Tag: Comedy

Death in Paradise Season 13

Death in Paradise Season 13 finished with a bit of a whimper.
Death In Paradise s12,06-01-2023,Generics,Generics,(L-R) Darlene Curtis (GINNY HOLDER), Marlon Pryce (TAHJ MILES), DI Neville Parker (RALF LITTLE), Naomi Thomas (SHANTOL JACKSON), Commisioner Selwyn Patterson (DON WARRINGTON), Catherine Bordey (ELIZABETH BOURGINE),Red Planet Pictures,Denis Guyenon

Death in Paradise Season 13 finished with a bit of a whimper. Neville finally chooses the right path. After vacillating about just who he is in love with, the DI picks DS Cassell (Joséphine Jobert) to be his partner. The couple then leave St Marie to travel the world.

Together.

Wait how many

A little bit of shifting around took place, while Florence waited for Neville to make up his mind. Marlon gets a job in Jamaica so he can watch over his little sister. And while Cassell first shows up as a familiar face, it was not long before another “blast from the past” Officer Dwayne Myers Danny John-Jules makes an appearance.

Another face from previous seasons also arrives in Jamaica to give the commissioner a hand getting Marlon hired on. JP Hooper (Tobi Bakare) appears in a “blink and you’ll miss him” cameo.

Season 13 had one other arrival from a previous season. Zoe arrives to see if she can breathe some life into the failed relationship with Neville. She arrives just as DS Cassell returns to the tropic island.

Sailing into the sunset

While Death in Paradise does not exactly allow both Marlon and the new couple Parker and Florence to sail off into the sunset, this trio does leave. DI Parker takes on his most baffling case. He manages to solve the missing passenger issue and then goes on to decide just where he and Cassell stand. Marlon heads to Jamaica and now we must wait to see who the new DI will be.

Pundits favour Simon Bird and from the outside looking in, he does seem a perfect fit. There have been no signs of a deal here, but he would make a refreshing change from four seasons of Ralf Little. Don’t get me wrong, he was alright in the role, but he did somewhat overstay his welcome.

hello I must be going

Throughout the 13 seasons of Death in Paradise each time a new Detective Inspector arrived, he left rather quickly. Ben Miller, the first and, arguably, the best detective on the island, was murdered in the first episode of season 3. So it was exit stage left, feetfirst.

Kris Marshall flew in to solve his predecessor’s murder and hung around from season 3 to season 6. I will admit to having a bit of prejudice with Marshall. He was brilliant in My Family and darn near stole Love Actually as the overly optimistic Brit who came to America for the birds.

Ardal O’Hanlon was next. Another favorite first spotted in the splendid comedy Father Ted. He lasted from season 6 to 9. His replacement was Ralf Little who just left the series.

All this movement of good actors who each brought something to their role felt a bit like the Groucho Marx song from Animal Crackers (1930) “Hurrah for Captain Spaulding.” They were no sooner settled than they had to leave.

*Video courtesy of Catherine Thompson via YouTube*

One thing is certain however, whether Simon Bird gets the nod to be the next DI or not, Death in Paradise may well continue for quite a while. American viewers can watch the show via Britbox – all the seasons and on Pluto TV seasons 1 through 6.

Death in Paradise may have let DI Parker exit softly with the love of his life, but the final episode was an interesting take on the “locked room” scenario. And that whimper, was really just a romantic gesture after all.

Doll It Up (2018) Love With Plastic is Fantastic – Not

All images courtesy of Timothy J Cox

Doll It Up could have been called “Living Doll,” or “Love With Plastic is Fantastic – Not.” Written and directed by Yalan Hu, this is a short tale, around 7 minutes, of love and pain…and latex, it is funny. There is also some drama, but really only when one looks closely at the whole relationship vibe that Gunther exudes.

Twice.

Synopsis

Gunther (played to hilarious perfection by Timothy J Cox) is attempting to celebrate his three year anniversary with Natalie. While he eats, Gunther expresses his dissatisfaction with their relationship. After dinner ends, the “couple” engage in the bedroom. It is an unsatisfactory end to their evening, or at the very least, to Gunther’s.

He decides to find a new wife and discards Natalie like yesterday’s plastic grocery bag. Sadly, his ex seemingly has no intention of leaving Gunther. His new wife, also proves to be less than he had imagined.

Imagination

It is clear that Gunther has what can be termed as an overactive imagination. Or, conversely, someone with a few screws loose. Once his new mail-order wife arrives, he is insulted when the postman makes lewd remarks about his package.

This is a brilliantly imagined world where a number of men have issues with real women and relationships. Hu seems to be making a humorous point here. In this world we live in, sex has become a tenuous thing. What with gender issues becoming the norm and people turning to a more insular lifestyle, starting a relationship with a real man/woman is darned difficult.

Having a plastic/latex doll as a wife/girlfriend may just be the answer to marital bliss.

However.

It would take more than imagination to make this work. Perhaps, just perhaps, mind you, having a few screws loose would help to embrace this cold girlfriend/lover/wife.

All images courtesy of Timothy J Cox

If we look at Hu’s story here she seems to be saying most, if not all, men prefer a silent partner when it comes to sex.

Those Eyes

Not too unlike the late ’80s comedy Weekend at Bernies (A brilliant film where two guys struggle to make everyone believe that their dead boss is alive. Each shot of the dead man’s face appears to be showing a different expression.) Just as each shot of the doll’s face shows changes in their eyes. Those dolls, have really expressive eyes.

When Gunther is telling off his doll/wife her eyes look annoyed or disapproving. Her head is also slanted to left, ever so slightly. This gives us the impression that Natalie is listening to her “husband’s” unkind words.

After Gunther gets his doll divorce, his new mail order bride also has these, knowing eyes. Eyes that seem to promise so much.

comedy

The comedy in this short film is spot on. The moments where Natalie returns attempting to wreak havoc and destroy Gunther’s new relationship are excellent. This is funny.

Of course the comedy would not work if any of the crew let the side down. Thankfully, this did not happen in Doll It Up. Bailey Liu as cinematographer did an admirable job of keeping the shots tight where they needed to be.Yue Zhao as editor pieced everything together masterfully.

In fact, all of the “behind the scenes folks” did their bit to make the comedic pacing work.

Wrapping this doll up

Doll It Up is a 4.5 star short film. Hu and company deliver some brilliant stuff here. In terms of sexual content, there are two low key sex scenes. No nudity and the dialogue does not contain any “adult” language.

Hu has delivered the goods here and the film is worth checking out. Doll It Up is streaming on Vimeo.

Argylle (2024) The Long Kiss Goodnight Revisited?

Argylle (2024) A Long Kiss Goodnight Revisited?

Argylle (2024) seems a lot like The Long Kiss Goodnight revisited (1996). This latest offering from Matthew Vaughn, (Kick-Ass, Layer Cake, Kingsman: The Secret Service) felt overly familiar from the get go. It seems that a lot of other films crop up in this film somewhere.

For a start, there was the female writer of adventure stories, aka spy novels. Then Romancing the Stone (1984) overtures with more than a hint of The Lost City (2022) with Sandra Bullock playing the author. There were also those writer interactions with the scenes recently written. The newly created characters speaking to their creator and so on. Nice gimmick, funny and nice to look at but…It has been done at least once before.

Hollywood being the prince of “imitation is the best form of box office success” movie making style is well known for “borrowing” from other films. Plots appear regularly from other and older movies. We refrained from saying better as this is not always the case. Let’s face it The Lost City was just not that good.

It also feels a little like a mash up of Bullet Train (2022) and even, we hesitate to say it, just a bit like Ghosted (2023). *It should be pointed out that neither of these latter films share huge amounts of plot line. They just feel like ethereal relatives.*

Vaughn, however, has a proven track record. Out of the nine films he has directed, only Argylle has been what could be considered a misstep. As a producer, however, his reputation is not as spotless. Kick-Ass 2 for example, was excruciating to watch.

It Ain’t Bad

But honey, it is not real good either. Overall, it should have rocked that casbah. Top names, a great duo; Rockwell and Howard and an interesting plot. However all these separate parts do not add up.

The cat; Alfie seems to get lost midway through the film. This could be down to the teasers about Argylle that ran regularly before its release, it seemed that the cat was going to play a much larger role in the proceedings.

The film is fun. Sam Rockwell and Bryce Dallas Howard make a brilliant odd couple. Casting in this one was pretty much spot on. There is a chemistry between the two leads. We do have to admit, Rockwell has been a favourite since Galaxy Quest; “You have a last name Guy. I do? I do?” This was classic comedy delivered so adeptly it was beautiful.

Other characters, aside from Samuel L Jackson who could have used a lot more screen time, were well presented. Cranston, as usual, knocks his role out of the park.

Things in common

In The Long Kiss Goodnight, Geena Davis plays an amnesia sufferer who has not one clue about who she is or what her part in this world consists of. The opening of the movie has her character trying out different “roles” she may have played before losing her memory.

This kitchen scene is pure poetry. It is funny until it isn’t. Davis plays this whole thing out beautifully:

The Long Kiss Goodnight property of New Line Cinema. Video courtesy of Marty Wyatt YouTube

Elly, on the other hand, just does not remember being a spy.

While both characters share an amnesia issue, Elly has no back story here. No really good reason that she could have forgotten her past. The journey she undertakes with Aidan is not overly funny. Their trip down memory lane is more clever than amusing.

to-may-toe not to-mah-toe

Part of the problem here could be the marriage of American Writer and English Director. Jason Fuchs and Vaughn may have had issues making the two worlds meet. Or, it could well be that there are a lot of movies out there at the moment that feel, for lack of a better word, repetitive. At the very least, overly familiar.

This may not be an issue of to-mah-toe vs to-may-toe at all. Just a case of Hollywood studios running out of original material. Although it seems like Vaughn will be making another of these Argylle spy films later on.

stand out moments

John Cena’s character grabbing Dua Lipa’s fleeing spy off the back of a racing moped.

Cranston’s moment with Clementine.

The whirlybird moments.

Samuel L Jackson.

Alfie going off the roof.

Henry Cavill.

in conclusion

Argylle is fun but not worth the current price of “admission ” $25 to purchase or 20 to rent. It is a Matthew Vaughn film though, so it does entertain. We have given this one a 3.5 star rating (Out of a possible 5.) Have a look at the trailer and see if it is worth waiting for. It made us think of The Long Kiss Goodnight revisited, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Barbie (2023) Pinocchio in a Skirt?

Barbie (2023) Pinocchio in a skirt?

We may well be the only site in the world not overly enamored with the new Barbie (2023). To be blunt, it seems a lot like Pinocchio in a skirt. Apologies in advance to Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling for not getting it. Perhaps being an old white dude, just over 65, who remembers all too well, being forced to play “dolls” with all female cousins. Let’s face it, there is not too much to do as Ken in that plastic world.

Just as there was not a whole lot for Gosling’s Ken to bring to the table here. To be fair to the wooden boy we have compared this film to, the animated version and not the remake with the ubiquitous Tom Hanks as Geppetto, Barbie never voices her true wish to be a real “girl.” Whereas all the stringless puppet wants is to be a real boy

Although to be fair, towards the end of the movie where she “becomes” human, we were drifting off a bit. She could very well have clicked her heels together and said “I want to be a real girl.”

thelma & louise

Ken and Barbie doing a “Thelma & Louise.”

We really expected to at least like the film. The cast included a number of “names” on offer, up to and including John Cena as a Ken “merman.” There were bits that wore priceless. Barbie (Robbie) telling the old lady at the bus stop, complete with swollen joints and a lot of wrinkles, that she was beautiful was a special moment. The old gal agrees that she is indeed a beauty. A touching moment in a film about plastic toys.

Toy story it ain’t

Barbie is not a heartwarming and touching story about toys that have lost their owner. *Yes we are alluding to Toy Story here with Tom Hanks as Woody. Did we not just label the actor as being ubiquitous. We rest our case.*

Some of the movie just does not work. For all the hype about Barbie and the points it was scoring in a misogynistic world, the inclusion of a “woke” Will Ferrell who feels he has to put the world back in sync, was a step too far.

There were bits that were spot on: Barbie taking off her heels and those heels never touching the ground. That comes later. The shower with no running water. No tea, or coffee, in those Barbie cups. Plastic food and so on. That was clever, just not enough to push this cinematic tale onto the top shelf.

Michael Cera as Allan was funny to a point. Barbie does manage to bring up Midge, the pregnant doll who gives birth to her own baby. Mattel offered up this single mom doll in 2002. Negative publicity and moral outrage was the flavor of the day back then. Especially from the Bible belt of America.

Midge is featured in a blink and you’ll miss it cameo, of sorts. There is no real chance of moral outrage here. Times, they are a changin’ and single mothers are acceptable now. All the better to be completely empowered. Cynical attitudes aside, the film tries hard to not really offend anyone.

It’s not all about the plumbing

The nastiest thing that Barbie has to say about her unrequited male counterpart is that he has no penis. Ken, on the other hand, is a gentleman and does not bring up any additional details about his “girlfriend’s” anatomy.

Barbie has musical numbers and as a fantasy certainly is not as bad as it could have been. Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a whopping 88%. A full 5% over the audience score. The movie is apparently meta and subversive. To us, this feels a tad like The Emperor’s New Clothes. Folks are seeing what they want to see.

This is not about the plumbing or lack thereof. It is about plastic and unrealistic dolls emulating life as we see it.

Barbie is streaming on Max at the moment. Head on over and see what you see…

Ricky Stanicky (2024) A Riff of Drop Dead Fred?

Ricky Stanicky (2024) A Riff of Drop Dead Fred?

Ricky Stanicky (2024) could well be seen as a riff of Drop Dead Fred. DDF (1991) starred Phoebe Cates and the late Rik Mayall. I watched the latter film for Mayall. While Cates was still a cinematic crush I had yet to outgrow, Mayall was a comedic actor I fell hard for after seeing him in The Young Ones; 1982 – 1984.

Don’t get me wrong, Cates and her spot in Judge Reinhold’s masturbatory fantasy from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Pretty tame by today’s standards but for a 1982 comedy, it blew the average younger male American mind.) would immediately spring to mind when I saw her in anything. That of course changed when the 1984 movie Gremlins aired in local cinemas.

We are taking the long way around the barn on this one, but hang on; We will get to Ricky Stanicky in a bit. This is, after all, an Op/Ed rather than a review proper. I watched RS last night. Twice.

I have not had the time to rewatch my old favourite Drop Dead Fred.

But.

Something about the plot line of Ricky Stanicky felt familiar. An imaginary childhood friend? It took a couple of seconds but the image of Mayall’s character in Drop Dead Fred jumped into my brain and a connection was made.

Drop Dead fred

Rik Mayall and Phoebe Cates as Fred and Elizabeth

In this film, Fred was an imaginary friend of Elizabeth. The two got up to a lot of mischief. More importantly, Fred helped the young Elizabeth to cope with a pretty stressful part of her life. As the girl got older, Fred got binned. The old pal did not completely disappear though. He returns when Elizabeth needs help. The end result is chaotic but funny.

Fred has not grown up so he initially starts helping in a “bad” way. The film itself was not overly funny but Mayall and Cates do a pretty good job regardless of certain plot holes and missteps. A true cult classic, this film was panned almost universally by critics.

Ricky stanicky

John Cena as Ricky Stanicky

A trio of lads invent an imaginary friend; Ricky Stanicky, and blame him for every prank and screwup that they are involved in. Unlike Fred, Ricky never retires. The grown up version of this threesome still blame Stanicky for everything or use him to get what they want. Although, at the same time, they “big” him up. Stanicky is philanthropic and impressively intelligent. This adult scapegoat is just perfect.

Until.

*To borrow a phrase from Ray William Johnson.*

Ricky Stanicky drops everyone in the s***t.

As the three adults drown their sorrows, they meet Rod (John Cena) Rimestead. Rod is an out of work actor who performs adult rated sketches to a pretty un-enthusiastic audience. Dean (Zac Efron) and the others recruit Rod to be their imaginary buddy. They give the actor a “bible” with everything he needs to know about them and their jobs and family.

This image released by Amazon Prime shows William H.Macy in a scene from “Ricky Stanicky.” (Ben King/Amazon via AP)

Rod, as Stinicky, turns up at the brit milah for JT’s (Andrew Santino) son. As the party/celebration continues, Rod shows just how much work he has put into becoming Ricky Stanicky. Dean’s boss, played by William H Macy, hires Ricky. Dean’s significant other decides to make him, Stanicky, the hero of the week on a news program.

Ricky grows up/Fred moves on

Of course the base premise of having an imaginary friend is what the two films have in common. In each one, that friend goes through changes. Just as the protagonists grow and learn from their experiences with that friend.

It goes without saying that the premise of each of these films; Ricky Stanicky and Drop Dead Fred, require a huge suspension of disbelief. We have to be able to accept a world with an imaginary friend from our childhood that returns. Or, an out of work actor becomes (Morphs?) into a friend made up to protect us from screw ups.

Both films are worth a watch. Cena steals the film as the almost X-rated has been who becomes Ricky. Mayall is funny in anything. Check out the trailers below and then watch the films and see what you think. Are they two peas in a similar pod?

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