"All great men have mustaches!"As the promotional machine worked up the release of Hot Rod I was a big naysayer. I tool a look at the trailer, the commercials, the stills, the poster, and a few other clips that made their way out onto the net and made up my mind. There was no way this movie was going to be good, there was a good chance that it wasn't even going to be funny. It just smacked of low brow idiocy that wanted to be funny, and just wasn't. The bits just did seem to work, and none of the stuff I saw made me want to laugh. As the release date drew closer, I saw a couple of reviews that were positive, this I did not read them completely, but made me actually want to see the film (though I was probably going to anyway), including a positive spin from Roger Ebert. Now, after seeing Hot Rod, I am ready to retract most of the negativity that I felt and said.
Hot Rod is not a terribly good movie, but it is by no means a bad one, as I had been so fully expecting it to be. The movie has a go for the gold gusto to it. It is sweetly innocent and wildly random in its execution. I found myself laughing through nearly the entire movie, sometimes in spite of myself. There is this infectious energy that envelopes the project, everyone involved fed off of this as they moved ahead. The actors threw themselves headlong into the story which actually treated its characters with respect. There is much foolishness to be had, but no one is treated as a fool, the script is not making fun of the characters so much as it is laughing along with them.
Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg stars as Rod Kimble, a character that seems tailor made for a younger Will Ferrell. Kimble fancies himself a stuntman, complete with dreams of jumping the public pool, and following in the footsteps of his hero, his father. His father died when Kimble was young, his mother (Sissy Spacek) spun stories of his working with Evel Knievel, and the glory of a stuntman. This has set young Rod's life on a course where he will become famous, win the girl, and make his father proud. Also on his to do list is to win the respect of his stepfather (Ian McShane), which can only be won in hand to hand combat. This leads to numerous fights between the two, always resulting in Rod being beaten into submission.
There is never a day that goes by that Rod and his intrepid team don't try to jump over something, or break some sort of speed record. Of course, they are not all that good, no matter that they think they are brilliant. One day, Rod learns that his stepfather has a heart condition that is threatening his life. The idea that he will die without being beaten by Rod is unthinkable, so the stunt crew go to work to raise the money needed to get the heart transplant.The story is really secondary to the characters and the laughs. It is the framework that allows us to have a reason to travel from point A to point B, but it is not what makes the movie work. What makes this movie work, first and foremost, is Andy Samberg. I am not terribly familiar with his SNL output, but her he delivers a sweet natured character that clings to his dreams and goes for the gusto. There is no pretense to him, not a mean bone in his body, and Samberg perfectly
captures Rod Kimble, his never say die attitude. Then there is his interactions with the rest of the cast, including his would be girlfriend Denise, played by Isla Fisher, and his crew made up of half brother Kevin (Jorma Taccone), Dave (Bill Hader), and Rico (Danny McBride).Beyond that, there is the absolutely random nature of the comedy, and its reliance on 80's era rock and roll. There are so many random moments of hilarity that I couldn't help but laugh at the sheer zaniness of the project. From Rod's actions in his "quiet place," to the pool jump, to Denise and Jonathan's incident towards the end, to the over the top fights, to Chris Parnell, to "cool beans," and the ever present Europe songs, this movie exceeded expectations (not that mine were high).
Bottomline. This is definitely a movie to see with a bunch of friends, you will laugh right through to the end and then laugh some more thinking about your favorite parts. While it is not a great movie, it is the right movie at the right time. Samberg has a bright future ahead of him. So, if you are a fan of random comedy, this is right up your alley.
Recommended.
When you think of a Jackie Chan film, you probably get images of comedic martial arts antics and simplistic plots. Crime Story is distinctly different, this is a new look Jackie Chan, and while the story is still rather straight forward, it is not the sort of thing you will find in conjunction with the majority of Chan's catalog. Crime Story is a true crime action/thriller that relies more on gun fights than martial arts, and more brooding than comedy. It is a change of pace that does not completely work, but despite the flaws, it is still a highly entertaining movie. So, if you don't have any lingering qualms of an atypical Jackie Chan performance, this could turn out to be something of a treat.
In 1978, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead was released. It was the sequel to his granddaddy of the modern zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. It was an instant hit, and when it was released in Italy, producers there were eager to capitalize on its success. At about the same time, Lucio Fulci was gearing up for a film that could easily be tied to the Romero-verse. Since Dawn of the Dead was released as Zombi in Italy, they decided to call this new film Zombi 2 to capitalize on that name (in the process adding the opening and closing New York set scenes). It would then give rise to a series of Zombi(e) movies, each just using the title as a marketing ploy. Still, it is this first film (Zombi 2 in Italy, Zombie in the US) that has become a classic and cemented Fulci's place at the forefront of Italian horror.
Zombie is a rather languidly paced horror film that will not appeal to everyone, as it has that slow pace and is punctuated by the graphic setpieces. It took me a couple of viewings to warm up to it. When I first heard about how graphic it was, and its revered status among horror-philes I expected something a bit different. I was ill prepared to deal with that slow pace, but after a few tries I started to feel at home with it, and recognizing just how good a zombie film it is.
The story begins when a derelict yacht sails into New York Harbor. Upon investigation, a zombie is found to be onboard. The creature is quickly dispatched by the investigating officers, but not before getting in a bite of his own. The fact finding mission settles on Peter West (Ian McCulloch), a reporter who winds up teaming with Ann Bowles (Tisa Farrow), the daughter of the yacht's owner. Ann's father was a scientist working on some random island in the Caribbean, we learn that he and another doctor, Dr. Menard (Richard Johnson). Together they head off to the Caribbean in search of the missing doctor, tagging along with a vacationing couple, played by Al Cliver and Auretta Gay.
If you are looking for a strong plot, you are going to be sorely disappointed. The story is terribly thin, the point of this film was the atmosphere and the gore scenes. Fulci delivers on both counts. The slow pace keeps you on edge, wondering just when something is going to happen, and when it does finally happen the blood is plentiful as they deliver some of the more iconic moments of zombie cinema.
So far as the story goes, suffice to say they wind up on an island that is suffering a zombie infestation that may be a virus, but could also be voodoo related. They find Dr. Menard and a newly unearthed horde of walking dead. It is the sort of story where there will be virtually no possibility of a happy ending, once it hits the fan, nothing will be left alive.
The gore delivers some great moments, including Fulci's penchant for eye violence, some flesh eating, exploding heads, wormy eye sockets, and an unforgettable battle pitting a zombie against a shark (yes, a shark!). For the most part, the effects are well rendered and believable. Nothing done digitally can quite live up to the use of well crafted practical effects. There is nothing digital to be found in this film!
Zombie rightfully retains its status as a classic zombie film, right down to its apocalyptic ending. It may be plagued by a weak script and acting (both of which could be attributed to half the cast speaking English and the other Italian, dubbing resolved the problem in the end), it delivers a creepy slow burn atmosphere, and the gore is first rate. Again, not for everybody, but definitely in the upper echelon of zombie horror.
I am about to take any metal cred that I may think I have and throw it right out the window. I had never heard S.O.D. before this album. I can hear your shocked gasps from where I am. I had always been aware of them, I knew it was two member of Anthrax, Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, a former Anthrax/Nuclear Assault member in Dan Lilker, and a guy named Billy Milano. You see, I was late to the metal scene so I missed a lot of stuff that I have not yet worked back around to. Anyway, I have in my possession what may be the final release of S.O.D. material, and it is pretty much what I was expecting.
I remember, when I first saw the trailer for 300, I was floored, simply put. It was such a striking visual, something visually fresh and inventive, I simultaneously couldn't wait to see it and had no idea how they were going to market this to a mass audience. If I recall correctly, Warner Brothers was hoping for a box office gross in the neighborhood of Sin City, which made $74 million. The film ended up making nearly that much in its opening weekend on its way to a total tally north of $200 million. It deserves every penny. Now that it is on DVD, it is time for even more people to enter the beautifully violent stylized world of the Battle of Thermopylae.
The Darwin Awards first appeared nearly three decades ago, or somewhere thereabouts I don't know the exact year. Their purpose was to recognoze those souls with such a rare, or not so rare, intelligence that fate saw it fit for them to be removed from the gene pool. The result is a cleaner, friendlier gene pool in which to swim. Basically, there are the stories of people who were killed (or at least seriously hurt) in the most bizarre and creative ways. Check out DarwinAwards.com to see some of these wild stories for yourself. What we are faced with here is a film that attempts to bring some of those outlandish stories to the movie realm, woven together in episodic format while a common thread holds them together. In the end, it is moderately effective, though not terribly good.
So, off he goes to a large insurance company with a proposal that could save them millions, study the factors contributing to these inventive ways of dying, create an insurance profile, and then profile against that. With a limited time to prove his case, he is paired with an insurance adjustor, Siri (Winona Ryder), and together they head out to investigate the odd and unusual claims.
The casting of Fiennes and Ryder does not work all that well. The chemistry between them is minimal at best, and Ryder might as well be phoning it in. Sure, she looks lovely and has a certain charisma, but there was somethign about her that was unconvincing. Beyond the two leads, there are a good number of recognizable faces throughout the vignettes. The faces include David Arquette, Juliette Lewis, Judah Friedlander, Lukas Haas, Julianna Margulies, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Penn, DB Sweeney, Robin Tunney, and Wilmer Valderrama.
Available August 14th from Rhino Entertainment
This week's choice was rather tough, as tough favorites from earlier this year arrive on store shelves. On one hand we have the fictional take of the Battle of Thermopylae, and on the other hand there is the love letter to action films, and the hilarity that results. It was a tough choice, but if you read the title of the column, you already know the winner of this battle, but believe me it was very close. Oh yes, if you didn't read the title, the winner is Hot Fuzz.
