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garbageman9999
Reviews
Strum (2005)
A funny trip into the world's worst restaurant
I saw this little gem at a film festival recently and not knowing a thing about it, was intrigued by the name and the poster where four women in identical rainbow-like corporate outfits are waving to someone off-camera with plastic smiles. OK, interesting. What I saw on the film can best be described as Charlie Chaplin (say "Modern Times") meets Tim Burton (as in "Edward Scissorhands") and it blew us away. "Strum" (or "The Burger Joint" I think in some places) is a funky story about a new employee in a weird and wonderful restaurant who just can't seem to get the hang of things. With a tyrant of a boss, this new girl keeps screwing things up - with disastrous consequences for the restaurant's patrons (who we never see). If you want the last shot of the town (again something out of "Edward Scissorhands" or "Big Fish") you'll notice multiple car crashes, bodies and chaos in the town - I gather it was from the people who kept coming through the restaurant's drive-thru and eating the burgers. The actors were all funny in their own way. The Boss/Manager conveyed anger and malice (and crazy eyes like Peter O'Toole) in every scene. The new employee was funny in a Buster Keaton way and the other two were funny as well. Well worth seeing if its at a festival. Great soundtrack as well.
Sabah (2005)
rip-off of other films
This film has a "been there, seen that" feel. Sabah (a silly title) is the story of forbidden love. One person is a Muslim, the other is a generic white person. Complications ensue. Not original. Poor pacing and the lead actress tried but was flat. A poor copy of much better versions of the same story. What is needed is a twist that is original, not stolen. We've seen this story a hundred times. Put any minority in one person and have them fall for a Caucasian and watch as the two struggle to put aside their differences and preconceptions of each other's background. Blah. I suspect the film was Canadian since Atom Egoyan (the Executive Producer) had his wife star in the film. Lucky for her Egoyan keeps casting her in projects he either directs or produces. No nepotism there, I'm sure...