and the Undead: Zombie Strippers

Icons: Jenna Jameson and Robert Englund in Zombie Strippers (Sony)

By Alexander Bennett

The title alone to this film caught my eye, Zombie Strippers! Sounds like something that would be pretty funny to see and, hey I love zombie movies so this should be great I thought. This movie is definitely not one to take the family to or for the faint of heart. I'm not sure if raunchy even begins to describe it. When I saw that it was staring porn star Jenna Jameson I knew I was in for it, but I had no idea that it would be as bad as it was. I wasn't prepared for zombie boobs!

Zombie Strippers (playing exclusively at Pacific Gaslamp Theaters) certainly was an experience to remember. I'm just still not sure if it was a good one or not. Director, writer, and cinematographer Jay Lee takes us into his twisted vision of the near future where Bush is taking his fourth term as President; the U.S. is at war with more nations than you can count; and crowds are cheering to see undead super strippers! I never thought sex and zombies could go hand in hand, but here it has been done. In the search for better soldiers, the U.S. creates a serum that can reanimate the dead soldiers so they can fight again. This doesn't go so well though because the reanimated troops are highly aggressive and want to feast on your flesh. Oops! Looks like we got zombies on hand now. That's where Z-squad comes in to get rid of the problem. But while eliminating the "problem," one of the human squad members gets infected and escapes before his squad buddies can take out. He makes his way to a local strip joint, Rhinos, and mauls one of the performers infecting her. It is here we infuse sex with the grotesque. As the stripper Kat (played by Jenna Jameson) reanimates the story really begins to go downhill. As she continues to dance and drives the masses wild, the competition to be the better stripper begins. Kat dazzles patrons and then selects a lucky -- or so he thinks -- patron to go into the back room, where she devours him. Afterward they themselves become zombies adding to the problems.

Teen Critic Reveals All (Well Almost) About Zombie Strippers

Roxy Saint offers a lap dance to Robert Englund. Oh my! Zombie Strippers (Sony)

By Tony Galindo

Having already been given a chance to review one zombie flick this year I eagerly jumped at the chance to review another. Taking a quick glance at a trailer on Youtube I would have no idea what I was in for that night, and oh boy was I in for it with this movie. Zombie Strippers (opened Aptil 18 exclusively at Pacific Gaslamp Stadium Theaters) definitely has a title to catch anyone's attention, and is a movie to maintain everyone's eye -- or at least those old enough to see it [it's rated R for obvious reasons]. Directed by Jay Lee this low budget horror film shot in a few weeks was created more out of a joke then a serious take on an old horror theme.

Set in the "near future," we find out that Bush is in his fourth presidential term and has abolished congress because they were cramping his style. We are at war with everyone including Canada and our own state of Alaska.  The America we knew is long gone. To deal with wars all over, the government's solution to the countless loss of soldiers is a new chemical virus created to reanimate the corpses of soldiers, thus creating a zombie army. As undead soldiers,  they are stronger, faster, and better at what they do, which is kill people. After dealing with a breakout of the virus at a lab, a bitten soldier runs off in fear of being found out. He stumbles into an underground strip joint. After fully turning undead, the soldier launches himself -- due to his thirst for meat and blood -- at the club's star stripper Kat, played by Jenna Jameson. It's Kat's transformation to a undead super stripper that starts controversy amongst her fellow dancers and more problems for the club.

We find the strippers are split between who wants to conform and become undead to get paid more, and the more intelligent women who decide to stay alive. In this complete satire we find many hints of racist comedy as well as the struggle with conformity and doing whatever it takes to make the crowd love you. Even if this means giving up your life to strip like an undead superstar.

Seen by friends and I as "The best piece of S&!@ this year," this movie will not only make those willing to see it laugh, but also hide their face at the more then graphic scenes of testicle chewing and face splitting action that add to the film. The seemingly bad acting and special effects helped to make this movie the cheesy crap it came out to be. I mean really, I could count several times when the gunfire ceased but actors were still pretending to shoot while the flash of the shots fired had disappeared. Who would have thought that bad acting, horrid gore, sex scenes/humor, undead strippers, and Robert Englund playing a germ-aphobic club owner would make a horribly great film.

It was so hard to describe how I felt after seeing this film Monday night -- I loved it and hated it all at the same time. This movie is not for the faint of heart and greatly deserves the R rating it has received. When I say gore I mean GORE, with scenes that will make you want to run and turn away, only to make you turn back wanting more. If you are looking forward to seeing it, watching it with a live audience definitely adds to the experience with the random clapping and "hell yeah's" being yelled as the strippers began to fight and rip skin off. Or reacting to a certain undead gal deciding to shoot ping-pong and billiard balls out of somewhere never thought possible. I recommend this movie to all those willing to watch, to those into zombie flicks, and yes to those who only noticed "stripper" in the title. Some sexual content included in viewing of course, and not all considered pleasant. With all said and done, you'll either love it or hate it. All I can say is, "make like a bread truck, and get those buns moving."

-- Tony Galindo is a senior at Mount Miguel High. He was recently accepted at the Art Institute of San Diego where he wants to major in game art design and pursue a career in environmental design. Writing is a hobby of his as well as watching movies, so he thought it would be great to be able to share his opinions on film with people.

Zombie Strippers

Jenna Jameson (not yet dead) brings double-D dimensions to Zombie Strippers (Sony)

Naked women, undead hordes, Robert Englund and Friedrich Nietzsche all in one movie! I'd call Zombie Strippers (opening April 18 exclusively at Pacific Gaslamp Stadium Theaters, where you can still find George Romero's Diary of the Dead playing as a perfect second feature or warm up act) a guilty pleasure but I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt about enjoying it so much. I mean Zombie Strippers, what a brilliant idea. Director, writer, and cinematographer Jay Lee brings a whole new double-D dimension to the zombie genre - sex! With porn star Jenna Jameson as a zombie stripper, being undead has never been so cool or so sexy. Those lumbering, silent reanimated corpses have never been presented as sexy and honestly I never thought I'd want to see one of them naked but in Lee's hands, the idea works. [But if you are easily offended, I suggest you don't read on.]

NEW: Just added the audio from our Film Club discussion of Zombie Strippers. And just to be clear the Bush bashing I bring up is about George Bush but I didn't get to finish my comment.

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (City Lights)

Politics and sports mix to surprising effect in Brazil's official entry for last year's Foreign Language Film Oscar, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (opening April 11 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). It's 1970. Brazil is torn between giddy excitement over the country's third appearance in the World Cup, and despair over an increasingly repressive dictatorship. These elements provide the backdrop for a very intimate story of one young boy's coming of age.