Kung Fury is Nostalgic '80s Action/Comedy Done Right
It's common to hear about Kickstarter campaigns gone awry for a multitude of reasons, especially in regards to independent films. However, a year and a half after its own campaign ended, Kung Fury was finally publicly released yesterday afternoon. Kung Fury gained popularity during its funding period thanks to its dedication to an over-exaggerated '80s aesthetic and enthusiasm you can only find by the most passionate artists.
Kung Fury could have been a mess. Many similar films sometimes focus too much on the "gimmick" and lose sight of creating an entertaining, fully-realized film in lieu of being as ridiculous as possible. Kung Fury has such moments, like a CGI T-Rex play fighting with a mecha golden eagle. However, Kung Fury is greater than the sum of its parts. Finally, a well-made Kickstarter film that actually lives up to the hype!
It's not everyday that a Kickstarter-funded film premieres at Cannes, yet that's what Kung Fury did earlier this month, paving the way for the next wave of indie films. There've been talks and discussion of adapting Kung Fury into a feature-length film, and while I don't think the short alone would be able to sustain a 90-minute film, it would nevertheless be a great opportunity to director/actor David Sandberg and his production team.
Watch Kung Fury below and let us know what you think! If you can't get enough from Kung Fury, you can check out the special Kung Fury-inspired video for David Hasselhoff's "True Survivor."
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[Red Band Trailer] Ted 2 (NSFW)
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Ted was a pleasant surprise when it premiered in theaters in 2012, grossing nearly $250m worldwide and garnering decent critical reception. Beyond the critical and commercial success was writer/director Seth MacFarlane's ability to prove that his brand of humor can, in fact, translate well to the big screen. However, A Million Ways to Die in the West, MacFarlane's sophomore feature, didn't do nearly as well commercially or critically, proving that the sophomore slump is, in fact, real.
As the saying goes, third time's the charm, and if this official Red Band trailer for Ted 2 is any indication, MacFarlane and company are ready to prove themselves again. Ted 2 picks up where Ted left off with Ted (MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) ready to start a family. However, given Ted's status as a teddy bear, both he and John (Mark Wahlberg) must fight for his civil rights to prove that he's a living person, thanks to the help of lawyer Samantha L. Jackson (Amanda Seyfried).
The Red Band trailer shows off more of the same humor you come to expect from MacFarlane, for better or worse. There are some gems that not only push the envelope, but do so in a legitimately funny way (unlike this spring's bomb, Get Hard). Keen observers will also note that Mila Kunis' character, Lori, doesn't appear in the trailer and won't be in the film. Regardless, Ted 2 should be a hit for Seth MacFarlane fans when it comes to theaters on June 26th.
[Review] Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents
Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents
Director: Don Hardy
Rating: N/A
Release Date: April 19, 2015 (CIMM Fest)
After receiving rave reviews at SXSW this year, Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents came highly recommended for it's CIMM Fest (Chicago International Movie and Music Fest) screening. So who are The Residents?, this is the question that the film tries to answer, but the answer doesn't come easy. Stemming from a group of creative misfits from Shreveport, La., drawn to and discovered in the San Francisco Bay Area around 1970, they’re a band, they're filmmakers, artists, pop culture historians, they’re a permanent exhibit at MOMA, and they have managed to stay completely anonymous until now.
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Unknown to many, Theory of Obscurity does a good job digging deep into The Residents' story as director Don Hardy managed to interview many well known industry folks as testament to their history and lasting influence. There are also former collaborators (musicians and artists), most famously including Penn Jilette, sharing their personal experiences with The Residents. Interviews also include long time band affiliates, including Primus, Devo, Ween, Simpson's creator Matt Groening, and countless fans, explaining how and why this group came to be so influential to them.
Another huge part of the film is on the The Cryptic Corporation, The Residents’ management company, formed in the early 70's to oversee and manage all of their work. Founders of the Cryptic Corporation speak quite a bit about the band’s business and their own involvement. Altogether, the film is about art. It's is a quirky and often comedic form of story telling on how a collective group of people remained anonymous for 40 years, and how they came to be part pop culture history, still touring the world today.
[Review] Paddington
If you've heard of Paddington, it's probably thanks to the 'creepy Paddington' meme which popped up following the movie's ill-received first trailer. There's no denying that Paddington looks a bit uncanny valley thanks to CGI which isn't always up to the expected modern standard, but it would be a great shame were it to put people off seeing the movie, which unexpectedly proves one of the funniest and most charming family releases in some time.
Big screen adaptations of beloved childhood stories and characters have not traditionally gone well outside a few happy exceptions, and those familiar with Michael Bond's sweet but slight series of books and the 1975 series of 5-minute shorts (easily found these days on YouTube) would have good reason for doubing whether the material was a suitable fit for extending to feature length. Those doubts are quickly dispelled by the movie getting its first big laugh within a minute of starting, riffing on the Victorian trope of the gentleman explorer in an opening which amounts to a sort of reverse Up!. It establishes the tone neatly and concisely, allowing the gags and set-pieces to build on each other and create a nicely balanced comic rhythm that gives the best jokes enough time to stand out and discarding weaker material before it can become a problem.
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Paddington
Director: Paul King
Rating: PG
Release Date: January 16th 2015
King puts to good use his previous experience as director on cult surrealist comedy The Mighty Boosh to good use in creating a London at once familar but fantastical, enlivened by bold colour contrasts and a keen eye for bringing out the character of each area of the city. As the story of a young bear who travels to the big city in search of a new home, Paddington wears its themes about immigration and integration on its sleeve, revelling in the flavours and textures of an urban melting pot of cultures and ethnicities bound by a very English affection for the eccentric. It's a wonderfully inclusive portrayal which doesn't preach, but instead offers an arresting vision of the best possible version of what such a city could look like. It is just about the most English thing you'll ever see, right down to an entirely positive delight at cross-dressing humour, which inexplicably earnt the movie a higher age rating and proved the censors less open-minded than the movie they were assessing.
That eternal positivity is what defines Paddington more than anything else. Despite one early misstep, caving to the misconception that children's movies are seemingly obligated to have at least one sad thing happen, the movie's refusal to surrender itself to cynicism or sneering irony is a welcome relief. Pop culture references are few and far between, with the only really prominent one a visual gag played to absolute perfection in the final act, and even the threat of Nicole Kidman's villainous taxidermist is played almost entirely for laughs, right down to her receiving a beautifully humiliating comeuppance.
Paddington himself is a perfect translation of Michael Bond's creation, curious and clumsy but polite and well-intentioned to a fault. The CGI may be a bit wonky at times - a frankly terrifying CGI chihuahua turns up halfway through - but does good work visually conveying the character's personality, matched by Ben Whishaw's immediately winning vocal work. On the human side, anyone who has seen Happy Go Lucky will know Sally Hawkins' ability to radiate pure wide-eyed joy, put to wonderfully sweet and funny use as the free-spirited matriarch of the Brown family. Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey plays her officious husband (graceful writing makes it clear why and how much they love each other, despite the gulf in personalities) and gets no shortage of opportunities to put his gift for straight-faced humour to excellent use. Even the Brown family children are sufficiently well-drawn to be ingratiating rather than grating, and while Julie Walters and Peter Capaldi are sadly not given enough to do despite their valiant efforts, there are strong cameos from Matt King (Super Hans from Peep Show) and Jim Broadbent in particular as a kindly antique shop owner with a love of train sets and afternoon tea.
Paddington is one of those rare movies which comes out of nowhere to prove a complete joy. From its boundless enthusiasm for a perfectly timed bear pun - including a sat-nav joke which still makes me laugh just to remember it - and relentless optimism in people's essential good natures and ability to form bonds with even the unlikeliest of strangers, it is childish in all the best ways and sufficiently confident in its tone not to need to segregate its humour between younger and older viewers. 2015 got off to a bleak start in the real world, making Paddington a welcome infusion of unapologetic joy and silliness in dark times.
[Review] Friended to Death
Do you ever have them nights where you're sitting around, hanging with your boys Ben and Jerry, and question everything in your life? No? Oh yeah, me neither... Anyway, for those of you who may have, perhaps you thought about a lot of things, like "Why aren't any of my friends texting me?" or "Should I order pizza too or is that too extreme?" Maybe you even thought deeper down into a dark place where you grow a curiosity for the hypothetical. In this state, you may have thought about death, but did it ever cross your mind to think about who would be at your funeral? Friended to Death, the latest dark comedy from Sarah Smick and Ian Michaels, tells the tale of a man who goes to extreme lengths via Facebook to find out. While it may not have been the most amazing comedy to be put on the market, I found an appreciation for the lighthearted nature of a topic that could be taken down an extremely serious route.
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Friended to Death
Director: Sarah Smick
Rating: R
Release Date: May 2, 2014
Michael Harris (Ryan Hansen) is a ticket-crazy Los Angeles parking enforcement officer who is just as obsessed about posting his ticketing adventures on Facebook as he is about administering tickets. What seems like a perfect day for him turns into a downward spiral with unemployment and the loss of a very good friend. However, Michael isn't the kind of guy to do nothing about this. With the help of friend Emile (James Immekus), he creates an alter ego of sorts using Facebook, the one thing he trusts the most in order to gain back the attention of Joel (Zach McGowan), the friend who left him to bite the dust. For a man who seems to be extreme, it only seems appropriate that he would go to the length of faking his own death in order to see who actually cares about him.
If you're looking for a comedy that will keep you laughing out loud to the point where you can't breathe and you regret buying popcorn because now you're choking on that, you probably won't get that out of this. Regardless, it should be kept in mind that that wasn't the goal of this film. It's very tounge-in-cheek, and I appreciate the cheesiness that emulates from it. With a character as ridiculous as Michael, it's not something that is supposed to be taken seriously, and I think it is a nice way of bringing to light a big social media addiction that seems to be rising up around the world.
This was Sarah Smick's first feature length directing gig, and I think that she was able to capture this character's ridiculousness and antiheroism in a way that left you somewhat pitying and relating to him on a level. I think that's a pretty impressive task considering not too many of us would go to the lengths this character did to pretend he is no longer alive. Talking about the cinematography, I think the colors are awesome. It's a very vibrant, cinematic film, and it really does justice to adding to this 94 minute satire. No, you won't see wild angles that have never been done before, but why would that be the point of making this anyway? I really think that the coloring of this contributed to this film in a very refreshing manner.
While I thought that the film was nice in its lighthearted selections, there was a point in the film in which I was kind of twiddling my thumbs because I was almost too annoyed by this guy's antics. It felt like he was going on with this for too long of a portion of the film. If there were to be improvements made, I would hope for a really big curveball that would seem impossible for him to get out of. This isn't to say that I didn't find enjoyment from watching how this all works out for Michael, but I think something needed to save me from my impatience.
Overall, I would definitely say that this film captured the light I was expecting to feel from it. Poking fun at the issues that many people are facing everywhere when it comes to social media and its addictive qualities, I would say it is just a film defending something I really like to rant about. I hope to see more from Sarah Smick and Ian Michaels as they create more movies, and I think they will only get better over time.
[Interview] Sarah Smick and Ian Michaels (Friended to Death)
Friended to Death is a dark comedy that embraces the age old curiosity of who would show up at your funeral if you were to die. Although, this creation from Sarah Smick and Ian Michaels encompasses this question in a whole new light: What if you were to fake your death so you could find out? A story about a man whose reliance on social media might just be a little extreme, the film is light hearted in a sense, regardless of its drive from multiple antiheroes. I was fortunate enough to get to interview Sarah and Ian and find out what it was like for them to work on this feature length film together!
[Review] Fading Gigolo
When I write my reviews, I feel as if it seems like I hate most romantic movies. However, that definitely isn’t true; rather I had yet the opportunity to see something recent and noteworthy in this genre. Without a doubt there remains a very simple essence to these kinds of films, and I dread the kind of movies that drag out the predictable end. I am a firm believer that good cinema exists in every genre. It’s only by those who can challenge the normal standards who will find progression. Fading Gigolo, with John Turturro and Woody Allen, maybe follows somewhat of a formula, but each scene describes the essence of just what it’s like to find your soulmate with the utilization of original thought and idea.
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Fading Gigolo
Director: John Turturro
Rating: R
Release Date: April 18, 2014
Fiorvante (Turturro) agrees to becoming quite the Don Juan due to his lack of financial sources after Murray (Allen), who is also an older man was just looking for a bit of cash. The attraction of women into this industry was simple enough with the charm of a few of Woody’s kind words, and his capability to get them to tell their darkest desires put him in line to be Fiorvante’s own “manager” or “pimp” of sorts. Like most things, though, money can’t buy a person love, and the pair finds themselves caught in between the cross fire of both the desire for money and love.
I thought this movie was absolutely beautiful. Turturro nailed every little detail about the film. A movie full of sex, lust, and love, it seemed only appropriate that the cinematography be utilized in order to keep the overall color of the film a sensual, sunset-like tone. And the soundtrack was perfect as well, for each song properly captured that optimistic feeling of the fall and dating around in New York City. The acting was impeccable as well. Woody Allen and John Turturros’ characters just bounce off of each other with an undeniable chemistry, where as the females in the film (Vanessa Paradis, Sharon Stone, and Sofia Vergara) have a fantastic delivery of their roles as well. I think that the film took the essence of something so seemingly simple and made it its own with such ease, and it’s hard to not like the slight charm throughout.
As much as I loved this movie, there are a few things that could use a few improvements. The biggest issue I noticed, however, was the seemingly abrupt ending. Now, I have no intention on spoiling it, but the final minutes of the film were the least expected. Sometimes surprise is nice, but little to no support as to why Turturro chose to end it how he did left a lot of viewers, including myself, wondering why he went down the route that he did. All of this aside, I think that the filmmaker’s project has evolved into something that can be remembered well by all of those who get the chance to see it.
[Review] Bad Words
Jason Bateman isn’t exactly an actor on the up-and-coming. With successful television series Arrested Development and other films like Horrible Bosses and Up In the Air, he’s definitely already made a name for himself that has a pretty strong following. Bad Words, however, is his first step into directing a feature length film, and I must say that this comedy full of quick wit and, well, bad words was an enjoyable movie worth seeing if in need of a few laughs.
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Bad Words
Director: Jason Bateman
Rating: R
Release Date: March 14, 2014 (limited)
Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) is introduced as a 40-year-old man in the crowd at The Golden Quill National Spelling Bee competition. As an adult in an environment that is intended for the thriving of kids, it is believed that he’s a parent of one of the competitors until he steps up onto the stage. While his enrollment in the tournament doesn’t go uncontested, he proves his right to be up there competing by finding a few loopholes in the rule book. Without giving much of a reason as to why he’s doing this, parents are becoming enraged for the sake that their children won’t have a fair chance in the competition. He isn’t alone in this though. Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn) is a journalist following Trilby from competition to competition in the hope that she will catch the moment in which the estranged man reveals his real reasons for competition as he escalates higher and higher in the tournament. Along with her is young Chaitanya Chopra (Rohand Chand), a young boy that is completely unfazed by Guy’s choice to be a loner in life and forms a bond with the man after much persistence to be friends.
I went to this film without knowing too much about it other than a faint memory of seeing the trailer just a few months earlier, but what little expectations I had were not let down whatsoever. It’s full of quick wit and great comebacks from Bateman’s asshole of a character, and there was rarely a scene in which I wasn’t laughing. Trilby doesn’t have any intent on befriending anyone as an adult at this grade school competition, but the non-stop efforts of young, fellow competitor Chaitanya Chopra to be friends with Guy has a great impact on the humor displayed in the film. Most of the jokes are from the things that Bateman says to this naïve kid and the situations he puts them both into. In fact, the overall inappropriateness of the whole film is the driving force of this comedy, and I enjoy the seemingly mature level of immaturity that this movie took on.
I truthfully don’t have too many complaints about what I was privileged to watch. This wasn’t a comedy that changed my life forever, and I don’t see it doing any better in theaters than any other average comedy that has been put onto the market. Regardless, it was a genuinely easy viewing that kept me laughing throughout it’s entire duration, and I feel like it accomplished its goals.
Everyone in the cast put in some of their best effort for this production. Bateman is excellent at playing this person who is seemingly one of the worst human beings in existence, and his minimal evolution of a character was executed perfectly. Kathryn Hahn also brings some hilarity through her determination and underlying loneliness in the film. Allison Janney is great in comedic roles, but her character, Dr. Bernice Deagan, is the director of the spelling bee and remains serious while she’s featured.
2014 seems to be stacked with a bunch of comedies to look forward to seeing, with a lot of them coming out in late spring. Bad Words is no exception to my anticipation of a string of good laughs to come. The plot line, while predictable, was simple and easy to follow. It wasn't created to change the world of comedy, and it was an equal balance of hilarity that works that made the film just right for pure enjoyment. I don't have a dying urge to see it in theaters once again, but I probably wouldn't contest it if someone were to pop it into the DVD player on another night. If you're in need of a good laugh and have nothing better to do, I would definitely confirm that seeing this movie is worth getting into theaters to see.