Just in time for Halloween this year, we have two "horror" movies. The Thing is a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter sci-fi horror (see separate review) and it is a pretty standard horror movie. Red State is the other new film out which its maker says is a horror movie. This is the new movie for Kevin Smith (Clerks, Jay & Silent Bob) and by early reports it is a return to form after the recent disappointments of Cop Out and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. However, the form is a totally different thing to his usual slacker rom-com. It begins as a slasher movie and then movies into a siege/shootout style thing, taking very big aim at the more extreme Christian groups in America. This one is apparently a weird genre mashup but one I'm quite interested to see. From what I've heard so far it's hard to see how Kevin Smith thinks it's a horror film - I'll have to get back to you on that one.
Also out this week is "What's Your Number" which has Anna Faris tracking down her exes to find a suitable one to marry after finding out {from a magazine article, ugh!} she's slept with too many guys and won't find the one. You will probably have to read the reviews in the paper to decide about this one as I doubt I'll go, but surely it can't be as bad as some people are saying.
Another timely release this week is The Cup. Based on the true story of the Oliver brothers, both jockeys at an elite level in Australia. Damien (Stephen Curry) has to decide whether to ride in the big one, the Melbourne Cup, after the death of his brother in an on-track fall. This should be fun and uplifting and will get you in the mood for all the betting, frocking up and excitement of the big day in a couple of weeks.
There is an extensive Hitchcock retrospective on at the Goma Cinematheque, it has heaps of movies plus quite a few of his TV show episodes. I can't decide what I'd like to go to!Alfred_Hitchcock_screening_calendar_2011.pdf
Stay tuned for some heavy duty BIFF updates to come in the lead up to this fantastic festival of movie-dom, plus my review of The Thing.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Sunday, 9 October 2011
DVD Gem #1 - Tucker & Dale vs Evil
This is the first in what may become a series - mining out the gold at the DVD store that you may not otherwise have thought to rent. Let me know if you like it.
On Friday night we rented out Tucker & Dale vs Evil (new release section). This was a movie I was very keen to see this year based on the premise alone, so imagine my surprise when looking in the JB Hifi catalogue this week and seeing it there. Unfortunately it has skipped our cinemas so I went straight down to Video Ezy to secure it.
I think this movie is destined to become a cult classic. It is a very clever subversion of movie cliches, done in an extremely fun way. A group of college kids set out on a camping trip to the woods in Virginia. In travelling to their destination, they come across two hillbillies, Tucker and Dale, who are also travelling to their vacation home in the woods. In the early scenes, this could be any American teen horror film such as Cabin Fever. However it doesn't take long to twist this up completely, as our hillbillies are revealed to be intelligent, sensitive guys who just want to enjoy a quiet weekend of renovating the cabin, fishing and drinking beer. The college kids, familiar with the horror movies where the hillbillies are out to kill, torture and scare kids such as themselves, immediately overreact to Tucker and Dale's innocent scariness.
Once at the cabin and campsite, things quickly take a turn for the worst as the college kids misinterpret the kind actions of Tucker and Dale in saving one of them from drowning and decide they have to take the hillbillies out before they themselves are killed. Unfortunately the college kids' skills in doing so are closer to what would happen in real life than most 'survival' movies, and they start to meet with some very funny accidents that further fuel their belief that the hillbillies are picking them off.
Most of this movie is either amusing (the interactions between Tucker and Dale and the very pretty Ali who sees the guys for what they really are) or outright hilarious (mainly the death scenes). I thought Ben was going to burst a blood vessel laughing at certain points of this movie, and I wasn't far behind. Whatever you do, don't compare it to the "Scary Movie" franchise, as it is spoofing a few movies but in a much more subtle and funny way. It is more about subverting the cliches with clever writing and dialogue than just making fun of the past movies.
Alan Tudyk (who you will know as Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball or the funny boyfriend on acid from Death at a Funeral) is great as Tucker, the supportive friend, as is Tyler Labine as Dale who has a great memory and a very sweet heart. The college kids are largely disposable, but that's the point. The special effects and gore scenes are very well executed as well.
In summary: funny, cool, smart and unexpected. Dig this one up today!
On Friday night we rented out Tucker & Dale vs Evil (new release section). This was a movie I was very keen to see this year based on the premise alone, so imagine my surprise when looking in the JB Hifi catalogue this week and seeing it there. Unfortunately it has skipped our cinemas so I went straight down to Video Ezy to secure it.
I think this movie is destined to become a cult classic. It is a very clever subversion of movie cliches, done in an extremely fun way. A group of college kids set out on a camping trip to the woods in Virginia. In travelling to their destination, they come across two hillbillies, Tucker and Dale, who are also travelling to their vacation home in the woods. In the early scenes, this could be any American teen horror film such as Cabin Fever. However it doesn't take long to twist this up completely, as our hillbillies are revealed to be intelligent, sensitive guys who just want to enjoy a quiet weekend of renovating the cabin, fishing and drinking beer. The college kids, familiar with the horror movies where the hillbillies are out to kill, torture and scare kids such as themselves, immediately overreact to Tucker and Dale's innocent scariness.
Once at the cabin and campsite, things quickly take a turn for the worst as the college kids misinterpret the kind actions of Tucker and Dale in saving one of them from drowning and decide they have to take the hillbillies out before they themselves are killed. Unfortunately the college kids' skills in doing so are closer to what would happen in real life than most 'survival' movies, and they start to meet with some very funny accidents that further fuel their belief that the hillbillies are picking them off.
Most of this movie is either amusing (the interactions between Tucker and Dale and the very pretty Ali who sees the guys for what they really are) or outright hilarious (mainly the death scenes). I thought Ben was going to burst a blood vessel laughing at certain points of this movie, and I wasn't far behind. Whatever you do, don't compare it to the "Scary Movie" franchise, as it is spoofing a few movies but in a much more subtle and funny way. It is more about subverting the cliches with clever writing and dialogue than just making fun of the past movies.
Alan Tudyk (who you will know as Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball or the funny boyfriend on acid from Death at a Funeral) is great as Tucker, the supportive friend, as is Tyler Labine as Dale who has a great memory and a very sweet heart. The college kids are largely disposable, but that's the point. The special effects and gore scenes are very well executed as well.
In summary: funny, cool, smart and unexpected. Dig this one up today!
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