ernestsavesxmas

For a movie that starts out so political-seeming, albeit in the Brain Candy mold (think environmentalism and celebrity instead of the pharmaceutical industry and happiness) it's amazing how this turns out to be about nothing. Nothing happens that isn't in direct service to a particular joke. And while the plot is concrete and not difficult to follow, the action scene to scene is scattered and constantly mutating (no pun intended). This movie has no agenda outside of attempting to make you laugh. And let's face it, the goofs run the gamut in terms of being funny, horribly dated or just plain too weird. But it's that last point that makes this film noteworthy. It's not quite like anything I can recall. The practical effects (and the occasional early digital ones) and set/costume design are phenomenal in that wonderful 90s kind of way. They truly spared no expense on the final gigantic monster mutations. To what end this is trying to say anything, or even holds up as comedy, is secondary to all that. If you are checking this out in 2020, its visual style is most likely the reason why. That said, as a comedy, it is of an ilk that no longer exists. That joke-a-minute, pop culture skewering romp which isn't directly parodying a certain thing: they don't make these anymore. (I don't know if that's good or bad; just interesting, perhaps). And that final goof with the cactus shadow? Surprisingly nuanced and terrific.

I've been taking notes when I watch films at home recently and my final entry for the last of trilogy stories in this anthology was: "No idea on this one. Ha ha. Why did I take notes?" And that sums it up nicely, I feel. This is as comically bad as you've probably heard. I was planning on watching it eventually but made it a priority when I saw Red Letter Media had given it a 60-minute video. To echo some of their thoughts: I agree, it's mostly worth a watch for the lolz. But it's not on par with the great bad movies. Too many boring stretches that can't be saved by the copious naked ladies, which--if you thought Danzig had a weird, unhealthy relationship with women before...

I found the first entry to be the best of the bunch, mostly for those eyeballs but also for all the bad French accents. You could make a case for #2 with all its truly bad dialogue and acting, its nonsensical plot and so on, but those overlong stripper sequences took me out of it. And what can you say about that final story? The less the better perhaps. (The first two are probably solid 8s or low 9s, and the finale's a low 5 at best, so let's split the difference on the overall score.)

In closing, Danzig is a legend and one of the most underrated and influential musicians of all-time. The Misfits, to me, are the best punk band ever, sonically speaking at least. This wonderful failure of a passion project is just that. A dozen more crap films isn't going to change my opinion of him as an artist, and honestly I'd watch every single one.

A perfectly fine and totally watchable coming of age / buddy road romp / odd couple riff. Firmly a part of an era which has been / still is very unkind for comedy. Doing its best to not offend but still, somehow, against all odds, be edgy. The lead actors (Tony Revolori, Jason Mantzoukas) have great chemistry and are very good in this overall. That it feels like it's carrying the torch for a subgenre that cannot and maybe should not exist is not at all its fault. But it's impossible not to see the shortcomings as it works inside that structure.