MY CALL: Part 1 stunned us with brutality and desperation. But part 2 was made to push the gory and psychological aspects into disturbing territory. I loved this film and clearly so did Rob Zombie, who claimed that House of 1000 Corpses (2003) was in honor of the horror era of the past–but really, and not to his discredit, it seemed that he was re-imagining this.. MORE MOVIES LIKE The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: Well obviously you should have already seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). From there I’d suggest seeing The Funhouse (1981) and Motel Hell (1980) before moving on to the much better TCM 2. After that, you could skip to the rebooted series (2003, 2006), perhaps excluding Texas Chainsaw 3-D (2013)– I wasn’t at all thrilled with it as a Texas Chainsaw movie, but I generally LOVED it as a bad horror flick!
After a narrated introduction linking our story to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and explaining the aftermath of Sally’s escape, we meet a pair of yuppie shithead sociopaths shooting road signs and playing chicken with locals on rural roads while donning preppie attire like pastel sweaters and frat house blazers. They obnoxiously cackle and, unlike our gang of victims in part 1, we are all probably looking forward to their well-deserved gruesome deaths.
Not only do they get what they deserve, but it happens in a manner far more gory and campy than anything in part 1. Leatherface (now played by Bill Johnson; The Caretakers) has a slapstick vibe about him as he chainsaws a moving vehicle while wearing an entire dead shambling corpse as a disguise. Taking a hard turn from the hopelessly desperate and dire original, this new campy tone emanates throughout this sequel and takes more after Tobe Hooper’s own The Funhouse (1981).
Compounding this silliness is that we find Drayton Sawyer (Jim Siedow; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) taking very much after the campy Motel Hell‘s (1980) Farmer Vincent, winning a chili cook-off and being praised for his tasty meat stew. Like The Funhouse (1981), Motel Hell borrowed heavily from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), embracing cannibalism, a macabre pig head mask, and a chainsaw attack. Now it seems that TCM 2 is borrowing back.
Radio DJ Stretch (Caroline Williams; Leprechaun 3, Halloween II, Hatchet 3, Contracted) is the best part of this movie. She and her producer (Lou Perryman; The Cellar, Poltergeist) heard the aforementioned yuppie victims (one with the top of his head awesomely sawed off) being killed when they obnoxiously called in to her radio show. So Stretch rushes to help Lefty (Dennis Hopper; Waterworld, Land of the Dead) in his investigation of his nephews’ death, which he believes to have been at the hands of the purported chainsaw-wielding maniacs 12 years prior.
Of course, the Sawyer family is back and Chop-Top (Bill Moseley; House of 1000 Corpses, Texas Chainsaw 3D, House) is batshit crazy and disturbingly awkward. He is so sick and twisted that I felt scared for Stretch when she faced him–and I, a well-seasoned and desensitized horror buff, never feel scared for anyone except for the Poltergeist (1982; also Tobe Hooper, by the way) family! The violence goes off the deep end when he hammers the shit out of her friend over and over again…with an actual hammer…cackling all the while. Whereas Leatherface is as sexually repressed and perverse as can be, essentially chainsaw dry-humping while licking his malformed lips.
It’s pretty sick and it really paved the way for subsequent sicko releases like House of 1000 Corpses (2003). All the while, these encounters show us how strong Caroline Williams plays our final girl Stretch. She’s terrified and manic, but she fights back and defends herself however she can, even by psychologically manipulating the man-child Leatherface.
As we approach the third act Stretch falls into the deep underground lair of the Sawyers, Leatherface skins sopping corpses and plays with peeled bloody faces, and Lefty goes mad with vengeance intent on caving in the Sawyers’ abandoned mines. The festival macabre continues with puppeteered corpses and insane rants. Offal pits and halls of rotting corpses abound in this craziness that you will subsequently find duplicated in House of 1000 Corpses (2003; in honorarium) and Stretch runs for her life through the maze of dead bodies in her short shorts screaming.
Writer/director Tobe Hooper (Lifeforce, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, The Funhouse) returns and shifts gears from brutal and dire to slapstick gory batshit crazy. In an effort to one-up his own work, the Sawyer home and dinner scene are elevated to an “11” in terms of lunacy, the chase scenes are longer and the gruesome actions find far more blood, severed limbs, rended flesh and rubber guts than its predecessor.
Grandpa is evil senescence at its best as he hammers Stretch, Leatherface is now borderline invincible and able to fight Lefty with a chainsaw through his stomach with his guts hanging out, scrappy Stretch gets into a fight with Chop-Top that endures so long that it set the standard for Keith David and Roddy Piper in They Live (1988)…it seems EVERYTHING has been turned up to an “11” in this crazy sequel.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get more over the top Stretch ends up at Grandma Sawyer’s shrine and does the same crazy chainsaw kata as Leatherface in the end of part 1. That’s what I love about this movie. You keep thinking it can’t get any crazier, but it somehow does. It’s like Jurassic Park (1993), “crazy” finds a way.
Part 1 stunned us with brutality and desperation. But part 2 was made to push the gory and psychological aspects into disturbing territory. I loved this film and clearly so did Rob Zombie, who claimed that House of 1000 Corpses (2003) was in honor of the horror era of the past–but really, and not to his discredit, it seemed that he was re-imagining this.
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The MFF Podcast #57: The Podcast in the Woods
You can download the pod on iTunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The MFF podcast is back, and we are talking about horror movies that take place in the woods! In this pod you will hear about the The Forest, The Hallow, Green Inferno and Chris Klien’s commentary on Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.
Black goo! Black goo! Black goo!
As always, we answer random questions, and ponder if there was actually a “Ted’s Island” in Captain Ron. Sit back, relax and listen to a whole lot of randomness!
You can stream the pod on Blog Talk Radio or download it from Itunes. If you get a chance please rate the review the pod. You are awesome!
If you listened to the podcast, here is the picture of me (Mark) in China. It was an interesting week.
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The 10 Best Marvel Cinematic Universe Moments
I am an unabashed Marvel Cinematic Universe fanboy. It may be a massive corporation now, but back in 2008, Marvel took a massive gamble by planning an unprecedented amount of films. The gamble paid off and now we are 12 films deep into a very successful venture. In honor of Captain America: Civil War I’ve gathered my 10 favorite moments from the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are very random but I think these 10 moments capture the Marvel spirit and show why they’ve been successful.
If you like the post make sure to check out our podcast that ranks all the Marvel Cinematic Universe villains.
10. Who Built Nick Fury’s SUV in Captain America: Winter Soldier?
Who built his SUV because it can fly, murder people and take 10,000 bullet rounds? If Hydra were involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. why would they let him drive it home? Can I buy one? The SUV is so amazing it has its own Wiki page.
The best part is only person who can destroy it is The Winter Soldier. Thus, he is a worthy villain.
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9. Baby Groot Dances
Nothing on this planet is more adorable than dancing baby Groot. You are the best James Gunn. I love Guardians of the Galaxy.
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8. The flag pole scene in Captain America: The First Avenger
The flag pole scene is a perfect way to establish Steve Rogers as a smart fellow. The moment is funny, inventive and proves Roger’s will never turn down a ride in a jeep with a pretty woman.
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7. The toy train fight in Ant-Man
The final fight between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket is perfect. I love how the property destruction is kept to a minimum, and the wide shot of the toy train falling over is priceless. I wish I could’ve seen Edgar Wright’s vision for Ant-Man.
6. Nothing goes over Drax’s head in Guardians of the Galaxy
There are a plethora of great character moments in Guardians of the Galaxy. However, Drax’s line about catching stuff wins the day.
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5. Loki is talented but dumb
My favorite moment in The Avengers involves Loki being pleased with himself because he catches one of Hawkeye’s arrows. However, he fails to realize that it is an explosive arrow. Loki is talented but dumb.
4. Sam Rockwell is the best part of Iron Man 2
“This thing blows up the bunker beneath the bunker you just blew up.” Justin Hammer is an unheralded hero of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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3. Trevor’s introduction in Iron Man 3
Ben Kingsley’s character Trevor in Iron Man 3 is amazing. I know he was supposed to be The Mandarin, but Trevor is way better. I could watch Ben Kingsley drink Budweiser and talk about drugs all day. Here is a great bit of dialogue about how Trevor was recruited to play a fake terrorist:
Trevor Slattery: Ah, well, I had a little problem with… substances, and I, uh, ended up doing things, no two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn’t do…
Tony Stark: Next?
Trevor Slattery: Then, they approached me about the role, and they knew about the drugs…
Tony Stark: What did they say, they’d get you off them?
Trevor Slattery: Said they’d give me more!
2. The Highway Fight in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Every time I watch this scene my jaw drops. The Russo brothers are fantastic directors and this is the second best action scene in all of the MCU. It is a beautifully grounded set piece that is easy to follow and the choreography plays into all of the character’s strengths. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow finally had a chance to really shine and I loved everything involving her during this brawl.
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1. Tony Stark escapes the cave in Iron Man
This is the best Marvel moment because there are real stakes. Tony is going out on limb and his attack is clumsy, scary and sorta brilliant. Iron Man is the best MCU film and this is the best scene. I remember watching Iron Man in a theater in South Korea and the theater went nuts when Tony escaped. I knew Marvel had something special on their hands.
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Green Room: The Best Thriller in Years
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Green Room is one of the best thrillers I’ve seen in years because director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin – watch it now!) has mastered the art of creating white-knuckle tension and killing people very violently. His two films have dripped with authenticity, and the naturalness in the characters insane-decision-making push the films to stressful heights. The characters in Green Room are in over their heads and the result is glorious exploitation movie that is also very smart.
Nobody ever thinks they will be hunted by Neo-Nazis in the Oregon woods.
Green Room revolves around a hardcore band finishing their tour with a final show that will net them enough money to cover their cross-country drive back home. Their prior gig was cancelled, and they’ve found themselves siphoning gas and existing solely on ramen noodles. So, the $350 payday makes up for the fact that the venue is a Neo-Nazi compound outside of Portland, Oregon. The show goes off without a hitch, but when the bands guitarist Pat (Anton Yelchin) goes back to retrieve a cell phone he sees a dead girl on the floor. From there things go really wrong, and the band barricades themselves in the green room while the neo-Nazis lay siege. What follows is the most tense cinema I’ve seen in ages.
What I loved about the film is how random it all plays out. We never know what will happen next because everything is so clumsy, swift and unexpected. The band members and skinsheads are in new territory and their night of violence doesn’t go smoothly because they are all scared. I was surprised at how Saulnier was able to create unique and thoughtful characters on both sides of the green room. The characters could have been nameless blood geysers, but I was able to differentiate all of them and see them as authentic human beings. In a great interview with Screen Junkies, Saulnier broke down his character research.
The research was brutal. I was researching skinheads, the white-supremacist culture, dog fighting… I was definitely losing my stomach. But I’m huge on research. I inject just enough detail to make it authentic. The key was to do a ton of research, and to feel like I got a sense of the procedure and the structure and the vernacular… and then throw it all away, let the characters take the foreground. The challenge is not portraying Nazi skinheads as bad guys, it’s in portraying them as humans. The whole thing is about whatever we come in with, the perceived gangs or affiliations or ideologies or labels, the film strips that away eventually. So the goal is to immerse yourself in the world, make it feel authentic, until it all drifts away.
Everybody gets a solid character arch.
Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Macon Blair, Joe Cole, Callum Turner and Anton Yelchin are all solid and have a natural chemistry that makes their demises painful to watch. The most inspired casting decision goes to Patrick Stewart as the head of the neo-Nazi crew. His character Darcy is a master-manipulator who always seems calm despite him wanting you dead. It is understandable that he could rally youth to his cause, and I loved watching Stewart use his gravitas for evil. In an interview with Rolling Stone I love what Stewart had to say about the script.
For Stewart, the contrast was terrifying, so much so that he took a break from reading Saulnier’s script to lock the windows in his house. “The things that have always frightened me were not zombies or the walking dead or vampires,” Stewart explains. “It was people, real people, who were of a mindset and an attitude that no matter what the situation you find yourself in, you couldn’t reason with them. You couldn’t sit down with them, have a cup of coffee, and say ‘Let’s talk this over.'”
If you are looking for great thriller I totally recommend Green Room. Saulnier is proving himself to be an excellent director who captures authenticity and hurts your soul with it.
Let me know what you think!
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MY CALL: This horror anthology features monstrous pregnancy, creepy kids, zombie Jesus, genital mutilation, pagan cults, teen bullying gone wrong, the evil Easter bunny and deadly Dating site meet-ups among other maladies. Definitely one of the better horror anthologies of the last several years. MOVIES LIKE Holidays: Other holiday themed horror anthologies include Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Tales of Halloween (2015) and A Christmas Horror Story (2015).
OTHER HORROR ANTHOLOGIES: Dead of Night (1945), Black Sabbath (1963), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), The Uncanny (1977), Creepshow (1982), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye (1985), Deadtime Stories (1986), Creepshow 2 (1987), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (1993), Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Campfire Tales (1997), 3 Extremes (2004), Creepshow 3 (2006), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Chillerama (2011), Little Deaths (2011), V/H/S (2012), The Theater Bizarre (2012), The ABCs of Death (2013), V/H/S 2 (2013), The Profane Exhibit (2013), The ABCs of Death 2 (2014), V/H/S Viral (2014), Southbound (2015), Tales of Halloween (2015) and A Christmas Horror Story (2015).
If you’ve followed my reviews for a while now then you ought to know that I love horror anthologies. In some anthologies all of the short stories are directed by one man and written by another (e.g., Creepshow), but in this case each short story has a different writer and director (like V/H/S).
Unlike many anthologies which feature a story teller or wraparound story (e.g., Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie) or taking the approach of linked stories in which one component of the previous story links us to the next (e.g., Southbound, Trick ‘r Treat), this anthology simply delivers a series of horror shorts related only in that they are all holiday-themed. The shorts are presented in their calendar order and all have delightfully twisted endings. This anthology really was a pleasant surprise.
Valentine’s Day introduces us to a quiet high school girl (Madeleine Coghlan) bullied by her diving team and teased about her crush on their coach. The tone is uneasingly awkward and when the young girls bully it makes us uncomfortable (in a good, effective way). Written and directed by Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch (they did Starry Eyes), this breezy short takes a hard turn when the victim gets her brutal revenge. You’ll smile.
St. Patrick’s Day is tremendously effective in its awkwardness as well, and follows suit in the creepy kids department. An Irish primary school teacher (Ruth Bradley; Grabbers) is haunted by a strange student and a stranger subsequent pregnancy. Only, pregnant with what…and how…and why? It’s funny in the darkest way. The birth scene is interesting followed by a most dream-like celebration. Written and directed by Gary Shore (Dracula Untold).
Easter is just plain wrong in ways that made my darkest side squeal with glee. A young girl encounters a most sacrilegious zombie Jesus Easter Bunny that births baby chicks from its stigmata. Wow. Written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact), this is something different.
Mother’s Day. All sorts of weirdness ensues after a young woman who can’t stop getting pregnant joins a fertility ritual for women who can’t. I can’t say I understand the ending and this was just plain odd. Written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith, this short was among my least favorites.
Father’s Day was easily the most compelling and tense of the shorts in this anthology. A young woman (Jocelin Donahue; The House of the Devil, Insidious Chapter 2) receives a tape recorder with a message from her father–who she thought had died 20+ years ago–with instructions on how to find him. Written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns, I desperately want this guy to do more horror!!! Maybe even stretch this into an entire movie.
Halloween disappointingly had nothing to do with Halloween at all. It’s the only short in this anthology that fails to follow the theme of its holiday and, on top of that, it’s a crass shock film that fails at being shocking. It wasn’t well acted or well written and I must say I was surprised to see this garbage was written and directed by Kevin Smith (Tusk).
Christmas stars Seth Green (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as a man tasked with getting the latest hot tech gift for his son. But how far will he go to get it, and what will he learn about himself when he does? Written and directed by Scott Stewart (Dark Skies, Priest, Legion), this one is cheeky.
New Year’s Eve was definitely the most fun. A murderous man meets a quirky woman on a Dating site for a NYE date that does not go as he planned. Directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer (Some Kind of Hate), this short gives me hope that he will make more such movies.
In general I was very pleased with this horror anthology. I liked it even more than Southbound (2015)! Probably the only disappointing shorts for me were Mother’s Day and Kevin Smith’s Halloween, which was the only short that didn’t connect well with its assigned holiday and it had probably the worst acting, writing and–sorry Kevin–directing. It just felt like amateur hour despite some mildly campy humor…and it didn’t match its surroundings well. For me the best short was Father’s Day–just harrowing. But basically all of these shorts (except, Mother’s Day and Halloween) were very satisfying. Few anthologies are of such quality.
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I recently reviewed the short film Scythe (2016), whose Kickstarter Campaign has just one day left and $7000 to go. If this is going to happen people NEED TO PLEDGE NOW!
This promising slasher short film largely offers aspects of horror tropes that I enjoy. If you feel the same, consider contributing to their Kickstarter Campaign. They’re almost there!!!!! If you believe in this film, even a little, put what you can–even just $5–towards making this happen and share in your social media networks.
MORE INDIE MOVIES LIKE Scythe: Here at MFF we occasionally do horror short film and pre-release indie film reviews on request. Among recent solicited promotions are Order of the Ram (2013; short film), Love in the Time of Monsters (2014; feature length), Smothered (2014; feature length), In the Dark (2015; feature length), Trailer Talk: The Void, TRAILER TALK: Blood Money, Short Film Buzz: Burn (2016; press release), Brother (2016; short film), and the indie techno-horror Other Halves (2016; feature length).
Description: Directed/written by Jim Rothman and starring Jose C. Alvarez, Zailee Madrigal and Andrea Muller, Scythe is a psychological Slasher/Thriller in the same vein of Halloween (1978), Saw (2004) and the work of Hitchcock.
Facebook page
Movie Website
IMDB
Twitter: @ScytheJim
Right about now would be a good time for you to stop reading and give this short film a watch. No worries, it’s just a smooth 12 minutes. Then we’ll get back to our critique…
Now that you’ve seen it, and hopefully enjoyed it, it’s time to decide to pledge.
If you want to be a part of something in the world of horror THIS IS YOUR CHANCE.
Visit their Kickstarter Campaign (up until early May 2016)
As of 5/3/2016 at 10:30pm EDT they have raised about $43K of their $50K goal!
SupportScythe.com
The perks for supporting this campaign are pretty generous.
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The MFF Podcast #56: Listener Questions
You can download the pod on iTunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOGTALKRADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
We hope you enjoyed our last episode:
The MFF Podcast #55: Ranking the Villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
SUMMARY: This week is all about the listeners. After recently receiving a wealth of listener questions we decided to have an entire podcast dedicated to all you listeners and your questions that contribute to our random entertainment covering everything from zany sound effects to the technical rules governing movie monsters.
We answer such important questions as…
“Will Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson get his first Oscar before Leo gets his second?”
“What’s the most awkward place to have sex in a movie?”
“What was the best/worst use of Foley in a fight scene?”
“What was the best and worse use of The Wilhelm Scream?”
“Does Samara have a date book with color-coded post it notes to keep track of everyone she has to kill in exactly 7 days? And does she wear a watch so she knows what time to get them?”
“How does the concept of Gremlins work?…what ‘after midnight’ timeline is it going by?”
LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOGTALKRADIO,
or head over iTunes so you can download, REVIEW, RATE and SHARE the pod.
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I love putting these fights together. They don’t make a lick of sense and I’m not sure why these people would be fighting. However, we can all agree that these “vs.” films would be awesome and really surprising. Sometimes in life you need to just sit back, relax and think about hypothetical fights and share them with the world.
If you can think of any other awesome brawls let me know in the comments! Make sure to check out parts one, two and the “vs.” podcast!
1. The Watchmen (Watchmen) vs. The Mystery Men (Mystery Men)
Zach Snyder’s superhero films always need more levity. I would love to see the super serious Watchmen take on the Mystery Men before they ultimately team up and battle The Waffler. Turns out the The Waffler became a super villain shortly after he wasn’t chosen to be a Mystery Man.
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2. The Bride (Kill Bill) vs. Blofeld (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)
Movie Title: Kill Blofeld
Imagine if Blofeld and Irma Bunt missed Tracy Bond, and instead killed The Bride’s husband while they were on vacation. The Bride hunting down Blofeld would be amazing! I want a ski chase where she slices and dices her way down a mountain. The blood trail would be crazy!
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3. Carl Casper & Martin (Chef) vs. Insane Truck Driver (Duel)
Movie Title: Death Truck
During the movie Chef I wondered what would happen if the truck driver from Duel attacked Carl and Martin’s food truck. On their cross country trip I’m sure they encountered some back roads and possibly pissed off a few homicidal truckers. The movie would take a very interesting turn, and I’d love to see how our favorite culinary artists did against a faceless truck driver. Can you make a panini while being chased?
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4. King Kong (King Kong) vs. Alonzo Harris (Training Day)
Movie Title: Training Day 2: Don’t Talk Shit About King Kong
King Kong ain’t got shit on me!
I want to see Alonzo backing up his words.
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5. Edward Malus (Wicker Man) vs. Hugh Glass (The Revenant)
I have a feeling Hugh Glass couldn’t survive a Edward Malus attack. The punching barrage would be deadly and I guarantee Glass would never expect a man in a bear suit to attack him.
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6. Julian Noble (The Matador) vs. Ray (In Bruges)
Movie Title: In Spain
The world needs a movie where two conflicted assassins attempt to kill each other in a picturesque town. The neurosis would be turned to 11 and the one-liners would be aplenty. Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrell have never been better and I would love to see them revisit the characters.
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7. Paul Serone (Anaconda) vs. Snake Plissken (Escape From New York)
Movie Title: Escape From Anaconda Island
I just want more Paul Serone action. Jon Voight was so insane in Anaconda I want him in every B-action movie ever. I would love to see him battling Snake Plissken whilst surfing
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8. Following Creature (It Follows) vs. Ryan Bingham (Up in the Air)
Movie Title: It tries to Follow
How do you defeat the It Follows creature? You never stop moving. The creature would be hating life if it had to follow Bingham around the country.
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9. Ren (Footloose) vs. Ronan the Accuser (Guardian’s of the Galaxy)
Movie Title: Dance Like There is No Tomorrow
Ronan the Accuser famously lost the upper hand when he succumbed to Star Lord’s dance moves. I want to see a movie where the only thing that can stop Ronan from destroying earth is Ren’s punch dancing. Ren would need to unite the town so they can dance like there is no tomorrow.
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10. Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun) & Count Zaroff (The Most Dangerous Game) vs. Bullet Tooth Tony & Boris the Bullet-Dodger (Snatch.)
Movie Title: The Men With the Golden Guns
Bullet Tooth Tony and Boris the Bullet-Dodger would be Scaramanga’s and Count Zaroff’s worst nightmare. Their game would be thrown for a loop, and I’d love to see them attempt to kill the two killers on a desert island.
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Man Up: An Unabashed Romantic Comedy That is Lots of Fun
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Man Up relishes in the fact that it follows every romantic comedy trope. It is an unabashed love story that features mistaken identity, the obligatory fight and eventual soppy reunion. However, it is loads of fun, and stars Lake Bell and Simon Pegg have a solid chemistry that keeps the movie afloat. The 81% on Rotten Tomatoes is earned because the movie does exactly what it planned on doing. It takes a familiar genre and has fun with it. I respect any movie that delivers what the trailer promised.
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Man Up focuses on a cynical and single 30-something-year-old woman named (Nancy) taking another woman’s place on a blind date. Her blind date is a 43-year-old man named Jack (Simon Pegg) who is a recently-divorced and thinks he is meeting a 23-year-old woman who enjoys the same self-help books that he loves. Nancy goes along with the mistaken identity, and the two hit it off over Silence of the Lambs references and lots of drinking. During the course of the single night we meet Jack’s ex-wife, Nancy’s family and a really weird dude named Sean (Rory Kinnear – having a lot of fun). From there, the truth is discovered and the two wing one-liners at each other other until they eventually reconcile in the most romcom way imaginable.
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I’ve always been a fan of Lake Bell because she isn’t afraid to go for it and create some really weird and endearing characters. She gets all the best lines in Man Up and her British accent is spot-on. I really liked her directorial debut In a World and thought she was the best part of No Strings Attached. In Man Up she is on one who needs to “man up” and she sells every line and earnest moment. She needs more work.
Man Up never swings for the fences and that is perfectly fine. It doesn’t try to be an instant classic and instead just wants to put a smile on your face. Director Ben Palmer (The Inbetweeners) is a master of taking stock genres (romcom, teenage raunch) and making them much better than they have any right to be. Man Up is 100% unpretentious and that allows everyone to enjoy the ride.
Check out Man Up. Have some fun.
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MFF Streaming: Five Films Worth a Watch on Netflix
The streaming landscape is so vast it becomes difficult to single out one film to watch. In an effort to save you time and energy I’ve scoured the streaming services and started offering film/television recommendations that you might appreciate. These five films are incredibly eclectic, but they all offer something different for the viewer. If you are looking for something to watch this weekend you can’t go wrong with these five films.
Phoenix
Phoenix was one of the best movies of 2015, and I am really happy the A.V. Club trumpeted it so loudly. Not only did they say it was one of the best films of 2015, they also decided it had one of the best scenes of the year. Nina Hoss is fantastic in the lead role and her hellish journey after surviving German concentration camps makes for a brilliant noir. This is a tiny film that packs a huge punch, and if you are into foreign films that take place in post-war Germany you will love it.
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The Assassin
Some say The Assassin is glacial paced. I say they are dumb (not really, they are cool). This beautifully filmed Chinese epic takes its time and has the best imagery of any 2015 film. The story revolves around a mysterious woman returning home after being sent away to train under a mysterious badass. Don’t expect a martial arts epic involving people running around on top of trees. Expect a natural and often jaw dropping film that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Hou Hsiao-Hsien is a wonderful director.
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Man Up
Man Up is romantic comedy at its purest. It is loaded with saccharine and wears its rom-com tropes proudly. Simon Pegg and Lake Bell dive into their roles as mismatched daters perfectly, and you will find yourself routing for them as their misadventures get progressively worse and worse. I had a blast watching Man Up and I appreciated that it stuck to its romantic comedy guns and overcame the tropes and cliches that normally weigh down movies like this. You will love it.
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Bowfinger
I love Bowfinger. It is hilarious, smart and features a great Eddie Murphy performance. You will love every second of this fun little comedy and I guarantee you will be quoting it for years to come. We here at MFF love the movie so much we’ve gone out of our way to trumpet how great it is. Read this post that Leavengood wrote about the final fight scene.
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The Look of Silence
The Look of Silence is one of the highest rated critic/audience films of the 21st century (check out the list) and I guarantee you will never forget it. This documentary is urgent, beautiful and unsettling. You won’t soon forget the film and I think it is a must watch for cinephiles. Joshua Oppenheimer is a filmmaker to watch, and I can’t believe he got such close access to Indonesian death-squad leaders.
Movies, Films & Flix 