Flirting with Disaster (1996)

Posted on November 18, 2014 by badblokebob

2014 #112
David O. Russell | 88 mins | TV | 1.85:1 | USA / English | 15 / R

David O. Russell’s second feature sees adoptee Ben Stiller go on a kerazee road trip to find his birth parents, accompanied by dissatisfied wife Patricia Arquette and kooky adoption agency psychologist Téa Leoni, along the way bumping into Arquette’s high school crush (Josh Brolin) and his husband (Richard Jenkins). Cue an almost-PG-13 sex comedy told among sketch-like encounters with quirky people who turn out to not be Stiller’s folks.

Despite a bitty structure, it’s a pretty amusing farce, with a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Now merely a footnote in the filmographies of everyone involved, it deserves a degree of rediscovery.

John Dies at the End (2012)

Posted on November 4, 2014 by badblokebob

Based on the cult novel by Cracked.com editor David Wong, John Dies at the End is a bizarre horror-fantasy that defies easy explanation or summary.

It’s definitely an acquired taste — some will genuinely love it, some will genuinely despise it. I often fall in the middle when that’s the case, though I err towards the former here. It’s scrappy and weird and wrong in so many ways, but, on balance, pretty entertaining.

Plus, in an era when every mainstream movie (and many so-called independents) are essentially the same story told the same way, kudos for trying to do something different.

* What do you have to do to get an 18 these days? The BBFC would’ve cut this to shreds in their scissor-happy heyday! It would seem the fact it’s a comedy allows the extreme gore to pass at a lower rating. ^

Spanking the Monkey (1994)

Posted on November 1, 2014 by badblokebob

2014 #100
David O. Russell | 95 mins | TV | 16:9 | USA / English | 18

The debut of writer-director David O. Russell sees college student Raymond forced by his controlling father to turn down an exciting summer internship to care for his invalided mother.

Cue a very ’90s indie dramedy that is most memorably concerned with matters sexual: after Raymond struggles to find privacy to masturbate, he engages in a stuttering relationship with a younger girl and, somewhat infamously, gets incestuous with his mother. It’s hard to decipher the point, especially when instead of ending the film just stops.

Spottily entertaining, history has rendered Spanking the Monkey merely an early curio from a now-famous director.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

Posted on October 31, 2014 by badblokebob

aka Tucker & Dale vs. Evil *

2014 #83
Eli Craig | 85 mins | TV | 2.35:1 | Canada & USA / English | 15 / R

Riffing on the “evil hillbillies” horror sub-genre, a pair of simple country folk on a fishin’ holiday encounter a gang of college kids who, through a series of unfortunate coincidences, mistake them for murderous psychos — and decide to fight back.

Essentially a one-joke premise, it succeeds by exploiting every possible angle. Unlike some horror comedies, it’s light on scares, but the trope spoofing means it works best for a genre-aware crowd (it’d play well in a double-bill with Cabin in the Woods). Nonetheless, there’s enough heart and gruesome laughs to broaden the appeal to those less familiar with sub-genre intricacies.

* Punctuation matters, people. ^

The Sweeney (2012)

Posted on October 28, 2014 by badblokebob

Despite a mediocre pedigree and TV-scale budget, this re-imagining of the iconic ’70s cop show is a solid thriller.

Overloaded with implausibility, not least its central conceit (London police unit combats violent crime with more violence), it’s made worthwhile by a running gunfight across Trafalgar Square and a climactic car chase. These are even more impressive when you know behind-the-scenes details: the latter was shot in just two days, the former in chronological order on a single morning!

Not the “British Heat” screenplay-derived hype promised, nor pleasing to the original’s aficionados, but a decent crime flick for forgiving genre lovers.

Safe (2012)

Posted on October 22, 2014 by badblokebob

2014 #77
Boaz Yakin | 85 mins* | TV | 2.35:1 | USA / English, Mandarin & Russian | 15 / R

Jason Statham plays a cop turned cage-fighter turned vagrant, who rescues a young girl and finds himself amidst a three-way brawl between the Triad, the Russians, and corrupt cops. They want the child for a number she’s memorised, but what is its significance?

Those are the basics of a surprisingly complex plot, albeit one sprinkled with well-handled (if unexceptional) action sequences. It at least manages some surprises, including a climax that exchanges the usual Big Fight for plot resolution, plus a nice double meaning for the title.

Intricate storyline aside, this is standard Statham fare — not bad, but not exceptional.

Safe is on 5* tonight at 9pm.

* The PAL time listed by the BBFC is 90 minutes. It must have a lot of credits or something, because on TV it runs just over 84½. ^

Legends of the Knight (2013)

Posted on October 16, 2014 by badblokebob

2014 #23
Brett Culp | 76 mins | Blu-ray | 16:9 | USA / English

Heartwarming crowdfunded documentary about the power of Batman — not to beat supervillains, but his positive influence on real people.

Its multitudinous subjects span everyone from a businessman who visits children’s hospitals in full Bat-costume, to an anonymous teenager in a homemade Bat-outfit who helps around his small town. Plus a five-year-old leukaemia patient enjoying a Make-a-Wish Batman day, inspiration for the grander “Batkid” that went viral last November.

There’s also analysis of what makes Batman such a powerful character, but I think the real message is how finding a symbol to rally behind can bring out the best in people.

Darkman (1990)

Posted on October 7, 2014 by badblokebob

Before he made the insanely successful Spider-Man trilogy, horror auteur Sam Raimi helmed this cinema-original superhero-esque fable, about a scientist caught in the crossfire between a corrupt developer and the mob who sets out for revenge.

Although ostensibly a comic-book-y action/vigilante flick, Raimi brings his horror chops (note the certificate), as well as a left-field filmmaking style that gives the film a unique edge. Add Liam Neeson as an action hero decades before Taken, throw in that je ne sais quoi of ’80s/’90s-filmmaking-ness (it’s the lighting, the effects… I don’t know), and you have an atypical, enjoyable, overlooked genre minor-classic.

Wrath of the Titans (2012)

Posted on September 2, 2014 by badblokebob

The 2010 Clash of the Titans is primarily remembered for its bad early-3D post-conversion, but must’ve made enough money to greenlight this sequel. I deemed Clash passably entertaining and expected no more here. Sadly, Wrath can’t deliver even that.

A confused story connects workmanlike action sequences and mediocre CGI (the cyclops resemble Shrek characters). A romantic subplot consists solely of The Hero kissing The Female at the end. New ideas sporadically rear their head, but Liebesman can’t ring anything interesting from them. Clash’s strong points — creature design; retro-styled gods — are AWOL.

The end result is all bluster and no heart.

Sightseers (2012)

Posted on August 30, 2014 by badblokebob

2014 #52
Ben Wheatley | 85 mins | TV | 2.35:1 | UK / English | 15

“He’s not a person Tina, he’s a Daily Mail reader.”

Like The Trip, only with quaint museums instead of restaurants and murder instead of impressions, the third feature from director Ben Wheatley is succinctly described as “a black comedy”. That’s a severe understatement: it’s dark; the kind of dark you might experience on a moonless night in the middle of nowhere if you popped on a blindfold made of lead.

A distinctly odd, rambling experience, it unquestionably won’t be to everyone’s taste — to most people’s, even — but if you are on its wavelength, it’s hilarious and brilliant.

Adorable dog, too.

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