Let me state at the outset that I am not a zombie film fan. Nor particularly a romantic comedy fan. In a lot of ways, I'm not really sure why I even gave this zom-rom-com a chance in the first place. I guess a $7 price tag encourages experimentation. Despite my normal indifference to these genres, I really enjoyed Shaun of the Dead. Then again, perhaps it that indifference that led to my enjoyment, many of the zombie fans I know despise it. The humor helps avoid the crushing despair zombie film exude, and the romance is light enough that my eyes don't roll back in my head. There are some weak spots, the final gag is kind of lame and the "pretend to be zombies" scene is a bit poorly executed (although a great idea), but the film avoids the extreme emotions of the source genres which lets the humor do it job and makes you laugh.

I did not get this because Julia Ormond is nude, I swear, but what a nice bonus. The Prime Gig is a tight business drama with a touch of steamy sex. For the most part, it's depiction of telemarketing sales hacks and scammers feels right, although a few holes hold it back. To begin, the recruiting processes the "prime gig" employs is strains believability, there is no way that such an operation would go to such lengths to recruit employees, nor would it then woo those prospective employees with such an elaborate initiation. I can forgive that Ormond drives a Ford Focus, writing it off as a low-budget concession, but as with Jackie Brown, I can't let slide the ridiculously low amount of money at stake. Ed Harris' character wants to raise two million dollars. Ok, fine. To do that, he tosses money out the window with a completely unnecessary plane trip, a sweet office, Ikea catalog furnishings, tossing out wads of thousands of dollars, and in the end, he goes for the twist of the knife kill over $75k? That's just bad money management. Despite that, a pointless brother sub-plot, and a horrible casting decision (sorry Vizzini), Prime is an engaging business drama and holds it's own against the likes of higher budgeted competition like Boiler Room.

Perhaps my favorite scene sequence in movies is the "same scene, different perspectives" sequence (which reminds me, I really need to see Rashômon already.) Jackie Brown has one of these sequences, so it automatically get bonus points from me. Offsetting that, however, is the lack of new information with each new perspective which lessens the impact of such sequences. Whereas the sequence in other films provide a more comprehensive understanding of the big picture, Jackie Brown essentially gives you all the information in the first run through. I kept waiting for another double cross to justify the use of repetition.

Even though such a sequence wasn't used to its full potential, it strongly conveys Tarintino's style. Recently, I read a criticism calling Tarantino as a "fauxteur," which is ridiculous. The auteur theory holds that the director makes the film identifiably his own. Disparage Tarantino as you will, but one thing you can't say is that he doesn't leave his mark on the film. Jackie Brown is as clear of an example of this as his other films are, from his measured pacing, to his appropriate soundtrack selections, to his iconic cinematography, to his trademark language and violence, and if you like Tarantino, Jackie Brown won't disappoint.

After quite some time trying to find an online source for Méliès' milestone work A Voyage to the Moon, I finally found one on archive.org. This version includes English narration and I am unsure how faithful this narration is to the original. Certainly, the plot must have been communicated to the audience somehow, as the silent film's plot is not intuitive, but I don't know whether that was done through intertitles, live narration, or some other method. Although the plot may not be instantly recognizable, it does nicely fit within the scope of a short film.

While one could hold Voyage up to contemporary standards, or even late silent-film era standards and find it wanting, it is still remarkable for art direction and visual effects. The camera is so static as to create the impression of watching a play (especially in the council scene and the moon night scene), but the detailed projected backdrops, the stop-motion animation, and other effects continue to make this film enjoyable beyond it's historical importance.