Young Frankenstein (2010) - Toronto

What a fun time Young Frankenstein was to watch. It had humour, it had a great cast and it a wonderful set. Sure the plot was stale and the same as the movie, but I wasn't expecting it to be any different. In fact, I probably would have been disappointed if it had been changed. The actors were very natural in their roles and nothing seemed forced. Roger Bart had great comedic timing and the two female leads sung beautifully. The lighting was artfully orchestrated with highlights of blue and greens and a subtly of darkness (it is Transylvania after all). Even in the dressing circle I good see every detail. The only thing that disappointed me was the similarities between this production and that of Spamalot. The humour was similar and the characters reminded me of each other, especially the diva. It wasn't a stretch or anything original, it was ment to be tongue in cheek in spots and laugh out loud in others. I just would have liked to see something more from Mel Brooks. I think that he could have stepped it up a litte.

Repo Man (2010)

Surprising! Ok, well not the whole movie was surprising, but the end was fabulous. The rest of the movie was a combination of the Minority Report and the predictable writing style of action films. The blue and black colouring is characteristic of the Minority report and the plot is similar but the action stands out on its own. Jude Law plays a convincing action hero with a soft side and Alice Braga manages to pull off a reformed junkie with more fake parts than you can count on one hand. The two characters climax in an interesting and unique conclusion, that is strange but well executed and definitely original. The overall film is a dark satire of the American health care system, where the main character removes transplanted organs from people who have come past due in their payments. The company responsible for both installing and repossessing these manufactured organs is "the Union". After one of the repo men has an accident and is sold a new heart, he has a change of perspective. He realises that he cannot remove the organs of those who have been sold a product they cannot afford, so the company can remove it and sell it to somebody else for a profit. "We cannot make money on full payments". And it only took a fake heart for him to realise he had a real heart all along. Awwwww. The movie drags a bit in the middle, once he makes the decision to not pay for his purchased heart - the hunter becomes the hunted. Its like we've seen that before, somewhere. The redeeming features are definitely the fight scenes at the conclusion, with some new knife fighting techniques and cinematography. Its not the same old, same old when it comes to last battle. There are some gory parts, so viewer beware, you do see a first person perspective of the organ removal in the beginning and the blood continues throughout. In the end, it redeems its flaws.