No More Orphans In Zombieland (Zombieland: Double Tap, 2019)

So, I loved 2009’s Zombieland. I found it largely a clever and hilarious take on Zombie movies with a terrific cast. Amazon tried to do a series based on the film, recasting the characters with lesser known performers and a rather blah pilot episode. I eventually gave up on the idea of ever getting a sequel…and then last year, on the heels of director Ruben Fleisher’s successful but critically maligned Venom, it was announced that a sequel was in the works…and that it would have the central cast returning. But revisiting Zombieland ten years later feels like a risky proposition.

Probably one of the original’s most notable flaws is how it feels like a lot of ideas strung together without a central story. lots of really entertaining sketches. The film still works, just maybe could have used a more centralizing story.

However, while the film begins feeling a bit the same, a cohesive tale and goal for the group comes together. The film adds some very fun new characters, and the jokes really land a good 90% of the time.

I appreciate that they kept a lot of the first film’s visual identity and this film feels like a surprisingly natural follow up to the first. If you enjoyed the first Zombieland, I feel confident you will have a great time with Double Tap.

October 19, 2019 0

A Psycho Cop’s Work Is Never Done (Psycho Cop Returns, 1993)

In the late 1980’s going into the 90’s, it was not hard to get the direct to video sequel horror. So, it is not a huge surprise that, like Maniac Cop, Psycho Cop got a return.

Back in the uniform of Officer Joe Vickers is Robert R. Shafer. Unlike the first film, which was a bit more self serious, Director Adam Rifkin and writer Dan Povenmire opt for a much more comedic tone. Kind of the Hangover with a slasher killer.

A bunch of coworkers plan to have an after hours bachelor party, but attract the attention of Joe Vickers. After the building is locked up for the night and the strippers have arrived, Joe starts wandering the building and killing folks.

Compared to the previous film, Psycho Cop Returns a lot more fun. Everybody clearly is in the same film, and the acting is largely over the top. This is especially true of Miles Dougal who is the quintessential 80’s office nerd.

This film is pretty crass with a lot of gore and nudity. But it is pretty mindless slasher fun.

October 17, 2019 0

Following In Their Footsteps (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, 2006)

Freddy. Jason. Michael. Pinhead. Leslie. You’ve heard of Leslie right? No? Well, of course you haven’t…yet.

The conceit of Behind the Mask is that all the slasher villains are real land live in one big old extended universe. A news team with the hopes of making a name for themselves have connected with Leslie Vernon, an aspiring slasher villain.

Leslie’s back story is that he committed some evil acts as a child, a mob threw him off of a bridge and now a couple decades later, he has returned to seek vengeance. His plan revolved around teens going to have a party at his old family farmhouse.

The movie plays with the tropes of the slasher, such as when Leslie explains to the reporter and her crew that his training is important…because while everyone is running as fast as they can…he has to keep up while making it appear that he is walking. Then there is the obsessed psychiatrist who is in dogged pursuit of Leslie, Doc Halloran. In a brilliant bit of stunt casting, the Doc is played by Robert Englund.

Part of what works so well is how you have these human moments between Leslie and the news crew. For instance, they have dinner with a retired slasher Eugene (played by the late Scott Wilson) and his wife. It is this regular setting as Eugene cooks dinner, but is reminiscing about killing and then getting philosophical about how guys like Freddy and Jason totally changed the game.

The filmmakers have a lot of fun with their premise, and it is clearly made by people who have a love for horror. This is one of those films that seemed like it might make a splash…but it seems like I don’t hear people talk about it much anymore. Which is to bad, it is a lot of fun and makes the most of its high concept.

October 8, 2019 0

Stupid College Kids vs Demon Nuns (The Convent, 2000)

The film opens with a an attractive girl in a leather jacket and sunglasses enters a convent and proceeds to blow away nuns with a shot gun before burning the place down… all played to the strains of “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore. This is a highly effective scene. There is a tongue in cheek tone set by this that carries through the whole film.

The film jumps ahead to the present (well, 2000). A bunch of college kids visit the convent to smoke dope, make-out and commit acts of vandalism. But some aspiring satanists show up, hoping to get power with a ritual sacrifice. Except, these are one of the most inept groups of satanists you will likely ever meet.

As noted, the Convent is a very tongue in cheek film. And the dialog tends to be pretty solid. The performances are pretty good, in large part because everyone seems to be having a lot of fun with it. There is a character in the film that reminds me totally of Richmond from the IT Crowd…but, uh the movie came first. Adrienne Barbeau is also awesomely badass in the film.

It is also full of gore, though all the demons seem to have neon blood, making it all very cartoonish.

I will say, there is some humor that has not aged particularly well. It is amusing when two guys are tied up as ritual sacrifices and one character suggests they have sex. The joke plays out to long, and goes from funny to uncomfortable as it pushes the gay character into the role of a predator continuing to push the other guy for sex.

But the Convent is a whole lot of gore infused fun, and just does not seem to be recognized much anymore. I would recommend it, as it still holds up as a fun flick.

October 7, 2019 0

Games People Play (Ready or Not, 2019)

Grace is engaged to Alex, a son in the Le Domas gaming, uh, Dominion. Alex is quickly revealed to b very unlike his family. Kind and rather unhappy with his family’s status as ultra-rich. The family is quirky, save Alex’s mother who seems to understand Grace’s nervousness at marrying into the family.

The night after the wedding ceremony, Alex explains that there is one last ceremony. The family has a tradition in which the new member of the family selects a game that the family must play. While most of the time it is something casual like checkers, on this night, Grace draws a card Alex dreaded… “Hide and Seek”. At first, Grace finds it all silly…until it is clear that losing the game means she dies. If she survives the night, the family is certain something unknown and truly awful will befall the family.

Ready or Not is a film with its tongue firmly in cheek. The family is rich and inept, having gone for years without actually having to have played Hide and Seek. One of the family members struggles to learn use of the crossbow. His coked up wife is so freaked out she cannot shoot straight. They argue over the value of tradition.

Grace, on the other hand, is trying to find her way out of a house full of hidden passages and no idea who she can trust. The help? Alex? Alex’s brother who seems to be struggling with his conscience? Alex’s nephews?

The humor is dark, but effective. Its targets being ultra rich fools obsessed with keeping their wealth, their actions often have comical results. The film is so stylish, and the character and set design so full of personality, it really enhances the film. The visual sense of Aunt Helene perfectly encapsulates this. Her hair is strikingly short and spiky. She wears a permanent scowl and really stands out. Nicky Guadagni is wonderfully dark in the film.

I also found Samara Weaving’s performance really good. She often gets mocked as being indistinguishable from Margot Robbie, which I think is unfair to both actresses…for one thing? Weaving has spent most of her career getting drenched in buckets of blood. But she is great as Grace.

Ready or Not was a surprise gem of a film this year, deserving of someday being a cult classic among thrillers.

October 3, 2019 1

Rinse and Repeat (Groundhog Day, 1993)

Phil is a jaded weather man who really hates his job. When he is paired up with producer Rita and forced to go produce a segment on the famous Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil to see if he sees his shadow…well, Phil ain’t happy. He is annoyed by Rita’s bubbly personality. He is annoyed by the townspeople. He is annoyed by his lodging conditions. Phil is bitter and cynical.

But things take an unexpected turn for Phil when he finds himself having to live the same day over and over.

At first he fights it, then he gives up…and then he decides to embrace it. A lot of the humor comes from his first two stages as he randomly kills himself and finds ways to amuse himself.

Rita and their camera man Larry are constantly questioning his sanity for good reason. Of course, when Phil fully embraces things, the film becomes more sentimental as Phil uses his days to learn to play piano, become artistic and more…troubling…learn about Rita so he can win her heart. The Pop Culture Detective has an excellent video that talks about the problems here…and the notion of Rita falling totally in love with Phil in one day seems odd if you really think about it. Only Phil is aware of the time loop…only he is directly experiencing it.

That said, I still do enjoy this film. Ramis and Murray have a synergy that goes back years, and it is on display here. There is plenty of absurd fun, and this is certainly one of those characters Murray excelled at playing over the years. Even though I think there are story problems, Groundhog Day is still quite a bit of silly fun.

July 30, 2019 0

Forced Friendship (Stuber, 2019)

Kumail Nanjiani is the titular Stu. Stu is a…uh… studious guy. He works to thankless job, and is helping a woman he is in love with start her own business. Meanwhile, Dave Bautista is the reckless and angry cop Vic. Vic is dedicated to catching the cop killing drug dealer Oka Tedjo. But on the day he gets eye surgery, he finds out that he only has hours to find Oka.

This leads to Vic Reluctantly ordered an Uber ride and forcing the driver, Stu, to take him around town tracking the villain down holding the promise of a badly needed Five Star Rating over his head.

The main things to like in the film is that Nanjiani and Bautista. They work well together, Bautista working his “tough guy muscles” and Nanjiani flexing his “nice but downtrodden guy muscles”. That part works really well.

Unfortunately, they are surrounded by a largely predictable and cliched story. They try and lampshade this, making light of the cliches, but the film never feels like it is truly having fun with the action premise as much as it appears they wanted to. I saw every major plot twist coming. And that is too bad…this film has a good cast (the leads are supported by Natalie Morales as the daughter of Vic and Mira Sorvino as Vic’s boss).

I am not saying you should avoid the film…it has it’s moments. It looks good and again, the cast is great. I enjoyed their interactions and performances. The movie is okay as a diversion for an hour and half of your time. I just feel like it could have been…more.

July 28, 2019 0

Fading Glories (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, 2019)

And so here we are at Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film (Apparently Death Proof does not count?). A pretty loving homage to the Hollywood of the 60’s, Tarantino weaves a tale of fading actor Rick Dalton and his best friend Cliff Booth and their place in it all. Cliff is less bothered, content to help out his friend and then spend the evening sitting in front the TV with his dog. But after a meeting with producer Marvin Schwarz, Rick is realizing he is becoming…well obsolete…and it scares him.

I suspect Dalton’s crisis is not uncommon in Hollywood…but does it make for a great story?

Yeah. It turns out that here? It sure does.

Now, of course, this is in part, due to the performances of both DiCaprio and Pitt as Dalton and Booth respectively. DeCaprio’s portrayal is both hilarious and endearing. Pitt gives Booth a real sense of casual cool.

The writing is both the cleverness we expect from Tarantino matched with compelling characters (there is a bit of a question if Cliff is maybe a darker guy, but the film leaves the door open on just how dark). I would say the weakest link in the main characters is Robbie’s Sharon Tate. Not because Robbie is a bad actress. She is charming and kind as Tate. There is a sequence where we see Robbie express insecurity turning to joy as she watches a movie she is in with an audience. Robbie sells this moment. But she feels so incidental to the story for much of the time.

The cast is just full of great talent… Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant and a pretty endless group bringing their A-game.

Visually, the film feels it is of another time, truly like a creature of the 60’s. And the soundtrack is darn near perfect.

My only real criticism is a somewhat lazy time jump that glosses over six months. But, admittedly, had they shown all of it, the film would be, like five hours long. And I do like listening to the Kurt Russell narration.

I found Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood great fun. Bear in mind, this is a Tarantino film…if you hate his previous work, I don’t think this will change your mind. But fans will appreciate this one for sure.

July 27, 2019 0

Trapped In a Fantasy (Isn’t It Romantic, 2019)

Rom Coms are an often maligned genre. Much like Horror, if a Rom Com is done well, people try and argue it is not really a Rom Com. This is a lot to do with the fact that Rom Coms have a pretty solid formula that has worked for a long time.

Isn’t It Romantic attempts to mock the formula by working from within. Natalie was thrilled by Romantic Comedies as a child, until her mother made it clear that she would never be desirable and needed to settle for pretty much anything she gets in life.

So when we find her as an adult, she is a meek woman, interested in her male best friend Josh (who clearly thinks the best of her and is constantly trying to get her to step outside her walls). She is walked over by her coworkers who do not take her ideas seriously. After a mugging goes way awry, Natalie wakes up in an amazing hospital emergency room greeted by an incredibly handsome doctor.

Natalie finds that New York is now smelling better, her apartment is gigantic and her dog is well groomed. Natalie tries to find her way out and decides the only choice she has is to play by the rules of a Rom Com.

The film indulges all the tropes with a wink, some too far better effect than others. The inability to actually get to have sex with handsome suitors is pretty amusing.

At the same time, early in the film, we get an extended sequence where Natalie explains why Romantic Comedies are toxic where we are told exactly what we will experience. The film also does nothing to really develop any of the characters outside Natalie. Josh gets the most development as a character, at least enough to get why she likes him. And while it is entirely predictable that they are going to end up together, it is at least understandable that the two always had feelings for each other.

Isn’t It Romantic does manage to subvert certain of its core criticisms of the genre and the cast is entertaining enough in spite of the lack of character development. It is not as genre busting as it sets out to be, but it has its moments.

June 10, 2019 0

Rom Cooking (Always Be My Maybe, 2019)

Always Be My Maybe is the story of Sasha and Marcus, lifelong friends whose lives are dealt a painful blow that causes them to lose contact for over a decade. Sasha grows up to be a world famous Chef, while Marcus lives with his father and has a band that has never left the block he lives on.

They are brought back together and struggle to get their friendship back on track. Of course, there are several impediments towards rekindling their romantic feelings.

And, honestly? Always Be My Maybe feels like it should be a real lackluster affair. It crosses every “t” and dots every “i” of the Rom Com formula. It never really holds any surprises….and yet?

Always Be My Maybe succeeds. A lot of this is due to the cast. Park and Wong have a real chemistry (no doubt from a longstanding friendship). They feel like they have been long time friends. And their supporting cast is great. James Saito is heartwarming and kind as the father to Park’s Marcus. Michelle Buteau is the assistant to Wong’s Sasha (and an old friend of Marcus’ as well) who is both warmly friendly and a bit of attitude, without tipping into Sassy Friend stereotypes.

And Keanu Reeves… well, he is great.

The film does have some pacing issues, but nothing that really overwhelmed the film for me.

Always Be My Maybe rises up to make a solid and enjoyable Rom Com.

June 9, 2019 0