Review: Repo! The Genetic Opera

2008

Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Starring: Alexa Vega, Anthony Stewart Head, Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton

Ok, the first thing you're thinking, I'm sure, is why would you ever watch a movie with Paris Hilton in it? (again... hmm... House of Wax...). Well, rest assured that she actually does decently in this and besides, only has a few scenes. This is a horror movie, as you might have guessed from that poster. But it's also... a musical? And it's funny, in a black humor sort of way.

It's the not-so-distant future, and due to a crisis of organ failures there is now a company that can replace all your organs. But if you fail to pay, they can also repossess them. Enter the Repo Man, played by Anthony Stewart Head, who was basically blackmailed into the job so that he could raise his daughter (Alexa Vega), who has a rare blood disease, instead of going to jail. One day his daughter goes out to her mother's tomb and begins to suspect all is not what it seems.

This movie is pretty gory, in kind of an absurd, unrealistic way. The fact that it's a musical makes it rather surreal and delightful. I already knew Anthony Stewart Head could sing, due to Buffy, and I liked him in this as well. It is a fun watch if you don't mind a lot of blood and violence. Bizarrely, there's a cameo by Joan Jett. The plot kept me guessing.

Grade: B

On an unrelated note, when I Google-image-searched 'Repo!', this came up:

Outrageous News of the week

This first one is unbelievable.

So, Cash4Gold, that skeevy company that you can just send in your old gold to and get money back, was reviewed on a blog called Cockeyed.com. This blog told how Cash4Gold will offer you way less than the gold is worth (though I was surprised, because I always assumed it was a complete and total scam, but I guess it's only a ripoff). Anyway, Consumerist picked up the story, so it was one of the top Google results for Cash4Gold. Recently, Cash4Gold decided to hire a marketing company to clean up its image. This led to the Cockeyed.com blogger being offered $3,000 to take down the blog post! Incredible.

via Consumerist

The other story is also outrageous. Outrageously adorable!

A mailman in the UK is just doing his rounds on a cold day when he spots an apparently abandoned otter pup on the side of the road. So he picks it up and carries it around in his mailbag, taking it to a car rally. He fed the little girl kitten milk through a pen tube. There are adorable pictures here.

via mental floss