May is a horror/comedy about a young woman who was never socialized as a child (because of the lazy eye, and the eye patch), and her only friend ever is a doll that her over bearing mother gave her.

If I had to describe this movie in three words they would be: funny; weird, and gross. In fact it is almost like there are two separate movies here. The first half is mostly weird and funny. The main character May is very awkward in social settings, but she is very endearing. In the second half May goes from being just plain weird to just plain psychotic.

May is both interesting and original, and the actress that plays May (Angela Bettis) is pretty talented because she really pulls off a wide range of emotions, and plays the character well. This movie will most likely make you laugh at poor May’s awkwardness, and turn your head in disgust at the gruesomeness that May presents to us. I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for an original horror flick.

Double Whammy starring Denis Leary, Steve Buscemi, and Luis Guzman is about Ray Pluto (Leary) a New York Police Detective who is in the middle of a string of real bad luck. Starting with the death of his family, for which he blames himself, on through having a back spasm in the middle of a shoot out, and having an eight year old kid pick up his gun and save the day while he lays unconscious.

Pluto seeks to redeem himself after his friend and Superintendant of his building is almost fatally stabbed. There is some great dialogue and chemistry between Leary, Guzman, and Buscemi. Also there is a great little sub-plot, that ties in later, with two would be screen writers who are hashing out their screenplay in the same building where all the action is taking place.

Double Whammy is original and funny, and Leary shows that he can do a little bit of drama in between his hard nosed bravado. The story does seem a bit forced though, and isn’t as edgy or exciting as it probably should have been. That being said, I think it is still worth a rental.

The Emperor’s Club is not very original, and there are few surprises. Mr. Hundert, played by Kevin Kline, is a teacher at an all boys private school. He is a beloved teacher who apparently has never had a kid act out before, because he is at a complete loss over what to do with young Mr. Bell, the arrogant new kid at school, who’s father is a powerful senator in Washington D.C. .

The main story is between the teacher and this little upstart of a student, and how the teacher will inspire and mold him, but the problem is it’s nothing new, it’s an old story that is tired and needs to go to bed.

The actors are good, and the direction is as well, you really start to hate that little twit Bell. But the story just isn’t fresh, and some of the sub-plots are very poorly developed. He has a love interest that never gets fully explained (she left her husband or something), he has a rival for the university presidency, but that rivalry comes out of no where.

If you liked Dead Poets Society, or Mr. Holland’s Opus, or Finding Forrester, and you liked to watch them all in a row, over and over again, then you will like this movie too, otherwise don’t bother.

The Jimmy Show is terribly depressing, and more than a little bit boring. Written, directed, and starring Frank Whaley, Whaley plays Jimmy, a serious underachiever who must have taken courses on how to be a loser in highschool, just before he dropped out that is.

Jimmy is a good guy at heart, but he makes extremely poor decisions in his life, like stealing twelve cases of beer from his work at the supermarket on an almost daily basis. Because of these poor decisions he can’t hold down a job, he has no goals and he is pretty much going no where, oh plus he has a wife and a kid who are going there with him. Jimmy’s only escape from this reality is his stand up comedy, but there is one big problem, he stinks at that too.

There is one silver lining in the script’s structure, and that is that Jimmy’s comedy act actually becomes the voice over for the movie. So the only time you hear Jimmy’s thoughts are when he is up on stage, which I thought was pretty unique and clever.

Only see The Jimmy Show if you are feeling really depressed about yourself, and you want to see someone who is even more depressing then you. Believe me your troubles will pale in comparison to this guy.

28 days later is a really cool sci-fi thriller. set in modern london a virus has spread across the country in a matter of just 28 days, and before the t.v. and radio stopped broadcasting there were rumors that the infection had spread to parts of paris and new york. the virus is spread through the blood, and a person can become infected in a matter of seconds. the infected twitch, and hiss, and shriek as they run around in a blind rage killing or infecting anyone that comes across their path.

the story centers on the survivors of this world. one of whom was in a coma prior to the outbreak, and so wakes up not knowing anything about the rampant virus. the others have survived these 28 days by killing whoever they needed to in order to stay alive.

the plot really draws the audience into the story, because it is one of those stories that doesn’t seem so far fetched. also the characters are easy to identify with, and care about because they are normal people, not heros going around trying to save the world, these people are just trying to survive day to day. we also get to see that even though they live in this terrible world, they are still human. there are still a few jokes, and the characters laugh and play and love, when they aren’t being chased by the infected of course.

the cinematography is awesome. having been to london, i can tell you that seeing the normally bustling streets silenced and empty in this movie is striking. i know they must have digitally edited some scenes to make this possible, but it still looks great.

the movie’s message seems to be that in a world infected with rage, the only way to survive is to work together, but that this is easier said then done when trust, and trustworthy people are in such short supply.

there are a few oddities that may irk the realist in you, so let me warn you about them first, so you can get them out of the way and enjoy the movie. people becoming infected raging, spitting, lunatics in a matter of seconds upon contact with the pathogen seems pretty far fetched. also apparently the infected for the most part don’t like sunlight, this doesn’t really get explained, nor does it hold exactly true through out the movie. also it isn’t clear why the infected only want to kill the non-infected and never one another.

some notables from the website on the upcoming DVD release:

• alternate ending
• audio commentary
• deleted scenes

sounds like it will be worth a rent when that comes out.

we watched cube 2: hypercube last night. while it was certainly more visually stunning than the first cube, i didn’t think the characters were as developed. they seemed to be leaning too much on the visual effects and not putting enough effort into the story.

the story is basically the same as the first movie; nine people wake up in different rooms in this huge maze of almost identical rooms. the characters themselves don’t seem to have anything in common that would lead them to believe they are there for any other reason but random selection. however as the movie goes on we learn that unbeknownst to them their lives are connected.

without any food or water, their only option is to try and find a way out. each character holds some piece of knowledge that is essential to the groups survival, however as much as human beings are social animals, if you put them in a stressful environment tensions begin to mount, and cooperation dies away. this idea was much more developed in the first movie, and character development is minimal compared to the first, there isn’t that sense of loss when members of the group die.

the movie as a whole feels rushed, and the mystery of the cube gets solved for the audience in just a few scenes, rather than let the audience try and figure it out for themselves, which was what made the first movie that much more engaging. my recommendation would be to see cube one, and if you like that, then go see cube two, if for no other reason then to have something to compare it to.