Shorts from The Screening Room – September 2020

From the Video Store Shelf:

Class Action Park (2020 / HBO Max) – This documentary looks at the infamous “Vernon Valley Action Park” in Vernon, New Jersey during the 1970s and 1980s. The park, owned and operated by Gene Mulvihill, was widely known to be lax on park rules and ride safety. Thus, allowing an element of danger and excitement for the paying customers when it came to such fare as wave pools, water slides, speed boats, 60 mph go-carts, battle tanks, an Alpine Slide, and the infamous Cannonball Loop.

Realistically, this documentary is a Greatest Hits of the park’s wild history, and for the most part is an entertaining and freakishly fun ride, but some-how thankfully, the realities of pain and tragedy that were also a part of the park’s history bring audiences mindfully back down to earth.

Interviews include former members of Park management, employees, attorneys, visitors, and one casualty’s family.

Quotes of Note:

1. “Fyre festival is bullshit, man. He gave ‘em a cheese sandwich. Gene (Mulvihill) gave you everything he fucking promised you. He said come to my amusement park. Do whatever the fuck you feel like. You might get hurt but you’re probably gonna have a shit-ton of fun. It was what it said it was. It was fucked up.” – Chris Gethard

My Admission - $6.00
One Line Review – “Those Were the Days, Yo!”
MPAA Rating – Not Rated

The Host (2006 / DVD) – From Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho (2019’s “Parasite”), comes this averagely effective monster movie that sees a mutated water monster wreak havoc on the shores and sewers of the Han River in Seoul, South Korea.

The Oscar-winning writer/director’s third feature-length film showcases glimpses of the talent that he would later be awarded for, but like most monster movies, is simple, a bit choppy, and remains occasionally unclear. The effects are functional and believable, the cast is welcoming and largely effectively, and since the film avoids the artistic depth often associated with foreign films, I’d consider it a great gateway for tweens and above into international cinema.

My Admission - $5.00
One Line Review – “Testing the Waters of Bong Joon Ho and South Korean Cinema”
MPAA Rating – R for creature violence and language

The Hunt (2020 / DVD) – What begins in perfectly dramatic “Hunger Games” fashion devolves, in just a matter of moments, into a blood-thirsty and largely effective satire, as a band of murderous billionaire philanthropists begin hunting a pack of “deplorables” at a high-priced estate. Two-time Academy Award Winner Hillary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby”) and three-time Emmy Nominee Betty Gilpin (“GLOW”) lead this largely entertaining send-up.

Credit Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the writing pair behind HBO series, “The Leftovers” and “Watchmen”, for this overly graphic and unabashedly shameless film. It’s one that delivers some thoroughly effective action, a lot of verbally abusive name calling, conspiracy theory confirmations, and some clever twisting of ideological rhetoric into what’s really an entertaining war of words.

Emma Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, Amy Madigan, Reed Birney, and Usman Ally have cameos.

Note: There was much controversy surrounding the film when it was originally set for release, due to the politically charged idea that the film was to pit Left and Right ideologues against each other. While not be entirely untrue, the film sees opinionated deplorables on both sides of the fence hunting each other.

Note 2: Those blue-bottomed heels are “To Die For”, Yo!

My Admission - $6.50
One Line Review – “The Deplorable Games”
MPAA Rating – R for strong bloody violence and language throughout

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016 / DVD) – From Taika Waititi comes this lightly heartfelt comedy about a troubled youth and his foster father who bond while on the run in the New Zealand bush.

Julian Dennison (“Deadpool 2”) and Sam Niell (“Jurassic Park”) star as the communing pair in a film that’s as cute in premise and execution as one might expect but fails to make a lasting impression. The ultimate problem being that it never reaches an emotional level that would pull it from the small obscurity of the Outback and into the main-er stream. Sure, it feels mostly good and should be acknowledged in kind, but “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” never feels great.

My Admission - $5.50
One Line Review – “Taika-Lite”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for thematic elements including violent content, and for some language

Train to Busan (2016 / DVD) – This South Korean tale sees a typically diverse group of individuals attempt to survive the zombie apocalypse after it infects their commuter train. For all of its similarities to other zombie films, “Train to Busan” delivers a surprisingly tense and claustrophobic take on the genre that’s stronger than, but not dissimilar in idea to, “Snakes on A Plane”.

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’m not a big fan of the zombie genre; there’s just too much same-old same-old in it for me. However, South Korean cinema has long been known for delivering exceptionally strong horror content and “Train to Busan” is no exception. So even with the overused genre tropes the film never feels trite or like it’s taking the easy way out, making its cramped and semi-exciting take that much more interesting to me.

Note: The film costars Woo-sik Choi (“Parasite”), Dong-seok Ma (Marvel’s “The Eternals”), Ahn So-hee (Showtime’s “Entourage”), and Gwi-hwa Choi (“The Wailing”).

My Admission - $7.00
One Line Review – “I’ve Had It With These Motherfucking Zombies On This Motherfucking Train”
MPAA Rating – R for strong zombie violence and gore

Uncut Gems (2019 / DVD) – Adam Sandler stars as Howard Ratner, a New York jeweler with an uncomfortable penchant for juggling self-destruction. What more do you need to know about this drama other than the fact that Sandler gives a thoroughly credible performance in a film that’s more cacophonic-ly uncomfortable than it is bad?

Credit Benny and Josh Safdie (“Good Time”) for the delivery because it is a good film, but it’s hard to find complimentary praise for a character and film that are this discomforting to watch, and even harder to say that I ever found it enjoyable. Oh, I get it that that’s probably the point, but to clarify that effect on the audience, there were some rumblings last Oscar Season about Sandler earning a Best Actor nomination from the Academy for his performance, and I get it, it’s arguably his best performance, but after watching the lengthy film I also get why it didn’t happen. #RoughBusinessYo!

The cast includes such notables as LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian, Judd Hirsch, Kevin Garnett, The Weekend, John Amos, Wayne Diamond, and Julia Fox.

My Admission - $6.00
One Line Review – “Can You Smell What this ‘Rock’ is Cooking?”
MPAA Rating – R for pervasive strong language, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use

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