As much as I like reviewing films, I'd like to branch out in my writing. Not beyond films, no, that'd be silly, just different aspects of movies. Recently I was nominated by Elgringo over at He Shot Cyrus, probably my #1 fan, to write about The 12 Movies Meme, originated by Lazy Eye Theatre - Which asks, what if YOU could pick 12 movies to run at the New Beverly Cinema? (Which is a popular revival theater in L.A.) I thought I'd take that challenge.

I wasn't sure where the hell to start. There are too many films log-jammed in my brain to even know where to begin. Taking a look at He Shot Cyrus' list, I saw that he featured two old Peter Jackson films. Out of that grew my idea, showcasing some of the lesser know films from my favorite directors, and trying to program them together by genre. So here we go:

Monday-Tuesday

Start with a pair of family films, that everyone can enjoy.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure - Tim Burton's first feature length film. I think most folks remember this film... but do the know how freaking good it is? This film is constantly surreal, utterly hilarious, undeniably quotable and just plain fun. Plus it features my all-time-favorite score; Danny Elfman's 2nd, who's gone on to become one of the biggest composers in Hollywood.

Time Bandits - Terry Gilliam is one of my favorite filmmakers, he has an absolutely unique vision. In the right circles, this is a fairly well known film, but your average Joe has never heard of it. A brave group of little-people take on God. It's appropriate for kiddies, and would just be a total blast to see on the big screen.

Wednesday-Thursday

Some adult fare, with a couple of forgotten epics.

Empire of the Sun - Absolutely everybody knows who Steven Spielberg is. If you ask a random person on the street to name a film director, I bet at least 5 out of 10 answers would be him. But even a lot of film buffs, don't remember his 1987 film Empire of the Sun, which introduced a very young, British accent and all, Christian Bale. The film follows this young lad through WWII, as he moves from a posh life as an aristocrat to living in a Japanese P.O.W. camp. Brilliant, moving film.

Le Grand bleu - Most people think Luc Besson's career started with La Femme Nikita, but he made three feature films before that one. And since Subway and Le Dernier combat aren't very good, I chose Le Grand bleu. It's the story of a deep-sea-diver going for the world's record for deepest dive sans respirator. But it's so much more than that, a beautiful film about friendship and finding your life's limits.

Friday-Saturday

A couple of great B-movies, for the weekend

In the Mouth of Madness - Everyone knows the classic John Carpenter: Halloween, The Fog, The Thing, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China - But how about the last film he did, before his talent seemed to leave him? Madness is a seriously scary and messed up film.

Starship Troopers - This is an under-appreciated classic. Politically subversive, full of over-the-top violence, nudity and giant bugs getting the shit blasted out of them; an utterly brilliant, yet incredibly stupid film all at the same time.

Sunday-Monday

Crimewave - I'm getting really obscure, from one of Hollywood's biggest directors. After breaking out with the cult-classic Evil Dead, Sam Spider-man's Raimi, created a little know slapstick-action film about little nerd taking on a pair of psycho-exterminators. The film is highly influenced by Looney Toons and features a very young Bruce Campbell.

After Hours - After Spielberg, among today's directors, Martin Scorsese would probably qualify as the 2nd best known director working. His list of classic films is long, I don't need to name them. But how many of you have seen After Hours? Cult actress Rosanna Arquette takes Griffin Dunn on a wild ride through New York, destroying his life and opening his eyes.

Tuesday-Wednesday

The Man Who Wasn't There - Sure, everyone knows the Coen Brother's films No Country for Old Men, Fargo, The Big Lebowski & Raising Arizona - All classic films, all too easy. So my pick from my favorite filmmakers, is their 2001 dark-comedy. Billy Bob Thorton stars in this underrated, double, triple-cross mystery film, with some classic Coen brother touches.

Weird Science - In the 80's filmmaker John Hughes had an unprecedented run of films, creating seven classic, to near-classic films in five years, and then he lost it all. Between Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, he created the surreal and hilarious film Weird Science. Oh, we've all seen it a thousand times on cable, but I'd love to see this film on the big screen, with an eager audience. Kelly Lebrock, gorgeous, and larger-than-life. Anthony Michael Hall, one of the greatest teen actors ever, at his peak. Totally awesome.

Thursday-Friday

Dark City - Alex Proyas isn't necessarily a well known director, depending on who you talk to his biggest film is either The Crow or I, Robot. But far-and-away his best film is Dark City, an absolutely brilliant sci-fi/noir mystery. Coming out in 1998, it was instantly overshadowed a year later, by the somewhat similar and far flashier film The Matrix, so it never got the attention it deserved. In my opinion it's the most beautifully photographed film ever.

A Clockwork Orange - Okay, not an unknown film in the least. But how many have us have seen it on the big screen? I've seen 2001, it's beautiful, but boring! The Shining, yeah, scary as hell. But this, my favorite Kubrick film, no, I've never had the pleasure. The gorgeous photography, the brilliant mis-en-scene and editing, the incredible score, and Malcolm McDowell's gloriously over-the-top performance as cinema's all-time-greatest antihero Alex. I can't think of anything better to end this with.

I've known about this film for quite a while, I read some good reviews for it when it premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. I've been wanting to see it since then, but it being a small New Zealand flick, it played nowhere near me. When it was released on DVD, our local Blockbuster only had two copies, so it took a few weeks for me to luck into getting it. Let me tell you, it was well worth the wait!

Horror-comedy is my favorite genre, it's also the toughest to pull of. You need the right amount of each for it to work well. Black Sheep gets that mix exactly right. It's incredibly gory, and fairly suspenseful and scary in a few sections, but it's also downright hilarious through the whole thing. I admit that my humor runs pretty dark, I was probably laughing at more than most would; like the way the characters land in a pile of human remains. But there are some brilliantly humorous scenes, that I believe almost anybody would find funny; at least those that would want to rent a flick like this.

My favorite comedy bit of the year is from this film. The characters are just discovering that the sheep have turned and they're escaping in their truck, a sheep attacks the guy who is driving and he's trying to keep the truck on the road, while also keeping this mutant sheep at bay, punching and kicking him in the head. Finally he bales out of the truck, right before it goes over the cliff and there's a quick shot of the sheep sitting up behind the wheel and his facial expression as he drives off the cliff is priceless.




The film starts with our hero being traumatized by his older brother, he kills the young boy's favorite sheep, and attacks him while wearing the sheep's bloody coat. Soon after they learn their dad's died. Cut to twenty years later and the young man now has a sheep phobia, he's on his way back to the family farm for the first time in many years, to sell his half to his older brother. Unbeknownst to him, his brother has been experimenting on the sheep, and of course that can only lead to one thing, killer, mutant sheep.

Meanwhile, a couple of tree-huggers have snuck onto the ranch to liberate some of these experiments. The guy gets bit by the nasty little thing, and starts to change into something worse than the sheep, a were-sheep! The girl escapes and runs into the hero and one of his old buddies, that's when the sheep-shit hits the fan. Stuck in the middle of their huge ranch, with no truck and no cell service, surrounded by thousands of mutating sheep, they must find a way to survive and warn everybody.



Right from the start, the filmmakers realized that the whole idea of killer sheep is so ridiculous that they set the film up to be a comedy. Even the characters within the film treat the idea as absurd, trying not to believe it, even while their lives are put at stake numerous times.

So while you're laughing at the situations, you also have to treat them somewhat seriously because the mutant sheep look so believable. Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop, did a wonderful job of building the sheep, through a combination of make-up and puppets, wisely keeping the digital effects to a minimum. I think that digital monsters still don't work, that when an actor has something to physically get into trouble with, it sells the fear far better.

Writer/Director Jonathan King is a fabulous new talent. He makes the crazy idea mutant sheep work and keeps the tone of the film just right throughout the entire film. He gets good performances out of his actors, when the film's premise and tone makes it tough. He's got a great eye for how to shoot a horror film. Everything in this film is far better made than you would ever think possible. If it weren't Shaun of the Dead, I'd call this the best horror-comedy of the decade; it's right there on the same level. Make sure to see this film!