Reviews

I gave this movie a fair 7/10. I would ignore the nonsensical 1/10 and 10/10 ratings and give it a fair shake if you're into Japanese food and culture. I was pretty surprised at how they portrayed Japanese culture...not totally accurate, but not a travesty either. I also wouldn't consider this to be a remake of Tampopo -- totally different characters and story lines. But it was fun seeing the main cowboy hat-wearing guy from Tampopo doing a small role as the ramen grand master. His expressions and eating reactions were hilarious! The filmmakers obviously have a love of japan and its culture, and I can feel their sincerity in sharing this joy through this movie. This movie isn't perfect by a longshot (the whole subplot with the British guy and the southern girl was useless and irritating), but there were some genuinely fun and funny moments. Keep your expectations in check and just enjoy the movie for what it is.

Just saw this at the 2003 Vancouver International Film Festival and it was funny as hell and a bit surreal. Takes place in Toronto, where these two losers live in this run-down house in the middle of a freeway system. David Hewlett (PIN, CUBE, CYPHER) and Andrew Miller (CUBE) are just great as the two losers who wish the world would just go away. The acting, dialogue and writing are very good, and the whole film looks great for such a low-budget flick. Director/Writer Vincenzo Natali was in attendance at this screening, and he seemed so intelligent and down-to-earth. This guy is so inventive with these great stories that work so well within small budgets, it puts big budget Hollywood crap to shame!