DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS and the Unexpected MacGuffin

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS (Blu-ray)

2024 / 83 min

FROM UNIVERSAL

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

Leave it to one of the Coen Brothers (and his wife) to come up with the most unexpected MacGuffin I've ever seen, which I won’t even hint at. But when it’s revealed, chances are you’ll laugh, if for no other reason than Ethan Coen & Tricia Cooke’s audacity. 

Even without Joel co-writing/co-directing, Drive-Away Dolls reflects the brothers’ quirky sensibilities, though even longtime, unsuspecting Coen fans might be initially blindsided. For one thing, the film is raunchy as hell, often hilariously so, though the humor occasionally feels a bit too calculated. Still, we kinda need a movie like this…a screwball comedy featuring two protagonists who happen to be lesbians. Their orientation is certainly part of the narrative, with a ton of jaw-droppingly frank dialogue and ample sex scenes (which are more comedic than erotic), but that isn’t what drives the plot. 

Drive-Away Dolls is a road movie with elements the Coens have visited before. Margaret Qualley & Geraldine Viswanathan play Jamie and Marian, two close friends who take a road trip to Tallahassee in a drive-away car. However, stashed in the trunk is a briefcase containing the aforementioned MacGuffin. The problem is that the car was supposed to be picked up by a couple of criminals to deliver the case to the same town. Those guys, Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson), are ordered by their boss (Colman Domingo) to track the girls down and retrieve the case.

The movie's two clean gags.

Of the two protagonists, Jamie is more free-spirited and uninhibited (to say the least), bent on spending a good deal of this trip hitting lesbian bars while trying to get perpetually-uptight Marian to loosen up a little. During their episodic journey, we get to know both pretty well and their relationship is often amusing, ultimately endearing. Elsewhere, the segments with Arliss and Flint chasing down the girls - usually a step or two behind - are frequently hilarious, while Beanie Feldstein threatens to steal the movie as Jamie's disgruntled ex, Sukie (and also a cop).

I’ve avoided specifics because much of what makes Drive-Away Dolls fun is not knowing what’s going to happen next…or what’ll fly out of someone’s mouth, especially Jamie’s. Overall, it’s an entertaining film with excellent performances by the entire cast. Though never quite as clever as the Coens’ best comedies, there are enough oddball characters and off-the-wall moments to remind us who’s behind the camera. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - The Drive-Away Gang; Drive-Away Dolls: An Ethan and Tricia Project; Road Trip Essentials.

DVD & DIGITAL COPIES

THE POOP SCOOP: Upcoming Kibbles!

😺SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT 25th Anniversary & TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE 20th Anniversary 4K Ultra HDs debut on June 25th

Join us as we celebrate 25 years of warping fragile little minds when the critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT arrives for the first time ever on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc June 25, 2024 from Paramount Home Entertainment. On June 30, 1999, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker unleashed their wildly popular South Park characters on the big screen for the first time. Twenty-five years later, SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT remains as irreverent, insightful, and hilarious as when it first premiered. The 25th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo includes legacy bonus content detailed below, access to a Digital copy of the film, and—for the first time—the Sing-A-Long version of the film. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s uproariously subversive TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, which will also make its 4K Ultra HD debut on June 25th.  The 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo includes access to a Digital copy of the film, the Uncensored and Unrated cut of the film on Blu-ray, as well as legacy bonus content.

😺DUNE PART TWO Arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & DVD May 14, and on Digital NOW from Warner Bros.

Dune: Part Two explores the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. Dune: Part Two is directed by three-time Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival,” “Blade Runner 2049”) from a screenplay he and Jon Spaihts wrote, based on the seminal bestselling novel of the same name written by Frank Herbert. The expanded all-star international ensemble cast features returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar nominee Josh Brolin, Oscar nominee Austin Butler, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Oscar winner Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, with Stellan Skarsgård, with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem. 

🐕ARTHUR THE KING now on Digital and coming to Blu-ray and DVD May 28 from Lionsgate.

Based on the “heart-swelling true story” (Courtney Howard, Variety) of friendship and loyalty, ARTHUR THE KING arrives on Premium Video on Demand and Premium Electronic Sell-Through on April 23, and on Electronic Sell-Through, Blu-ray (+ DVD + Digital), and DVD May 28 from Lionsgate. Embark on the physical and emotional journey based on the true story of adventure racer Mikael Lindnord and Arthur, the dog that changed Lindnord’s life. The film stars Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg. In ARTHUR THE KING, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur over the course of a grueling 10-day, 435-mile racecourse. An “inspiring story for the whole family” (Rachel Wagner, Rachel’s Reviews), and based on true events, ARTHUR THE KING follows Light, desperate for one last chance to win, as he convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. Pushing the team to the outer limits of endurance and sacrifice, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty, and friendship truly mean.

🙀FEAR & LOVE: THE STORY OF THE EXORCIST Now Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime.

LISA FRANKENSTEIN: Blunt Force Black Comedy

LISA FRANKENSTEIN (Blu-ray)

2024 / 101 min

FROM UNIVERSAL

Review by Pepper the Poopy😾

Lisa Frankenstein is slickly directed, looks great and features good performances. But while there’s plenty of comic horror potential in the basic concept, the film squanders it with shallow characters, heavy-handed satire and a misguided idea of black comedy.

The title character (Kathryn Newton) is your standard-issue misfit emo teenager who’d rather hang out in a graveyard than with her peers. After nearly being sexually assaulted at a party, she visits the grave of a long-dead musician, wishing aloud she could be with him. That wish ends up being granted when he’s resurrected by a lightning strike. Lisa is initially horrified by his stench and missing appendages, but after cleaning him up a bit, he becomes infatuated with her, enough so that when bitchy stepmom (Carla Gugino) threatens to send Lisa away, he kills her.

At this point, Lisa’s entire personality and appearance changes fast enough to give the viewer whiplash. Suddenly sexy, bitchy and outgoing, she ends up sewing missing pieces back onto the Creature (Cole Sprouse) with the body parts of those he kills. This includes a boy who tried to assault her at the party, as well as Michael (Henry Eikenberry), a guy she has a crush on but ends up sleeping with her stepsister, Taffy (Liza Soberano). 

"Stay off the bike...it's where I hang my clothes."

The plot isn’t the problem…it’s the execution. First of all, Lisa Frankenstein takes place in the ‘80s for no discernible reason. Not only is poking fun at that decade like shooting fish in a barrel, the setting has nothing to do with the plot. Additionally, virtually everyone is a caricature…the ditzy cheerleader, the sensitive hunk, the goofy dad, the narcissistic stepmom and, of course, the eye-rolling goth protagonist who’s increasingly nonchalant about the murder and dismemberment going on around her. I guess they'd all be funny if you'd never seen them before.

There’s a lot of situational black comedy in Lisa Frankenstein, but it’s presented with the subtlety of a mallet, as if hearing a sensitive ballad during a brutal murder is inherently humorous (which has been done to death in plenty of other horror comedies). Yet at the same time, the film pulls its punches in an obvious attempt to keep a PG-13 rating. Should any black comedy that takes place in the 80s and features the severing of body parts really be concerned with the tween crowd?

First time director Zelda Williams (Robin’s daughter) has a good visual eye and puts together some neat sequences. But she and the able cast are let down by Diablo Cody’s screenplay which, considering her resume, is surprisingly ham-fisted, derivative and superficial.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Resurrecting the ‘80s takes a look at the production design; An Electric Connection is about the characters; A Dark Comedy Duo features director Zelda Williams and screenwriter Diablo Cody.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Zelda Williams.

5 DELETED SCENES

GAG REEL

DIGITAL COPY

WEDNESDAY - SEASON 1: Not All Together Ooky

WEDNESDAY - SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

2023 / 480 min (8 Episodes)

FROM WARNER BROS / #InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Pepper the Poopy😽

It seems like the first season of Netflix’s überpopular Wednesday is getting a physical media release a lot faster than many of the platform’s other shows. Perhaps it’s a matter of striking while the iron is hot, since I can’t imagine the basic premise has much of a shelf life. 

Not that Wednesday is a bad show. Quite the contrary. Despite aiming for a demographic far younger than yours truly, these eight episodes were more entertaining than I expected. It feels a little more padded out than necessary - creating an entire season when a single movie could have sufficed - but when focused on the droll, cryptic world view of its titular character (wonderfully played by Jenna Ortega), it’s highly amusing. It’s also the only time the show resembles anything related to the original Addams Family.

Season 1 is basically a murder mystery, with Wednesday forced to attend Nevermore Academy, a school for “outcasts” such as vampires, werewolves, sirens, telepaths, gorgons and shapeshifters. Gomez & Morticia’s alma mater, the school has long been viewed with suspicion and disdain by the “normals” in the nearby town of Jericho. When a vicious beast begins to murder people, Wednesday, who’s as brilliant as she is morbid, becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, which reveals connections with the town’s dark past, as well as her own family history.

While shooting Season One, Jenna works on Season Two.

Along the way are numerous subplots, mostly related to Wednesday’s classmates (and one episode where she clears her dad of a decades-old murder rap). The suggested love triangle with her and a couple of hunks is perfunctory teen soap fodder, but the relationship between Wednesday and roommate Enid (Emma Myers) is both humorous and charming. Overall, the show is less interesting when things turn serious, which is often. It also grows increasingly derivative, with episodes conceptually and aesthetically similar to the likes of Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo (even referenced in one episode), Ghostbusters, Carrie, Twilight, director Tim Burton's own work and, of course, any CW drama you’d care to name.

Other Addams Family members show up throughout the show, with Thing being quite funny as Wednesday’s sidekick, while the appearance of Luis Guzman & Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez & Morticia are essentially glorified cameos. Wednesday is all about its main character. As such, the show is fairly entertaining, at least for these episodes. It ends with the usual set-up for a second season (which has already been announced), but how long can Wednesday’s creepy, kooky, all together ooky persona carry an entire show?

Family Movie Night with POOR THINGS

POOR THINGS (Digital)

2023 / 142 min

FROM SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Review by Mr. Bonnie😺

Poor Things is also available on Blu-ray on DVD

In the end, I’m glad I waited as long as I did to watch Poor Things.

Both of my daughters were very interested in seeing it as well, so when it was made available to review, I extended them an invitation. The challenge was picking an evening we were all free and up for a movie. Finally, with the Academy Award broadcasting the next day, I couldn’t wait on them any longer. Since the Oscars are sort of like the Super Bowl for me, it’s important to see as many of the major nominees as possible before the statues are handed out.  

And thank God I ended up watching it alone, because even though both daughters are more or less grown up, I’m still uncomfortable watching movies with them that contain explicit sex or nudity…of which Poor Things has gobs. There are enough naughty bits on display for two Ari Aster movies. 

But like Aster, there’s a twisted rationale behind these scenes, particularly in relation to the themes of female empowerment, sexual liberation and independence. So while graphic and plentiful, I’d stop just short of labeling them gratuitous, though lead actor Emma Stone certainly goes all-in with her character (in more ways than one) and demonstrates a ton of bravery.

Emma cosplays as a croissant.

Now having seen it, did she deserve the Oscar for Best Actress? Perhaps I should reserve final judgment until seeing Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, but Stone certainly provides a strong case for herself as Bella Baxter, resurrected from the dead by kindly-but-deranged doctor Godwin (Willem Dafoe, in yet another wonderfully eccentric performance). I’m gonna refrain from discussing any more of the plot because I went into the film relatively cold and can attest that much of what keeps Poor Things’ episodic narrative compelling is having no idea what it’s gonna throw at you next (though I will say the whole thing does carry on longer than it needs to).

The film certainly deserved a lot of its other Oscar wins, especially the production design, which is a knock-out. More so than any previous effort by director Yorgos Lanthimos, virtually every shot is an elaborate, imaginative work of surrealist art, alternately oppressive & whimsical, drab & vivid. And even though he didn’t win, Robbie Ryan’s cinematography brilliantly enhances the mood of each scene. I especially liked the use of black & white to reflect Bella’s confinement in Godwin’s house, while her journey of self-discovery is bursting with color. In addition to Stone & Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef are excellent in key supporting roles.

Like every Lanthimos film, Poor Things will be a little too “out there” for some tastes and a twisted breath of fresh air for others. Either way, there hasn’t been another Oscar nominee quite like it. With equal measures of comedy, fantasy, pathos, sexuality and no small amount of cultural commentary, it’s Lanthimos’ most accomplished film.

As for my two girls...they later watched Poor Things on their own. Both liked it, but concurred it wasn't something they needed to experience with Dad.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTE - Possessing Beauty: The Making of Poor Things (running 21 minutes, this features interviews with the primary cast & crew).

3 DELETED SCENES

PUNTO ROJO: What's in THIS Box?

PUNTO ROJO (Blu-ray)

2021 / 80 min

FROM MVD VISUAL

Review by Mr. Bonnie😺

Punto Rojo (“Red Point”) is a quick & dirty little crime flick that doesn’t unfold how you expect and makes the most out of an obviously minuscule budget. 

As the film begins, Diego (Demián Salomón) is a low-level thug sitting in a car in the middle of an empty field, listening to a talk radio program about his favorite soccer team. While calling the station to answer trivia contest questions, a body drops from the sky onto the car. Then a plane crashes some distance away. Soon after, a heavily armed woman from the plane, Paula (Moro Anghileri), approaches. Obviously expecting someone else to be waiting for her, she demands to know who Diego is. The man she was actually planning to meet, Edgardo (Edgardo Castro), is stashed in the trunk.

A lengthy flashback provides the backstory leading up to this conflict. Originally, it was Diego in the trunk, kidnapped by Edgardo for a local gangster and being held hostage until his brother, a professional soccer goalie, throws an upcoming match. However, Edgardo is attempting two jobs at once, the other delivering a lockbox to Paula, which contains a narrative MacGuffin that’s revealed in the final act (like most of the previous plot developments, it ain’t what we’re led to expect).

That feeling you get when all your luggage fits.

Running a lean, mean 80 minutes, Punto Rojo wastes little time with peripherals, making every scene count (though some might initially seem a little rambling). Even with only three primary characters and two settings, the film feels a lot bigger than it really is. Brutal at times, it’s also pretty damn funny, particularly a great running gag regarding Diego’s attempt to win the radio trivia contest.

None of the characters would ever be mistaken for pleasant people, but they’re all interesting, punctuated by solid performances. Salomón, in particular, brings a zeal to his role that’s especially amusing. Both visually and conceptually, writer/director Nic Loreti manages to accomplish a lot with very little, making Punto Rojo a small winner all around.

EXTRA KIBBLES

SHORT - “Pinball,” which is basically an earlier version of the garage scene from Punto Rojo.

TRAILER

A CREATURE WAS STIRRING Exists for the Twist

A CREATURE WAS STIRRING (Blu-ray)

2023 / 95 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat😾

Everything in A Creature Was Stirring is obviously guiding the viewer toward a twist ending that, depending on how many horror movies one has seen, is either mind blowing or predictable. Either way, we know one is coming.

While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with a film that exists for the twist, the inherent challenge is to make it worth the wait, which director Damien LeVeck and writer Shannon Wells struggle to do. The story has snowbound single mother Faith (Chrissy Metz) caring for her teenage daughter, Charm (Annalise Basso), who suffers from either an extreme psychological disorder or an affliction that turns her into a vicious, porcupine-like monster (the narrative deliberately keeps things ambiguous).

Later, two siblings, Liz & Kory, (Scout Taylor-Compton & Connor Paolo) break into the house to escape the raging blizzard outside. At first, Faith wants them gone, but Liz convinces her to let them stay. Meanwhile, there are bizarre doings around in the house, particularly a red-eyed creature that may or may not be stalking them. While Liz & Kory turn out to be a couple of holier-than-thou evangelicals - convinced Charm is possessed - several hallucinatory scenes have the viewer suspecting Faith might be a few cans short of a six pack (which, in a way, telegraphs the narrative punches in advance).

Faith takes Spring Training a little too seriously.

The film is atmospheric and features a few pretty cool sequences (though it's seldom all that scary). But while these characters' perplexing actions (and reactions) eventually make sense once the big reveal is presented, getting there is often a chore. For the most part, Faith gains our sympathy (even after flashbacks reveal a disturbing past), but the other characters are simply irritating, especially Liz and Kory, even though their deliberate awfulness is contextually relevant. 

Good performances and neat-looking creatures help a bit, and I suppose the film is somewhat rescued by that ending. Until then, however, endless scenes calculated to keep us guessing grow a little tiresome after a while, especially if the viewer has already figured out where everything is heading (and a lot of you will). By the way…festive title notwithstanding, A Creature Was Stirring doesn’t have anything to do with the holidays other than colorful decor to enhance the setting.