Nun of That

Ruggedly cute director Richard Griffin is back again with his newest movie, Nun of That.

This movie had me sucking my fingertips after eating my popcorn. Frequent Griffin alum, Jason McCormick, stands out as Father Thomas with his impressive chin. While Brandon Aponte's visibly chiseled pectorals make me wish he'd carry me away in his strong arms with his dreamy piercing stare.

The dashingly handsome Robert Buco plays Officer Cappicolla, just like the tasty cured meat product of the same name, I prefer the hot version of both. I'm guilty, put the cuffs on me and take me away Officer Cappicolla.

As an added surprise, Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman appears as the Pope which is a must see for any of his fans.

Run, don't walk, to this. Make sure to butter your popcorn first.

Laughed my butt off. this effort by director Richard Griffin has an excellent sense of irony and irreverent humor combined with excellent comic pacing. I recommend seeing it more than once since you will very likely be laughing thru half the jokes the first time around. It's the story of an order of vigilante nuns (The Black Habit) with a special penchant for dealing justice out to evil mobsters. There's some soft-core nudity (always nice) and every conceivable variation of nun jokes and religious humor in general.

The violence is over the top bloody without being a gorefest.

Normally I'm not one for musical numbers, but this has some real rib ticklers. Where else are you going to laugh when Jesus does a song and dance with a bevy of leather-clad nuns providing backup?

What's really tasty is the cast. Sarah Nicklin simmers with sexual attitude, Brand Aponte is perfect as the angry mob avenger and the rest of the cast CAN ACTUALLY ACT! Incredible in a low budget film, I know, but it's true. This is one of the big redeeming factors here where most low budget efforts fall flat.

Don't get my wrong, I'm a big fan of badly acted low budget features. But in those instances the bad acting is the reason I laugh. I have a very MST3000 sense of humor. But not so here. Mr. Griffin has managed to corral some real talent and it makes all the difference. One laughs at the jokes, not at the acting. With him, not at him.

So do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Unless you're devoutly religious, you'll have a great time. And even if you are and have a sense of humor, you could still find yourself in stitches.

No pun intended (or is it nun pun intended?) - but the movie is quite silly to say the least. The movie has a lot of violence and some sexual situation (also nudity but maybe not as much as some may expect/hope for). But it is the humor that will make or break the movie for you.

If you can't dig what it tries to do - well you won't be having any fun while watching the movie. Be aware of that - and if you are not easily offended (or too religious I reckon), this very low budget movie with depictions that are very likely from an atheist mind (or at least someone who has no issue to make fun of religion) can be quite the hoot (read fun ride)

For low budget, this is a really good all-around independent film. It's strength is the high quality of acting combined with great cinematography and a very funny script. The comedic aspect of the script is much akin to a road-side sobriety test. While the jokes are directed toward many religions, the film does a good job of walking the fine line between what some may consider light humor and others find offensive.

In addition, the humor reminds me of a David Zucker film where the jokes often come at you at a relentless pace, but they are not over-the-top ridiculous or slap-stick. This endeavor proves that SFR can diversify and turn out high quality projects beyond independent horror films.

I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing...that was my first impression. 'They' just don't make movies like this. From start to finish, the entire audience was belly-shaking with laughter...I'm serious, there was so much laughter that many of the back-to-back jokes were lost in the noise. And these jokes are ruthless to all, and clever as hell. Sure some might find it shocking...but that's clearly not the point of the film...it's just a badass idea: a group of supernatural vigilante nuns that take on the mob? The film is shot in standard Griffin style--very clean, well composed, with a 70's style Italian cinema look. Very pleasing on all accounts. Richard doesn't try to impress you with lenses and adapters...he rocks the old-school (ha ha) 720p with panache. The film looks good, and the lighting is superbly stylized.

The sound design and music is as usual very well put together. For a 'low budget' film, you'll find that all sound is at a professional level--ADR is good, foley is great, and custom-written music is paced and form-fit and exciting. A few times you'll notice what appear to be canned foley sound effects, but with the charm of the film, they hardly get in the way.

The acting was pretty much all-around impressive. Everybody nails their characters, and brings something interesting to the table--and pretty much every cast member seems to understand comedic timing. Even the 'extras' in this film have chops. For a micro budget film, I'm telling you, the performances were stellar. OK, so you'll occasionally find a bit of a rotten tomato...but hey, that's OK...these are rare.

I really recommend this film to everyone (unless you're easily offended and/or highly religious with no sense of humor). It's laugh-out-loud funny, and really comes together nicely in a well-paced action comedy you'll likely not forget. I honestly think this could become a NYC midnight showing cult extravaganza.

ps. Anyone that openly trashes this film (*cough* you know who you are) and has nothing positive to say, is clearly a jealous competitor or a bitter jerk. I may be bias, but there is nothing one star about this picture...that's obviously a skewed opinion from a sour source.

Cheers.