Tusk

Tusk - Dir. Kevin Smith (2014)

"I don't want to die in Canada."

Kevin Smith made his mark as a writer/director of low-budget comedies riddled with potty words and pop culture references. He ventured away from stoner humor with Red State, a slipshod thriller about three teenagers held prisoner by a group of religious extremists. Red State wasn't a total success though it felt like the furthest thing from a Kevin Smith movie. Afterwards, Smith announced his retirement from filmmaking to focus on his podcast network. He would continue to tell stories without worrying about financing, studio heads, or box office receipts. Ironically, it was podcasting that reinvigorated Smith's love for movies.

On an episode of Smodcast, Smith and co-host/producer Scott Mosier became fascinated by an online post advertising room & board in exchange for the prospective lodger occasionally wearing a walrus costume. The two proceeded to plot out a Human Centipede-style horror flick about a maniac sewing another human being into a walrus suit. Smith took to Twitter to gauge interest and his followers responded with a resounding, "#WalrusYes." And Tusk was born.

Justin Long stars as Wallace Bryton, the host of the Not-See Party podcast, a show in which he and best friend Teddy Craft (Haley Joel Osment) poke fun at the latest internet sensations. Wallace embarks on a trip to Manitoba a kid who became a YouTube star after accidentally slicing his own leg off with a samurai sword. The boy eventually commits due to all the unwanted attention while Wallace only laments that he'll have to find get some other "Canadian weirdo" for the show.

Discovering a strange handbill, Wallace drives into the wilderness to the mansion of an eccentric hermit named Howard Howe (Michael Parks). Howe regales Wallace with tales of meeting Ernest Hemingway and being stranded in shark infested waters during WWII before being rescued by a gentle walrus. It's a monologue reminiscent of Robert Shaw's Indianapolis scene in Jaws, a long-time favorite of Smith. Wallace realizes too late that Howe has drugged his tea. This is the first step in the horrifying process to transform him into a human walrus.

At first blush, the concept doesn't seem like something that would spring from the mind of Kevin Smith. What happens to poor Wallace is gruesome and bizarre, almost in the vein of Cronenbergian body horror. By his own admission, Smith isn't a visual filmmaker. His preference is two people talking about comic books or Star Wars. That's indicative of Tusk though Smith still manages to set the eerie mood when he's not distracted by little narrative detours.

Long excels as the obnoxious Wallace and he serves as an excellent counterpoint to the bizarre antics of Michael Parks. Parks turns in a tour de force as the insane Howard Howe. Smith's gift for gab provides a cornucopia for Parks to feast on as he launches into mesmerizing monologues about his tortured backstory. At times, his speeches come off as glorified Wikipedia articles, but Parks is so entertaining that he makes every single word count. The story gets progressively more horrific and Smith wisely tries to balance the darkness with light humor.

Tusk is steeped in Smith's unwavering fascination with our neighbors in the Great White North. Of course, there are the usual gags about Canadian speak ("aboot," "eh") and how nice they all are. Also livening things up are a pair of sarcastic girls both named Colleen (Harley Quinn Smith & Lily-Rose Depp) who work in a convenience store and share a general disdain for Americans. Not only are they the female Dante and Randall, but Smith was inspired enough by their performances to give them their own spin-off, Yoga Hosers.

These cute asides don't always land. Just when you're getting into the interactions of Wallace and Howe, Smith pulls you away for one of many tangents. The worst offender is Guy LaPointe, a dogged detective from Quebec who has spent years hunting Howe. Johnny Depp provides an uncredited cameo as LaPointe and it's completely in line with some of his zanier roles. Hidden behind make-up and a thick Quebecois accent, LaPointe is a cartoon character and he receives a lot of screen time in the second half of the movie. Although Depp is amusing in the role, his presence serves as a detriment to the characters of Teddy and Wallace's girlfriend Ally (Genesis Rodriguez). Neither of them is given ample opportunity to grow beyond the functionary roles of sidekick and love interest. It's doubly problematic because Rodriguez gets to show off the acting chops she never got to in forgettable fare such as Man on a Ledge and The Last Stand.

Tusk is a bold and ballsy experiment from Kevin Smith that never finds the right balance between gothic horror and outrageous humor. Still, it's worth a look due to the indelible performances by Michael Parks and Johnny Depp.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

For a Good Time, Call...

For a Good Time, Call... - Dir. Jamie Travis (2012)

Are we living in a post-Bridesmaids world? While it wasn't a wholly new concept, Bridesmaids did become a benchmark for female-centric comedies in current cinema. The girls could be just as raunchy as the guys and the plot didn't have to entirely revolve around a woman's search for Mr. Right. For a Good Time, Call… is one of several movies that have been compared unfavorably to Bridesmaids, despite going into production before its release.

Lauren Powell (Lauren Miller) is a young professional woman who hits a sudden rough patch when she loses her job and gets dumped by her boyfriend for being boring. She's asked to move out of their apartment, but cannot afford a place of her own. Her gay best friend, Jesse (Justin Long), points Lauren in the direction of Katie Steel (Ari Graynor), who is behind on rent for her ritzy flat following the death of her grandmother. Lauren and Katie are actually old college acquaintances, except the latter got drunk and poor Lauren ended up with a face full of urine. Needless to say, she is not happy about the situation.

Things get weirder when Lauren discovers Katie makes most of her money as a phone sex operator. Unable to find a decent job, Lauren reluctantly serves as Katie's assistant and routing her calls. After a crash course in dirty talk, Lauren becomes a second operator and finds she actually enjoys the work. Meanwhile, Katie warily drops her guard for a romance with a frequent caller named Sean (Mark Webber).

Lauren Miller not only starred in the film, but also co-wrote the screenplay with Katie Anne Naylon, a former college roommate who really did work as a phone sex operator. Is phone sex still something people pay for, especially with the wealth of pornography on the internet? Or so I have heard. Considering the subject matter, For a Good Time, Call… could have easily been set in the 80's and it does have a retro tone mixed with a filthy mind. All too often, Miller and Naylon go for the easy jokes involving bodily fluids.

However, what really sells For a Good Time isn't the sex or the filth, but the friendship between the female protagonists. If I Love You, Man was all about the bro-mance, this is all about the girl-mance. The two leads have great chemistry together. While Miller is perky enough in her role, it is Ari Graynor who finally gets a chance to shine. She's displayed her comedic talents via smaller roles in films like Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Whip It, and Celeste and Jesse Forever. She gets to run a gamut of emotions here from her unique line readings and physical humor to selling her sweet-natured relationships with Lauren and Sean. Where For a Good Time fails is in its adherence to formula with Lauren as the uptight conservative who has to learn to let her hair down. There's also a second act break-up of their friendship that feels contrived simply to lead into the climatic reconciliation.

The supporting cast is great with Don McManus and Mimi Rogers as Lauren's parents, Nia Vardalos as a prospective employer, and cameos by Ken Marino, Kevin Smith, and Miller's husband, Seth Rogen, as phone sex customers.

For a Good Time, Call… is an R-rated twist on the Odd Couple concept. Most of the humor falls flat and the film never delves too deeply into its characters. However, it's energetic pace and breezy runtime might make it worthy of a rental.

Rating: ** (*****)

Red State

Red State - Dir. Kevin Smith (2011)

"God doesn't love you…unless you fear him."

Kevin Smith is one of those rare filmmakers who has become a brand name. He has accumulated a devout following who will buy anything that has his name on it. Smith became a poster boy for do-it-yourself cinema with his debut film, Clerks, which spawned a series of R-rated comedies such as Mallrats and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back that found more success on home video than in theaters. His most mature work was undoubtedly Chasing Amy, an unconventional love story that touched upon sex and gender politics.

Red State marks a return to his indie roots following a dismal attempt as a director-for-hire with Cop Out. Smith raised the $4 million budget himself and self-distributed Red State through a series of select screenings paired with Q&A sessions as well as making it available through iTunes, Video on Demand, Netflix, and recently DVD and Blu-Ray. Be forewarned, Red State is not a comedy. Smith steps out of his comfort zone with a film that drifts into the genres of horror and thriller.

Red State begins a lot like a typical Kevin Smith flick with three horny, high school boys graphically discussing sex. Thanks to the internet, Travis (Michael Angarano), Jarod (Kyle Gallner), and Billy-Ray (Nicholas Braun) have reached out to an older woman who wants to have a gangbang with them. That woman turns out to be Sarah Cooper (Melissa Leo), the daughter of Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), leader of a fanatical religious group known as the Five Points Church. The Church has become infamous within their small Midwest community for protesting at funerals and their unwavering hatred of homosexuals. They have lured the teens to their compound and plan to murder them on their altar.

After one of his deputies is killed, the local sheriff (Stephen Root) calls for assistance from the government. Special Agent Keenan (John Goodman) is sent in with an ATF strike force to negotiate the surrender of the Five Pointers. He is shocked when his superiors order a full raid and permission to use deadly force having labeled the zealots as domestic terrorists.

Red State is a drastic departure for Kevin Smith. Not just in terms of subject matter, but in regards to his directorial style. By his own admission, Smith is not a visual filmmaker, preferring to tell his stories through dialogue rather than complex camera movements or ornate shot compositions. Red State is nothing like the visually static films of Smith's past. It has a gritty and dirty look to it with a color palette that runs towards the brown and the gray. As the situation descends into a violent Waco-esque shootout, Smith and cinematographer Dave Klein employ a frantic camera style, but avoid the nauseating shaky cam that has plagued action sequences in this post-Jason Bourne era.

Kevin Smith's way with words is on full display here as Red State is dotted with several clever exchanges including one (in regards to the Coopers' massive cross) between Agent Keenan and his right-hand man played by Kevin Pollak.

"How much do you think a cross like that costs?"
"In dollars or common sense?"

Smith toys with the audience by shifting perspectives from the boys to the religious nuts to the ATF agents. And none of them are particularly sympathetic. The only character that elicits any empathy is Sarah's daughter, Cheyenne (Kerry Bishé), who desperately tries to reason with the ATF and her own family to safeguard the lives of the young children in the compound.

The lack of a strong protagonist isn't a problem though. The problem comes from a litany of characters that are thinly sketched. It's also topped with a rushed plot that never delves any deeper and relies too much on convenience. At first, Keenan reluctantly follows orders to storm the church with guns blazing while his tactical commander adamantly opposes. Later, their roles are switched on a dime with the commander gunning down unarmed people without remorse.

Red State is a sharp stab to the eye of the religious right and an unchecked, authoritarian government. This is a picture marked by strong performances from Melissa Leo, John Goodman and character actors like Kevin Pollak and Stephen Root. However, the film is commanded by a mesmerizing and chilling turn by Michael Parks. Yet, that alone isn't enough to make Red State anything more than a bold, but flawed, experiment.

Rating: ** (*****)

Fanboys

Fanboys - Dir. Kyle Newman (2008)


A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a pair of writers, Ernest Cline & Adam F. Goldberg, wrote a script called Fanboys. The screenplay was snatched up by Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Productions and the Weinstein Company. The film was scheduled for release in 2007, but in a rare move, the Weinsteins gave the filmmakers more money to shoot additional scenes. Internet circles were abuzz, but reshoots were delayed until all cast members were available. Even then, original director Kyle Newman was unavailable and reshoots were taken over by Steven Brill (Drillbit Taylor) whose lack of Star Wars knowledge and profanity laced emails (in response to fan attacks) won him no popularity contests. Harvey Weinstein stepped in, looking to excise a cancer storyline in favor of more nudity and crude humor which prompted fans to start a ‘Stop Darth Weinstein’ petition. The film was finally released in an extremely limited run at the beginning of 2009 before being dumped to DVD this May.

So, was it worth the wait? This fanboy says, ‘no.’

Fanboys stars a core group of four friends; Eric (Sam Huntington), Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), and Windows (Jay Baruchel). All of them diehard Star Wars fans eagerly awaiting the release of the upcoming of Episode I. Eric was once best friends with Linus before drifting apart after ditching their dream of becoming comic book creators for a safe job at his dad’s car dealership. Eric returns to the fold when he’s informed that Linus has cancer. The quartet make a pact to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a print of Phantom Menace for Linus to see before its too late. From there, the movie becomes a standard road trip film as the boys get into all sorts of misadventures such as a brawl with Star Trek fans, taking peyote in the desert with Danny Trejo, and meeting an angry Harry Knowles (Ethan Suplee) in Austin, Texas. Along the way, the film is littered with cameos from Star Wars personalities such as Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, and Ray Park as well as Kevin Smith (who was the second choice to play Knowles after Lost star Jorge Garcia) and Apatow players Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson.

Fanboys acts as both an homage and send-up of obsessive geek culture. It takes a few jabs at the exceedingly high expectations that fans had for the new Star Wars films without actually commentating on its quality. Much like Phantom Menace, there was a lot of anticipation for Fanboys so it’s a shame that the humor is so unoriginal. Gags include characters arguing over incestuous feelings between Luke & Leia and a Trekkie (sorry, Trekker) angering our heroes by calling Han Solo a ‘bitch.’ I wasn’t expecting any deep insights into the thought processes of the average nerd, but I was expecting some inventiveness in the jokes. Fanboys won’t be very accessible to anybody who hasn't memorized every line from the trilogy.

Those of you familiar with Jay Baruchel’s gawky beanpole act in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder will get more of the same. He provides some of the film’s most amusing moments including a funny Willow reference. Kristen Bell also shows some sparks as the token female of the group. Meanwhile, Dan Fogler sucks the life out of nearly every scene he’s in with his Jack Black-lite act.

Rating: **

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Zack and Miri Make a Porno - Dir. Kevin Smith (2008)


Potty mouthed, but with a heart tends to be an apt description of Kevin Smith’s oeuvre. After the underrated Jersey Girl bombed, Smith returned to the View Askew universe he had attempted to distance himself from with Clerks II. Rather than go back to the well again, he tries once more and hits al the right smutty notes with Zack and Miri. The title is self-explanatory though the reasoning behind the plot is pretty flimsy. With the economy in the toilet, I’m still waiting for the legions of amateur porn movies to hit the interwebs. The unpaid bills are forgotten as the film progresses. Everybody is more preoccupied with getting the money shots and not the actual money. They don't have money for the electricity, but enough for an R2D2 costume with prosthetic testicles?

However, that’s not really the point behind Zack and Miri. Like Chasing Amy, it’s about how sex can complicate a relationship. It’s about best friends finally facing up to the deep seeded feelings they have for each other. And there are plenty of bad words and hilarious one-liners to make sure things don’t get too mushy.

Aside from Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson, and his wife, Smith forgoes uses his usual players and borrows a few from Judd Apatow’s repertory. Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are both great as the title characters, but supporting actor Craig Robinson (Knocked Up, The Office) has all the best scenes as a henpecked husband turned porn producer. The film’s best and funniest scene involves a husky voiced Justin Long and Superman himself, Brandon Routh, as a gay couple.

Zack and Miri isn’t going to be accused of being high art, but it is good entertainment for those who aren’t skittish about scatological humor. Or Jason Mewes’ scrotum.

Rating: ***