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LilOwens
Reviews
Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
Hot Garbage served on a sweltering day.
Yes eating garbage would be a more pleasant experience than this ridiculous turd of a movie. Sandler plays the role of an incredibly juvenile and self loathing man, that is just a rehash of his angry boy who refuses to grow up character from his other movies. He also doubles (horribly) as an elderly loser who is constantly the butt of the joke amongst the towns folk. Yet again he triples as the loser's homebody sister. The jokes are mean spirited throughout, and you are expected to go from laughing at the old loser to feeling sympathetic towards his goal of a patch of recognition from the town on a moment's notice. Sandler, his writing and directing team, as welll as the animators, all put in phoned-in performances. This is easily the worst effort and result of Sandler's career. Yes, even worse than the boat movie he did before his time on SNL.
Whitey, the old loser sums up this movie, and Sandler the best...., "You're a freaking degenerate!"
Yup, he sure is! The meanness of this attempt at comedy isn't remotely funny, and the haphazard turns are high melodrama. Avoid, and even tho the movie is animated it is not for children, due to the jokes all being rooted in either feces (literally), or humour coming at the expense of people's dignity.
Compound Fracture (2014)
Well made independent horror film
I was really surprised by the quality of the film that Mane and Geerlings wrote and produced! I don't know Tyler Mane outside of the silent superhero/villain roles he had played previously in movies like X-men and Troy. This was the first real time I have seen him act, he's not Olivier or even a Jason Statham level, but he carried this movie well as the lead character. He's got the size of somebody you see as being Quite threatening physically without having to take his shirt off. He is just naturally a really big guy. Same with Derek Mears who plays the villain in this.
The plot is mired in some genre conventions but not a rip off of any other picture in a specific way.
Spoiler part.......
It is a haunting story, of a malevolent spirit of Mane's character psychotic ex brother in law. Mears murdered Mane's sister right in front of Geerlings, who portrays Mane's fiancée, and Saxon, who portrays Mane's nephew. Mane then stumbled upon the scene and killed Mears before he could finish killing Geerlings and Saxon. Mane's family harbours a secret of knowing how to control your transition into the afterlife. Every family member has a rune carved into their fore-arm flesh that allows them to manifest themselves inside their family home and thus spend eternity together. Unknown to Mane and Watson, who plays the family patriarch, Saxon's mother had carved the rune into Mears arm, before he went psychotic and was a loving husband, out of love at the time.
Their are some undercurrents of spousal abuse permeating the lives of Watson involving his deceased ex-wife, Mane's mother, who's cause of death is truly heartbreaking and the reason why Mane despises his dad. The violence also involves his current wife as well, played by Police Academy's Leslie Easterbrook. Easterbrook, a former Second City cast member in the 70s, does a great job in the small dramatic role. I had only seen her in comedies before and was surprised at her abilities.
The movie does contain some graphic gore, nothing too over the top, the level of injury seems natural to cause a death.
I look forward to seeing more of what Mane and Geerlings can provide in the future. In terms of low budget film making, they really delivered here with something better than most Hollywood A-level budget horror attempts.