Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Rev. Powell]

CAT SICK BLUES (2015): A woman who's lost her YouTube-celebrity cat meets a man at a pet bereavement support group who just happens to be a cat-masked serial killer who believes he needs to kill nine women to resurrect his lost kitty. One of the oddest slashers you'll ever see, it's brutal, verging on vile, for most of the runtime, then takes a turn towards Miike's "Audition" at the end. Hard to predict whether anyone will love or hate this, but it's definitely different. 2.5/5.

[M.10rda]

Any onscreen cat-death? 

[M.10rda]

FREAKS OF NATURE (2015):
Humans, vampires, and zombies all cohabitate in an uneasy and inequitable truce in a small suburban town run by Trump-like megalomaniac bully Denis Leary - until extraterrestrials show up, first turning the town's inhabitants against each other in (all-out, splattery) class warfare, then uniting them at last against a common foe. For about 40 minutes FREAKS OF NATURE fires on all cylinders and appears to be a really sharp-witted, mean, weird sci-fi/horror satire like they used to make 'em in the 80s. The benchmark is set about 5 minutes in by Keegan-Michael Key delivering a truly hilarious extended set-piece as a vampire English teacher who's deeply disgruntled after 91 years on the job. There are a bunch of laughs after that, too, and then things get bloody, and then, roughly midway through, the movie decides its a heartfelt romance/character drama  and then in the final stretch it just takes several quite dumb turns. 

Besides Leary and Key, there are plenty of good actors onscreen, including star Nicholas Braun from "Succession", who makes a reasonable male lead in spite of his distracting height; Mackenzie Davis (from BLACK MIRROR: SAN JUNIPERO) as a lithe and charming love interest; Josh Fadem (TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN) as an abused nerd w/ a chip on his shoulder; Joan Cusack (looking great) and Bob Odenkirk (funny as always) as Braun's parents; Mae Whitman playing a zombie girl as a young person with developmental disabilities; Vanessa Hudgens trying to shake off her Disney roots as a filthy slut; Rachael Harris, oddly brunette as the nerd's mom; Ed Westwick from "Gossip Girl", who is kind of a crap actor but does his part by looking exactly like Pattinson in the "Twilight" movies; priceless Patton Oswalt for about 3 very funny minutes midway through; and, incredibly, Werner Herzog in a surprise cameo at the end. I mention Herzog even though his appearance is kind of a spoiler, as there's no other good reason to endure FREAKS OF NATURE until the ending except to enjoy his one-of-a-kind delivery. All the actors deserve better.

My biggest gripe w/ FON is that it pulls no punches when it comes to the bad guys' cruel abuse of the protagonists early on, but then at the end those vile characters either get somewhat punished but then redeemed (the nerd's father and brother) or get let entirely off the hook (Leary). The movie isn't making any point about injustice or lack of accountability - it seems to just be pulling some lame eleventh-hour Dickensian change-of-heart bull$#!t. I wish FREAKS OF NATURE was a lot smarter than it ends up being.    3/5    But it does have some real laughs in the early going.

[Rev. Powell]

Any onscreen cat-death? 

Yes, at least two I recall (faked, of course, once quite absurdly).

[M.10rda]

Well that's a hard pass then. Thanks for the warning.

[M.10rda]

BACK STAGE (1919):
Another hit from the House of Arbuckle, w/ Roscoe, Buster, and Al playing members of an inept theatre company. The plot begins slowly and overall BACK STAGE feels longer (it is - 26 minutes) and more drawn out than other Arbuckle joints of the era - but there are some truly impressive bits that distinguish BACK STAGE from OUT WEST or MOONSHINE. A clever visual gag early on - where a promo for the theater is inadvertently revised - pays off as a plot point and additional punchline in the final third.

BACK STAGE also has a central romantic plot that actually drives the conflict, with a Strongman arriving at the theater for a gig and Roscoe drawn to the brute's abused girlfriend. The Strongman, played by the physically impressive Charles A. Post, is a big jerk to begin with, but once Roscoe makes eyes at his girl he becomes a full-blown psychotic menace. Post is significantly taller than Roscoe (a big guy) and looks about twice as tall as little Buster. There are two surprisingly violent fight sequences, one midway and one at the end, where the Strongman is literally trying to murder the girlfriend and everyone who works at the theater, and Roscoe and Buster and Al don't hesitate to reciprocate w/ equal force. This level of bloodlust isn't unheard of in this era of Arbuckle but man, he and Keaton were never funnier than when they were unleashing lethal force on foes. There's a handgun, an enormous freeweight, electricity, an axe, and a trunk full of sandbags - and much of the action looks totally unsafe.  Buster does perhaps the most impressive work I've seen from him yet, swinging from the stage to the balcony and back and performing a couple of crazy flying kick-attacks on the strongman. Okay, Arbuckle's Auteurist films have made me a Buster Believer. Buster was truly the silent era's Jackie Chan. The guy's amazing - moreso than in the films I've seen that he directed himself!

Good for Roscoe for putting Buster to great use. They clearly liked each other. Roscoe literally throws Buster around like a ragdoll during a ballet routine. "Fatty" also dances agilely and [SPOILER WARNING] gets the girl at the end. Priceless stuff.   4/5