06.21.08: Last Five Movies I Watched on NetFlix.

I signed up for NetFlix a few months ago, primarily out of frustration with free tv and movie sites linking to slow-loading foreign video servers which don't even work half the time, and torrents that never finish downloading. It's totally worth $8.99 a month to have HD quality video available on demand. The NetFlix "Watch Instantly" selection leaves a little to be desired, but it's improving. Here are the last five movies from my Instant Queue, and my thoughts on each.

1) Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
☆☆☆☆
I'm kind of surprised at how little attention this movie received when it was in theaters. The plot revolves around two brothers' botched jewel store robbery, with the story being told in that out of order film noir kinda way. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and that old guy from Big Fish are all phenomenal. I could have done without the sex scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman, but that's OK.

2) Tromeo & Juliet
☆☆☆
I've thoroughly enjoyed every Troma film I've seen. In fact, three out of the next five movies in my Instant Queue are from Troma: Redneck Zombies and Toxic Avenger parts 1 and 2. Tromeo & Juliet was up to par with some of their other films. My only complaints are that there was more gratuitous nudity than there was blood and guts, and the movie's description claims it's a "punk" remake, but aside from a couple piercings and tattoos, there's not really that much "punk" to it. Still, it's a good amount of campy, and the blood and guts that did make it in is great.

3) Cannibal: The Musical
☆☆☆
A musical comedy, or "musedy" if you will, from the guys behind South Park. I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. I would have expected the comedy to be a bit more crude considering the creators, but instead it was just good ol' fashioned slapstick. The story, which the movie's intro claims to be based on real events, is that of Alfred Packer, a horse-loving guide who leads a group of miners to Colorado in search of gold. Along the way, there's some cannibalism, and some humorous encounters with "Indians." Highly recommended. And don't worry, it's not really all that much of a musical.

4) Severed: Forest of the Dead
☆
I gave this movie one star only because there was a decent amount of head-chopping gore. The plot was ridiculous, the acting was not-so-hot, there were more zombies than logically possible, and the whole thing was waaay too long. To sum it all up in 15 seconds: Sap from an evil corporation's genetically modified trees causes some lumberjacks to turn into zombies, they eat some other lumberjacks and some hippie environmentalists, and the evil corporation leaves them all to die. I don't recommend seeing this, unless ... actually, there's no reason to see this, ever.

5) The King of Kong
☆☆☆☆
I missed this when it was in theaters (I seem to recall a stomach flu being responsible), so I was excited to see it on the NetFlix "New Arrivals" list. Five words: Billy Mitchell is a prick. This video game documentary tells the story of everyman Steve Wiebe and his quest to beat Mitchell's world record Donkey Kong score. Without spoiling the outcome, Wiebe becomes a certifiable master of the game, but Mitchell and his homoerotic gamer nerd lackeys just won't have it. Even if you don't particularly like video games, I strongly recommend this one. If you do like video games, particularly those of the arcade variety, I really strongly recommend it.