"Ladder 49" (2004) - Jay Russell

With recent controversy with our local Winnipeg Fire Dept., there were mixed feels about the release of Jay Russell's "Ladder 49". Also, with a brother who is a fire fighter, I was concerned that we might be treated to another sappy hero flick where good men die so the audience can feel proud of them.

I was pleased to find that the film ended up giving a very human look into the lives of a fire fighter, from the beginning of his career, through to his biggest fire crisis. Obviously, with only two hours to tell the story of the fire fighters life, our protagonist was forced to be every fire fighter, seeming to be confronted with every challenge possible. And while the film did pull on your heart strings with moderately exploitive hero worship, the characters were human enough to be believable.

I'll reserve final judgment, however, until after my brother and his co-workers have seen it. Otherwise, it is "a walk, but don't run" film on an otherwise quiet cinema weekend.

"Shaun Of The Dead" (2004) - Edgar Wright

After the embaressing debacle that was "The Forgotten", my friend Jim & I needed to redeem our week with another film. After discussing a few options, we made a last minute decision to see Edgar Wright's "Shaun Of The Dead", a British comedic parady of "Dawn Of The Dead", a hugely popular zombie film. Well, what can I say?

I loved it! This hilarious film had the capacity to create convincing characters to both love and hate, serious moments of intense fright, and deep belly laugh humour that will have you in the ailse. Not many movies can be funny, while offer scenes of heart wrenching emotion combined with (literal) heart wrenching gore.

While by no means a date flick or a pick for the "Friends" style comedy lovers. However, if you can handle some graphic zombie gore, can understand thick Cockney accents and have a soft spot for brilliantly stupid humour, this is a movie for you. One of my favourite films of the year!

P.S. Simon Pegg, who not only plays the loveable Shaun but also earns a writing credit for the film, deserves major thumbs up. Way to go, Simon!