Sadly, ever since “Love Actually” became a standard of the holiday, Hollywood has enlisted hokey melodrama director Garry Marshall to give us a new holiday based ensemble piece of garbage almost every year. “Mother’s Day” is the latest insidious melodrama about a group of very rich, very healthy Caucasian people bickering about how hard their lives are. One character played by Jennifer Aniston, even decides to throw a humongous party for her sons, just because. Man, can you imagine what would happen if these people ever stepped out of their bubbles? “Mother’s Day” is about mother’s day, the mother of all holidays, everyone seems to be obsessed with mother’s day, and they talk about mother’s day because, mothers!
Tag Archives: Comedy
The Lure (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]
Sirens attracted by a musician playing on the beach seduce him and his band into taking them in. With them, they become part of the entertainment at a night club while openly being sirens. When one of the girls falls for an earthly boy, she wants to trade her tail for legs, no matter the cost.
Written by Robert Bolestro, The Lure follows two siren sisters, Golden and Silver, as they navigate life on dry land. The story he builds here is interesting and entertaining with lead characters that attract attention and keep it. The story takes some unexpected turns and some less so, but all of them are fun to watch (even the ones less fun for the characters). The ending (no worries, no spoilers) is touching without being schmaltzy. Directing this modern fairytale is Agnieszka Smoczynska who takes the script and turns it into a kind of film version of a Bjork video. She creates a colorfully loud film in some scenes and a subdued one (color-wise) in others.
The way she shoots a domestic fight or an operation is fantastic and something this reviewer has not seen many times before (and I have seen thousands of films). Many scenes are shot in unexpected and original ways, making the film very unique. Adding to these directorial choices is the cinematography by Jakub Kijowski complementing the story and framing every image perfectly. The way this film is shot brings out its peculiar, exciting scenes and contrasts them excellently with the darker ones.
Playing the sirens are Marta Mazureka as Silver (Srebrna) and Michalina Olszanska as Gold (Zwota), both giving great performances. Mazurek shows her soft side, playing the more innocent siren who falls for a human. The way she develops her character is sweet and makes the viewers care about her like a little sister. Olszanska plays the other sister, more bold and mean almost. She brings out the killer side of sirens with gleeful abandon making her performance mesmerizing. One of the support characters stands out form the rest due to the actress’ performance, Wokalistka Krysia, the mom-type character who takes the girls in.
This performance by Kinga Preis is fantastic and layered. She shows the character’s vulnerability and her caring side, than switches to the performer side when her character hits the stage and commands attention, almost stealing scenes from the girls at times. A few of her performance pieces were reminiscent of LuLu.
Also more than worth the price of the ticket is the special effects for the sirens’ tails. They look as real as can be, with fishy scales and some glistening. They are beautiful and grab the attention. There is also some juicy, gooey gore in the aforementioned surgery scene that looks good. Unfortunately, the IMDB page for The Lure has no special effects or visual effects credits.
The Lure is a comedy/drama/musical/horror and as the sirens are singers being taken in by a band the music is highly important. The numbers and performances on screen with the band and then with the girls are fun, flamboyant at times, and highly entertaining. The pop songs are catchy and do not overstay their welcome while the choreography by Kaya Kolodziejczyk and Jaroslaw Staniek adds some sexiness to the girls’ already alluring performances.
The Lure is a great film, like a long form music video that works, reminiscent of Bjork and Mylene Farmer with a true Polish spirit. It offers a lot and is fun while remaining touching. It must be noted that it is Polish cinema’s first musical. The whole crowd at Fantasia ate it up and come out talking about what they had just seen.
Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 14th to August 3rd, 2016.
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016)
At this point you kind of have to accept the “Sharknado” movies will never be as good as the novels, so going in to “The 4th Awakens” means embracing it as a movie, and a media experience. It has a slew of appearances and cameos from notable internet personalities like Andre “The Black Nerd” Benjamin, to character actors like Gilbert Gottfried. Yes, even the Chippendales dancers appear to thrust against some sharks. “Sharknado” is a virtual side show of a genre offering that holds its tongue firmly in cheek, even when turning hero Fin in to a basic rip off of Ashley Williams from “Evil Dead.”
The Laundryman (2015) [New York Asian Film Festival 2016]
A hit man who works for a laundry company as a cover up grows a conscience. He’s highly trained and excels at his job, however, for a while now, he is plagued by ghosts and he must find out what they want from him in order to restore some sort of peace to his life. To do this, he enlists the help of a cute but possible clueless clairvoyant. Through all of it, he finds out more about his victims, his boss, and himself.
The Laundryman is a hybrid horror/comedy/action film by director Chung Lee and written by Yu-Hsyun Chen and Chung Lee. The tale built here fills the complex task of mixing multiple genres without going into parody or satire or become a send-off/homage to its genres. Here the mix of the genres works very well and has the story evolves its elements just work. However, the comedy levels are more present in the first third or so of the film and then occasionally throughout the rest of the film. The comedy works because the viewer is not hit over the head with it.
That being said, some of the scenes are completely ridiculous in the best way possible. The horror, mainly from the ghosts and not much blood outside of a few short scenes works here as well. The ghosts here are not meant to scare but they work so well with the story. The first fight sequence is fantastic, the way its written and shot make it really fun. The rest of the fighting is also entertaining. Getting all of these elements together creates a really fun whole.
The casting here feels rather perfect for the story and the style. Hsiao-chuan (Joseph) Chang is an entertaining lead. He has a charisma that helps carry the whole film. His acting is just about perfect for the material. It may not be the top performance seen at New York Asian Film Festival, but it’s still a damn good one. Supporting him is Regina Wan as the clairvoyant and Sonia Sui as the boss, both opposites until the end. Their performances show excellent talent as they both do extremely well. The cast for the ghosts is fantastic too and they manage to keep a straight face through some truly ridiculous situations.
For a partially horror movie, the effects are not super prominent but what we’re given is well done. The CGI is good and blends well in the scenes where it is present. It’s not overly used which avoids it becoming an annoyance. Outside of the effects, the film looks really good, it grabs the attention from the get go with its colorful representation of Taiwan and the life of a man who, by all accounts, could be living a very grim life. Most of the film, besides the flashbacks, feels all so chipper. In general, the film looks very good.
The Laundryman is a really fun, funny, and entertaining film. It may be hard to find for a while being a festival title, however it’s absolutely worth checking out. The story is good, the acting is on point, the fighting “punchy”, and the ending, all the way after the credits, will make you giggle.
Ghostbusters (2016)
If you subscribe to the idea of multiverses (where there are various universes for TMNT, DC Superheroes, and Marvel superheroes alike), I like to think of “Ghostbusters” 2016 as an Elseworlds tale, where the concept of Ghostbusters exists, but on its own plain and on its own terms. The Ghostbusters we know from the eighties are also existent, but in their own personas and fulfilling their own purposes. “Ghostbusters” 2016 even as its own horror comedy is just mediocre. It’s not as great as the original “Ghostbusters” but is definitely a notch above “Ghostbusters 2.” Melissa McCarthy is her usual wry self as Abby Yates, a once paranormal researcher who has spent many years trying live down co-publishing a book about the paranormal.
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The best way to describe “The Secret Life of Pets” is “Toy Story” meets “Looney Tunes.” In fact the “Toy Story” comparisons are never far off, as the film’s formula is most derived from Pixar’s film where we view the secret lives of everyday household elements when their owners aren’t looking. This time we set down on a random apartment complex in the middle of Manhattan where a slew of household pets commune and indulge in their own hobbies when their owners are out for the day. Louis CK does a wonderful job voicing Max, the hero of the film who is a terrier and loyal friend to his owner Katie. While Katie is gone for the day, Max gets together with the pets of the building to talk over the day and discuss what they think happens when their masters are gone.
Eliie Kemper as Katie is a single working woman with a heart for dogs who bonds with Max, and then suddenly brings home a new dog one day. Max is horrified and angry when Katie brings home big fluffy dog Duke, a well meaning adopted pet who tries to make friends with Max and then forms a rivalry when he realizes Max is trying to get him kicked out of the house. While being walked one day, Duke tricks Max in to going on to a construction site, prompting the pair to get lost in the city. With dog hunters and vicious cat on their tail, the two have to work together with the help of anti-owner revolutionary leader, the bunny Snowball. Meanwhile puffy dog and neighbor Gidget goes looking for Max and Duke, hell bent on bringing them back home.
“The Secret Life of Pets” is a subtle celebration of New York City, where our animal characters travel all throughout New York in an attempt to get hack home. The movie doesn’t attempt too much emotional complexity or adult themes, but instead revels in its silliness, ace animation, and often laugh out loud comedy. One particular scene involving an old woman’s reaction to a baby in its carriage is quite hysterical. The animation opts for a very unique and fun style in the vein of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery. Despite the movie injecting a lot of heart at the core of its narrative about animals and their devotion to their humans, the animation is decidedly exaggerated with a lot of the characters presented in over the top animated forms.
Even tough heroine Gidget is presented as something of a barking and talking puff ball throughout the film. At a little over seventy minutes, “The Secret Life of Pets” has no room for filler or flab to its story, providing a brisk and hilarious adventure with a genuine sense of emotion to it. It’s a fun, funny, and simple animated film, and one of the better animated entries to come to theaters. While yes it can be accused of taking from “Toy Story,” Max and Duke are genuinely entertaining heroes I hope we can see more of soon.
Midnight Movie Madness 50 Movie MegaPack (DVD/Digital)
For movie buffs and collectors looking to gather up some classic schlock and silly horror films, “Mill Creek Entertainment” brings us a 50 Movie MegaPack DVD Set of some their worst and most infamous horror films. Thrown in to the mix, there are some science fiction, juvenile terror movies like “I Accuse My Parents,” and even the George Hamilton starring “Evel Knievel.” Further digging in to the selection of fifty titles, there’s 1944’s “Delinquent Daughters,” the Francis Ford Coppola horror classic “Dementia 13,” the slasher “Driller Killer,” and 1977’s “Drive In Massacre.”
There’s the deliriously bad but hilarious science fiction action film “Future Hunters” starring Robert Patrick, and Bruce Le, William Castle’s fun “House on Haunted Hill,” the early Brandon Lee starring stinker “Laser Mission,” the classic MST3K spoofed “Manos-The Hands of Fate,” the so bad it’s great drug hysteria movie “Reefer Madness,” the goofy science fiction film “Slipstream,” the classic dwarfsploitation movie “The Terror of Tiny Town,” and the Fred Williamson post apocalyptic science fiction film “Warriors of the Wasteland.” All movies come packed in a cardboard box by Mill Creek and in paper sleeves. I have to say I miss the plastic clam cases, but maybe it’s a cost thing.
This year movie collectors might enjoy knowing that Mill Creek Entertainment has taken to the digital world, allowing their consumers to redeem their fifty megapack purchases for digital libraries for their laptops, cell phones, and Ipads. Much like every other home release, the consumers will be given a unique code with their purchase, allowing them to redeem their movie packs in digital form at Mill Creek’s new service Watch.MillCreekEnt.Com where they can watch them, stream them, or download them.