Comedy

DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS DEAD-Død snø 2 (2014)

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‘The sequel you did Nazi coming’

They’re back; the Nazi zombies who still want their gold.

Tommy Wirkola returns to direct the sequel to the bat-shit crazy ‘Dead Snow’.

The budget is slightly larger than the last time and so there is literally no time for the audience to wait for the zombies to appear, they are present from very early on which turns out to be a lot of fun.

Starting with a recap of the first film, a la Evil Dead 2, to which this film, and its prequel, owes a great debt. The homages are wonderful, Wirkola takes Ash’s arm idea and runs with it, giving this sequel a great (Captain) hook.

Vegar Hoel reprises his role as Martin, the lone survivor from the original and really goes for it.
It ain’t easy pretending to be loopy and Hoel does a great job of convincing us he is at the brink of madness. Unfortunately, several of the other cast members act as though they are in a b-movie. They are not wrong but it detracts from the piece by being too knowing. The introduction of the Zombie Squad, three Americans who are ‘experts’ comprising of the very funny Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks/Party Down), Jocelyn DeBoer and Ingrid Haas, is a nice touch, allowing for a multi-lingual cast to show their chops.

Stig Frode Henrickson returns from the original as a new character, Glenn Kenneth, and has a lot of fun with his character, as does Ørjan Gamst returning as the Nazi leader, Colonel Herzog. Hallvard Holmen and Amrita Acharya (Game of Thrones) play the small town police who have to try and deal with the zombie outbreak and have some very funny lines and chemistry. Kristoffer Joner plays the zombie sidekick and the homage to Bub in Day of the Dead is clear in his performace.

The last battle on a playing field has elements of a low budget Lord of the Rings battle but manages to be fun even without the money.

The gore is extreme in a ridiculous comedy style and the story has some fun elements to it, what stops it from becoming a classic is a looseness in the script and story-telling aspect and the shifting tone of the acting. It switches from being a lot of fun to plain ridiculous. Of course, the idea of Nazi zombies is a ridiculous one but one with potential comedic merit, which works well at times and not so much at others.

If you’re a fan of the zombie/horror/comedy style you’ll love this one, but if you love your films with quality control, you may be frustrated.
It must be said, though that this sequel is definitely more Dead than Snow.

3/5

BUY THE BLU RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

ABOUT LAST NIGHT (2014)

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I recently saw a very funny interview with the increasingly popular, very talented comedian, Kevin Hart in which he talks about not wanting to make Black movies, just good movies. He brings up a great point.

Will there ever be a time when a film is taken on it’s artistic merit alone and not pigeon-holed, kicking and screaming into a nice, neat, genre-compartment for the studio execs and marketing department?

This film has all of the four leads played by actors who may be in the non-white/black casting bracket. Ok, so the four leads are not white but they speak English in the film, so it should be categorized as an American movie, as that is what it is.
It’s a gripe of mine, the whole genr-ification of EVERYTHING.

Art is art is art, ladies and gentlemen.

Here is his interview in full for those of you interested:

 

The film is entertaining, everyone in it is great and it is filled with charm and comedy. Based on David Mamet’s brilliant play from 1974 and taking its title from the adaptation of this play made in 1986 starring Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins this version has been adapted by Leslye Headland and directed by Steve Pink (High Fidelity, Hot Tub Time Machine), this is updated and relocated to New York.

Kevin Hart (Bernie), Michael Ealy (Danny), Regina Hall (Joan) and Joy Bryant (Debbie) play the foursome, each bringing their skills and talent to telling this story of 2 couples trying to walk the precarious relationship tightrope that many have to deal with in this day and age. The comedy comes from Hart and Hall who have great chemistry and clearly make each other laugh.

Christopher McDonald plays an old friend of Danny’s father and owns a bar that is in trouble, the always funny Joe Lo Truglio plays Danny and Bernie’s boss. David Greenman and Bryan Callen play Danny and Bernie’s mates.

This film is as relevant now as the source ever was and although it isn’t amazing, there is a valid place for it.

3/5

BUY THE BLU RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE