Forklift Driver Klaus: The First Day on the Job (2000) aka Staplerfahrer Klaus - Der Erste Arbeitstag

4 / 5 May '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Stefan Prehn, Jörg Wagner
Written by: Jörg Wagner, Stefan Prehn
Actors include: Konstantin Graudus, Gustav Adolph Artz, Jürgen Kittel
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Length: 9 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Maybe it's because I've seen several forklift training videos because I work in a Warehouse that I found this to be so hilarious. It's a German short film that is created in the style of a workplace safety video, and as it goes on it gets increasingly more ridiculous and bloody. We first meet Klaus, a newly certified forklift driver who is ready to start his day. At first he decides it's safe to lift a fellow employee on a pallet which of course he finds out isn't the wisest idea. Each time Klaus has a bad idea we go back to an alarm and the next incident seems to get worse. Even the cheesy music and voiceover really make this something entertaining to watch. I think anyone who likes to see things go terribly wrong should enjoy this in some twisted way.

Availability:  I don't think it's on DVD

X-Men (2000)

3 / 5
Tagline: The future is here.
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Written by: Bryan Singer, Tom DeSanto
Actors include: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Length: 104 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I have never read one of the comic books (I'm guessing this was based on one) nor did I know anything about this going into it. An ex-boyfriend actually put this on (why he couldn't have waited until I wasn't visiting to watch it is beyond me) and well it could have been worse I suppose. The idea is that these mutants (with useful battle abilities) are outcast by society so they have a special school thing they go to. They then are faced with a battle between mutant terrorists (I guess not all mutants get along). The furry wolfman rip-off guy is the lead mutant (how original), and really the costumes and their special powers were a little too ridiculous for me to enjoy. I think I disliked this for the same reason I dislike most Troma films, I'm not a 12 year old boy. It had a beginning, an end, special effects, and action so if you look for those things in a film then this might be entertaining for you. Maybe you had to read the comics or something to really get into this, who knows? If you like superhero stuff than you will probably like this, I knew going into it I probably wasn't going to enjoy and gosh darn it I was right.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Ginger Snaps (2000)

3.5 / 5  Nov '10
Tagline: Hungry like the Wolf.
Directed by: John Fawcett
Written by: John Fawcett, Karen Walton
Actors include: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Chris Lemche
Genre: Horror, Drama
Length: 110 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well it's definitely a puberty movie...it nearly beats the viewer over the head with it. I appreciate the concept (rather original) and the tie-ins are interesting but it's overkill in some ways. Two sisters who are rather outcasts and they enjoy talking about death and staging it immensely are out and about when one of them is attacked by a werewolf. At first everyone keeps telling her it's puberty and so forth, but when she starts to grow a tail and rip people apart it's hard to deny that it might be something more. The film does have a big of a sense of humor to it, and it's rather well made (though the full blown werewolf effects are laughable) for the most part. The two lead actresses are really quite terrific and they carry the movie, it's just an unusual situation and how they behave seems somewhat realistic (considering). It does have gore, it does have a decent story and it does have many things that make it worthy of a viewing, but I can see why this may appeal to girls more than lads.

Availability:  On DVD