Finishing Things

Movie: Pusher 3: I'm the Angel of Death

My Rating: 3 stars

I’m as prone to existential angst as the next girl.  But, it’s films like this one that really make you want to just wallow in the futility of it all.  This is the third, and final, installment in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher Trilogy, and in some ways it’s the bleakest.  It features far less of the random violence, casual drug abuse, and lack of respect for human life, that we see in the other two films.  But, it really drives home the depressing fact that no one is ever going to get out of the drug trade alive.  Some people are more successful than others, but anyone in this line of work is really just waiting for the clock to run out.

This film focuses on Milo, one of the higher-level dealers that we met in the previous films.  All in all, he seems like a pretty good guy.  He’s an Eastern European immigrant to Denmark, doesn’t have much of an education, and he’s just trying to provide a nice life for his small family.  The drug trade seemed like a pretty easy way to make a few bucks at first, and now he’s running a pretty smooth operation.  But, the money seems less necessary now that his daughter is grown, and is getting married soon.  Milo knows he’s got to get out of the biz.  Maybe he’ll retire somewhere nice.  He’s been cutting down on the number of jobs he takes in an effort to phase himself out.  And, he’s even started attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings in an effort to kick that nasty cocaine habit he picked up along the way.  But, of course, we all know that these dreams of escape will inevitably crash around his feet when he agrees to take on “one last job.”  That’s his first mistake.  Especially since the deal is going down on the day of his daughter’s big birthday party—the party he’s agreed to cook for.

These drug transactions usually have very tight time schedules, and the participants aren’t exactly known for being very understanding or trustworthy guys.  Milo agreed to this one mostly to help clean up the mess that one of his colleagues has made of a big heroin deal.  Turns out, his idiot goons seized the wrong drop car, and this one’s full of ecstasy, rather than heroin.  Milo doesn’t know anything about dealing ecstasy, or even how much it’s worth, but he’s willing to try to unload it.  So, there’s his second mistake.  Since Milo doesn’t know what he’s working with, he has to enlist the help of a whole different set of dealers—ones that he doesn’t know very well, and who have no real incentive not to rip him off.  Becoming indebted to a whole new group of drug dealers isn’t exactly the right move to make if one is trying to extricate oneself from the trade.  Oh Milo!  So, we’re left to watch and see whether Milo is going to be able to pull off this ill-omened feat.  He’s a pretty savvy guy, so he has a real fighting chance.  But, if we’ve learned anything from the two previous films, these things tend to be a little unpredictable.

I think this film was the right tone on which to finish this trilogy.  The first one was about the thrill of the trade.  It’s fueled by adrenaline.  The second was about the very real consequences that real people suffer.  And, the overall tone is depression.  This third installment seems to be about those people who have become inured to all the horrors.  And, the story is absolutely saturated in an air of numbness and resignation.  These films are soul-crushers.  But, they feel like the most authentic stories about the drug trade that I’ve ever seen.  They definitely deglamorize the whole idea, but not in a preachy, moralizing way. Watching these would definitely make any young thugs reconsider the trade as their career of choice.  Just don’t try to watch these if you’re feeling at all tired or emotionally drained.

Family Troubles

Movie: We Are What We Are

My Rating: 3 stars

Now, here’s a super-bizarre little film.  I don’t know how the director ever thought up the idea for this story, unless it’s about a real phenomenon.  And hey, you never know these days, right?  This film is a story about a happy family of cannibals living in Mexico.  Well, they were happy until the patriarch falls down dead in the street one day, from what looks to me like some sort of advance-stage, brain-wasting, prion disease.  Not that I know what that looks like or anything, but all the disorientation, staggering about, and foaming at the mouth sounds a bit like the reports of mad cow disease that I’d heard.  And, we humans are probably chock full of all kinds of nasty chemicals and preservatives.  Well, dear, old dad was the guy who usually brought home the family’s latest victims.  And, he also seemed to be the head priest in their little cult—the one who ran the family’s weekly cannibalism “ritual.”  So, with him gone, the rest of these kids are really at a loss.  To make matters worse, he was the only one who seemed to be bringing in any sort of a paycheck.  Mom is an emotional wreck and won’t come out of her room.  Little sis is too small to wrangle a live captive (as the “ritual” requires).  And, the two sons are too busy arguing over who is the “man of the house” now.  Hey, this theme of a family in crisis is pretty common, what with the country’s economic woes of late.  But, this story adds a particularly morbid, and gruesome little twist to the whole thing.

This seems like it would be a straight-up horror film, but director Jorge Michel Grau actually takes an amusingly (alarmingly?) casual approach to this subject matter.  He presents what should be seen as a very extreme practice as pretty banal.  A pair of policemen is investigating the string of disappearances in the area, and the subject of cannibalism is raised when they read the autopsy report for the unidentified man who has collapsed and died in a public square.  Apparently the coroner found a human finger in his stomach.  Rather than being totally repelled by this news, the lead detective states that this phenomenon is actually pretty common.  “People eat each other every day in this town.”  Yikes!  We do see this family’s potential victims struggling to get away once they realize what is in store for them.  But, the family is never presented as the monsters you see in horror films. Sure, they might be a little crazy, but they’re certainly not psychopaths.  Maybe.  They could be merely a group of very poor people (with a really demented religion), struggling to get by.  The audience is even meant to sympathize with them a little.  It’s not that we’re supposed to approve of their cannibalism.  The religion, with its barbaric rituals, and the way the family members discuss eating human flesh, is all plenty repulsive.  But strangely, we don’t want them to just give up and die.  And, Grau seems to want us to root for them rather than the detective that is trying to track them down.  It’s a strange side of the story to be on.  The film isn’t all that dramatic or suspenseful.  The story is pretty straightforward, and doesn’t take very many twists or turns.  But, it does approach a pretty well-worn cinematic theme (the whole abduction and murder story) from a surprising, new angle.  And, that’s pretty worthwhile.

Adventure!

Movie: The Last Wild Race

My Rating: 3 stars

This film is another one that I streamed through Prescreen.  It’s another independent documentary, but this one has a pretty slick, high-budget feel to it.  The film tracks the progress of several teams of “extreme adventure athletes” as they compete in what is billed as the most intense survival race on earth.  Several teams try to traverse the unforgiving terrain of Patagonia in the world’s most difficult treasure hunt.  They are given their first destination, but they must reach it within the allotted time in order to learn the location of the next checkpoint.  The race lasts for four days, and each team is responsible for determining for themselves whether they’re going to waste any of that time sleeping.  The race is set in a particularly wild and untamed region of Patagonia.  The terrain is severe, and the weather unpredictable.  On top of that, since the competitors aren’t given access to the course ahead of time, they don’t know what sort of gear they’ll need to bring along with them.  That’s an important thing to know when you’re dealing with a race that may involve crossing rushing rivers, scaling rock faces, covering vast distances, and sleeping out in the bush.  And, you’re going to need a pretty high tech film crew to be able to capture the adventures of these groups out in the wild.  Plus, it would be a shame to use low-grade gear on such stunning scenery.  The views are really amazing.  So, the overall production value of this film is pretty high.

The teams are all pretty hard core.  And, they are all seasoned outdoorsmen (and women).  Most of them are ex-military.  I was a little amused by the team of yoga instructors in the midst of all these ex-special-forces types, but it became pretty clear that these kids weren’t just a bunch of wimpy hippies.  The yoga probably had a little more to do with their nature-centric spirituality than their exercise regime of choice.  All the competitors are legitimate survivalists.  However, some teams are more prepared for the unpredictable conditions than others.  This is one contest where experience definitely pays off.  The same team of British athletes has been winning the race year after year, so they definitely come to this race with an advantage.  They come to the table expecting any kind of challenge the course can throw at them.  If a bike tire is going to blow out on them on a long cross-country portion, these guys are prepared to just run for it.  This film falls into the category of fantasy for most audiences.  This isn’t the kind of stuff that your casual exercise or travel enthusiast would ever be tempted to pick up in real life—even though the scenery in Patagonia is absolutely gorgeous.  So, you can really just let go, and be amazed by the kinds of rigors some people are willing to put themselves through.

My one complaint about the film is that this documentary feels more like a TV show than a feature film.  (This was the same complaint I had about The Gloucester 18.)  Perhaps this is because I’ve seen too many episodes of The Amazing Race.  That show really has set my expectations for what the adventure-race should look like.  But, in my experience, TV and feature film documentaries are just paced differently.  They have different dramatic arcs.  This one felt like it would have made a really good miniseries on the Travel Channel or something similar.  But, perhaps I need to adjust my expectations for these indie documentaries.  Maybe these directors really are developing them with television distribution in mind.  It would certainly be the largest market for a program like this.

Old Friends

Movie: Shanghai Kiss

My Rating: 3 stars

I really enjoyed seeing David Ren’s film, The Girl From theNaked Eye, as a part of the DC APA Film Festival this year, so I decided to check out some of his other work.  I had heard that he showed Shanghai Kiss at the festival a few years ago, so I decided to check it out.  And, wouldn’t you know it, I just so happened to stumble across my old friends at Bigfoot Entertainment.  That’s kind of a fun coincidence.  And, after watching Shanghai Kiss, I’d have to say that the script’s light tone and the plot’s solvable problems definitely fit in with Bigfoot’s roster of other films.  It’s totally different from Girl From the Naked Eye.  Where that film is a stylized, intense, action thriller, this one is a sweet, little, romantic comedy about finding love, and coming to terms with one’s cultural roots.

Liam (Ken Leung) is a struggling actor in Los Angeles.  He’s got the acting skills, but he has come to realize that there isn’t really a very high demand for Asian American actors.  Most of the casting directors are only interested in whether he knows kung fu, even when he’s up for a totally neutral role, like a toothpaste commercial.  On top of all this, he really doesn’t get along with his father very well.  So, Liam’s been feeling pretty down on himself.  And, that’s when the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Adelaide (Hayden Panettiere) enters his life.  Addie is only a sixteen-year-old high school student, so most people see this as a highly inappropriate friendship, but her chipper, upbeat attitude is just what Liam needs to snap him out of his funk.  Only, Liam is still so wrapped up in his problems that he doesn’t quite seem to realize it yet.

When his grandma in China dies, and leaves him her house, Liam has to travel back to Shanghai to figure out what to do with it.  Sell it?  Stay and live in it?  His options are wide open.  It’s there in Shanghai that Liam really has to face his crisis of identity.  He comes from a place where he’s always seen as an Asian dude, but when he goes back to his ancestral home, he finds out that he fits in there even less.  His Chinese relatives will only ever see him as an American—an outsider.  So, it’s time for Liam to really think about what will really make him happy.

The story is light and sappy, with pretty people and sentimental themes.  But, it also touches on some very real, personal, issues that many people struggle with.  And, this issue of cultural identity vs. physical appearance is something that is uniquely American.  It was a fun look at some of Ren’s other work.  I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for more.

Strumpets

Movie: The Gloucester 18

My Rating: 3 stars

So, I’ve been checking out some if the latest indie films on Preescreen.com.  I like the idea that directors are able to offer their films through this website without having to wait on a deal with some big distributor.  It’s probably pretty hard to find a good deal, especially since most of these indie films have a pretty limited target market.  And, not everyone can make it to every film festival.  So, I’m glad there’s a place I can go online to stream some of the movies I may have missed.  The first film I streamed through this website is a documentary about those eighteen, shameless, high-school hussies in Massachusetts, who supposedly had a pact amongst their group to all get teen-pregnant together.  This was a pretty interesting film, especially since the director, John Michael Williams, was one of the very few people who was ever granted access to these girls and their families to do interviews.  When the story first broke, there were a few daytime television programs that snagged some early appearances, but the community pretty much went on lockdown not long after.  So, this documentary offers a few stories that were previously unreported.

It’s a pretty interesting subject matter, even if I just watched it so that I could gawk at these little strumpets.  And, everyone’s always interested in a racy tale, even though they might not admit it.  These little girls are such idiots!  They swear up and down that they would never want to be a teen mom, and comment on how difficult their pregnant friends must have it.  But, then they keep whoring it up around town, and what do you know, next month they’re pregnant too.  There’s absolutely no understanding of cause and effect here.  I hear the argument that these girls come from a working class background, where teen pregnancy is a pretty normal thing, and isn’t stigmatized.  But, I don’t know if I totally buy it.  Just about all the girls in this film come from nice families with parents that want them to get good educations.  Maybe it’s the whole abstinence education thing.  You’re not ever going to stop hormone-crazed teens from messing around with each other.   So, if you refuse to teach them how they can prevent themselves from getting knocked up, or refuse to give them access to birth control, then I guess you deserve what you get.  And seriously, when’s the last time teenagers did what their parents asked them to do?  They’re not exactly known for making the best decisions in the world.

This documentary really felt like more of an episode of 60 Minutes than a film.  It really felt like it was edited for television, even though it was feature length.  It would been a perfect one-hour special.  As a result, the film felt a little bit longer than necessary.  But, I guess the film can always be edited down if the director ever decided to go that route.  Better than having to add extra footage later.

Back Away Slowly

Movie: The Perfect Host

My Rating: 4 stars

I really go for these smart, psychological thrillers because they rely on great writing in order to succeed.  Action thrillers with fast cars and big explosions do have their proper time and place.  It’s the same thing with the sort of horror films that use lots of blood and sudden surprises for their scares.  Those are good for when you’re in the mood for some mindless entertainment.  But, I will always love good writing.  You know, a well-planned story, clever plot twists, plenty of suspense.  Psychological thrillers usually feature all of these elements.  Plus, they typically don’t have too many of the other distractions (the cars/ explosions/ pretty ladies) that allow filmmakers to fake a good story.

I really like the premise for this film.  A dangerous criminal, “John,” is on the run from the cops, and they seem to be closing in on him.  So, he decides to break into someone’s home, and wait there until the police lose his trail.  In this case, he talks his way into the home of a delicate, middle-aged man, Warwick, who is just about to throw a refined dinner party.  John’s a tough guy, he has a weapon, and this mincing, little man doesn’t look too threatening, so he isn’t expecting to run into too much difficulty.  And, normally he wouldn’t.  It’s just that John has had the stunning misfortune of having chosen the one home in the neighborhood of someone more predatory than he.  As it turns out, Warwick is more than a little mentally unstable.  He’s a psychopath who enjoys luring bad men into his home for a little “fun.”  To have a victim delivered right to his doorstep, well that’s just a stroke of good luck.  It’s thug vs. psychopath.  Now, that’s an interesting story!  But, the plot isn’t as simple as that.  There’s plenty of dramatic irony, as the audience gets to watch each character learn new things about the other.  And, the action isn’t too linear, either.  I love how the script allows power to shift back and forth between these two men throughout the course of the evening.  This usually happens just as the viewers, themselves, learn something new about each man.  It’s quite suspenseful.

This is one of those films that has been pared down to the bare necessities.  Most of the action takes place on one set—the host’s house.  And, the dialogue between the two men drives most of the drama.  Although, the set isn’t as Spartan as those in some other films I’ve seen.  There are a few elaborate scenes thrown in for fun.  Sometimes I am disappointed with suspenseful films.  The worst is when they fail to deliver a strong ending after building up so much tension.  But, this film really pays off.  It has just the right amount of surprises and twists to be satisfying, but not enough to make the film feel too cheesy.  I recommend it.

My Eyes!

Movie: Human Centipede II: Full Sequence

My Rating: ???? (What could I really say?)

So, I went ahead and did it.  Against my better judgment, I went ahead and watched the sequel to the Human Centipede.  This one is billed as the “full sequence,” so it naturally featured way more twisted, gory, depraved material.  I kind of felt like a pervert by attending this screening.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I totally wanted to see this.  There’s no middle ground with a film like this.  Either you 100% want to see it, or you 110% don’t.  It’s people with overactive morbid curiosities vs. nice decent folk.  After the closing night film of the DC APA Film Fest, a couple of my filmmaker friends and I (along with a few other unwitting victims that we lured into this—bwahahaha) headed over to the EStreet Cinema for the midnight showing of this little gem.  The audience was sparse.

So yeah, the movie is really gross.  Way worse than the first film.  The first one was really all about a terrible idea.  Director, Tom Six, never even had to show us very much in the first, be cause he knew that our imaginations would do all the dirty work.  But, when you’re making a sequel about an idea that’s already become a meme, you’re going to have to do a little more than just plant a horrific idea in the audience’s head.  So, this movie shows everything.  That’s right.  Every crowbar beating, every incision, every stitch-up job (or in this case, staple-gun job).  And, all this is even before things start really falling apart (literally and metaphorically).  Yay!  It’s pretty awful.  The first film was so scary, because you could kind of imagine being abducted some madman like this.  But, the level of horror in this one is actually so ludicrously absurd that’s it’s not really scary anymore.  It really just devolved into a gross-out fest—one with very ominous and heavy-handed foreshadowing (my heart sank when I saw Tom Six wheel in a pregnant lady).  Although, it does help that the film is all in black and white.  It makes the gore seem a little less real.  Perhaps it’s meant to conjure up the whole surveillance video aesthetic—or as a tribute to Psycho.  There are definitely some echoes of Norman Bates in there.  Plus, the black and white classes up the whole thing a little.  I think Six may think of himself as a bit artsy.

As appalling as the whole franchise is, I do have to admit that at least the premise for this sequel is pretty clever.  Tom Six didn’t just take his old antagonist and have him up the ante with an even longer “centipede.”  This one is a little bit meta.  This time around, the story is actually about a “real life” pervert who is obsessed with the Human Centipede film, and who has decided to recreate the best scenes in his own abandoned warehouse—but, more intense.  However, this new character isn’t an evil, Nazi surgeon.  Nope.  He’s Martin, an obese, retarded, sexually abused, British, parking structure guard.  Sure, he’s got ready access to many potential victims—way more than evil Dr. Heiter ever did.  But, his surgical skills aren’t really up to par.  Although, Martin isn’t going to let a little detail like this get in the way.  Nah.  This kid is all about improvisation.  Trust me, a clumsy hand doing this sort of work is way worse to watch than a practiced one.

But, all in all, I’m not traumatized.  I guess anyone who purposefully went to see this movie probably knew what they were getting themselves into.  Anyone with any sort of squeamishness at all would know not to touch this subject matter with a ten-foot pole.  Plus, the worst thing about this whole film franchise is really just the basic idea, and I’m pretty sure most people are pretty used to it by now, what with all the shenanigans on the internet.  Although, I have concerns about the final installment that Tom Six has promised.  He says that it’s going to “upset lots of people.”  I can only imagine what he has up his sleeve.  I suppose I’ll find out soon enough, because I’m totally watching that one too—you know, me and my morbid curiosity.

Rockin' Out at the Fest

Hanging out at the at the closing night after-party.  No, I wasn't asked by anyone official to take a photo in front of the celebrity backdrop, but my friend and I snuck in a stealthy photo-shoot in anyway. :o)

DC APA Film Fest 2011 - Closing Night

Closing night of the DC APA Film Festival was amazing—even better than I’d expected, actually.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell how good a film is going to be just from reading a short synopsis.  Short blurbs will give you a good idea of the basic plot, but not any of the nuances of the acting, humor, or wittiness of the script.  Surrogate Valentine, by Dave Boyle, is your classic tale of the rambling musician.  In this story, indie musician Goh Nakamura (playing himself) is trying to catch his big break, but in the mean time he still has to take on side jobs to pay the bills.  His latest job is to teach TV actor Danny (ChaddStoops) how to play the guitar for an upcoming film role, and indirectly to coach him in how to portray a convincing struggling musician.  On top of all this, he’s striving to find love, but never quite has the guts to go after the lady he wants (Lynn Chen).

A story like that has the potential to go in a number of different directions.  It could have been pensive, or melancholy, or even inspirational.  And, we do find a little bit of each of those things here.  But, this film surprised me by also being outrageously hilarious.  And, it’s the kind of witty, dead-pan humor that really cracks me up.  This kind of comedy usually isn’t successful unless there’s real chemistry between the actors.  And, Goh Nakamura and Chadd Stoops get on like a house on fire.  It feels like they’ve known each other forever the way they casually rib one another, and call each other on their bullshit with only a meaningful glance.  And, you can’t write a character more naturally outrageous than Danny.  This guys is shameless.   He’s one of those narcissistic, frivolous actors with no sense for what’s appropriate or proportionate behavior.  But, he means well.  However, this film has more going for it than just a few witty laughs.  Goh Nakamura’s musical stylings are also pretty incredible.  His music is woven throughout the film and it really brings something special to the story.  Everything about this film is great.  You should definitely check it out.  And, you’ll get the chance soon enough.  It looks like this film is coming to Netflix pretty soon!  This film was a wonderful finish to another delightful film festival.

……………………………………..

The feature film was preceded by an equally hilarious short by Chris Sheridan.  Beta to the Max is a blast from the past.  It takes us back to the 80s and all the glorious, white suits, sweet shades, and feathered hairdos that decade had to offer—that and the epic VHS/Betamax war.  This particular battle is being fought between a pair of pretty outrageous, pompous sales reps.  And, these guys fight it out old school—with dance videos, karaoke sing-offs, and good, old-fashioned name calling.  It’s goofy, and silly, and full of fun, 80s pop culture references.  Those are fun to spot, but they’ll definitely date you.

DC APA Film Fest 2011 - Night 6 - Mysterio/Mystere

I attended the shorts program on night six of the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.  It was a collection of dark, mysterious, supernatural films, and they were all pretty amazing.  I love this sort of dark, suspenseful film with a killer twist—the kind that leaves you with an empty feeling in your gut once you figure it out.  It was a pretty impressive line-up.  Thumbs up for the programming committee.

Savasana, by GerryCurtis explores the more sordid side of the “personal assistant” trade.  The sort of person that hires a personal assistant is usually very wealthy and glamorous, and far too busy to concern themselves with the smaller details of life.  So, they hire little minions to do their dirty work.  Usually this means menial tasks like picking up dry cleaning, doing a little grocery shopping, and ensuring one’s boss is where she needs to be on time.  But, this job can mean a whole different thing if you’re working for someone nefarious—someone that you suspect might be a little bit evil—someone that is a little too dangerous to ever imagine saying “no” to.  This film is great.  It builds tension slowly, and packs a punch at the end.  It’s really fun, twisted stuff.

The Notice, by Sonny Saito is one of those films that punches you in the gut and leaves you emotionally devastated.  The theater was full of people surreptitiously trying to dry their eyes, hoping no one would notice their crying.  The story is set in some dystopian future, when the world’s population has exceeded the earth’s ability to support so much human life.  So, the “all-wise,” fascist, world government has started a program called the Global Benefactor Protocol, which is designed to cull the herd, so to speak.  The program selects people at random to be “executed,” so that the earth’s population doesn’t get out of control again.  The manner of death is actually quite instant and humane—a vaccine administered at birth, that activates and kills its host when he or she has been selected by the Protocol.  The drama centers around a pair of agents who must drive from home to home, informing the people who have been selected, so that they can “make their final hours meaningful.”  Watching people react to this sort of news is just crushing.  I’m a big fan of crying at movies.  I love feeling all that raw emotion, so I thought this film was just great.   This is some really powerful storytelling, and Saito gets the tone just right.

Time Stopper, starring and directed by Albert Leung is a far more sinister tale.  It tells the story of a man who has the supernatural power to stop time, and who is unnaturally obsessed with a woman he can’t have.  This man uses his power to take all the money he needs, and to casually mess with the lives of his enemies.  But, he also uses it to pick off his love rivals one by one, and to have his way with the woman who won’t return his affections.  But these are hollow pleasures.  All the money and sex in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you can only enjoy them in a world that has been frozen in a lifeless diorama.  It’s a really violating feeling to imagine that someone is messing around with your life this way, and that you’d never even know that it was happening.  This man’s power is even more chilling once you realize that he essentially can never be caught.  You can’t stop a man who can freeze time, and casually stroll away from any prison in the world—or really from any threat of physical harm.  Your only hope of stopping him would be to surprise this guy and kill him from behind.  But, police can’t really do that, can they?  Especially since you’d have a hard time convincing the justice system that this power really exists.  The story explores the darkest desires of a very black heart.  And, it’ll chill you down to your bones.

Chubby Can Kill, by Kevin Ung is a much lighter story, and this short film was the right note on which to end the evening.  You can’t have an audience staggering out of the theater with dark, suicidal thoughts, can you?  This is still a very warped, little tale.  It’s a classic revenge-fantasy story.  A chubby, picked-on, video store clerk is tired of being shaken down for “protection” money by the local gangsters, so he resolves to stop them once and for all.  Of course, he’s realistic about his chances of success in any sort of confrontation with these guys.  He’s fat, and gets winded just walking around the corner.  Plus, he’s not too good with blood.  This kid can’t even stand the sight of the food stall ladies preparing his chicken dinner.  This mission is going to require a fair amount of training and conditioning if it’s going to go well at all.  Your classic hilarity ensues.  This is a delightfully twisted, little film.  And, I really think it was the right decision to end the evening with a sillier story about a resourceful underdog taking on some bullies.  People can really relate to this feeling of powerlessness, and can cheer on this unlikely hero.