SICKO: Je T'aime France!

1:05pm Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 | Edit Note | Delete

Went to Michael Moore's Sicko thinking that I wouldn't come away with much since we, as Canadians, already have Universal Health Care. We all were affected by the political grudge match of the aftermath of 9/11 in Farenheit 9/11. We all could feel the sorrow and the outrage of the accessibility of guns in Bowling for Columbine. But Universal health care...medicare? I mean, we already have it...why do I need to see this movie?

Michael Moore tackles the slimy underbelly of the American Health Insurance system and compares it to other countries around the world. He proves that not only does the US have one of the worst medical systems in the industrialized world but that the insurance companies worry more about profit than approving people who need necessary treatment that here in Canada we take for granted.

Some telling examples are the lady who was approved for this treatment that would normally cost her $7000 if insurance didn't cover it. She did the treatment thinking everything was hunky-dorey. Then she gets a letter from the insurance company saying they are cancelling her policy and refusing to pay the hospital because she didn't disclose to them that she had a yeast infection in the past. Another example is of this guy who accidentally chopped off two fingers and had to decide which one he wanted to keep because he couldn't afford both.

Moore interviews people who've been in the middle of this racket (such as retired insurance workers, and this one guy who's sole job is to find any loop hole in the contract to get the insurance's money back from the customer AFTER they do treatment). And puts to rest the propaganda the US is shovelling out to their people to make them believe that universal health care is equivalent to communism. He takes us on a tour around the world to countries who have complete government paid health care stopping in Canada, Britian, and France (who gets free 24 on-call doctor service, free laundry and childcare, and unlimited paid sick leave for you to recover from your treatment).

Did you know that the terrorists at Guantanomo Bay are given free health care by the US government yet the average US citizen has to fight for their right to live?

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Moore's Sicko makes me realize how wonderful and lucky we are to live in a country where we don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back by these kind of companies, where people come before profit.

Very enlightening, humourous, and healthy summer movie.

8.9 Michael Moore baseball caps out of 10

1408: An Evil F'n Room

0:05am Sunday, Jun 24, 2007 | Edit Note | Delete

1408 isn't what you'd call your typical horror movie. It's not like any of the gorefests that have frequented the cinemas over the last few years such as Final Destination, Thirteen Ghosts...or any other "more blood equals more scary" movies that you can name. This movie is pure psychological mind f**k on the scale of The Shining (had to keep this review PG because I dropped the F-bomb once or twice the last time and felt like it was over used; on a side note, it'll be used one more time in this review). There is minimal gore...lots of blood though...you'd have to see it to understand how that could happen.

Speaking of The Shining (or as Willy would say on the Simpsons "The Shinin'"), this movie was based on a story by the master of terror, Stephen "I think all writers drink too much" King. And you can tell by the screwed up characters that even if you didn't know that, you could smell the King fourty million creepy rooms away. However, unlike his other horror stories turned movies (with the exception of the Shining), this movie doesn't suck! It doesn't stand up to The Shining but 1408 is cut from the same mold and is his best "horror" movie since. King has had a lot of other better movies from his stories like Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Stand by Me...to name a few...but his horror movies never live up to his stories.

John Cusak (not normally a fan of his) does well as the writer of a series of books chronicling the most haunted hotels in America who doesn't believe in ghosts because he's never seen one. He likes to believe that there is an afterlife because his daughter passed away from a disease but he has no proof of it. This is the underlying theme of the whole movie. It's a rollicking ride through his mind as we see him teeter from disbelief in monsters to totally losing his mind and back again as he tries to make sense of everything. Though, I've always found Cusak kind of wooden here...some parts weren't that engaging.

Also, Stephen King runs through the gambit of every possible horror genre cliche (like Cusak's just dreaming, or he's drugged, or it's all in his head) to get us to the end...and there's a lot of false endings...you never know if the room still has you. At the actual ending, you're still left wondering...what if I'm still in that creepy hotel room in Scarborough back in 2000 where someone was killed a few rooms down that night? (True story)

As the show stealer Samuel L. Jackson commented: "It's just an evil f**king room." (He should've been the main character in the room...that would've put this movie over the top)

Fun freaky movie, not a lot of "jump" type scares like I was expecting...but overall, an entertaining and fast paced flic. Didn't feel the time pass at all. Wanted it more frightening though.

7 Sam Jackson gratuitous profanities out of 10.