Greetings humans, Monki here catching up on a couple of days of movies from South by Southwest 2008.

Full Battle Rattle

Full Battle Rattle is a documentary about an imaginary town in the Mojave Desert owned by the US Government to stage training exercises. What it all boils down to is the Military puts on the biggest LARPing game EVER.

Medina Wasl is a fictional town built in a "virtual Iraq" with the sole purpose of training soldiers to handle situations in the Middle East. The town is inhabited by literally hundreds of actors playing along with the story they are dealt to help get the soldiers prepped for real action.

Iraqi-Americans are used to infuse authentic dialogue and culture into this fake city. The two weeks spent at this training facility can be incredibly important as to how these soldiers will react overseas.

I really enjoyed this film. First and foremost it does an excellent job about keeping political biases OUT of the film. At no point were there bits of "we should(n't) be in this war" thrown in. This is a documentary in the purest sense of the word. We follow the lives of the actors and the soldiers over a two-week immersion into this fake world.

We watch the commanding officer progress in his experience as the weeks go by, we meet an Iraqi refugee working with the Army and trying to get citizenship at the same time...we see various soldiers working on their relationships with friends and family. It is an excellent piece.

RSO [Registered Sex Offender]

Registered Sex Offender is a character study on a guy who has just been released from prison after a sentence of a few years and his return to society. This guy returns to the world as a sex offender. All of the bits and pieces of what a real sex offender must go through are covered here. Therapy, parole officer, counseling...walking door to door and letting people know you are registered...this guy does it all.

As a quick aside...I have a registered sex offender living two doors down and one across from my house here in Austin...he's never knocked on my door...but his lights were off for Halloween.

Anyway, we track this guy over the course of the movie as he complains about the bullshit he must go through on a daily basis since his release. He returns to live with his super-hot girlfriend (seriously the hottest girl I've seen at SXSW) and complains and complains. He really does come across as kind of a dick in this film. He is rude to his therapist...his girlfriend...his parole officer...his character just isn't likable.

One problem I had was the fact that his offense isn't divulged until late in the movie. This disclosure provides a little light on why he is so angry about his situation, but for me but that point I had given up on liking the guy...and seeing how the guy is the central concept of the movie, I lost interest as well.

This is an Austin-based film though, so I feel a little guilty by not liking it...but if you want to see Austin's own Bob Schnieder eating Panda Express...check out this one.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Talk about a fun night...Monday began at the Forgetting Sarah Marshall pre-party where I got lei'd and drank about six or seven mixed drinks that cost over $10 a piece. Harry told me I could make a pass at Kristen Bell...I needed as much liquid courage as I could muster.

The director, producer and stars showed up shortly after I had hit a good solid buzz. I got a brief chance to talk with Jason Segal and Russell Brand, but by the time I was prepped to go lay the smooth moves down on Kristen Bell, she had run away. It was sad. But then I got to see a really awesome movie, and I forgot all about my sadness!

If you are reading this site, I'm sure you've figured out the general plot of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. "Normal" guy Peter (Jason Segal) and "Superstar" Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) break up...he goes on a downward spiral that ultimately takes him to Hawaii to get away from things. In Hawaii he bumps in to his ex and her new beau (Russell Brand). Wackiness ensues.

Mila Kunis plays the goddess of my soul...errmm..I mean, a hotel employee who takes a liking to this beaten puppy and shows him a good time away from his celebrity ex.

Cameos come hard and fast in this one as well...Jonah Hill, Jack McBrayer, even Carla Gallo (period girl from Superbad and Lizzie from Undeclared) makes an appearance. I would have loved to have seen more of McBrayer and it looks as the the scene with Kristen Wiig that Moriarty saw when he got to visit the set has been cut. Alas.

I'm a sucker for broken heart movies. Stranger than Fiction has been repeating in my PS3 for the past few weeks...Forgetting Sarah Marshall will likely do the same thing.

Segal plays such a great wounded soul. We really do see this great transition from happy-go-lucky to sad-sap and back. Also, we see a lot of Jason Segal penis...a lot. If you like the Apatow brand of humor this is going to keep you happy. It certainly does fit in to the cannon. I had a great time with this one and I'll be seeing it again when it hits theaters.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is my favorite movie of SXSW I've seen so far.

Up next for me is a geek-double feature of epic proportions. I'll be checking out Second Skin, the documentary focusing on MMORPGs followed by Nerdcore Rising. I can't wait. Until next time though, back up the tree I go!

-Monki