For those who haven't seen the film, the story goes as follows. The wife of a former CIA analyst named Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) unintentionally steals confidential files from his computer in an attempt to secure his financial records in preparation for divorce. These files inevitably fall into the hands of Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), two employees of a gym called Hard Bodies who see the files as an opportunity to make some money through blackmailing Cox with a 'Good Samaritan Tax'.  When he refuses to pay up, the conspirators take the information to the Russian government.  Tension builds and hijinks ensue with a fast-paced 'who's watching who' motif.  True to form, the Coen's deliver significant amounts of very gratuitous violence which is delivered in a whimsical, non-consequential way that only Joel and Ethan can produce. 

While I liked the plot and the characters a great deal, I felt there could have been more humour in the interactions.  The jokes were very subtle and the situations were often played too realistically to be funny.  Don't get me wrong: I love the Coen brothers' use of realism in their characters' dialogue.  However, all too often, the dialogue was rushed and missed the target between theatrics and realism that it was striving for. 

Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt really impressed me in this film.  Pitt was the perfect representation of that asshole working at a gym, constantly wearing tight shirts and bicycle shorts whilst listening and dancing to an iPod.  He was just the right amount of stupid and the scene in which he and John Malkovich meet in the car was priceless.  McDormand was also fantastic in her role.  Her character was a woman approaching middle age in her career at a gym, where she is supposed to look young and fit.  She, too, was portrayed as a rather simple person, although her character had more of a charming aspect to its dullness; her guffaw made me smile again and again.

I was very disappointed with John Malkovich's performance, not because it was bad but because he is such a fantastic actor and this film made a molehill of the mountain that is his talent.  His character had very little emotional range and was really only yelling the entire film.  George Clooney, too, let me down as the playboy who seduces various wives.  Then again, I've never really been a Clooney fan and every time I see him, I think of how madly he butchered Batman.  His character in this film is unlike anything he's ever done before.  His usual typecast is the generally the stoic character who keeps grinning for no reason.  In this film, he is a strangely cunning ladies' man who eventually lapses into paranoia.  Even though it was unique, I still thought the character could have been better portrayed by someone like Burt Reynolds or Aaron Eckhart. 

The violence in the movie was hard to swallow, and though it was a black comedy, it was difficult to find myself in a laughing mood after a few very brutally violent scenes.  There was a way that Fargo was able to portray the violence in a sort of tragic case of misunderstanding.  Although this film has the same 'wrong time, wrong place' feel to its violence, the scenes just stand out against the contrastingly upbeat remainder of the film.

In conclusion, I'd watch the film again and encourage fans of the Coen brothers to partake in a viewing.  However, I have a feeling I'll only be watching this film under the influence of some drug or in the company of someone who wants to watch something really really random. 

The same formula has been milked before by writer/directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer who follow their past projects Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans (all crass money-making comedies mocking other movies) to achieve the impossible by making a film far worse than any of the aforementioned flicks (or any film in history, ever).

Sadly Disaster Movie has all of the charm and coherence of a drunken Amy Winehouse, whose impersonator here guzzles gasoline, burps and slurs in a Dick Van Dyke-like cockney accent. Even sadder is the fact that there must be a market for this trite because the dim-witted directorial duo behind this disaster just keeps churning them out.

The feeble theme (loosely built around Cloverfield) that tries to tie all of the random ideas together is that All-American hunk Will (Matt Lanter) is attempting to rescue his beautiful squeeze Amy (Vanessa Minillo) when the Earth becomes the target of every natural disaster imaginable. Joined on his quest by Calvin (G-Thang), Will runs into an assortment of characters from at least two dozen films including: 10,000 BC, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, No Country for Old Men, Wanted, Juno, High School Musical, Sex and the City, Jumper, Prince Caspian, Enchanted, Hancock, Iron Man, Hellboy, The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, Alvin & The Chipmunks, A Night at the Museum and Kung-Fu Panda.

The fundamental error in this film’s concept is that if you don’t actually recognise any of the movies being mocked you will no doubt be completely lost for near-on 90 minutes. On the other hand, if you find juvenile, homophobic, politically incorrect jokes about burps, breast milk and other bodily fluids hilarious then this is your kinda show.

The film’s few highlights include: a five-second appearance by Carmen Electra’s cleavage; ‘Michael Jackson’ being discovered in the boot of a car with a child and a monkey exclaiming: “What? We’re just playing with my monkey”; and (it doesn’t remotely reach laugh-out-loud status but is about as humorous as this motion picture gets) when Sex and the City’s Carrie emerges as a dude in drag; the resemblance to Sarah Jessica Parker is strangely uncanny.

To sum up: Disaster Movie sucks. A freak show of gargantuan proportions, it’s so bad it makes you think that Friedberg and Seltzer actually want people to hate it. Frankly, this film is about as funny for its audience as hurricane Gustav was to the residents of Louisiana; the hard task is deciding which is the biggest disaster.

Starring:  Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minillo, Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, G-Thang

Written & directed by: Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer

By Abbey Stirling

Ever since the success of the James Bond series in the sixties, movies have been produced that spoofed the entire spy genre. Having the right mix of action, adventure and humor is the key to a good spy spoof movie regardless of the weak plot that so many of these movies seem to have. Here is a list of my top five Spy Spoof Movies.

Real Men

James Belushi is prototypical CIA super spy Nick Pirandello on a top secret mission. The mission? Bring a glass of water to Alien visitors in exchange for a secret formula to help clean the Earth before the Russians can get to them first and acquire the Big Gun. There is only one problem. The Aliens are expecting Nick's partner to deliver the glass of water and he was just bumped off. No biggie! Nick finds a look-a-like replacement in suburbanite wimp Bob Wilson played by John Ritter. Together they learn from each other another side of them they never knew existed. This movie works because it does not rely on reference gags to any other spy movies nor do the characters pretend to be funny. Watching how calm and collected the over-confident Nick Pirandello is compared to the ever-paranoid Bob Wilson makes this movie fun to watch. The plot is silly, but not to the extent where it is stupid. Ok, maybe it is stupid, but in a funny sort of way. Real Men is just your average super spy and average Joe out to save the fate of the world. After all, saving the world is what real men do.

Best Line: “They're trying to kill me. They know I can't afford a loss like that.” - Nick Pirandello

Spies Like Us

With Ghostbusters being Dan Akroyd's best work, Spies Like Us would certainly follow right behind it on the list. It seams Akroyd is at his best when teamed with another comedic actor. And with Chevy Chase playing his usual bumbling and confused character, it creates a perfect sidekick for Akroyd's nerdy and intellectual personality. After they both stumble through the Spy Aptitude Test, they are recruited for a top secret mission. What they don't know is that they are the decoys for the real spies assigned to the case. Austin Millbarge (Dan Akroyd) and Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chevy Chase) get tangled up in hilarious situations and eventually meet up with the real spies. With their assistance, World War III is averted. Akroyd and Chase work off of each other brilliantly to make Spies Like Us a classic comedy from two of the top comedy actors of the 80s.

Best Line:

Russian Interrogator: “Every minute you don't tell us why you are here, I cut off a finger.”

Emmett Fitz-Hume: “Mine or yours?”

The Man Called Flintstone

Flintstone. Fred Flintstone. Ok, so we are talking about Fred Flintstone here. But this is not your average stone-age family. This movie starts out brilliantly with a Bond-like opening scene and a great title song. Fred is recruited to substitute for real spy Rock Slag when Slag becomes injured and unable to continue his mission. Fred seems like the perfect replacement because he looks like Slag. He thwarts henchmen and foils the Green Goose all while keeping his mission a secret from Wilma. The movie drags a bit when the Flintstone and Rubble family are featured, but there is enough action and adventure to keep the movie interesting. In the end, just when all looks hopeless for our stone-aged hero, Flintstone devises a plot that outsmarts and outmaneuvers the Green Goose once and for all. It's Fred at his cartoon best and a spy spoof that really rocks. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Best Line: “Is that a real, genuine imitation diamond necklace?” - Fred Flintstone, aka Rock Slag.

The Nude Bomb

The original Get Smart movie. While I agree that Steve Carell was a great choice to play the bumbling Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86 of Control, the Nude Bomb had one thing that the 2008 movie did not: Don Adams! Nothing will compare to the brilliance of the TV series, and this movie still didn't come close, but with Don Adams in the role he was born to play, The Nude Bomb was enjoyable to watch. Recruited by a new organization, PITS, Smart must stop a madman bent on destroying all fabrics on earth to monopolize the clothing industry with his own fashion brand. Many of the action scenes are flawlessly and hilariously delivered by Adams, such as the chase scene with his Desk mobile and the Agent 22 rescue scene as Nino Salvatori Sebastiani's lair is being destroyed. Let's also not forget the comic genius of Bill Dana who helped write the script and delivered a truly Get Smart-like scene playing Jonathan Levinson Seigle. While this movie may have disappointed many loyal Get Smart fans, it still displays the incomparable Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86 of Control.

Best Line: “Just our luck, we gotta run into a poisonous Achtung.” - Maxwell Smart

The Man Who Knew Too Little

Wallace Ritchie, played by Bill Murray, is just your average Blockbuster Video clerk who gets himself tangled up in international espionage while visiting his brother in Europe. Wallace thinks he is just playing a part in a reality TV show. But the bullets are real and so is Boris “The Butcher” Blavasky, who is sent to kill him. Murray plays the ultimate unwitting character who everyone believes is an American Super Spy sent to foil the bad guys' plans to assassinate a European diplomat. Murray is at his comedic best as he continues to thwart all attempts at stopping him on his mission. This movie has a good plot with good characters and keeps you interested through to the very end. While it relies heavily on Murray's aloof style of acting, he plays the part perfectly with each new member of the assignment. If I had known any better, I would have thought they planned on that! The Man Who Knew Too Little is just too much.

Best Line: “You said kill Spenser, kill girl and get letters. You said nothing about American Super Man.” - Boris “The Butcher” Blavasky

Very seldom am I greeted with an opening scene so shocking that I look on open jawed at the vision I am seeing. To Arabic pilots are flying a plane whilst having a debate about how upon completing their mission they will receive a certain amount of virgins, while one claims to have been offered a thousand, the other was just offered a hundred. How would they get to the bottom of this? By a phone call of course, then it's straight on the phone to Osama , "How many virgins will we get for completing this mission?" No more than 20 between you comes the reply. Debating the reality of what they have just been told, the pilots announce over the intercom that there has been a change of plans and that they are now heading for the Bahamas. Sadly this falls on deaf ears and a mob of angry passenger break through the door, and you realise (after some pretty strong hints) that this is supposed to be the first plane to hit the World Trade Centre. If you want to cause controversy, why not make fun of one of the most known disasters of recent years?

Uwe Boll a German film-maker makes no apologies with his opening and moves on to cause further offence, this controversial character jests with disasters and later in the same movie makes a strong statement to two other American disasters, Waco and Columbine; cult followers are massacred, as are children. Of course he changes the scenes slightly delivering the child massacre into a Nazi World theme park in which he is one of the central characters. Not only does the director cause general offence, he goes on to imply that he gets aroused by reporters and children, does this man have no shame?

I'm sorry to confess I actually rather liked this atrocity of a movie, I'm not advocating any aspect of the film, but in a case of being so bad it's good you kind of have to make some allowances. Every fifteen minutes I was pretty much given reason to smile and look away from the screen trying to tell myself I really do not like this movie.

The movie follows several strands that all connect together as the movie progresses, chiefly following Postal Dude (Zack Ward) who discovers his incredibly overweight wife is having sex with pretty much anyone who just so happens to walk past their trailer. At the same time we see the rise in power of a terrorist cluster, and the finally a cult that is in trouble for tax evasion. All of who descend upon the Nazi Theme Park to celebrate the launch in the US of Krotchy dolls. Involved in the celebration is celebrity midget Verne Troyer.

If you are the sort of person that has stern views of American politics, then no doubt something about Postal might appeal to you. But it's pretty far off the genre of conventional humour, and as many people that will enjoy the movie, twice as many will hate it.

Postal is an incredibly sick and adult movie, with scenes of gross out sex, unusual sexual relations, slandering of religion, and odd pairings of key real life characters. Combine with this the fact that the movie is clearly very low budget. Then try to understand the casting, Zack Ward has been in a string of popular movies for over 20 years beginning with A Christmas Story and more recently Transformers. Then you have one time A-Lister Michael Pare, Austin Powers Verne Troyer, Seymour Cassel an actor who's movies include Indecent Proposal and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou; when you have dealt with the familiar sounding names then there are the oh so familiar faces, nearly every scene has someone you recognise from another movie or popular TV show, there are no unknowns here, none at all. How does Boll manage to garner reasonable cast to appear in bad movies?

Despite the fact that I laughed on several occasions, I admit I'm a bit sick; and for the normal everyday movie viewer this far too far off whack to make enjoyable viewing for most; and rather like most other Uwe Boll movies this one is probably best avoided.

The movie is a buddy comedy about three stoners who find themselves in way over their head. It's been billed an action comedy, but the fight scenes in the movie are filmed in such a way that they stay squarely within a comic aesthetic. These three, played with winning charm by Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Danny McBride, have obviously never before been in fights. The action scenes are depicted clumsily, the awkward fumblings of people who have no desire to be in the situations in which they have found themselves. And therein lies the heart of the movies' humor.

The three potheads are not typical action movie heroes, they are three average dudes, and they look the part, especially Rogen and McBride who bring and everyman charm to their roles. These are characters you want to hang out with, and watching the movie feels almost like spending an afternoon chumming around, shooting the breeze with the guys. The dialogue is the kind of stuff bandied around by any group of 20-something slackers: not intrinsically funny, but delivered in such a way that the audience can't help but laugh.

The film is unusual for pictures in Apatow's stable, because it contains no message about growing up, taking responsibility and becoming a man. And perhaps this is where director David Gordon Green's presence is felt most strongly. At the end of the film, no life lessons have been learned, the stoners don't give up weed, and no major revelations about life have been received. The three buddies simply wander off, likely to find themselves in the midst of another drug-fueled misadventure.

Overall, the film is time well-wasted hanging out with three loveable stoner pals.

Taking a nod and a wink from the 70's and 80's vignette style movies The Ten follows a story that surrounds each of the Ten Commandments, all stories are interlinked by the breakdown of a relationship between Jeff (Paul Rudd) and Gretchen (Famke Janssen). While trying to garner a Woody Allenesque feel, the movie actually comes off more like a terrible car crash, where the only civil resolution would be that all those involved were to perish.

I appreciate that my open statement might seem rather harsh; however try making an adult movie with lots of swearing, nudity, sex, and touchy subject matter; then try aiming it at an audience with the intellect of a five year old and you might just begin to understand where I am coming from. The terrible vignette stories include an uptight woman who has sex with Jesus, two men who feud over who has the best and most Cat Scan machines, a drug addict Rhino who tries to warn the community about an incoming bunch of AIDS infected wiener dogs who want to have sex with the locals so they die; and possibly the most bizarre a man who jumps out of a plane without a parachute only to become surgically attached with the earth, while he ponders how to get out of the ground without his internal organs falling out, his girlfriend has sex with the local news anchor before leaving him to have an illicit affair with a ventriloquist doll. And if you think things have got as bad as they can, there is a story about male rape, given a hysterical spin; of course I'm joking when I use the word Hysterical.

The humour is far from funny in this movie, it's in fact possibly the most puerile and worthless humour offering since the likes of Date and Epic movie. Worse still, the trailer makes the movie look half way worth watching, so imagine seeing the trailer, getting all psyched up for what appears to be a worthwhile comedy then having to endure something so terribly abysmal. Things go from bad to worse sadly with this movie, because as well as all the terrible humour (I use the word humour lightly) there is a terrible song and dance number where all the actors sing about themselves (not the characters they play).

"Sometimes I wonder what it might be like if I were the one ass raping you every night! I can't look at you without fantasising about shoving you up against the wall in the laundry room, and punching you in the mouth, and then raping you... Without your consent of course... That's what makes it rape!"

What I do find fascinating about the movie is exactly who stars in it, they have a fairly reasonable calibre of cast including Winona Ryder, Adam Brody (The OC), Ron Silver (Blue Steel), Gretchen Moll (3.10 To Yuma), Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive), Liev Schreiber (Scream), Jessica Alba, Oliver Platt (Flatliners), and Janeane Garofalo (24, Mystery Men). And if that were not enough there are handfuls of actors from some of the most successful TV shows of recent years. Somehow in my mind the actors and the story just do not add up, this is not a big budget movie, although it is certainly Hollywood. How on earth did so many reasonably sized actors get involved in such a terrible movie? Were they doing someone a favour? Were they repaying a debt perhaps with the devil himself?

What I find most annoying about the movie is the intercut pieces that divide the stories, set on a giant soundstage it's like one of those artsy fartsy theatrical pieces where the actors interact with nothing, trying to make you use your imagination as to what you see. On this giant blacked out soundstage are the two tablets of stone (giant size) containing the Ten Commandments. Both Rudd and Janssen are so so actors either performing well or incredibly badly and this backdrop does neither any favours.

The Ten is due in UK cinemas later in the year, if you're going to take my advice on one thing this year, take my advice on this, because this really is abysmal.

 

Okay first up in kiss your wondering, what is a Carom? Chances are if you're not from America this terminology might have you scratching your head or reaching for your dictionary. A carom is where in pool you bounce one ball off another in order for it to land in the pocket. The Kisses of the title refer not to literal kisses but effectively the kiss shot, which in certain circles is also regarded as a Carom... Confused? You will be.

Kisses And Caroms circles around a group of staff that work in a Pool store selling tables, cues and more popular than anything else chalk. All the events of the movie take place on one day, a day that begins with a threesome between Tara (Bicole Rayburn), Zack (Drew Wicks) and Jennifer (Nicky Stanzione). The crux of this threesome is that nobody can walk away unscarred, Zack and Jennifer are a recently separated couple, and all three just so happen to work in the same pool store. What follows on from this act are a series of comic moments and situations all caused by this threesome.

Kisses And Caroms is very similar to the movie Clerks, with the supermarket environment changed to a Pool store; seemingly okay with this similarity director of the movie Clerks brands his stamp of approval on this incredibly low budget movie. The difference this time however is that Zack is more than just an employee, he own Break time Billiards, a fact that makes his half interested views of the store all the more amusing. I say amusing, but to be honest there are few laughs on offer with this movie, it's all pretty bland stuff, that's nice enough to watch and at times a little educational, but not in the same league as the aforementioned Clerks; this movie will never get the same sort of cult approval that Clerks generates, although to be honest there is little more than a couple of laughs between then (though not here).

All the movie surrounds for the most part is the fallout from the threesome incident, and the effect it has on a number of relationships in the store. Most importantly it's about change, the biggest reference being that Zack sees that Jennifer acts differently around her friend Tara, something I'm sure that you'll relate too if you're in a relationship and have certain friends around.

You could really criticise the movie quite considerably, and to be honest with you I really want to, because despite being okay watching it's the sort of thing you can easily do without seeing. What I commend about the movie however is the fact that is was made for less than a million dollars, features a reasonably capable acting cast, and yet somehow manages to upon release on DVD in the United States push itself up to the extent that it took more money in DVD sales than the blockbuster movie released on DVD that very same week. Imagine how sickening that would be to invest a few 70 odd times the capital that Kisses And Caroms had invested in it, and reap in a considerably less. Despite the fact that the movie is one of those "Nothing really much happened today" style offerings, it's financially a great success.

Kisses And Caroms is currently lined up to appear straight to DVD in the UK, although it may arrive under the title American Pool. While I commend the movie for its achievements, it's not something I'd recommend buying or renting, when it turns up on TV then by all means give it a shot but until that time don't pay it too much consideration.

Japanese actress, Horikita Maki takes the leading role as Mizuki and Oguri Shun is just right as Sano in the Japanese version of the story. Ikuta Touma is amusing as Nakatsu.

The story is about an American Japanese girl, Ashiya Mizuki, who saw a talented athlete, Izumi Sano, on a television programme when she was visiting Japan. She was charmed by Sano's skill in high-jumping and decided she wants to be Sano's friend.

The catch is Sano goes to a all-boys' school. So this determined young lady got her best friend to cut her hair and disguised herself as a boy and travels all the way from America to Japan and enrolls in Sano's school. To her delight, Muziki found that Sano is not only her classmate but also her room-mate. Wow, talk about coincidence!

Things get more interesting as Muziki found herself caring more and more for Sano and Sano falls for her (he found out she's a girl almost right from the beginning). The story is hilarious as Muziki tries to hide her gender from everyone and to guard her feelings for Sano and Sano trying to protect her without her realising his feelings and the fact that he knows she's a girl. Watching him cope with his feelings is one of my favourite part of the story.

Add to this hilarious mix is Suichi Nakatsu, another classmate of Mizuki who falls for her right from the start and getting totally confused because he believes she is a guy. To add to the confusion Julia, Mizuki's American best friend, spent a month in Japan as an exchange student and pretending to be Mizuki's girlfriend. To make the situation even more hilarious, Nanba-senpai, who is Mizuki's senior and dorm leader, fancies himself in love with Julia and keeps finding ways to get close to her.

Luckily for Mizuki, she has a confidant in the school doctor, Umeda-sensei, who knows Mizuki's secret right from the beginning.

Hana-Kimi is a very funny story with touching moments and is very beautifully drawn. Ashiya Mizuki got into a lot of hilarious situations disguised as a boy but she is very lucky in that she has Sano protecting her all the while.

I have read the manga and watched both the Taiwanese and Japanese dramatised versions. I must say that I like the original version best. The manga was beautifully drawn and the artist was able to portray the emotions of the characters and make us feel with them. At the same time, all the little asides that were put in but the artist let us know what the characters were thinking, how they feel about the situations and the people around them.

However, of the two dramatised series, I prefer the Taiwanese version. Entitled “Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu”, it was aired end 2006 in Taiwan. The Taiwanese series is more faithful to the original manga. Unfortunately, the series ended just as it was getting interesting. I hope a new series would be filmed soon.

Ella's acting is a bit exaggerated though, especially when she remembers that she is pretending to be a guy in front of Sano. I also think Wu Zun is too pretty to be Sano but then Sano is just 17 years old! I loved the Jiro Wang as Xiu Yi. His confusion and frustration as he tries to come to term that he is in love with a “guy” - Mizuki, was hilarious. Poor dear.

The Japanese version is even more exaggerated than the Taiwanese version and does not follow the manga series. Horikita Maki is very good as Mizuki , pretending to be a guy yet at the same time retaining her femininity and Ikuta Touma is amusing as Nakatsu. I think Oguri Shun is just right as Sano. Tall and handsome, silent and brooding, it takes Mizuki to bring out his caring side. I think the airport scene where Sano saw Mizuki off to America is so romantic!

Well, if you have a free weekend and just want to chill out, you may want to check out these: Hana Kimi Taiwanese version or Hana Kimi Japanese version and let me know what you think.

Silver is a normal kid, he works in his mum and dad's takeaway pizza joint as a delivery boy; he is nothing special and quite withdrawn. Slightly unbelievably this rather nerdy kid has a stunning girlfriend called Sheila who wants to wait for the time to be right to have sex; I'll leave you to decide which part I find unbelievable.

Silver however wants sex more than anything, after all his friends are all having sex, none more so than the Virginator (a guy who only has sex with girlfriends, and acquired the name after he named Silver the Masturbator). After an attempt to have sex with Sheila goes terribly wrong after finding condoms in his pocket, Silver is forced into the single life. Deciding to ditch the condoms however causes Silver to discover that they were obviously designed for elephants, and before he has time to bat his eyelids the town is rocked by the news that Silver has a two foot penis, suddenly the towns most desirables are all queuing up for a little "home delivery" but can Silver keep his newfound reputation in tact?

The sicker side of me really quite enjoyed this movie, not because it was overly funny, not because it had a gripping storyline, but because it was like a time warp for me, these sort of sex comedies were everywhere in my youth when I was being "dragged" up and if it existed you could pretty much guarantee I had seen it. These movies were often of a very cheap nature, but at least shot on film so they did not look quite as cheap as this offering.

Some of the performances in the movie are horrendous most notably Salvatore Crivelo who plays Arturo Silver's father, an actor who did nothing on screen before Gettin It and at the time of writing after, if anyone's career has ended as soon as it began its Crivelo's and regardless of your views of the movie I'm sure all would agree that this is one of the most terrible performances of all-time.

It's unlikely that any of the cast you would have heard of least alone Patrick Censoplano who plays Silver, this being said there is a good selection of ex-Playboy models and porn actresses all turning their hand at acting for a change. To be honest the balance of good and bad actors is well matched, luckily it's mostly the reasonable actors that you have to spend any time with.

Gettin It does have a pretty good stab at humour, and to be honest with you it's not a bad attempt, there are a couple of scenes where you just kind of want to bury your head in your hands, but in a good way. The film does feature mainly old jokes, and borrows heavily from the Patrick Dempsey movie Loverboy which also involved a pizza delivery boy who took more than pizza to his high paying female clientele. I don't however want to understate this movie or overstate it, if you loved Porky's then this will undoubtedly appeal to you, there is a certain American Piesque feel about the movie specifically the relationship between Jason Biggs character in Pie, and Silver's here.

I guess I could be stereotypically classifying the people of Israel, but when I think about the country I think about three things, religion, war and the Jewish community. In the Lemon Popsicle movies only one of the three things is ever really present. When I first saw Lemon Popsicle (Dubbed into English, or at the very least American) I honestly believed that the movie was filmed and made in America. It was a few years later before the revelation that these were in fact Israeli movies; clever editing hiding most of the tell tale signs.

Lemon Popsicle circles around three boys Benji (Yftach Katzur), Bobby (Jonathon Sagall) and Hughie (Zachi Noy) who during the 1950's are finishing up their schooling while making all sorts of discoveries about love. The main focus of the movie is Benji who unlike Bobby and Hughie has more on his mind than just sex, Benji is looking for love. When Benji believes he has discovered the girl of his dreams, a newcomer in town called Nicky (Anat Atzmon) he sets his heart on winning her over. Sadly for Benji however his friendship with Bobby is about to be put to the test as he makes moves on Nicky before Benji has even been able too. But while Benji wants love all Bobby wants is to bethe first person in school to have sex with Nicky. As the inevitable draws closer Benji is torn apart by his now love for Nicky, can he win over her heart.

Even today the Lemon Popsicle movies push certain boundaries that Western movies have failed too, featuring often incredibly embarrassing scenes if you find yourself watching the movie in company. While nudity is fairly minimal, you are kind of made to feel almost as if you are watching pornography. I remember as a child seeing the movies passed around my school like they literally were the most pornographic things ever. While watching the movie all these memories came flooding back, and amazingly I actually found it more lewd and crude now than I did then, maybe back in the days of video they were heavier edited.

There are lots of things that appealed to audiences of the time, penis measuring competitions, cheeky con tricks, lots of making out in underwear, and sexually transmitted diseases. In fairness a lot of the humour now is more embarrassingly funny than actually amusing, especially given the fact that now preserved the movie is obviously Israeli, although courtesy of dubbing it still tries to convince you its American.

Underlining the humour (although this is not the funniest of the movies) is a great little love story that kind of charts the thoughts that lots of us had when we were young. The pain that Benji feels really comes off the screen at you, made sadder by the fact that out of all the characters in the movie he is the only one with thoughts beyond that of sex.

In fairness there is not a lot too this movie, but you can see where Animal House and Porky's got their ideas from, the references were striking, especially when you compare the Porky's movies to this movie.

There is a pretty high chance that if your reading this you might not have come across the Lemon Popsicle movies, or know of them. It's hard to describe the effect that these movies had on the film industry, while not being over popular in Israel in America the movie caused viewers to flock to cinemas, particularly those of the Grindhouse mentality and the drive ins. The movies two financiers Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan created one of the biggest movie blockbuster production companies off the back of the movie. Forming Golan Globus, and taking control Cannon (Superman, Death Wish, Delta Force) they were the financiers for The Rambo movies, forming a secondary company Carolco whose movies included Chaplin, Basic Instinct, and Terminator 2. It's sad that the movies could have caused such a lasting impression on the movie industry that we know so well today yet still be forgotten.

After being overlooked for over 20 years Lemon Popsicle is about to make it onto DVD in the UK though without any special features.