Rack one into the chamber, because Shoot `Em Up is the Greatest Movie EVER!
Click on the DVD cover or the title above to download our review of the film,
featuring Daryl Surat of Anime World Order.
Review in a Nutshell: An over-the-top action film with a strong sense of humor, Shoot `Em Up seems doomed to be miss-classified and miss-categorized. This film is the director’s love letter to the sort of improbable action sequences pioneered by the violent Hong Kong films of the 1990s, and thus it doesn’t entirely fit in among comparable Western films.
Final Thought:
Eat your vegetables.
The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast 
I dunno – I thought it had scattered moments of awesome, but didn’t hold together for me even as a “Duuudeee” movie.
Could there have been a chance that Daryl Surat was not on this episode?
Yow, VichusSmith! Now I have to hear this, just to hear WTF Surat said that got your back up….
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be disappointed that there was no mention of Saints Row The Third and it taking inspiration from the whole skydiving sequence (and some for the van collision passthrough) for one of their levels.
Also, lots of mentions of Children of Men? Is there going to be an upcoming podcast for this?
I wouldn’t know; I haven’t listened to the podcast yet. I just know that this is a film that is made for Daryl to review with Paul.
Is there a way you can lobby Netflix for custom categories because I really feel there needs to be a Daryl Surat genre on there.
Because Daryl Surat gets so much hate on this show, I would like to mention that he is my favourite cohost.
I have watched all the movies you metioned as being in the daryl-surat-genre of film, and each one of them has changed not just my taste in film but my life as a whole.
And now I´m going to see this movie too.
Why do people hate Daryl? Because he doesn’t like what they like? Silly. He’s probably top 3 for me, or top 5.
Only Kathrin is better than Daryl. Also, this is my favorite Punisher movie ever.
My favorite hosts are Mom, Katherin and Rachel – because Paul tends to up his game with female co-hosts. Mom’s just awesome, and Rachel’s sharp and well-informed – always a pleasure to listen to. Also, one should never underestimate the sheer joy of hearing somebody torture his sister with the kind of sick, gross movies Paul talks Katherin into! 😀
With Surat or Sean, he ends up fighting rearguard actions against their particularly geeky version of DudeBroism. This week, for instance, Surat slagged Bollywood for being “derivative” (ironic, coming from the host of an anime podcast!) – and Paul pointed out later most film industries borrow from other film industries, including Hollywood.
DudeBroism? Now I’ve heard everything. 😛
While both Paul and I will be first to admit that Japanese animation is often derivative–in fact, we did on this very recording–I don’t know how many adherents of “DudeBroism” would have the wherewithal to distinguish between Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu in casual conversation like what I did on this episode.
It is not a particularly controversial statement to point out that Indian cinema by virtue of its accelerated production schedules and volume of output has become thoroughly adept at lifting imagery and choreography from other contemporary media with little if any consideration given to context or pacing. In fact, it’s basically accepted as a key defining trait and one of the reasons the films don’t “cross over” well. (Not like they need to.)
With regards to Shoot ‘Em Up, what I was pointing out was that Sivaji came out the very same year and reused entire sequences from this movie and Robert Rodriguez’s Mariachi trilogy without really adding much. This isn’t unique to their stuff but it happens at an incredibly high frequency, which is why I can show people “the Indian movie version of Assassin’s Creed/Harry Potter/etc.”
The line between “homage” and “ripoff” is often threadbare, but for me it comes down to “was it used as a springboard to something new, or are they just trying to cash in on the creativity of others?” I am at least quite partial to Sivaji’s self-firing pistol boomerang as well as his ability to make a bullet reconsider its trajectory path by glaring at it. Nobody to date has bothered to reuse those just yet.
Okay, Surat – but again, you don’t really clarify at the time what you mean. If I hadn’t mentioned it, you wouldn’t have clarified your dismissive statements of Indian cinema. I’ll admit, I was surprised you noted the difference between Bollywood (which largely comes out of studios in Mumbai and is in Hindi – or increasingly, “Hinglish” as they reach out for a global NRI audience) and the Telegu film industry.
Are Indian movies really just derivative for the sake of being derivative? I’d wonder if, like Japanese movies, the very act of their being filtered through a culture with different standards, mores and storytelling traditions changes them significantly – sort of like the difference between Japanese “idol singers” and manufactured Western pop stars like New Kids on the Block, The Spice Girls or Menudo. The only Indian movie I’ve recently seen that I’d consider “derivative” is WE ARE FAMILY – an open Bollywood remake of STEPMOM.
For what it’s worth, it’s possible I did clarify what I meant at the time but any recording with me invariably runs quite long because of my tendency to go off on tangents which don’t necessarily pertain to the topic at hand. A check to the feed suggests the runtime of this episode is 1 hour and 6 minutes, and I know the raw source recording was at least 90-120 minutes. I’m all for heavy editing in the service of maintaining focus.
I do wish more of the people who wrote in prior to the recording had commented to elaborate upon precisely what didn’t work for them in this movie, and perhaps give examples of other films that did it “right” for their tastes. Perhaps all those sorts of replies came in through Facebook, which to this day I’ve never signed up for?
Surat – actually, most of us comment on Paul’s GME Facebook page, b/c that’s where he asks us for comments in advance. (He might ask other places as well, but FB is where I see them.) I can understand your not wanting to sign up for another Social Network Time Suck, certainly – but I’m surprised Paul doesn’t send you a list of questions or comments beforehand that you can read over and think about replying to.