A great mix of trash and passed-over quality (unless you count the NZ International Film Festival sessions) heads straight to home video this month. Here are our tips to films that rightly or wrongly skipped cinemas but are worth considering from your couch, armchair, bean bag or other posture-enhancing, posterior-supporting device during October…
Aftershock
In a Nutshell: Horror director Eli Roth co-writes, co-produces and stars in this tale of American dudes on a nightclubbing trip through Chile, only to be caught in a massive earthquake. Surviving the quake is only the beginning though, as they find themselves stranded in a devastated foreign city with a total breakdown of law and order.
The Buzz: 37% on Rotten Tomatoes from 46 critics. Variety call the film “a hectic, sometimes hilarious guilty pleasure that should delight genre geeks”; the Hollywood Reporter reckons “Aftershock‘s best attribute is the disregard it shows for the safety of its central “heroes” who perish in brutal and generally unexpected ways”; and USA Today disgustedly sermonises “it’s hard to imagine just who would want to sit through this movie, given the sadistic mayhem the audience is subjected to”.
Reason to Watch: To see basically the same bad things happening to tourists as in basically every other Eli Roth film.
Released: Wednesday October 2nd
The Paperboy
In a Nutshell: Steamy 1960s Florida is the setting for this tale of two investigative journalist brothers (Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey) delving into the case of a convicted cop-killer (John Cusack) whose innocence they’ve been persuaded of by a death row groupie (Nicole Kidman). Over-the-top, sexually and racially charged, The Paperboy competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2012, and was director Lee Daniels’ follow-up to Precious.
The Buzz: 43% from 138 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert says “The Paperboy is great trash, and as Pauline Kael told us, the movies are so seldom great art that if we can’t appreciate great trash, we might as well not go at all”. The Miami Herald, in a bit of a spoiler, notes “this one has it all: sex, violence, torture, incest, jellyfish attacks, telekinetic masturbation, Nicole Kidman peeing on Zac Efron and a gator gutted in revolting close-up”.
Reason to Watch: Hang on, didn’t you read that Miami Herald quote?
Released: Wednesday October 9th
Sharknado
In a Nutshell: What rock have you been living under? It’s about a tornado with sharks in it. A Sharknado!
The Buzz: 85% from 13 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Daily News says “Sharknado is an hour and a half of your life that you’ll never get back. And you won’t want to.”; the Los Angeles Times sagely notes “Oh sure, it’s easy to pick holes in a story about a weather system that makes it possible for sharks to fly and take to the streets, but that’s the whole point of movies like this: fabulous in-home commentary”.
Reason to Watch: It’s about a tornado with sharks in it!
Released: Wednesday October 9th
Best Man Down
In a Nutshell: Justin Long (Going the Distance) and Jess Weixler (Teeth) star in this comedic drama as a newlywed couple whose ceremonious day is abruptly ended when the groom’s drunken best man Lumpy dies shortly afterwards. Having to cancel their honeymoon plans, they travel to Midwest America to make funeral arrangements, only to find out that Lumpy wasn’t the man he seemed to be.
The Buzz: There isn’t any so far…
Reason to Watch: You could be the first person to review it.
Released: Thursday October 10th
The Shooter (Skytten)
In a Nutshell: This reportedly slick and polished Danish thriller sees an activist and former marksman (Kim Bodnia, Pusher and TV’s The Bridge) begin a campaign of assassinations when a newly elected government goes back on its promises and teams up with the United States to drill for oil in the Arctic. From the director of TV’s Borgen, remaking the Danish original from 1977.
The Buzz: It’s been hard to find any info in English. Or an English trailer for that matter.
Reason to Watch: The Danes have been turning out some of the best TV thrillers. Let’s see the cinematic version.
Released: Thursday October 10th
Mud
In a Nutshell: Coming-of-age drama seen through the eyes of two boys – Ellis and Neckbone – who discover and befriend a charismatic fugitive named Mud (Matthew McConaughey), hiding on an island on the Mississippi. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), co-starring Reese Witherspoon and Michael Shannon.
The Buzz: A whopping 98% from 158 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The Los Angeles Times calls Mud “one of the most creatively rich and emotionally rewarding movies to come along this year”; Rolling Stone says “what you do need to know is that the acting is top-tier all the way. McConaughey, on a career roll, is magnificent.”
Reason to Watch: In our review we said it continues Nichols’ “perfect record of outstanding cinema”.
Released: Wednesday October 16th
Reissue of the month:
Fear and Desire
In a Nutshell: The legendary Stanley Kubrick’s first feature film, dating back to 1953, is a wartime tale of four soldiers stranded behind enemy lines and trying to evade capture. It was also a source of embarrassment for Kubrick, who called it a “bumbling amateur film exercise”, doing his best to prevent it being shown in subsequent years and apparently buying up any available prints. Virtually unseen, this reissue is mastered in HD from archival 35mm elements newly restored by the Library of Congress.
The Buzz: 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from 10 reviews. The Village Voice advise viewers “treat it like a wobbly, precocious demo from a 24-year-old with mighty aspirations, filled with hints of what he would become, and you’ll be properly enthralled”; The New York Times says “if Fear and Desire is uneven and sometimes reveals an experimental rather than a polished exterior, its over-all effect is entirely worthy of the sincere effort put into it”.
Reason to Watch: If we learned anything from Room 237, the documentary about The Shining, it’s that Kubrick is a conniving liar, up to fiendish things. So hiding this movie from us must have been some kind of master plan, thwarted by its home video release.
Released: Thursday October 10th
