An all-new Pop Culture Beast is coming!

An all-new Pop Culture Beast is coming!
Pardon our dust!

Pop Culture Beast proudly supports The Trevor Project

Pop Culture Beast proudly supports The Trevor Project
Please consider doing the same.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Bad Kids Go To Hell DVD Review



There was a period of time in high school when part of my daily routine was to come home from school and immediately watch The Breakfast Club. Only after watching that movie could I deal with homework or conversations with my parents. I suppose we all go through a period like that. I would guess the creators of Bad Kids Go To Hell might have gone through such a phase.

Bad Kids Go To Hell is a strange sort of horror film that takes the premise of The Breakfast Club and twists it into its own odd shapes. It opens with the police busting into a school, and surrounding a kid who’s holding a bloody axe, just as a headless body collapses behind him. It then cuts to eight hours earlier, and the events that lead to this scene.

It is a Saturday, and there are five names on the list of those serving detention, just as in The Breakfast Club. However, three are girls, and two are boys, which is the opposite of The Breakfast Club. Matt Clark (Cameron Deane Stewart) is not on the list, but shows up to offer to do detention in the hope that that might keep him from being expelled. “I’m here because I want to make things right,” he tells Dr. Day (Jeffrey Schmidt).

As in The Breakfast Club, we see each of the kids being dropped off by parents or arriving on their own. Tricia (Ali Faulkner) is the princess character; Craig (Roger Edwards) is the jock; Veronica (Augie Duke) is the Judd Nelson character, arriving on her own and walking in front of a car; Megan (Amanda Alch) is…well, I guess the Ally Sheedy character; and Tarek (Marc Donato) is the Anthony Michael Hall character. During the character introductions we get voice over of Dr. Day talking to Max (Ben Browder), the janitor, about teenagers. He says, “Honestly, Max, it’s a miracle they don’t all kill each other.”

They have detention in the library, in a room set up in a similar fashion to that in The Breakfast Club (with the two levels). But with a crazy snake sculpture. As in The Breakfast Club, the kids are assigned an essay to write while serving detention. The topic is the history of Crestview Academy. Dr. Day confiscates their cell phones and tells them the doors will be locked until after lunch (and yes, he has them use the bathrooms first).  By the way, his mug says, “Everyone’s A Complete Disappointment.” Perfect.

Tricia right away makes a speech, basically saying this is not The Breakfast Club: “And this is not the fucking feel-good ‘80s movie of the year, where for seven hours we put aside our diffs and, through commiserating about our mutually dysfunctional family lives or how lonely or alienated we each feel, we find some sort of common ground and end up as BFFs.”

Throughout the film we get a series of flashbacks that show what brought each of the kids to detention. And look, there’s Judd Nelson as the headmaster of the school. (By the way, Matt crawls in the air duct, like Judd Nelson did in The Breakfast Club.) There is also a bit of Carrie in one of the flashbacks.

The library is possibly haunted by a dead Indian. They hold a séance to find out if the place is really haunted, and sure enough, things get weird. There is also a serious bug problem at this school. And we learn that these students are connected through some stuff related to their parents.

The film certainly attacks its subject with a sense of humor. For example, there are several jokes about how people whip out cell phones and film everything rather than helping someone out. And I can’t help but laugh when Judd Nelson refers to a wheelchair-bound student as “retarded.” One thing this film lacks, however, is the great music of The Breakfast Club (though I dig the song in the cafeteria scene).

Special Features

The DVD has several special features, including three photo galleries. The galleries play through, so you don’t need to hit the arrow button. They are Comic Book Art by Anthony Vargos, Behind The Scenes, and FX Makeup, and the three total more than twenty-five minutes.

There is also The Making Of Bad Kids Go To Hell, which is divided into two parts: “Kids Introductions” and “Craig Vs. Ghost.” The first part is basically editor Justin Wilson doing a commentary over the scene where each of the kids is introduced arriving at the school. And the second part has Justin Wilson commenting on the scene when Craig is freaking out, firing his gun. So this isn’t really a making-of feature.

There is also a feature-length commentary track by director/co-writer Matthew Spradlin and producer/co-writer Barry Wernick. Interestingly, it turns out that the nipples in the strip scene are CG. Also, they used a skateboard as a dolly.

The special features include “Visual FX Breakdowns,” showing how various shots were layered and so on. We see shots like the headless body dropping, and the roaches rushing through the air duct. The license plate that says “DR DAY” was actually changed in post, which is surprising. And of course there is the trailer.

Bad Kids Go To Hell was directed by Matthew Spradlin, and is based on a graphic novel by Matthew Spradlin and Barry Wernick. The DVD was released on April 9, 2013.


RAWR(for more)

Swimming To Cambodia DVD Review



Swimming To Cambodia is a fairly incredible film of Spalding Gray’s performance. I’m laughing before he even starts – when he shifts the glass of water from one side of the microphone to the other. He can make even the simplest of actions seem funny and absurd. Once seated, and once the water is on the correct side of the microphone, he begins.

He sets the scene – June 18, 1983 in Thailand – and he is off and running, describing a scene with all the right details, told with just the right twisted sense. He’s part beat poet, part comedian, part educator, and completely enthralling. He’s an excellent storyteller, for this film is seriously compelling, and really, it’s just him seated behind a table, talking.

Of course, he does have a few props. In addition to the glass of water, he uses a couple of maps – Cambodia, Vietnam – and suddenly you’re getting a history lesson and actually learning something. He has a pointer to indicate specific places on the maps without having to get up, and some sheets of paper on the table.

Most of this performance is related to his experience with The Killing Fields (and a few scenes from that film are edited into this performance, which is a nice touch and makes me want to revisit that film). He talks about looking for the perfect moment in a foreign country, and not being able to leave until he has it. Later he talks about other obsessions, obsessive behavior – with the number three becoming important, and needing to turn off the radio on a positive word before leaving his home each day.

He talks about traveling by train, about meeting people in lounge cars. The guy he meets on one particular lounge car is frightening, seriously terrifying, partly because of Spalding’s description and partly because his impersonation is so intense, so detailed – his voice, everything about him changes.

His description of the prostitutes and that whole scene is also incredible. He is terrifically funny, and then he can be quite moving, intense. His stories put you right there, so you feel you’re seeing – if not experiencing – every situation he describes. And his description of the killing done by children is chilling. I wish I could have seen Spalding Gray perform live, but this film seems a close second to that experience.

Swimming To Cambodia was directed by Jonathan Demme, and features music by Laurie Anderson. The film is not divided into chapters on this DVD, but is presented as one chapter.  Shockingly, this is the first official U.S. release of this excellent film on DVD.

Bonus Feature

The DVD includes a new interview with director Jonathan Demme, in which he talks about how he got involved with the project (around the time of Something Wild). I love that he admits, “I can’t say that I directed Spalding. I directed the film.” He does mention Spalding’s use of such few props. “It was brilliant and bold of him to sort of understand that those few items would carry such great weight with the audience.” He also talks about getting the rights to footage from The Killing Fields.

Swimming To Cambodia is scheduled to be released on May 28, 2013 through Shout! Factory.


RAWR(for more)

Priest Of Evil DVD Review



Priest Of Evil tells the story of a detective who is struggling after the death of one of his daughters, and is now working on a murder case which is coming a bit too close to home. The film opens with detective Timo Harjunpaa (Peter Franzen) entering an incredibly filthy home that is occupied by a corpse and the corpse’s son, Jari, who has a shot gun and is upset to be told that his mother is dead. He freaks out, attempting to jump from the roof. But Timo is able to calm him down. This scene basically establishes Timo’s character as a compassionate and competent police officer.

He then goes to pick up his daughter outside a club, but is late, and in the meantime she has been chased down and murdered by a man on a motorcycle. The film then jumps to two years later, when Timo’s work is suffering and his wife (Irina Bjorklund) is depressed (and she seems to blame him for their daughter’s death). His other daughter, Paulina (Rosa Salomaa), has dyed her hair red (seemingly as a way to separate herself from her dead sister – I love details like this). Timo is lost in flashbacks of what their life was before, and in the present he sees motorcycles everywhere. He tells his partner, Onerva Nykanen (Jenni Banerjee), that he’s stopped seeing his shrink. He tells her, “Things tend to sort themselves out.”

Timo gets called in on a new case, a murder on a subway platform. He does some investigating on his own, and chases a suspicious person along the tracks (and miraculously gets cell phone reception in the tunnel). The suspect gets away, which is a little unbelievable after Timo has kicked the crap out of him. The suspect also steals Timo’s wallet, and so has his address and other information.

We then see this suspect taking photographs of Timo and his family (and even his daughter’s boyfriend, who enjoys cutting himself).  Meanwhile, the man who killed Timo’s other daughter is being released from prison, and Timo is determined to kill him.

This movie’s strengths seem to lie in the plot about Timo’s family, and the way Timo deals with the killer being released (though there isn’t a satisfying conclusion to that aspect). The film has a kind of tense feel, like you are really in Timo’s mind, dealing with what he has to deal with. His is a good performance. And the stuff with his family is really good. I love when his daughter begs him to stay.

However, the film has a strange pace, and some flaws. The killer of the man in the subway turns out to be a serial killer, and he targets a very specific type of person. Timo does not fit the profile of his victims at all, so it doesn’t feel right that he should suddenly be a target of the killer. Why is the killer so interested in Timo and his family? And why now, two years after their daughter was killed? The film sets up a pattern and then breaks it, which is aggravating.

Still, there are some really great moments in this film. And I did enjoy most of the scenes that deal with the disintegration of Timo’s family.

Priest Of Evil is in Finnish film with English subtitles. The DVD includes the film’s trailer, and is scheduled to be released on May 28, 2013 by Shout! Factory.


RAWR(for more)

NBC Gives Early Renewal to Five Dramas!




NBC has given early renewals to a few of their dramas according to TVLine.com.  Shows given the greenlight for next season are Revolution, Grimm, Chicago Fire, Law & Order: SVU and my current favorite network drama Parenthood!  No word yet on Parks and Rec or Community, both are "bubble" shows.

We should get more news on next falls new and returning shows in May.


RAWR(for more)

Why I Don't Watch American Idol

I know, I'm supposed to write my own reviews of shows, and I should watch shows I hate, so I can get all frothy and clever and mean and whatnot. And I will, I promise, because it's fun, and people with oodles of money and the cynicism to abuse the television viewing audience with such drivel as "Ready for Love" and "Bet On Your Baby" deserve to have their noses rubbed in the horse apples they leave on living room floors across the nation.

Sometimes, though, it's better to outsource, and that's the case here. Please enjoy Dave Holmes' take on what is either the end of civilization, or, at minimum, what must be the end of American Idol.

American Idol Recap: The Night Nothing Happened


RAWR(for more)

Thursday, April 25, 2013

SHOW #47 - Ass Stampede


We're back with our gayest episode yet in which our cast discusses RuPaul's Drag Race, Our Top Five One LIners, plus our PCPs and more!  Stick around to for a song from Anthony Starble! Oh and Johnny's Back!.

www.popculturebeast.com
show@popculturebeast.com
#pcbshow
#AssStampede


Check out this episode!


RAWR(for more)

Monday, April 22, 2013

Mel Brooks: Make A Noise DVD Review



This is a good time to be a Mel Brooks fan, for last November saw the release of The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection Of Unhinged Comedy, a six-disc box set (five DVDs, one CD), and this summer will see the release of a collector’s edition of The Producers (the original 1968 film). Next month will give us Mel Brooks: Make A Noise, a feature-length documentary on the life and work of this incredibly funny and talented man.

Mel Brooks: Make A Noise is part of the American Masters series on PBS. The documentary takes us through most of his career, focusing on some films more than others.  It features a new interview with Mel Brooks. He begins by talking about the moment in his childhood when he knew he’d be in show business, when his uncle took him to see Anything Goes. He talks about his personal life – about going into psychoanalysis, about getting married to Anne Bancroft – and of course about his professional life – such as about directing Zero Mostel in The Producers, and about how Brooksfilms came about (and yes, we are treated to some stuff about My Favorite Year, a fantastic film).

One thing that is interesting to me, after seeing many interviews with Mel Brooks, is that he always seems to be on, and thus the personal blurs with the professional. The man is always funny, whether he’s discussing his films, drumming, or telling an anecdote from World War II (singing to the Germans through a bull horn). Is it a performance, or is he always able to see and present the humor in every situation? Or both? Regardless, it makes watching his interviews very entertaining.

A couple of lines from the interview that stuck out for me:

  • “I was never religious, but always terribly Jewish.”
  • “I don’t really do anything for the audience. Ever. I always do it for me, and most of the time the audience joins me.”

This documentary also includes bits from older interviews, like the one from I Thought I Was Taller, a short documentary from 1981 which is included in The Incredible Mel Brooks set.

Besides the new interview with Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks: Make A Noise features new interviews with many of the folks who have worked with Mel over the years. There are also new interviews with Carl Reiner (who of course talks about the 2000 Year Old Man), Tracey Ullman, Rob Reiner, Joan Rivers, David Steinberg, Barry Levinson (who was co-writer of Silent Movie), Steven Weber, Nathan Lane, Michael Gruskoff, Richard Lewis, Andrew Bergman (co-writer of Blazing Saddles), Norman Steinberg (co-writer of Blazing Saddles), Cloris Leachman, Richard Benjamin (who directed My Favorite Year, and tells a great anecdote about how Mel helped him get another $300,00 to finish the film), Susan Stroman (director of The Producers on Broadway), Bill Pullman, and Matthew Broderick.

There are also bits of older interviews with Anne Bancroft, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Sid Caesar, Neil Simon and David Lynch.

Of course, there are clips from Mel Brooks’ films, including High Anxiety, History Of The World Part 1, Spaceballs, The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, Dracula: Dead And Loving It, To Be Or Not To Be, and Robin Hood: Men In Tights. But there is also footage from Your Show Of Shows, as well footage from the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, with President Obama, and from the Oscars, when Mel won for The Producers. The brief footage from The Tony Awards is particularly funny.

Bonus Material

The DVD contains approximately seventeen minutes of outtakes from the film. A good portion of this footage is from the interview with Mel Brooks. He talks about his mother, and about how at the age of nine he started getting homework, and that was the beginning of his misery. He talks about never letting a producer into the editing room. And he talks about The Critic and Life Stinks, neither of which are really mentioned in the feature.

There is also more footage from other interviews. Rob Reiner says that when he was sixteen, he wrote a joke for Mel and his father. It’s the joke about the first person who applauded by clapping his hands rather than slapping his face. (By the way, the footage of a performance of that joke is included in The Incredible Mel Brooks.) Cloris Leachman tells a wild anecdote about Young Frankenstein being used as code. Richard Benjamin tells a cool story about how Mel advised him to pursue a certain actor for a role. Susan Stroman tells a great anecdote about Mel arguing with a theatre patron. And Helen Hunt talks about begging Mel Brooks to be in an episode of Mad About You.

Mel Brooks: Make A Noise was directed by Robert Trachtenberg, who also conducted the interviews. This documentary will air on PBS on May 20, 2013, and will be released on DVD on May 21, 2013 through Shout! Factory.


RAWR(for more)