Tuesday, August 11, 2015

“Obscurities and Abject Pandering: What You’re Missing on NETFLIX”


“Obscurities and Abject Pandering: What You’re Missing on NETFLIX”

NEW ARRIVALS

Horror/Foreign/Comedy

WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD
(2014, NR, 98 minutes, GUERILLA FILMS/IFC)

 

Watch enough zombie movies, and your brain gets a bit overloaded. But give a bunch of crazy Australians some cameras, two-thousand gallons of fake blood, and way too many energy drinks, and you get WYRMWOOD. Thank you, crazy Australians. This film isn’t just overflowing with gore and mayhem, but the premise is pretty farfetched, too. Oh screw it, the whole zombie premise is a bit out there, but this one exceeds the usual. Falling asteroids bring about a zombie plague, and a man goes off in search of his sister. The problem is that regular fossil fuels have become inert, for some unknown reason. But zombies are now a renewable energy source…who’d a thunk it? To say any more would give away too much, although there is a crazy Australian scientist. And the best use of a K.C. and the Sunshine Band song in any zombie movie. EVER.

Documentary

LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU
(2014, NR—probably an “R”, 97 minutes, SEVERIN FILMS)


You don’t have to be a fan of Stanley’s DOCTOR MOREAU, or even had to have seen the film, to understand the insanity lurking at the fringes of this documentary. The insanity is Stanley himself, and the Evil Hollywood Machine which swallows him whole. This terribly in-depth film shows you, through footage and interviews, how one man’s surreal and totally mental vision got hijacked by evil actors, evil producers, and an evil hurricane. And a horny midget. Must not forget the horny midget… It is funny, alarming, and, at times, downright hysterical. Watch this to see how crappy movies are made, but enjoy it for what it teaches you: how NOT to become part of the Evil Hollywood Machine.

Drama/Comedy/Independent

THE SKELETON TWINS
(2014, R, 93 minutes, VENTURE FORTH)


Starring “Saturday Night Live” alums Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, this tight little dramedy centers on the familial relationship between two siblings, and the struggle they face to fix their broken selves. Hader plays the gay “Milo” with thought and a depth you wouldn’t expect from the comedian for his first dramatic role. You do get to see his comedic chops on display, but you never get the feeling he is playing one of his characters from TV. He is more honest here, more vulnerable, than you are used to seeing him. And Wiig is even better. To try and describe her performance here—well, suffice to say, I just ain’t smart enough to pull that off convincingly. She goes from sexy to mousy to remorseful so quickly you forget you are watching the same woman that played the creepy girl with tiny hands on “Saturday Night”.

New Release DON’Ts:

WELCOME TO ME, starring Wiig, is a boring mess. She does a good enough job with what she is given, but you cannot help but think this is one of her characters from “Saturday Night”. A crazy girl wins the lottery and buys her own TV show. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

KILL ME THREE TIMES isn’t so much horrible as it is disappointing. Simon Pegg is an assassin following his mark around town as other people, for other reasons, try to kill her. Pegg has three funny moments, but the rest of the movie feels like an Australian version of BLOOD SIMPLE—and it really misses the mark.

Make up a queue kids, and put me to work! Suggestions are always welcome, and there are a few in the works for the weeks ahead. But I’m always up to new challenges!

T.S. Kummelman

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