Movie Review: Your Highness

Yesterday my wife and I went to an advanced screening of the film Your Highness starring Danny McBride and James Franco, with our friends Mike and Ron. The movie was pretty great. We got to the theatre about an hour before the film started and ended up waaaaay back in line, so our seating options were limited, luckily we found four pretty good seats together and got to enjoy the movie.

First off – the movie is to Fantasy as Paul is to SF – meaning the better versed you are in Fantasy films and the Fantasy genre overall the better time you will have at the film, as you will get more of the in-jokes. Secondly, McBride, Franco and David Gordon Green (the director) had previously starred together in Pineapple Express, so if you’ve seen that one, you’ll have a pretty good idea at the sense of humour in the film.

Secondly – this movie is not for kids – not only are the references likely to go over their heads, but there is a lot of violence, nudity and references to various bodily fluids.

Finally – this movie is a lot of fun. Knowing I was going into a crude, rude send-up of the Fantasy genre, I can say I was totally impressed, and more than a few times a little surprised, and once shocked at what some people will do if you let them have a muppet in their film.

Bookmonkey's Top 5 films to see before summer 2011

This summer has got a lot of genre picks I'm going to see, and it starts in May with the release of Thor. Although I'm not a big fan of the Marvel Character, I am a big fan of director Kenneth Branagh and I've enjoyed the Marvel films over the last few years. The four months between now and Thor, however are filled with a lot of Genre films I'd like to see, so I thought I would share it with all of you.

1. The Green Hornet

Although I never saw the classic '60s series, my interest in the film comes from two distinct factors: a) Canadian Actor Seth Rogen, who I've loved since his days back in Freaks & Geeks, b) Director Michael Gondry, whose film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind may be a strong contender for my favourite SF film of the last ten years.

2. Your Higness

A send-up of fantasy films starring Danny McBride (who I've loved in everything I've ever seen him in, from Land of the Lost to Up in the Air), and James Franco (another actor I've been following since Freaks & Geeks), this movie looks like it may do for heroic fantasy what Hot Tub Time Machine did for time travel SF.

3. Limitless

Starring Bradley Cooper, this film looks at a miracle drug that can open all of mans potential, I wonder if there will be a horrible downside? Regardless I'm looking forward to checking it out.

4 Paul

Much like Scott Pilgrim last year, Paul mixes some of my favourite things (Shawn of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and again (wow!) Freaks & Geeks alum Seth Rogen in a buddy film involving a tour of the great alien contact sites throughout America and the chance to help out a real live (and disgusting) alien called Paul.

5. Source Code

From the Director of my favourite SF film of 2009, Moon, comes this film about a man using technology that allows him to live the last 8 minutes of someone elses life over and over in an attempt to discover who killed him, only problem, he doesn't just want info, he wants to change history.