Slurs, Spaceships, And Side-Splitting Stupidity // Star Wars Day Special!

*There isn’t a poster, so I thought this would make a good substitution!

Plot Synopsis:

What happens when a Captain and his crew take the star ship out for a joyride while drunk? Find out in this cinematic experiment involving an entirely drunk cast and crew.

Official Short:

Full Review:

May the 4th be with you! Yes that’s right. It’s officially Star Wars Day today and what better way to celebrate than reviewing a short film about drunk people! The five minute short features elements of the Star Wars universe so I thought this would be incredibly fitting for the occasion. However, I know some of you will complain and rip into me about how there are elements from bitter rivals Star Trek that are being used in the video. To which I say… Star Trek and Star Wars now have the same director! So it shouldn’t matter!! So, let’s shoot this review into warp speed and get started!

I shouldn’t have to point this out, but you definitely should not take this seriously in the slightest. I mean, with the name of Star Drunk, you’d be stupid to treat this with the same seriousness as a film about the tragedies of World War II. The main niche of the film is that all the actors on screen are (allegedly) drunk and that the script was written while the writers were under the influence. With this in mind, it’s easy to assume that this isn’t gonna be like any other short you’ve seen this year. And it definitely isn’t!

The reason for this is because, unlike other shorts, this film has no narrative structure whatsoever! It is so loosely put together and many scenes and small moments are incredibly insignificant and out of place; it can be irritating to the die hard film fan. But that’s why this is comedic genius! It somehow manages to satirise Sci-Fi as a genre and wonderfully succeeds in doing so, despite having little to no set-up for their jokes.

In fact, these aren’t even jokes. These are just moments moulded by atrocious writing and overdone acting which come across as funny. It’s exactly the reason why films like The Room are so funny; it’s so obviously horrendous we respond with laughter instead of hate. And yet, I wouldn’t say this is “So Bad, It’s Good”. It wasn’t trying to be good in the first place, knowing that the actors were intoxicated while filming. Because of this, what we receive at the end of the day is ludicrous cinema and downright absurdity but you’ll always find the funny side no matter how you look at it.

I don’t really have much else to say about this. It is what it is; a stupid YouTube video!. But the fact that this is a ‘stupid YouTube video’ is why it’s so enjoyable. Nothing like this would ever be produced by Hollywood studios for the simple reason that they want success and good quality content. Unfortunately Hollywood doesn’t always get what it wants, but they will strive for it by any means necessary. The beauty of this is that we’re exposing ourselves to a kind of humour that wouldn’t have been touched upon if it wasn’t for the existence of the internet and the abundance of memes and Vine videos. When Hollywood are unable to satisfy our sense of humour, we as a society will turn to the inter-webs to reinvigorate the feeling of laughter that we lost during our viewing of Movie 43!

Out of all the videos you can watch on YouTube and out of all the (short) films you can watch on Star Wars Day, make it this one. It’s painfully hilarious and, although sloppy in narrative, delightful on every level imaginable. But if you want to re-watch the original Star Wars trilogy for the 37th time, then be my guest; it’s probably what I’ll end up doing! Or better yet, take your copies of the prequels and burn them! Six children will be saved for every DVD of The Phantom Menace that is burned around the world. Please make this a tradition for every Star Wars Day!

Fergie’s Final Fifteen:

Beyond idiotic, but ridiculously funny and full of hilarious absurdity. This is why YouTube exists!

I’m not going to rate the video since I wouldn’t know how to! Like I said, this is it’s own thing! Let us embrace it!! There’s actually another reason why I won’t rate it but I’m gonna save that for another post. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy your day of cosplaying, and pretending to swish light-sabres while you actually swing a very old broomstick!

Have a good Star Wars Day!!

 

Sunshine // Shining Spectacle or Dim Lit Disappointment?

Plot Synopsis:

50 years into the future, the Sun begins to die, and Earth is dying as a result. A team of astronauts are sent to revive the Sun – but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team are sent to finish the mission as they are Earth’s last hope. Starring Cillian Murphy, Rose Bryne, and Chris Evans.

Official Trailer:

Full Review:

Following last week’s review of The Dark Knight, which I considered to be a perfect film (find out why here), I thought I would review Sunshine. Why? Because Sunshine should’ve been perfect but ultimately it wasn’t. So how can a film from living legend Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, be anything less than expected? The answer to that question rests in this article.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a GREAT film. And I mean a REALLY great film. I’ve seen a lot of Sci-Fi films over the years and this is one of the most thrilling and nail biting films I’ve seen in this genre. So what’s the problem? Well first, let’s start with the positives because there is plenty of good points to talk about!

With Danny Boyle behind the camera, of course this is going to be a good looking movie. In fact, the film looks fantastic! The direction is very crisp and concise and every scene has such a strong sense of emotion. It is an incredibly intense experience too, so make sure you don’t have any Red Bull before you watch this film! Sunshine oozes with incredibly powerful scenes that will stick with you long after the end credits have stopped rolling.

I also feel that this is a film worth analysing and studying. There are many films out there which are replayed over and over again in many film schools such as Citizen Kane and Casablanca, with students picking apart every detail trying to decipher what the significant purpose of a character’s actions are. This is one of those films. I’ve seen many online film lovers debate over the philosophical meanings of certain scenes in Sunshine, and that’s for a good reason. Because there’s a lot of unanswered questions which delve into the psychology of each character, particularly Cillian Murphy’s character, as well as larger than life questions about the mysteries of the universe and the human race. I will leave you guys to make up your own mind about the film’s hidden meanings when you see it!

Speaking of Cillian Murphy, he gives a really good performance as Robert Capa. Not the famous war photographer but instead the spacecraft’s go-to physicist. He gives a really enigmatic, cold to the core style of performance, unflinching about the possibility of dying in an attempt to save mankind. How nice of him, eh?! Chris Evans’s Mace is the hot headed leader of the crew who is played with vigorous amounts of energy and his emotional instability is a perfect contrast to Cillian Murphy’s cool-as-a-cucumber character.

And the special effects are, if you excuse the very obvious pun, out of this world! Achieved with a budget of £20 million (roughly $35 million), the visuals are simply stunning and put many Hollywood films to shame. Just look at the trailer if you don’t believe me! And yes, the trailer has the absurdly overused music from Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem For A Dream playing in the background but don’t let that influence your opinion of the score heard in the movie. John Murphy’s score is filled with such raw emotion from beginning to end and this film wouldn’t be as intense and dramatic as it is without this glorious soundtrack. I immediately bought it on iTunes after I first saw this!

Now for the big question, what’s the problem? For what sounds like one of the best sci-fi films to be released in the past decade, I must be mad to say otherwise. But to my dismay, there is one major flaw that stops me from wholeheartedly loving this film and I believe some of those who have seen this film may already know what I’m eluding to. And that is a certain plot point involving a certain someone at a certain point in the film. Since I don’t want to spoil this film for anyone, I won’t say too much because it is a major revelation which I want you guys to experience for the first time.

But I will say that it is a pointless revelation. I personally felt it wasn’t necessary in the slightest; only put in to elevate the already sky high intensity near the end of the film. There was no need for this element of the storyline to be introduced as the film was already doing fantastic without it. And to be honest, it kind of annoyed me when I first saw the film since up until the revelation was made, Sunshine shot its way into my favourite films of all time. But unfortunately, it was at that point it fell from grace. And I absolutely hated the fact that it did. It left a third degree burn to my movie loving heart, which has since been treated by recent Sci-Fi epics such as Inception and Gravity. Damn you Mr. Boyle!

Overall, this is a thrilling, spectacular Science Fiction film illuminated by nerve shredding intensity and truly tear jerking scenes. But alas, the nonessential side story has scorched my final verdict and that really p*sses me off!

Fergie’s Final Fifteen:

A mesmerising Sci-Fi of intergalactic proportions. But went one step too far. Still highly recommended.

Rating:

B+

This could’ve been a straight up A+ but I was so irritated by the “you know what”, it has subsequently brought down my mark. I still urge you to see this, but you have been warned!