Run Ronnie Run (DVD)
Directed by: Troy Miller
Written by: David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Scott Aukerman, BJ Porter, Brian Posehn
Starring: David Cross, Bob Odenkirk

You know its a bad omen for a movie when the creators,on their own website, disown all involvement: “Pleasestop wanting to see the movie, asking about it, oronline chatting about it.” I can’t say I entirelyagree with the above statement, as while “Run RonnieRun”, the first and perhaps only “Mr. Show movie”we’ll ever have presented to us, is certainlydisappointing, begging and pleading David Cross andBob Odenkirk for its release is time well spent, asits at the very least, a worthy rental, and aninteresting examination on how potential can bespoiled.

Run Ronnie Run in some ways was cursed from day one. Following the format of several failed SNL movies, itis based on a recurring character from the TV showwithout enough depth to carry a movie on his own.Ronnie Dobbs (Cross) is a beer drinking southernredneck who, with the help of Terry Twillstein(Odenkirk), a British cameraman for the TV show FUZZ(a COPS type show), becomes a national reality TVsuperstar, running from police in cities all acrossNorth America. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Show,this might come across as a “Joe Dirt” ripoff, whichprobably helped keep it out of theaters. I can’t saythe comparison is unwarranted, as while Ronnie hadbeen created years before David Spade’s character, theHappy Madison Production sentimentality is firmly allover (and out of place in) this film. A major problemis the very fact that the reality TV spoof idea isalready out of date and will be even more out of datewithin the next few years. While the Survivor, JudgeJudy, COPS, etc. digs are funny, you can’t help butfeel you’re watching a taped episode of MADTV.

There are a few decent one liners now and then, butthe movie is only truly funny when the movie trailsoff the Ronnie Dobbs storyline into somethingcompletely different. In other words, when its morelike a Mr. Show episode, its funny. In one of thesescenes, Scott Thompson (one of a zillion cameos,including Andy Richter, Dave Foley, Matt Stone, TreyParker, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Warburton, Ben Stiller,Bruce Villanch, oh the list goes on and on)accidentally uncovers the vast gay conspiracy. Theother two are musical numbers starring Jack Blackdoing a hilarious take on the Dick Van Dyke characterfrom Mary Poppins, and a music video sequence from 3Times 1 Minus 1, Bob and David’s white R&B duo, thechorus of which proclaims “Pussy Doodle Doo! I stuckmy penis in your thoughtful vagina”. Both of thesemusical numbers are destined to become favorites formp3 downloaders everywhere.

The rest of the music in the movie is typical moviesoundtrack stuff lifted from real bands, which doesn’treally work well with the Mr. Show style. They couldhave produced more of the musical numbers themselves,as the South Park boys tend to do in their films.

It is clear from watching Run Ronnie Run’s deletedscenes that there is a comedy classic somewhere inthere that never got a chance, obviously due to Cross& Odenkirks battles with the studio and the directorover creative control. Perhaps they should haveeliminated much of the Ronnie Dobbs storyline and justused it to connect a series of longer, movie and TVparody sketches. Instead of taking subtle or obviouspotshots at movie cliches, too often Run Ronnie Runends up a victim of them. It is sad that things didn’twork out, as at the very least, they could haveproduced a “Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy” sort ofmovie, a film that might not live up to the show inlaugh out loud comedy, but still would have been trueto the show and more geared towards its fans. Still,I highly recommend a viewing for the hardcore Mr. Showfans. The few good parts are too good to miss, and atthe worst, its still better and more watchable thananything Rob Schneider will ever be a part of. — Goon

Underworld
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Written by: Len Wiseman, Kevin Grevioux, Danny McBride
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly, Michael Sheen, Sophia Myles, Kevin Grevioux

There have been a lot of movies coming out recently involving vampires, and also a lot of movies that have tried to copy the dark, high-tech visuals of The Matrix.So what is it that sets Underworld apart from all these other films that usually end up beingall style and no substance? To be honest, not a heck of a lot.

The good news is that although Underworld is not the most original piece of work, it does have decent cinematography and art design. It may be a knockoff, but at least it doesn’t look like a cheap knockoff. The high quality look of the movie is no doubt a result of former art director Len Wiseman being at the helm. Wiseman is smart enough to avoid relying on CGI too much, and as a result many of the effects like the werewolf transformations look believable and impressive. The lighting andsets are also detailed and atmospheric with a soft pallette of light blues and blacks.

What was most surprising was the fact that Underworld also manages to tell a coherent story for the most part. The basic idea (which they have been accused of stealing from the roleplaying games Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse) is that the vampires and lycans (short for lycanthrope, fancy word for werewolves) have been at war with each other for about 1000 years now (which isn’t really all that long for a species that is immortal actually). The movie takes the side of the vampires, and that probably explains why they aren’t more bad ass — they are portrayed as little more than humans with guns who bite people’s necks. The lycans on the other hand metamorphisize into hulking beasts when the moon is full. Still, they are each looking for ways to gain the upperhand through weapons and technology, and as we know, both species have their special weaknesses. When it is discovered that the lycans are hunting down a specific human, the vampires are baffled and worried. Selene (Kate Beckinsale), one of the vampire’s death dealers, begins to unravel the mystery behind it all, and she becomes suspicious of a conspiracy within her own clan. Then she falls in love with this mysterious human, who has been marked by a lycan. Too bad for her, their love is forbidden. So tragic!

This is where the “Romeo & Juliet” angle comes into play. Commercials claimed that Underworld was a retelling of Romeo & Juliet, but rest assured that was no more than a marketing ploy. The resemblances are pretty thin, and there’s certainly no Shakespearean prose to be heard. Still, aside from some minor pacing problems, I really don’t have anything bad to say about the story either.

The acting in the movie was focused and pretty adequate. Kate Beckinsale is good, although her role requires very little emotion. The camera can’t get enough close-ups of her… maybe this is because Len Wiseman is married to her. Other actors and actresses also did well, despite some dialogue that probably could have gone either way. The only one I really had a problem with was Shane Brolly, who played the head vampire Kraven. He seemed to resemble Henry Rollins a little more than a vampire should, and he just was not suave and sophisticated enough for the part.

The loud and obnoxious nu-metal soundtrack is prevalent throughout a few scenes in the movie, but even that wasn’t enough to turn me off.

In fact, the only real complaint I have is that there were too many damn doors being opened all the time! I read something about this in another review as well, and it’s just a meaningless quirk that you can’t help but notice. Almost every new scene opens with a shot of someone banging or kicking open a door. It gets a little repetitive after a while, and unless there’s some special significance to it I really think they could have trimmed some of that stuff in editing.

I gotta say, I thought this movie would stumble right out of the blocks in its attempt to to have attitude and style, but Len Wiseman actually pulls it off rather gracefully. While it’s not necessarily an inspired masterpiece, or a movie that I will remember for years to come, I did enjoy it for what it was. Who knows, I might even want to see it again when the DVD comes out! Whether or not I will want to see the inevitable sequel… well that’s a whole different story. — Sean

Kingpin: Producer’s Cut (DVD)
Executive Producer: David Mills
Starring: Yancey Arias, Sheryl Lee, Bobby Cannavale, Brian Benben, Shay Roundtree, Angela Alvarado

What happens when good TV shows don’t get good ratings? Within a few short weeks, if a new show fails to catch on immediately, it is discarded and never heard from again.Just think of how many shows are introduced each year, only a handful of which ever make it through toa second season. What a horrible waste of energy that is. The situation is even more tragic when a show actually has potential but isn’t given a chance to develop. This is why I’m glad to see the advent of the DVD format has allowed some of these ill-fated TV shows to retain their dignity, and to have their memory live on beyond the airwave graves.

Kingpin is one such TV show that was introduced by NBC in mid-season 2002 and was never really given a chance to gather a following. I had been going out of my way to try and catch the show for the few weeks when it was airing and yet somehow I still managed to miss 2 out of the 6 episodes due to time slot changes. How annoying.

There’s no disputing the fact that Kingpin borrows a lot of ideas from The Sopranos; it mixes family drama with organized crime life, but with a Mexican cultural twist instead of the Italian theme we’re so used to seeing in mob movies. In a way, it is The Sopranos combined with the movie Traffic, because the story revolves around “La Corporación” and their attempts to move drugs across the Mexican border while the United States D.E.A. tries to stop them. The focus isn’t just on the D.E.A. though, there are disputes with other drug cartels as well as power struggles within their own family. The show also brings some of the street level drug dealers into the mix too. Kingpin sets itself apart from The Sopranos with a variety of unique characters, exotic locales, and some fresh new perspectives. For instance, one of the main characters is a D.E.A. officer, which brings occasional glimpses at the other side of the coin that was never there in The Sopranos. Another dynamic that was missing from the Sopranos world was the presence of a younger pre-teen kid in the family. While having the cute innocence of Joey Cadena could have taken the edge off a show like this, it doesn’t. It only amplifies the emotional impact of the routine killings and conflicts in the life of a drug lord.

Creator/executive producer David Mills previously worked on E.R. and NYPD Blue, so he has a firm grasp of what good TV is all about, but Kingpin is probably his most interesting work to date. It’s clearly an attempt at creating a high quality HBO-style drama within the confines of a major network. Many people would scoff at such an idea, but the show is actually well written and it proves that gratuitious violence and four-letter words aren’t absolutely necessary for a show about organized crime. This isn’t to say that Kingpin feels like it was toned down, but rather that the show’s intensity all depends on the writing and the performances.

Speaking of performances, the cast is solid. Yancey Arias (The Time Machine) anchors the show as Miguel Cadena, a man who is at the top of the food chain within his family’s cartel. He is more likeable and respectable than Tony Soprano in a lot of ways, and although he can be explosive when necessary he is always hesitant to deal out violence — a trait that has many people questioning his leadership. There is also his “gringo” lawyer and wife played by Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks), yet another reason for him to be under constant suspicion. But that’s why he has his wild and ruthless older brother Chato (Bobby Cannavale - Third Watch) at his side. And for more comic relief there is also a shifty plastic surgeon caught up in the drug racket played by Brian Benben, and a mild mannered assassin played by Shay Roundtree, among others.

In only 6 episodes they packed a ton of stories all together into one package. Many of the character’s stories don’t overlap directly, but it all melds together so well thematically that you don’t even notice. The final episode ends abruptly but not on a cliffhanger — it can at least stand alone, although there were many possibilities left open for the future.

The DVD claims to be a “Producer’s Cut”, but it doesn’t really specify if any deleted footage has been restored. There are some bare boobs in a few scenes and I’m pretty sure they were previously edited out for television. The picture is crisp and clear (and shot in widescreen, which always speaks volumes about the intended quality of a show), and the sound is a decent Dolby 5.1 mix although it probably isn’t going to overwhelm the audiophiles out there. As a bonus, the 3rd disc contains interviews with the 6 main cast members and creator David Mills. The cast interviews are each 1 to 3 minutes in length and are not particularly enlightening, but the interview with Mills at least gives a bit more insight on his approach to combining various elements into a compelling series.

If only Kingpin had been given a chance, I think it could have become a success for NBC. It’s disappointing that the storyline will never get to progress any further, but I am at least happy to be able to revisit the show in style and finally see the episodes I had been missing. Having this 3-disc set in my collection is probably the next best thing to a full-blown continuing series anyways. Check it out if you enjoy television shows that tell a good story: the price is right and it’s well worth it. — Sean

Cabin Fever
Directed by: Eli Roth
Written by: Eli Roth and Randy Pearlstein
Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, Joey Kern, Cerina Vincent, James DeBello

So I just saw Cabin Fever and here I am all fired up to sit down and write about it. Where do I start? This, my friends, is a classic for the ages. It’s sure to be the subject of much debate for years to come, so let me just save everyone some time and get down to the bottom line: Good and bad are terms that hold no meaning when talking about a movie like this, the only thing that matters is that it must be seen to be believed. Scrounge together whatever money you can and head over to your local theatre right this minute, because if you don’t, you’re missing out on something special. And if you ask me to describe what makes it so special, well, I need only one word… pancakes?

Like most people who have a bit of a taste for horror flicks, I went into this movie feeling cautiously optimistic. The latest Hollywood resurgence in horror movies has not brought with it very many worthwhile films, but Cabin Fever, this little indie film that got picked up after selling out like crazy at last year’s Toronto Film Fest, promised a return to the cult b-movie old school: plenty of scares, plenty of gore, and plenty of laughs. But would it be just a rip off of The Evil Dead 1 and/or 2? Or would it be another tired “thriller” with hot young actors and actresses that dilutes itself with too much back story? All I can say is, none of the above.

I’ll get the Evil Dead resemblance out of the way first. The movie is about a group of teenagers who take a vacation out in the woods in a cabin. (Lots of horror movies take place in the woods or other isolated settings actually.) What then happens to them at the cabin is more akin to 28 Days Later or George Romero’s The Crazies. They encounter a guy in the woods who is infected with some sort of disease that makes him bleed everywhere. When they “accidentally” kill him out of fear of contagion, he ends up infecting the water supply surrounding the cabin, which in turn infects them anyways. As they struggle to save themselves, they have a number of run-ins with the wacky locals. And boy are they wacky.

I gotta be honest, this is not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination. Some scenes are dull and drawn out, some of the cuts are sloppy, and it often struggles with itself trying to decide where to be funny and where to be serious. But by the end, all judgement you might pass on this movie becomes irrelevant. Cabin Fever is so gleefully gruesome that I daresay it rivals movies like Peter Jackson’s own Dead Alive for the sheer amount of blood splattering (no wonder he publicly gave it his own seal of approval), and yet at the same time, it doesn’t look like a low budget b-movie. The make-up and gore effects are pretty realistic looking, and the camera work is fairly solid.

I’m a little undecided on the acting performances. At first I was annoyed by each of the 5 main characters, especially the “dumb jock” with the voice that sounds like a professional wrestler (James DeBello — Detroit Rock City, Swimfan). As the movie progressed though, and as it became more and more clear that that movie was not taking itself at all seriously, I grew to appreciate what originally seemed like the most horrible dialogue and bad jokes. The actors did manage to deal with both the campy moments and serious moments of terror on even terms though, and that’s saying something.

It doesn’t ever really come together into a cohesive whole, but I think the more impressive thing is that someone had the balls to pull off all this crazy stuff in one movie. And that it actually somehow managed to get a wide release in theatres. I think most people in the audience didn’t know what to make of it… hell, I didn’t know what to make of it either half the time. That’s a good thing though. This is a movie that you will talk about with your friends afterwards, and that to me justifies its existence.

My only advice is that if you are one of these people who sees the movie and feels the urge to walk out at any point… DON’T DO IT. If you do, you will miss out on what is potentially the best/worst ending of a movie ever. It’s like something out of a Naked Gun movie and it is longest pay off on a joke that you didn’t even know was a joke. Ingenious, really. It’s something you’ll want to tell your grandkids about.

So by all means listen to what I am about to say. Go out and catch Cabin Fever! There is always the chance that you will want to beat me with a stick afterwards, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. — Sean

Small Brown Bike - Nail Yourself To The Ground
(Smallman/No Idea)

A North American tour with Edmonton’s Choke last summer lead to, among other things,a Canadian distribution deal for Small Brown Bike with Smallman Records. Fitting? I think so. The first SBB release under Smallman is this EP entitled Nail Yourself To The Ground. It’s a co-release with their former U.S. label No Idea Records, and a prelude to their upcoming full length on Lookout! Records.

Nail Yourself To The Ground features 5 new exclusive tracks, which is nice to know because after all, who wants to fork out cash for an EP only to have most of the songs appear on an upcoming album? The songs are mostly what you’d expect from a post-punk band nowadays: duelling jagged guitar riffs and raw emotive vocals. That’s not a bad thing either. The songs are catchy without leaning towards pop-punk, and aggressive without bordering on that annoying screamo trend. If Braid, Cursive and Hot Water Music are your thing, then Small Brown Bike should be your new favourite band.

The EP’s only questionable moment is also the one place where it strays from the aforementioned formula. I’m all for trying new things, but the honky tonk slide guitar on “So I Fall” is a little bit too sappy and awkward to fit in. If you can appreciate or at least overlook that track, then this little EP is definitely a keeper. Look for more interesting things to come from this band in the near future. — Sean

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (X-Box)
Developed by: Bioware Corp.
Published by: Lucasarts

For whatever reason, Star Wars is the one universal fanboy gene that almost all geeks, movie lovers and gamers seem to share. Lucasarts could release a million different Star Wars videogames, and they’d all top the sales charts regardless of how good they are. Thankfully for us, they don’t suck very often. So is it any surprise then that within a few weeks of hitting store shelves, Knights of the Old Republic has dethroned Halo as the best selling game of all time for the X-Box? Actually it is a little surprising because, well… it’s an RPG.

While role playing games do have plenty of hardcore followers, they generally don’t appeal to the mainstream shoot ‘em up run-and-gun video game crowd. Make no mistake about it, Knights of the Old Republic is an amazing game, and it was the icing on the cake that finally persuaded me to buy a video game system I swore I would never buy. But I think it’s important to point out that it is not the same as the Jedi Knight series. Some people may be disappointed when they realize there’s a ton of dialogue and cinematic content and no freestyle lightsabre ass-kicking. This game requires a lot of patience and strategy, but the investment in story pays off a lot more than your basic action game.

The first thing to mention is that KOTOR was developed by Edmonton-based Bioware, who have already established themselves as RPG masters with Neverwinter Nights and various other games based on the 3rd edition D&D roleplaying system. For Knights Of The Old Republic, they modelled the game after the new Star Wars d20 roleplaying system. All tests of skill and combat calculations take place behind the scenes, though it still helps to have knowledge of the basic role-playing concepts so that you can choose weapons, skills and equipment best suited for your characters. Of course, if you don’t want to spend time hand picking feats and skills for your character when levelling up, you can just ask for a recommendation by the CPU. The interface is designed to be easy to learn and for the most part it’s quite intuitive.

I have to admit, I’ve often been uninterested in RPGs because I tend to find the combat boring and the gameplay restrictive. This is not the case in KOTOR. The combat system is rules based and real-time; it’s not so slow that it bogs down the action, but it’s not so fast paced that beginners won’t be able to keep up. If you spot an enemy the game pauses and gives you a chance to prepare your party for battle. There is a lot of strategy involved in the more important battles, but when your enemies are outclassed there’s no time wasted plowing through them (or vice versa). Although interactions with characters and environments are not overly complex (basically conversations and object exchanges are the extent of it), many of the puzzles give the illusion of something more flexible than it is.

This game immerses you in the Star Wars universe like never before. None of the major characters from the films are involved, but that’s a good thing because it adds to the authenticity. As far as continuity goes, KOTOR takes place 4000 years before the Galactic Empire and the timeline of the movies, a period in Star Wars history that has been pretty much untouched so far. The Jedi are at war with The Sith, and you start off on a Republic ship that is attacked by a Sith fleet, eventually marooning you on the decaying planet Taris. Although the game is set much earlier than the movies, all of the vehicles, weapons, droids, alien races, and culture that we know and love are still here. In fact, one of the most immersive aspects of the game is the variety of alien races and the way in which all of the alien characters speak in their native tongues with subtitles to translate (although after a while, the variety of character face models begin to repeat themselves, as does the extra-terrestrial dialogue).

In some ways I find that this game harkens back to the Lucasarts games of old, those classic point and click graphic adventures that are now all but dead. You have the freedom to go where you want, and the game consists of a lot of conversations (where you can choose from a number of different things to say), puzzle solving, and side quests. There are also some brief mini-games that jump out of the usual interface to allow you to gamble and play the card game Pazzak, enter swoop bike races, and also take manual control of gun turrets in certain situations.

One of the coolest things about the game is the opportunity to choose to follow either the light side or dark side as your character progresses towards becoming a Jedi. Many of your interactions with characters and choices in side quests will affect your alignment. This seems to have little bearing on events early on, but it becomes more important as the game progresses. The game does seem a little one-sided though… the potential rewards for heading down the dark path seem limited at times, although much of the mean-spirited dialogue is pretty funny to read anyways.

As much as it pains me to say it, however, Knights of the Old Republic is not perfect. Many reviews seem to have overlooked this, but the game is riddled with bugs. Some are harmless problems, resulting in nothing more than goofy animation glitches and camera problems in cut scenes. However, there are also more serious issues that made it into the final release, such as lock ups and confusing story progression bugs. Although X-Box games are theoretically patchable with the X-Box Live service, that doesn’t seem likely to happen, lending a pretty good case to waiting for the PC release instead.

Regardless, Knights Of The Old Republic is still one of the best games to come out for the X-Box so far, and it’s one of the most enjoyable role-playing games I personally have ever played. Now that they’re getting beyond all the flashy games that were designed solely to show off the X-Box’s hardware, the system is starting to harvest some quality titles aside from Halo. If you’re adverse to RPGs then this game could grow tiring for you rather quickly. But if you are an RPG fan, and also a Star Wars nut, this could very well be your must-own title of the year. — Sean

Tron 2.0 (PC)
Developed by: Monolith Productions
Published by: Buena Vista Games

Hey, all you Computer Geeks out there! You all remember Tron the movie? Well, it’s time to be digitized back into the computer world to CTRL ALT DELETE everyone’s asses. In Tron 2.0 the pc game, Biatch! Now prepare to fight or be derezzed.

Tron 2.0 follows off from where the movie ends. You play as Jet, the son of Alan Bradley, the creator of the orginal Tron program. Jet gets sucked into the computer and must reveal the mystery behind his father’s disappearance. Through out the game you will find emails which hold back story and other plot elements that help drive the quest.

It’s safe to say that this game has managed to capture the look and feel of the movie. Personally I remember very little from the first Tron movie, even though I’ve seen it a million times on the tube. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is the cool looking visuals from within computer world. It’s hard to believe that such interesting concepts and art were produced 2 decades ago. “THE COLOURS MAN”! Who says you need drugs to trip out? Just look at the artwork in this game and you’ll be freakin like a bitch till morning. The animation is the best I’ve seen in a while. It’s very sexy.

The majority of the game is played in first person but you can also play the light cycles modes on certain levels. Think of it as a 3d version of that one game where you move and leave a trail of walls behind and must make your opponent crash into it to win. Just like the movie. Multiplayer modes consist of the Light Cycles and Disk Arena. The object of the game is to throw your disk at your opponent, or throw your disk at the platform removing a section of it making your opponent fall to his death. Yeah I know it sound retarded, but it’s actually one of the best things about this game.

I really can’t see myself going through the single player mode again. At times it felt like a chore, with all those gay ass platform jumping moments. There were puzzles in the game, but they weren’t very challenging to figure out. There really isn’t anything groundbreaking in the game. It’s just a typical first person shooter aimed to capitalize on its nerdy cult following. …………………NEEEEEEERRRRRRRD! 7.9 on my ASS kick meter. — Chian

American Splendor
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Written by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini (screenplay), Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner (comics)
Starring: Paul Giamatti, James Urbaniak, Hope Davis

What the hell… another damn movie that starts with the word “American”?? Although I suppose if anyone’s got a right to call a movie “American” something or other, it’s Harvey Pekar. Who is Harvey Pekar? Just an average working-class American guy, who decided to start an underground comic book about his average working-class American life and give it the tongue-in-cheek title American Splendor. Many years after he started this comic book series, two documentary filmmakers have finally decided to bring his average working-class American life to the big screen… and in doing so, show everyone that maybe he isn’t so average after all.

Harvey Pekar should be a name known to anyone already familiar with comic book artist Robert Crumb’s work (or the documentary “Crumb”). The two were pals and shared a love for rare jazz records, among other things. It was Crumb who first inspired Pekar to do his own comic book, and it was Crumb who first offered to illustrate his stories since Pekar couldn’t draw more than simple stick figures. Pekar was a guy who worked a mundane job as a file clerk and had been through 2 divorces, striving for something more constructive with his life. Unlike most comic book writers though, Pekar wasn’t writing about superheroes or funny animals… he was writing about himself and his own personal day-to-day experiences. Whether it be waiting in line at a supermarket or peddling used records to employees at work, it all found its way into the pages of American Splendor. Although the content sounds boring, it was Pekar’s self-deprecating, cynical sense of humour that made it such a refreshing read.

Much to his dismay, American Splendor did not make him rich, nor did it allow him to quit his day job. It did, however, put him in touch with his third and current wife Joyce, in addition to earning him a small amount of fame including a few appearances on the David Letterman show. Eventually he and his wife earned some book awards after they collaborated to turn the course of his cancer treatment into a graphic novel.

The movie takes an interesting approach to telling Pekar’s story. While Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini are both known for their past documentaries, they did not use a documentary format for American Splendor. The main chunk of the movie features Pekar’s life story re-enacted with Paul Giamatti portraying him, and Hope Davis as his wife Joyce. However, the real Harvey Pekar narrates throughout in his distinctively wheezy voice, and they also mix in bits and pieces of seemingly candid interviews with the real Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner, that appear to have been conducted on the set of the movie itself (often with Giamatti and other actors standing in the background). They also show actual panels from his comics on screen, and in some cases bring animated versions of the characters to life. This all adds up to a weird sort of self-aware, multi-layered film, and although it’s a little bit jarring at first, by the end I think it really pays off.

In general, the movie wasn’t quite as knee-slappingly hilarious as I thought it would be. Some of the funniest moments are just taken word-for-word from the comics, and yet, by the same token some of the scenes seem more effective in print than they do on-screen. The film adaptation brings more depth to Harvey’s life however. You get to see more than just the specific moments he chooses to write about, and for once you also get a slightly more objective view of things. Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis both do a great job of stepping into their characters, although James Urbaniak seems a little goofy in his portrayal of R. Crumb. The most consistently loveable character throughout the whole movie has got to be Pekar’s friend from work, Toby Radloff. A self-proclaimed “nerd” and social misfit, Judah Friedlander has some of the best lines in the movie as Toby (as does the real Toby, in the real life interviews).

The best thing about American Splendor is that it celebrates “real” people, and proves them to be a lot more interesting than a lot of the fantastical fairy tale stuff we see being manufactured all around us nowadays. Underground comic book buffs already have this movie on their must-see list I’m sure, but this is also essential viewing for anyone who likes quirky dark comedies or stories about the every man struggling to make his mark on the world. It’s one of the stand out independent movies I’ve seen so far this year, and I’m hoping it gets a wider release in the near future. — Sean