Wrong Cops Premiere Coverage

 

        This past Wednesday evening I was invited to attend the premiere of Wrong Cops at The Vista Theater in Los Angeles, a perfect off-Hollywood site for the opening of a film teetering on the outskirts of mainstream cinema. I’m not sure if there is a name for this new sub-genre of extreme comedic irreverence in independent films, but writer/director Quentin Dupieux is a pioneer of the movement. These films feel like a marriage between David Lynch and Jared Hess, what might happen if the random carnage and dreamlike narrative were to take place in a world of awkward character actors. He got up in front of the audience to introduce the film, apologizing for the scenes being out of focus, humorously explaining that it was “almost on purpose.”

 

Ray Wise, Quentin Dupieux, Eric Wareheim,  Mark Burnham, Arden Myrin, Marilyn Manson

Wrong Cops is the latest feature from Dupieux, following his cult hit Rubber in 2010, and the similarly titled Wrong from 2012. Despite the similarities in titles, Wrong Cops is not a sequel to Wrong, despite a brief cameo from Dolph Springer (Jack Plotnick) and his dog. Plotnick is only one of many surprises in the ensemble casting of Wrong Cops, many of which were able to make it out for the celebration on Wednesday evening.

 

Giveaway Contest: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Blu-ray Combo Pack

 

Join the Quest of a Lifetime, Packed with an

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Synopsis

The magical, mythical adventures of teenager Percy Jackson — son of the Greek god Poseidon — continue in this heroic, action-packed thrill ride!  Out to prove he’s not just a “one-quest wonder,” Percy and his demigod friends embark on an epic, cross-country journey into the treacherous Sea of Monsters, where they battle terrifying creatures, an army of zombies, and the ultimate evil. With time running out, Percy must find and bring home the fabled Golden Fleece, which has the power to save his world...and save us all!

Angels’ Share DVD Review

     Actors: Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw

Director: Ken Loach

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: December 10, 2013

Run Time: 101 minutes

 

 

        Kitchen sink realism has been a staple of filmmaking for Ken Loach’s impressive career as a director, most notably with the coming-of-age film, Kes. That realism has been carried over into his latest dramedy, Angels’ Share. What starts as a somewhat lighthearted drama about the struggles working-class life in the United Kingdom eventually turns into a heist film which is part comedy of errors. The manner in which the comedy and drama blend together without ever overpowering each other is the mark of a truly gifted filmmaker, making Angels’ Share far more engaging than your typical comedy and more entertaining than the average drama.

 

        The film’s protagonist is a former thug named Robbie (Paul Brannigan), who is attempting a life without crime due to the pregnancy of his girlfriend. Preparing to be a father leaves Robbie with a new outlook on life, though that does little to get rid of the trouble which has already wormed its way into his life. With the help of a kindly supervisor while doing his community service, Robbie becomes interested in the world of whiskey tasting. Along with three fellow social miscreants, Mo, Albert and Rhino, Robbie learns as much as he can about the distilling of whiskey.

 

Berberian Sound Studio DVD Review

     Actor: Toby Jones

Director: Peter Strickland

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: December 10, 2013

Run Time: 92 minutes

 

 

        Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio is a masterpiece in style and direction, which makes it so disappointing to find the third act such a failure in storytelling. It almost seems as though there was nowhere left to go with the film, instead trailing off into unmemorable David Lynch imitations. Yet even when the film is repetitious and dealing with an uninspired narrative flow, Strickland’s direction is able to carry each scene to the next despite the inconsistency of the whole.

 

        Employing an Englishman abroad fish-out-of-water narrative, the quiet sound engineer Gilderoy (Toby Jones) takes a job in Rome working on the soundtrack to a film called The Equestrian Vortex. Though he doesn’t speak Italian, we get the impression that he understands much of what the others are saying around him. Sound doesn’t just play a large part in the story; it is the most important part of the film in every aspect. We are never permitted to see the violent images of the horror movie Gilderoy is working on, instead limited to the images and the sounds utilized in the engineering of a soundtrack. There is a lot of stabbing and smashing of food in order to simulate the torture and killing in the movie, which begins to decay as time passes. The only other indicator we have to the gruesome nature of the film is the reactions coming from Gilderoy as he is forced to endure the images.

 

Sightseers DVD Review

      Actors: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram

Director: Ben Wheatley

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: December 10, 2013

Run Time: 88 minutes

 

 

        The relentlessly bleak nature of the violence in Ben Wheatley’s Kill List made it a difficult film to enjoy, which may explain the filmmaker’s choice to go for a more comic edge in his latest film, Sightseers. There is still a large amount of violence and gore, though it is boldly applied in a darkly comic manner. Blending a road trip narrative with a serial killer storyline, this is something like Arthur Newman meets Natural Born Killers.

 

        Chris (Steve Oram) has a plan to take his new girlfriend on a vacation in a motor home. Tina (Alice Lowe) has been something of a recluse ever since a tragic accident with her dog, and it has left her somewhat unhinged. Road trips and vacations with new couples can often be eye-opening, revealing truths previous able to be hidden, and this can destroy a relationship which is not stable enough to withstand this trial-by-fire. This is the case with Chris and Tina, who have only been dating for a few months. This is not long enough for Tina to discover that Chris is a serial killer with specific targets of poor social etiquette.

 

Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus Blu-ray Review

 

Actors: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann

Director: Sebastián Silva

Format: Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: November 19, 2013

Run Time: 99 minutes

 

       

        It is quite clear that a majority of the dialogue in Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus (and 2012) is improvised, but that is not necessarily a fault. Each of the actors embody the characters so unabashedly that they feel sincere in their actions even when the film feels a bit contrived, such as the film’s emotional climactic close. Based on writer/director Sebastián Silva’s own experience with a San Pedro cactus and woman named Crystal Fairy, there is a realism in the narrative which often defies any structure or clear message. These are simply very different people who come together over the hallucinogenic trip to the beach.  

 

        Michael Cera heads up the cast as obnoxious American expatriate Jamie (Michael Cera), whose personality often seems to grate on those closest to him. When Jamie runs into a free-spirited American at a party named Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman), he impulsively invites her on a road trip with him and the three Chile friends that put up with him. Crystal Fairy is a completely different personality type from the snarky and condescending Jamie, and much of the film is a quiet battle between these two strong personality types in an otherwise passive group of people. Are these the two personalities that Chile thinks of as American? Either way, it makes for an engaging road trip film with clashing personality types.

 

Impractical Jokers: The Complete First Season DVD Review

Number of discs: 2
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: November 26, 2013
Run Time: 374 minutes

 

 

        I was a bit of a troublemaker when I was younger, mostly due to my overactive imagination and the inability to remain bored. When my physical situation is dull, I find my mind compensating with creative inspiration of endless amusement and less than traditional amusement. In other words, I would have fit right in with the guys of Impractical Jokers, despite the fact that they are fully grown and still amusing themselves through immature methods. The adult in me is somewhat embarrassed for these four grown men, while the kid in me is simply jealous of their job.

 

        The premise of the show is creative and unique, but at its barest essence “Impractical Jokers” is simply a hidden camera show which cares much more about the embarrassment of those aware of the cameras than the revelation that these unsuspecting people are being filmed. There isn’t even a ‘reveal’ section of the show, where we would typically see the victim’s reactions when they discover that they are on a television show. The dynamic lies far more with the four friends participating.

 

The Canyons Blu-ray Review

Actors: Lindsay Lohan, James Deen, Nolan Funk, Amanda Brooks, Tenille Houston

Director: Paul Schrader

Writers: Bret Easton Ellis

Producers: Braxton Pope

Format: Blu-ray, Director's Cut, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: November 26, 2013

Run Time: 100 minutes

 

 

        I enjoyed the article about the making of this film far more than I did the movie itself. It isn’t as bad as you might imagine, but it also isn’t good. It isn’t even as shocking as it may have you believe, other than Paul Schrader's willingness to show a semi-erect penis in the background. Lindsay Lohan shows nothing more than you would expect to see in her Playboy shoot, appearing more desperate than sexy in the role of Tara. Basically, this movie is just a waste of time which has garnered a small amount of attention due to casting choices, none of which are actually interesting in the actual film itself. We were all interested in the fact that Lindsay Lohan was doing this movie out of the same curiosity that drives motorists to leer at a bad car crash, but in the end The Canyons feels like sitting through two hours of traffic only to find a stalled car blocking the path.

 

        Author and screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, The Rules of Attraction) joined forces with Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and director of American Gigolo) to create this modern day attempt at campy cult classic. Nobody wanted to finance the film, so they made it themselves by selling things and scraping together just enough money to make this look a little better than soft-core porn. Lohan’s horrid reputation made her suitable only co-starring with a real-life porn star. James Deen is truly the star of the film, though that is not necessarily a compliment as much as it is a fact. He plays Christian, a manipulative movie producer who discovers his girlfriend once had a relationship with the leading actor of his upcoming project.