It’s nice to know that “Mad Max” is a film that still holds up, and is arguably an action masterpiece. George Miller directs an apocalyptic opus that’s set in the wasteland of Australia where the apocalypse always tends to eventually catch up with the environment. “Mad Max” is one of the best of its kind, it’s a revenge film, but a very complex cop film about the losing battle between a biker gang and a police force.
By all accounts, “Fury Road” should not have been so good. The George Miller epic return to “Mad Max” is a film that snuck under the radar of many movie fans and comes in through the dusk to grab us by the throats once more. When it comes to post apocalyptic cinema, Mad Max is the crème de la crème of the sub-genre, and George Miller is bold enough to re-visit a universe that paved its way through cinema over thirty years ago. With “Fury Road,” George Miller doesn’t try to change the formula of his trilogy too much, opting for the same visceral post apocalyptic action epic that made Mel Gibson Mad Max. Yet he also strives for a visual stimulation that ushers in a new era that puts Tom Hardy in the seat of Mad Max.
“Jurassic World” is the “Gremlins 2” of the “Jurassic Park” franchise. It’s filled with call backs to the original film, and garners a tongue in cheek attitude about itself, while commenting on the ills and woes of consumerism, the media, and theme park spectacles. And the very spectacle that became of “Jurassic Park.” There’s one instance where the technicians groan at Verizon sponsoring an animal exhibit, and there’s constant talk about how consumers always want bigger, better, and toothier. And that’s what “Jurassic World” is. It’s bigger, toothier, yet not exactly better.
And everywhere, eighties geeks just had the largest orgasm after watching “Kung Fury.” In fact, if you’re an eighties geek, I dare you not to break down in tears while watching. David Sanberg’s “Kung Fury” is bleeding eighties ephemera from every orifice. It’s a sweet eighties homage that mixes every cliché imaginable right down to the screaming police sergeant forcing a new partner on his rebel cop. Triceracop. There’s actually a goddamn Triceracop.
Don’t you hate it when you hit your head in a fit of rage and end up in Sherwood forest with a bunch of hot buxom women? In all honesty, I’d love that, but surely enough in Surrender Cinema’s “Virgins of Sherwood Forest” you can expect it to happen. One of my favorite erotic stars of all time, Gabriella Hall, plays Roberta, a female director for a music video has to tolerate a bunch of obnoxious sex starved actors.
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Director Nicholas Stoll’s comedy at least has entertainment value going for it. It may not be the most consistent or tonally even film of the year, but it’s kind of fun when you get down to it. That’s mainly thanks to Zac Efron and Dave Franco that save the movie from being another self indulgent Seth Rogen improv-athon. Rogen literally can’t play anyone but Rogen anymore, even when playing an alien from outer space, but the supporting cast for “Neighbors” really keeps the film from diving in to abysmal depths and keeps it a notch above mediocre. That also includes Rose Byrne, and the hilarious Carla Gallo.
“Surface” is the definition of a series with a one note concept that would have worked much better as a mini-series when all is said and done. Around the mid-aughts, NBC television began working their way in to science fiction and began airing the quite ambitious “Surface.” During 2005, ABC’s “Lost” was taking America by storm and dominating pop culture with its mysterious storylines and baffling plot twists, so every network attempted to build their own franchise in the same vein. “Surface” is a valiant attempt with misguided writing.
And yes, I sat through the whole thing.