TYTD Reviews

When they announced back in 2019 that there was BIG news in the world of ‘Caligula’ (and believe me…there is RARELY. ‘BIG NEWS’. in the world of ‘Caligula’) I dont think many were expecting the announcement that was given. That after years of fearing it destroyed (and even an ‘on and off’ attempt by Tinto Brass and his archivist to refilm large chunks of it.) that over 90 hours of original rushes from the labourious shoot that was this movie BEFORE Guccione got his dirty porny hands on it. Had not only been recovered, but that enough footage had been found to successfully restore the film to a *roughly* 99% approximated version of the original cut BEFORE penthouse messed with it.

Needless to say, I was excited…Then the pandemic happened.

And, everything went quiet for quite a while, then in 2023 completely out of left field and with no build up, ‘Caligula: The Ultimate Cut’ was dropped into Cannes unceremoniously, THEN it VERY quickly did a VERY limited theater run (that didnt include ANY screens in the UK even REMOTELY close to me) and then it vanished again.

And even NOW, its STILL not readily available in the UK or Europe, with only ‘Umbrella Entertainment’ (an australian company) releasing the film for ALL of europe (its bloody expensive for what it is)…And ‘Drafthouse Films’ releasing it in the US, with controversy swirling around it because the ‘Theatrical cut’ which was billed as ‘uncut’ was in fact missing 6 minutes of footage.

So faced with bankruptcy, or an inferior release, I chose the inferior release. MAINLY because, I already own the uncut ‘theatrical’ version on bluray from Arrow, and I didnt need a box the size of a loaf of bread taking up shelf space on my film shelf…letalone having to pay between $30 and $50 for the privilage. And…well…was it worth the 4-5 year slow build wait for this to see the light of day? Well…I know a lot of folks wernt particularly ‘impressed’ But y’know what? I had an actually pretty good time.

This new cut of the film essentially removes all the hardcore sequences, leaving only softcore erotica and a few genitle shots, but no penetration or ‘spooge’. There are neumerous new scenes inserted, some extend sequences from the theatrical cut, some hadnt been seen in 40 years.

They rejig the sequence running order, reframing the narrative and allowing for a much MUCH slower burn (the theatrical cut is about 2 hours and 40 minutes, whereas the ‘Ultimate cut’ is basically 3 hours long). They COMPLETELY redid the sountrack to something more ‘earthy’, orchestral and period appropriate. and they’ve added some very light cg elements here and there in the form of artificial smoke, slickers of hot ashes, light digital pans or zooms on shots.

Essentially, the aim was to reimagine the film, moving it away from its seedy, campy and exploitational roots, and instead presenting the work as a more serious ‘flawed character’ period piece that doesnt shy away from the full decadence of the ‘peaks’ of rome. and…with that brief, I feel that really kind of succeed what they’re trying to do here.

I’ll get my biggest gripes out of the way up front, I feel like this re-edit is HORRENDOUSLY over long. I know they’re striving for the feeling of an ‘epic’ and I will say that it doesnt ‘feel’ 3 hours long to me, but it still DOES feel overlong, and with it almost pushing 3 hours, I almost certainly wont be able to rewatch this one again in a hurry…purely from a logistical standpoint.

The pacing is a bit patchy here and there, I feel like the re-edit has added a lot more pathos and complexity to the characters all involved. But it still feels a little rushed on the ‘Caligula is fine/Caligula is now doing boat orgys with the senators wives’ piece. It would have been nice to have that madness more gradually creep in, because here, it feels like a switch goes off just over halfway into the 2nd act and we dont really come back from it.

I feel like the reordering of the sequences however DOES improve the overall flow of the film as a serious work. But I’d be lying if I said I didnt miss the slightly more thrown together, campy, overt horniness of the theatrical cut. The tone is much less scattershot when compared to the theatrical cut, which is nice…But at the same time kind of left me wishing things would just lighten up a bit more.

As for the new footage itself? Its amazing to see it honestly, and the alternative takes, alternate angles and extended sequences I think have been VERY masterfully curated to help enhance the narrative without stealing the show.

Its just lots of little things (mild spoilers for this paragraph so scip to the next break to avoid) like how they use an alternate angle of the murder of Caligulas daughter. I always howl in the theatrical cut, as they clearly just smash a jam smeared mannaquin onto the steps, but here, they use an alternate angle from further away which is much more effective. the boat orgy sequence is dragged from seedy ‘porn’ flick to ‘tasteful erotica’ terratory. the murder of caligula himself is done in a much more toned down, but effective way.

Honestly? I really quite like how they’ve managed to take these rushes and, using modern editing tools combined with ‘period authentic’ editing techniques, they’ve managed to create something that feels like it was just waiting to be scanned from a 1980’s film print. in fact barring the new titles and credits, which feel VERY out of place for a film shot in the 70s. I can say that on a technical level, given this was strictly a ‘reconstruction’ job, they’ve been pretty excellent honestly.

The new footage doesnt really change my opinion of the performances, I think McDowell and Helen Mirran here are astoundingly good, and while the theatrical cut focussed more on the campy and bizarre, this cut gives them much more time to breath and we get some really nice pieces that do showcase not just how good Vidals original script was at giving these characters a bit more complexity…But just how talented these performers were in their prime. The lack of grotty grotty porn here too allows our supporting cast more time to really shine and define themselves. Which added a whole new layer to my feelings about there characters and performance choice.

Which…leads me to my only other gripe here, the score. Now…in the context of it scoring the film itself, its pretty solid. I actually think it suits the tone of the film moreso than what was used to score the ‘Theatrical’ cut. The issue? it sounds SO dull on its own. the drafthouse release contains the new soundtrack in its entirity, and, to me? it was basically unlistenable. Im smitten to the theatrical soundtrack, I think it works with the film, as much as it works blasting out of my car stereo as I head to the supermarket. The ‘ultimate’ score is too cool for its own good and, for me, is a flat experience outside of this production.

It would also be amiss of me not to mention that Tinto Brass has sworn off this film, claiming its a compromised vision due to his lack of involvement in the restoration. Information about his EXACT involvement with this production is scarce, with Tinto claiming noone contacted him until the edit was basically complete, and that they were basically looking for a ‘signature’ to put his name on someone elses work. While the production argue they reached out multiple times to him to ask him to help advise (but not have final cut) on the production, which he refused to do.

Having watched this cut now, it DOES feel a LOT more like Tintos work in the early 80s (‘The key’ specifically springs to mind) than Tinto would probably like to admit. But I feel its a real shame that he had limited/no involvement in this restoration. As it was one of his (self proclaimed) greatest achiements…Its one thing to be cut out of the editing process once…but to have it happen twice is unforgivable frankly.

In the end, I think I like the ‘Ultimate’ cut about the same as the ‘Theatrical’ cut. But they both have VERY different tones and vibes and i’d need to be in a specific mindset to watch this version again.

The work they’ve done here is very impressive, they’ve managed to really blow the cobwebs off this production and presented a crisp, technically delightful production that feels WAY more on brief than what the original production spat out. and I really REALLY like it for that.

However, that 3 hour runtime, the lack of tinto and the scoring issues hold this back from really *truely* being something I could love. If you’ve seen the ‘Theatrical cut’ or you’ve been put off by how ‘porny’ this film has sounded, the ‘Ultimate’ cut offers a viewing experience that I feel is much more palettable to contemporary audiences.

However, if you only like Caligula for the graphic boat orgys, mutant sex scenes and mannaquin Jam smashing…you likely WILL be quite dissapointed.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/caligula-the-ultimate-cut/

15 Years after their first cinematic outing, The Aqua teen gang are back again, this time in TV/Streaming movie form for a 2nd feature length outing. and its kind of just ‘Business as usual’ honestly.

The plot is set in between the latest 2 seasons of the show and the Aqua team have disbanded after frylock (once again) has pushed Shake too far. As such, Master Shake is currently homeless and sleeping in a box fort on Carls lawn, Meatwad is working at a dog sanctuary, Carl is purposfully trying to flatten the Aquas old house so he can raise the price of his property, and Frylock is now working for a 4 foot tall tech bro called ‘Neil’ who owns ‘Amazin’ (Essentially, this is a mashup of Amazon and Elon Musks various ventures)

When Frylock gets sent on an errand to work for Neil, the pair hit it off and eventually grow a friendship, especially when the Fry man mentions he can splice Neils DNA with taller DNA to help him grow to a non hilarious height.

Of course, the tech backfires and before you know it, plant people are running rampant in downtown New Jersey…Same old Same old.

And…to be honest? I didnt dislike this one, but I do wonder why THIS plot got a feature runtime. This could have easily just been a 2 parter of the normal series, and probably WAY more consistent for it.

The actual plot itself groans a little bit under the stress of trying to break that 70 minute runtime, and while the actual content of the film is fine enough, it doesnt really push the envelope in a way that I’d have found satisfying. Compare this to their first film (which DID get a theatrical release) and its relatively low stakes. The first film at leasst TRIED to put a bit of new ‘lore’ in there, it felt like a bit more of an event. It went the way of the 1966 ‘Batman’ movie by just making an episode of the TV show, but with bigger plot points, celebrity names and a few more interesting twists and turns.

This? well, like I say, it just feels like an extended TV episode. If it were the last thing ATHF related to come out, it wouldnt be going out on a high by any means…it would just be ‘an end.’

Because its plot is kind of fragmented up until the last 15-20 minutes or so when everyones re-connected, it also means the amount of characters who can appear is limited. Essentailly we get the 3 Aqua Teen mains, Carl, the landlord (who is only very fleetingly in this) and the Mooninites. Who have one random cameo in the 3rd act, but are forced into the film via 4th wall breaks all the way throughout, they have very little to do with the rest of the movie however.

But the other characters? Mothman, M.C Pee Pants, Handbanana? all abscent…and notably so. Im not sure if this was an attempt to go back to the shows basic roots, but it leaves the project feeling distinctly stripped back in a way that had me wondering hwere everyone was.

As for the script itself? well…as mentioned its a bit overlong, the 1st and 3rd acts are fine, but the 2nd act goes on a bit longer than i’d have liked, and it starts to get a bit confusing towards the end of it as a load of ‘Mad Max’ references get dropped in out of nowhere. The tone is *pretty much* in line with the TV show at this point, but you do get the feeling the cast are a *little* out of practice.

The direction, cine, all that stuff? its basically the same as the TV show, basic…a little more fluid here than usual (im assuming an inflated budget helped that) but unremarkable is the honest answer.

The performances were fun, but not particularly memorable or quotable. The character of Neil was (while watching) fun enough, but the ‘tech bro billionair’ trope thing has LITERALLY been done to death (it was dead pre-pandemic…letalone in 2022)

All in all? eh…I like Aqua Teen, even the later seasons are at least consistent. And this is basically just that…Consistent, but not really trying to push any boundaries, develop any new ideas or really do much of anything other than bring the characters back one more time.

Its fine…But I just wish given the feature running time it was a bit more of a grand affair, rather than a shrug and a ‘see y’er next time.’

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/aqua-teen-forever-plantasm/

Watched as part of an upcoming podcast (no clues) I hadnt heard of ‘Colony Mutation’ prior to watching this, and I chose to go in as blind as possible…Im not 100% certain what I just watched, but I like to think in a spiritual (and erotic!) way…I know EXACTLY what the director was going through when he made this.

The plot follows Jim, a…fairly nasty piece of work, and thats the kind way to put it! Jim is a scientist working at a facility experimenting with RNA and DNA mutations. his wife meredith is specifically working on mutating RNA into a parasite that has the ability to regenerate the hosts lost tissues and even drive the host when its no longer concious. Its a promising piece of work into regenerating lost limbs, but has a way to go.

Anyway; Jims cheating on Meredith with his secretary? Lab assistant? junior researcher? Who knows, the film doesnt make it clear. But what it DOES make clear is that Jim is basically being a bit parasitic himself, going with his secretary just long enough to dump Meredith and go with her…and then move on from her when he gets bored.

Well, Meredith cottons onto this when she finds out Jim has been charging the couples account for ‘Holiday inn’ rooms that have no explanation OTHER than Jims an Ass hat. Meredtih confronts Jim, only for him to blatently lie to her. When he pushes her one too many times, she grabs a vial of mysterious fluid and throws it in Jims face…Only, that wasnt just ANY mysterious fluid! it was a live culture of the parasite!

And within 20 minutes Jims wolfing down raw packs of bacon, raping and murdering women and has seemingly developed a parasitic killer penis. and…thats kind of the rest of the movie. Jim meeting up with strangers and then letting the parasite murder them and feast on their flesh, while the secretary becomes increasingly frustrated that Jim wont commit to her and is being way more evasive.

At first I thought this film was trying to be an imitation of elements of J.R Bookwalters ‘Ozone’, then around the 2nd act I began to wonder if this was some kind of exploitation comment on the AIDs epidemic or on the proliferation of STDs as a form of control. and by the final act I was convinced this was heavily influenced by the works of Frank Hennenlotter…But as the credits rolled, I had to admit, I had NO idea what the intention of this movie was actually.

With it being shot on 8mm with no synch sound, the entire film had to be redubbed from the ground up, sometimes the actors can be bothered to move their mouths, but sometimes the dub that runs over the footage isnt even close to whats happening on screen. Complicating matters further, the version I watched (via Tubi) appears to be a ‘star wars special edition’ type affair from Visual Vengence.

It appears they’ve cropped the film into ‘widescreen’ added a load of ‘bad film’ filters, colour corrected everything into murkey brown or barely visible dark blue. They’ve remade the opening and closing credits with CG and they’ve created some new CG effects for the final act, and all of this looks and feels AWFUL. It makes the movie even HARDER to watch coherently because some of its been so drastically colour corrected that is basially just a block colour screen with occasional eye balls. I dont know whether my enjoyment of this film would be heightened had it been presented in its original aspect ratio, and with all the colour grading and CG reverted back…But I KNOW it didnt help it here.

The script is quite slow and plodding, there are sparks of good moments here and there across the runtime, but the film has a really bad habit of making our characters go for extended walks, have dream seqeunces that dont really go anywhere or do anything. And in the 2nd act in particular, the film gets locked into a bit of a loop of Jim hunting down women and homeless people on dates to murder and feed to the parasite, but then it doesnt really even show you the murders or parasite stuff…So we (as the audience) basically spend 40 minutes watching a guy go on a load of first dates with women, he offers to take them home, he’ll release a parasite, the woman will scream, and then it’ll hard cut to Jim on the phone the next day to his secretary, trying to arrange a dinner date between them and her sister.

The act structuring is a little melty too, the first act is SUPER short, but the transition between the 1st and 2nd acts is painfully long and padded with all sorts of random conversations. Then, as mentioned, the 2nd act locks into the ‘first date/kill/call secretary’ loop…before finally about 20 minutes off the end we crash into a 3rd act that feels like a poor mans ‘Brain Damage’ where things get a little more humerous? But that quickly gives way to an extended final fight that ends abruptly and felt dissatisfying.

Oh also; the film has about 8 minutes of titles and credits…which, given the films barely an hour and 15 to begin with…is a bit much.

I think this film struggles to find the right tone to attack with. I feel like it wants to be seen as an outright horror, it has moments where it wants to explore comedy, but seems reluctant to do that, theres a sci-fi element that isnt really explored much. and the drama element is probably the only thing thats genuinely stuck to across the whole runtime, and it falls flat by the half way point.

The characters arnt particularly interesting, Jim is the only character that really GETS a character and it takes 2 acts to really start to get going…So again thats a bit of a busted flush.

I do have to give some credit to the direction, while it may not be a pretty film, theres absolutely a layer of creativity running throughout this thing. Its not quite a professional end product. But I will say this is a film that DOES seem to be TRYING. especially in the final act as the parasite becomes a more ‘physical’ being, I think the effects work, and the way they mask the parasite are effective and do offset the budget limitations somewhat. Is it perfect? absolutely not. But again; I’d rather a film maker that tries and fails, than one that just shoves slop out the door every 12-15 months.

That being said, other than the creative techniques put out by the director, the cine itself is mixed to poor. shots barely have a focal point, 90% of the shots feel like it was just a case of ‘pop the camera down, check its vaguely in focus, Go!’ which…is not the best way to make a movie, the colour correction does the film absolutely no favours, crushing all the colour out rendering half the film sepia and the other half looking like 1920s ‘tinted’ film. theres a significant lack of B-roll here, noticable by its sheer absence. Alongside at least a few moments of janky editing, where footage slows down, tears or reverses briefly before cutting to the next scene…I have to assume this is done by accident because it only impact 2-3 points in the film for no longer than a second and a half each time.

But the whole thing really could have benefitted from a couple more pass throughs on the edit. I think at sub an hour it would have felt smoother, 45 minutes would probably be its optimum run time. But I get it. You cant sell a short, but you can sell a feature…I do wonder sometimes though if hurting your film to get it out to audiences does any kind of favours to both the film or its creator.

Performance wise, its a game of two halves…LITERALLY, the 8mm visuals showcase poor performances, a lot of neutral faces, even in extreme situations. noone really emotes properly and physicality on screen is through the floor. its a very drab set of scenes on display.

The dub makes the whole thing feel more quirky, but it never quite reaches the delirious nature of ‘Things’ settling instead for deliveries that are WAY too mild mannered, to the point that they feel out of place with the physical actions on screen, only to then occasionally deliver one of the weirdest line deliveries i’ve seen in a good while, out of the blue, with no reasoning for it seemingly. I will say this, it may not be the most vivid script in the world, but my GOD this is weirdly put together…Fascinating from an editing perspective honestly.

And the soundtrack? at times it sounds like early 90s lofi midi, at times it sounds like a 1:1 rip of the ‘Things’ Soundtrack. THAT is the kind of area we’re in ladies and gentlemen. its clunky, ill fitting, it synchs with whats happening on screen maybe 25% of the time.

Colony Mutation is an underwhelming, but surreal at times piece that I feel a bit conflicted on. I dont think its particularly well made, but there are moments here that just scream ‘bad movie’ gold. I didnt come away hating this one. But I dont think i’d actively choose to watch it again. If your a fan, gods speed. But I dont think this one was for me.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/colony-mutation/

‘Grown Ups’ isnt really my usual rodeo. I dont dislike Adam Sandler, but I find as a creative, he dances a VERY very fine line between being ‘sincerely watchable’ and being absolutely and totally unbearable in any capacity. So when I went to visit family this weekend and they put ‘Grown Ups’ on…I was ready to basically spend 100 or so minutes on my phone waiting for it to finish. But what I actually watched astounded me.

Obviously; Red Letter Media have discussed at length how they have a ‘conspiracy theory’ that Sandler makes films that basically do the double whammy of being a tax break, while allowing him and his friends to go do some crazy fun weird stuff that normal people just dont go and do. While passing it off as them making an actual movie. They used ‘Jack & Jill’ as their example. But ‘Grown Ups’ is MUCH more glaring of that in action…

…Because, if you didnt know any better, you’d assume that Adam Sandler basically asked a dozen or so of his friends if they fancied 2 months of hanging around in serine log cabin/woodland locations, getting free food and entertainment most nights and free passes to water parks for most of the summer season. Because thats basically all this film is. Sandler and his friends hanging out and doing crazy stuff on a studios budget for 112 minutes with a SUPER thin veil of ‘plotting’ going on about it.

So; the whole plot of the movie is that a group of friends find out that their childhood basketball coach has died, and this prompts them to all reconnect at his funeral, and in turn, agree to dispose of his ashes in a place he wants it being disposed of. Which means they all head out to the wilderness to reconnect with their inner childs, whilst ALSO trying to break their ACTUAL children OUT of being addicted to social media, ‘posh’ water and games consoles.

Cue a runtime that mainly consists of fart jokes, slapstick, innuendos, gratuitous perving and gentle snarking. But its mainly a vacation video.

The best way I can describe how this entire movie feels is to say that it feels VERY much like the scene in ‘Planes Trains and Automobiles’ where Del and Neil are sat in a motel room driking the mini bar dry and talking rubbish, only, while ‘Grown ups’ manages (at times) to capture a degree of sincerity. Its missing almost ALL the weight and emotional development needed to make me actively care about these people and this situation…That, and dragging something that was a 5 minute ‘bit’ in ‘Planes Trains’ into a 112 minute slog here doesnt really help anyone.

My biggest issue with the script is its really just way too ‘soft touch’. The point of a movie (generally speaking) is to introduce some characters, give them a problem to solve, make the problem *seem* like it has the upper hand, and then let our characters resolve it AND ideally grow from the experience, ending the film with them being better people for it.

This film has NON of that! its a modern miracle in that sense. All the characters start off a little run down from their jobs, they drag the whole family out to the woods to ‘reconnect’ and all that happens is they goof about a bit, and then feel a bit brighter at the end. That *isnt* how thats supposed to work!

The film is INCREDIBLY avoident of ANY kind of conflict or issue that last more than one scene. Im not kidding when I say the entire movie is literally just our characters encountering a problem, and then IMMEDIATELY resolving it. OR! Our characters encountering a problem, it getting put on the back burner for a scene while they set something else up, and THEN them solving it almost immediately with no effort.

Probably the best example of this is with Chris Rocks character, who, probably has the ‘rockiest’ (no pun intended) relationship with his spouse. in the 2nd act they show a scene where his wife sees him talking to Adam Sandlers Nanny, and they basically try on EVERY level to establish that, because Chris Rock is talking to another woman, he MUST be being unfaithful. Fast forward not TWO scenes later, and the wife confronts him about what she saw, only for Chris Rocks character to basically say ‘Talking is talking, your my wife’ and then that plot line is just…resolved. gone…and I should point out, theres no maturing that issue, its not like in the scenes in between his wife goes to speak to the other wives about the issue, or that we get to SEE that Chris Rocks character isnt really chatting up ther Nanny…its just created, and then solved as soon as its made. And thats like…90% of the tension in this film. Made to fill time, and solved as quickly as its created.

The tones a bit all over the place, its really trying to create that quasi nostalgic feeling of old friends reconnecting and ‘remembering the good times’. But they dont even really do THAT particularly…they just sort of, talk about stuff that happened after the friendships drifted apart. and they dont really even focus on HOW that happened in the first place. While its doing that, its also trying to be a comedy, but the humours SO all over the place and has SUCH a strong emphasis on gross out (Breastfeeding gags, ugly feet and dry heaving) and slapstick (people in full body casts getting pushed around, people smashing into trees) that it really kind of mutes out the comedy that ACTUALLY HAD heart and feeling behind it. the more subtle moments just get lost to conversations about ‘botch toe.’

Add to that that the pacing seems all out of whack to, to the point that it seems like the film gets more and more improvised as it goes on. We have a very tightly scripted first act, but then the second feels a lot like they just left cameras rolling inbetween takes and told folks to stay in character. The film fully trails off by the third act, and by that point I really was sitting there wondering what the hell the films message actually even was? I mean they loosely try to put a point in there about how the parents realise that spending time with their family has to come above any work or travel commitment. and at the very VERY end theres an incredibly half hearted attempt at trying to sell the idea that ‘everyone deserves a win sometimes’…But its so undercooked that it just comes across as sloppy and thought up in the moment.

The direction and cine are both studio grade for the time. I have next to nothing to say about them honestly, the film looks fine for what it is. The fact it isnt intensely into CGI for the time it came out was a nice addition. It looks fine. It isnt pushing any boundaries, but I wasnt expecting it to, they use colour relatively well, but nothing standout. The cast direction largely seems improvised, but these are (largely) comedians, so the ‘off the cuff’ stuff is a little hit and miss (but for my money) *is* more hit than miss.

The edit is solid enough, I do wonder why they broke 90 minutes for this, it could have easily been 80-90 and probably a little better than what there actually is.

Performance wise, everyones pretty much fine. I feel Sandler and Kevin James have some good chemestry and most of the scenes where they’re together feel the most sincere and humerous. Chris Rock I feel gets downplayed here really, he has a few good moments to shine, but I feel giving him a bit of a ‘down’ personality because of his home life, kind of undercuts the potential he had to really get on top of this casting. Because, when he does shine here, he delivers some of the best moments of the film.

David Spade and Rob Schnider?…ugh. But! a Steve Buschemi cameo WAS very nicely recieved.

On the whole, everyone on screen in this thing seems to have a good personal relationship with each other, and it felt more like watching old friends catch up and LARP a scenario where they all grew up together, than them actually turning in a performance. It means that while I believe these people were having a nice time, I dont believe the characters, I dont believe the scenario. and thats a bit of a problem.

And, the soundtrack was so good, I literally cant remember anything about it (womp womp)

Grown ups is a bit of a rare thing these days, a family oriented movie about a group of adults reconnecting with not only each other, but with their own childhoods and the warmth that can come from remembering where you came from. It evokes series like ‘The Wonder Years’ and most of John Hughes filmography…And yet it really fails to fully understand WHY we so fondly remember those tv shows and films…it ISNT just because the cast talk about what they got up to as kids, its because the cast WERE ultimately well fleshed out, complex characters who the audience got to spend a lot of time with, and the nostalgia factor was a brief window into their souls at some point in the movie/series, rather than the whole point of the movie/series.

Because we dont really KNOW anything about these characters beyond a bullet pointed ‘what they do now’ and a couple of flashbacks to the late 70s, we dont feel the same kind of connection, and that makes a lot of this film feel a bit hollow ultimately. I dont really regret catching this one, as it does have moments. But all I can say is, I hope I get to be friends with Adam Sandler and go on vacation on the studios money some time sooner, rather than later.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/grown-ups/

The Terry Nation Estate REALLY needed a top up on their bank balance in the mid 60s it seems. With Terry seemingly doing EVERYTHING within his power short of ACTUAL deals with the devil (though that cant be scientifically ruled out) to try and get his creation, ‘The Daleks’, onto as many screens and into as many homes as possible.

in 1965 Nation sold the rights to the story elements of the first ‘Dalek’ serial to AARU films and the results were a strange hodge podge supercut of the key beats of the original BBC story, along with a load of random ‘lore’ that fundamentally seemed to misunderstand why people liked ‘Doctor Who’ in the first place.

Well! 12 months later they were back again! adapting the 1964 serial ‘The Daleks Invasion of Earth’ to the big screen with Peter Cushing returning as the DEFINITELY 100% human ‘Dr. Who’ along with his grandaughter ‘Suzy’, ‘Barbara’ his *other* daughter and…Ians paycheque must have bounced because he aint in this one. Instead; we have lovable Burnard Cribbins playing a local Bobby (policeman) called ‘Tom’…Who…isnt based on anything from the BBC series…they just wanted someone to act goofy.

Now, I do feel context is key here, as I think not only will it explain why this film wasnt *quite* as successful as it could have been, but also why I take grief with it in some ways.

So the film, as mentioned, is an adaptation of a serial from 1964. By 1966, ‘Doctor Who’ still wasnt *quite* as established in ‘lore’ as it would go on to be (the core foundations of the show wernt really, properly fleshed out until a five year gap occured between VERY late 1969 and early 1975. Where basically the show everyone knows and loves today took shape. In 1966; Time lords? Gallifrey? Regeneration? all still either non existent or very much in its infancy.

And yet, Where the show was in 1964, and where it was at the point that this film came out in 1966 couldnt have been MORE starkley different if it tried. 1964 ‘Who’ had William Hartnell at the healm, he was an irrasible, but ultimatley lovable grumpy grandfather figure, with a little bit of a ‘Daffy Duck’ twinkle in his eye at times for good measure. The show was still running 6 part serials as the standard, and they relished the opportunity to slow burn stories for as long as the budget could carry them. The companions were a little better established, and the format was just about taking shape. But the only solid confirmations by this point were that ‘The Doctor’ and susan were aliens whod decided to see the world via a time travel spaceship after fleeing from their own people for some unmentioned reason.

Why do I clarify this? Because by the time THIS film came out, the BBC version of the show was unrecognisable to what had come before it.

Doctor who was in the middle of a ‘brief’ pause as one of the shows biggest ‘lore’ moments had just happened (Regeneration) Patrick Troughton was now known as the face of the show, and in the previous 2 years we’d gone from 4-6 part stories (emphasis on 6 parts) that were either educational attempts at historicals, or alien planets that used a studio the size of a bedroom. to 4-6 part stories (emphasis on 4 parts) that were significantly lighter in tone (Daleks Masterplan omitted) faster paced, and striving to be more modern and to appeal to the mid 60s ‘kids of today’ rather than the early 60s ‘Kids being made to watch what their parents *think* is good for them’.

Television had moved on considerably in those 2 years, the culture had moved on significantly in those 2 years. When Troughtons era formally began in November 1966 the last of the ‘true’ historicals would go out, and from then on in it was fantasy and whimsy right the way up to the 70s…and I mention that because, amongst the many MANY reasons the show refreshed in 1966 WAS that the show had found itself in a bit of a rutt, where audiences thought the programme was a bit *too* uptight and needed to let its hair down a bit. Its the 60s MAAAAN (and…all that)

Its because of that, why ‘Invasion Earth 2150 ad’ is such a strange end product for the time. Because right as the public were banging the table for change, out pops one of THE most early 1960s style doctor who adventures you could ask for, with little more changed to it than a few more pratt falls and large chunks of wandering about cut out. Its a bit like answering the question ‘How do we make this show fresh again?’ with ‘Do the old stuff, but quicker.’

And thats basically all this is. an old story, dusted off, with an hour chopped out of it and some of the dialogue/characters rotated to make up for their absence in this film adaptation, or to remove any references to the doctor being an alien.

A good example? In the BBC serial theres a moment where the first doctor, Ian and a human survivor of the Dalek occupation are put into a cell with a logic test, the doctor solves it immediately (the humans had no idea) and the Daleks use this as an opportunity to PROVE the doctor is of a higher intelligence and suitable to become something of a stratagist.

In this film, Dr. Who, Tom and a human survivor of the Dalek occupation are put into a cell. And the doctor uses a comb to break the magnetic lock on the cell door, at which point the Daleks swoop in, announce that THAT was a logic test and send the whole gang off to become ‘Robomen’ (the Daleks ‘on the ground’ human converted slave drivers)

Its oversimplification to the point of daftness, and its prominent pretty much throughout the whole thing. Also the statement ‘The Daleks Swoop in’ could be used on any and every single page of the script for this thing. I think the only piece of feedback the production team took to heart was that in ‘Doctor Who and the Daleks’ the Daleks didnt turn up for a while (because they dont in the actual serial for 2 or so episodes) and so they decide to crash the daleks into every single scene in this thing, sometimes MULTIPLE times.

I cant particularly fault the direction, the scenes they do recreate from the original BBC serial look 100% better, grander and more detailed than the original broadcast version (they had a budget and a set space bigger than a shoebox though…So I cant exactly say its a fair comparison) But the majority of the movie itself is decent enough, super colourful and a clear line of thought has been put into exactly how this should look and feel. It would have been easy to just recreate how things looked from the TV version, but here it does have a grander and richer vibe to it, that I personally quite liked.

Cast direction is a bit of a flop on the other hand, with most of the cast looking lost when on set, and in some cases the ‘set’ itself is just a black curtain…Which doestn exactly give them a lot to work with in terms of hitting marks and utilising props.

Nevertheless, the cast do muddle on and there is some genuinely well handled moments here, though, most of them appear to be from Bernard Cribbins who was renowned for being a fairly solid physical performer.

The script itself, being an adaptation kind of lives and dies by that. and I do think they cut this thing a little too close to the bone, its supposed to show a dystopia. But all it really is, is a load of upbeat british folks wandering around a couple semi demolished buildings…Not exactly ‘end of the world’ vibes…Also; they decided for some reason to tone down certain KEY characters here. Susan (who…well basically this is her story! its the one where she leaves, finds love and starts trying to rebuild the planet) is snookered here. Suzy is 6 years old. So obviously love and philanthropy on a dystopic world is out. But rather than try to make her fit the plot, they take the kid (who was VERY vocal and precotious in the first film) and basically just, write her away here. She has VERY little dialogue and spends most of the film wandering around various bunkers and woodland until she’s reunited with Cushing.

But even more strangely, The Doctor himself is abscent for a decent chunk of the movie, and when he does turn up, he has minimal lines and largely just re-emphisises the plot as it stands. Its bizzare. This is a DOCTOR WHO movie, and DOCTOR WHO has barely anything really to do with it.

They seem to struggle a bit with tone, they want it dystopic, but not *too* dystopic. They want comedy, but not *TOO*much comedy, they want to remain faithful to Terry Nations vision. But this is a Gramaphone of a story in a ‘CD’ world. its…a square peg in a round hole honestly. I dont HATE it, but its weird to see why anyone would bother doing THIS, NOW.

The cine is fine, compositions about as good as it gets for these low budget runs. I adore the use of colour here and the Daleks shell colours are all utterly delightful honestly. its vivid and creative, maybe a *bit* safer than the first outing. But ultimately still solid enough.

The performances are largely sitting on Bernard Cribbins and Peter Cushing (whenever he ACTUALLY gets a chance to DO something) I also have to give a special shout out to ‘Philip Maddoc’ one of the few TV doctor who actors to somehow land a part in these films. And my favourite ‘person who gets blown up in a shed, when he thinks the daleks cant blow up sheds.’ delightful.

Also; on the soundtrack front, we’re still doing big band orchestral pieces, and this one sounds even MORE like some kind of strange ‘Showa’ era TOHO production. It…wasnt for me, and felt quite dated for the time it came out…but hey ho!…

Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD was a sequel noone really asked for, and that reflected in the box office. A third film adapting ‘The Daleks Masterplan’ was kicked around for years befor eventually being abandoned in 1970. and LORD knows what THAT would have looked like. To me? I kind of just put this film in a compartment of my brain that acknowledges it exists….But doesnt really know why. I dont hate it, but I certainly dont love it. It has its moments, but whenever the credits roll Im always just left with ‘why?’

I’d say if you like your low budget, cheesy 60s sci fi stuff, this is absolutely a curio not to be missed. But doctor who fans may see this more as an oddity than anything ACTUALLY worth their time, and I personally will probably leave it a bit before revisiting this one.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/daleks-invasion-earth-2150-ad/

I missed my chance catching this in the cinema, and trying to find a copy of this film on physical or even digital that wasnt stupidly expensive was problematic to say the least. Mercifully ‘Channel 4’ appear to have screened it over the new years, and they’ve JUST by chance got their streaming app back up and working on google and android systems. So I grasped at the chance to catch this one while there was still a window to do it legally for free…and I was NOT dissapointed.

The film is essentially one giant spoiler. So I cant really go into any kind of detail without ruining the experience. Suffice to say, I went into this largely blind with only the knowledge that it involved jumping around in multiverses in some way, and that apparently it was a bit weird (my kind of remit). But I dont think I was prepared for the subtext of this piece to really smack the audience across the face in the 2nd and 3rd acts.

The universe hopping is really just window dressing, the framework from which the main plot is draped, which is predominantly around finding and accepting your place in the world, working through trauma and acknowledging when that trauma is influencing your life and your decisions to both yours and the people around you’s detriment. and learning to continue growing, learning acceptance and actually striving to evolve, rather than shutting down and just accepting your lot in life.

This film is basically a ‘growth’ story, but it does the wonderful thing of not just making it a lone persons growth story, much like the multiverse plot thats being thrust to the forefront of the pictures marketing. this film is about the growth of a family, the development of a family, and how one small change can create unexpected bigger ripples (something the film cleverly talks about literally with the multiverse elements, while doing it metaphorically with the characters themselves.)

I really quite enjoyed this one. I felt the script was refreshing, ran at a clip and structured itself remarkably well while spinning so many plates. I always say the sign of a great movie is when you become so wrapped up in the world the films building that you end up having a a shock realisation of the logistics it would have taken to handle some of the themes, elements, shots or direction choices the film made. and I found myself constantly having to pause the film to catch my breath at some of the shot choices, thematic choices and effects utilised. Its honestly a remarkable work, with influences stretching from anime titles like ‘Paprika’. ‘Perfect Blue’ and ‘Ghost in the shell’, to surreal Japanese cinema offerings like ‘House’ to Western influences ranging from ‘Monty Python’, to Disney right through to the 1964 film ‘L’Enfer’

It casts its net into so many genres, movies, fields and thoughts it can quite quickly become a rather overwhelming experience (Lord knows how it felt to watch this thing in Imax, im sure ushers had to scrape peoples brains off the ceiling).

The script itself is charming, interesting and relentless baraging the audience with philosophical concepts and ideas from start to finish. the act structuring is solid, the decision to split the film into 3 parts I thought worked well and the ideas coming off this script are astounding, its a firework of a film honestly shedding sparkles of genius with ever throb.

While I do think the film starts to slow a little in the back half of the 2nd act as it gets bogged down with the concepts the films trying to present. I think i’d find it hard to get this movie down to sub 2 hours. Im almost always an advocate that your film could be 10-15 minutes shorter and twice better for it. This film is no exception, but it really becomes a case of ‘where to cut?’ because even the small moments, are nice and add subtle additional layers to the storytelling.

The direction and cine are both exemplary, theres a reason this film did well during awards season with ultra creative directoral visions beautifully captured in razor sharp cinemetographic choices. I do think it relies on CGI a little *too* much at times, and at times it does feel like it prioritizes the visuals over the vision. But I can forgive it that given how folks quite often will remember an image over an idea.

The colour use is superb, the shot variety and edit are astounding, clear, precise works that honestly delighted. with humour being gently sprinkled across the runtime, in ways that CAN be up front, but are often quite subtle.

The performances are equally astounding. Of course, the centerpiece of the whole thing has to be the frankly genius acting of Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu as Mother and Daughter Evelyn and Joy. Delivering an astounding range over 150 minutes from genuine gut punches to solid laughter and everything in between, the film would have been a poorer experience without their sincerity and genuiness oozing out of the screen.

Of course, thats not to ignore Ke Huy Quan here as Waymond, who gets a split personality role ranging from a suave action type, to a soul crushed gent who ‘missed an opportunity’ to a doting husband on both sides of a divorce. he too gives an astounding range of performances and his charm really does help pull the audience in and bring them along for every bump of the ride.

That of course isnt to play down the supporting cast, in particular James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis as ‘Gong Gong’ and ‘Deirdre’ respectfully…who do a fine turn in their respective roles. They fully capture the parts they’re playing and seem to be having a lot of fun doing so. Put it this way, when JAMES HONG…AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS…ARE BOTH…Starring in your film, and they’re great, but arnt a patch on your leading cast. My god, you’re cooking with something special.

Throw in a solid soundtrack that really helps punctuate key moments and is used almost a layering tool to help further pull you into the situation, and I think you have a real winner on your hands here honestly.

I didnt really know what to expect from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ going in. I was just hoping what i’d heard was done effectively. And I really wasnt dissapointed. an astounding journey of a movie with a unique flare and style that was MORE than deserving of the praise the academy gave it at the time. I highly recommend checking this one out. But my advise is to make sure you have the time to catch it all in one sitting, uninterrupted. I struggle to find 2+ hours free a day, and I feel being pulled in and out of the action didnt solidly help me. But if you can stay in that world, it’s a rich and rewarding experience.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/everything-everywhere-all-at-once/

The last film on the ‘Short Sharp Shocks: Volume 2’ set I had yet to watch. ‘Hangman’ is a ‘Safety at Work’ film aimed at helping building site workers not die by drinking 16 largers and doing a bit of scaffolding.

Incredibly campy, it sounds like the whole film was narrated by Mike Reid, as he cheekily narrates the pitfalls ans follies that could lead to your demise.

I’m a sucker for PIF’s and this one’s great fun. Little on the more violent side than most. And I do feel the structure of the film (which is essentially a ‘guess what happens’ piece) is undermined by the opening 3 minutes in which they show basically all the accidents nastiest bits.

But hey, this is probably one of the more fun films on these sets, and arguably in the top 3 I’ve seen so far. I’d say if you enjoy public information films, you’ll probably get a kick out of this one.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/hangman-1986/

Well, I figured i’d kick start the new year with a bit of cheer and merryment, and they seldom get as cheery or merry as ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ the unholy union of the guy who wrote the ‘James Bond’ books, teaming up with the guy who wrote ‘The Witches’ and ‘James and the Giant Peach’ to create simulatneously the most delriously eccentric and terrifying work the 60s had to offer.

Its a bit of a nationwide staple is ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ around this time of year, some watch it around christmas time, others prefer to have it on in that weird gap between the 27th of December and New years (I fall into this camp) but in the UK its usually playing somewhere and is something of a festive favourite alongside similarly bizarre and troubling films like ‘Oliver!’ and ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’.

The plot?..Thats a loaded question. But i’ll give it a go. Its 1911, and Two kids find a rundown car in a junk yard thats alledged to have been a world champion racer for 3 years on the bounce. The kids love the car, but a scrap merchent threatens to buy it and melt it down…Unless of course the kids can cough up 30 shillings (approximately £155 in todays money, or nearly $200 American).

They head home and tell their dad, who reveals (to the audience) they are in fact poor…SO very poor, and they dont have that kind of money just lying around to buy broken cars with. It turns out the dad is an eccentric inventor whos inventions almost never work, who’s also taking care of his aging father, who’s also an eccentric, who believes he’s still in the military (whether he ever actually was to begin with is up for debate).

Anyway a chance encounter with a lady called ‘Truely’ sets our inventor up with a meeting at a sweet factory to try and sell his latest invention, the ‘Toot Sweet’ a sugar stick you can blow like a whistle. it passes the audition, but an EQUALLY chance encounter at a fair ground with a man who gets a particularly bad hair cut from our inventors ‘automatic haircut’ machine ends in greater success, when he joins in on a random carnie side show and makes the 30 shillings for a 3-5 minute performance all in one go.

Anyway; they buy the car, they do it up, they take it out for a ride (along with Truely) and while spending the day at the beach, the dad recalls a tall tale about a group of nasty folks from a faraway european country called ‘Vulgaria’ who’ve heard about the car, and its supposed magic ability to fly and float on water…and they want it. Cue a madcap adventure to Vulgaria complete with Elder-napping, Noncery and traumatising visuals, guarenteed to ensure your kids wont WANT to see January 2nd.

It’s got to be *AT LEAST* 13 years since I last watched this film all the way through, I remembered always having a quite sincere soft spot for its whimsical nature. But the curse of media literacy, and 7.5 years of film journalism (not to mention the 20+ years of film making) has had devestating consiquences on my ability to enjoy movies…So much so that rewatching this now, I had to deal with my nostalgia trying to overlook simply unforgivable things about this film.

For a starters, I completely forgot that this film is nearly two and a half hours long. HOW?! How is this movie nearly 150 minutes long?! It absolutely doesnt warrent it. it has NO business being this length. and that factor alone has a devestating impact on the scripting.

The first act, CRAWLS. It CRAWLS…to get to a place where it starts picking up steam. I had completely forgotten most of the first act going into this, I had always just assumed the film started with Carattacus Potts bringing the car into the workshop and slowly working to get it up to speed.

I’d COMPLETELY forgotten about the extended race car intro that goes on for approximately 25 years, the kids arguing with the scrap man, the family finance issue plotline, the first meeting with Truely, a good 2-3 of the musical numbers in that opening half hour. and its PAINFUL waiting for this thing to ACTUALLY kick in and BE the movie I want it to be.

It isnt really till around the half way point that we actually get into the more fantastical elements of the production, and they’re fun, dark at times, but largely in a way that invites the audience to laugh along, rather than recoil (child catcher aside of course.) But by that point i’d felt like i’d been waiting in an airport departure lounge for a week.

And I think thats a core issue with this script, the characters are great, when they’re doing whimsy and charismatic things…But when that isnt happening, its like their entire personalities fall off. they just become exposition spreaders and not much else really…and because the whimsy doesnt really begin till the 2nd half (with the fair ground and the sweet factory sequences as VERY notable exceptions) I found myself getting impatient for the actual film to start proper.

From there the second and third act are largely fine, charming, witty, genuinely funny in places. But because of the ‘epic’ runtime, it has a real problem trying to establish and stick with tone. on one side of the see-saw you have Potts and Truely doing pratt falls, physical comedy and funny faces. On the other, you have the baron trying to kill his wife, the child catcher leering on children and questionable language choices such as ‘Fuzzy Wuzzies’. its disorienting. My understanding is that the brief was to try and make a film with a plot that replicated the Grimms fairytale type structure…and on that front they do succeed…But at what cost I ask you?

I dunno, Im conflicted on this rewatch about the structural integrity of the script. I feel like had it been 90-100 minutes and it had binned off most of the opening act, alongside tightening up the tone to help (if nothing else) make the contrasts a bit more consistent, it could have been absolutely perfect. As it stands, I feel most people forget the *thud* that lands with this film when the hit play.

The direction and cine are probably the films 2nd strongest elements honestly (outside of the performances) we have creative direction and cinematography a-plenty here, its exploding with possibilities, unusual decisions that just somehow work and fantastical visions that make it stand out as a film that has clearly lasted the test of time. Only matched by some superb cast direction that delivers moments that are burned into the minds of the nation. perfect set placements, perfect designs. I LOVE the look and feel of this film visually and its probably one of the sole reasons the film is remebered so fondly. Because while the scripts a bit of a mes, the ‘feel’ this film has is frankly unmistakable.

Easily however, the thing that saves this film and probably the best aspect is the casting. From the top; Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffreys, Gert Frobe, Anna Quale, Robert Helpmann and Benny Hill? No notes. Perfection. Its a remarkable thing to get THAT MANY folks who just so perfectly personify the characters they’re being asked ot play. its frankly insane to have so many bottles of lightning all in one movie, but they somehow do. Its incredible.

Thats not to do a disservice to the rest of the cast however, who also all deliver remarkably good performances that mix high energy with some genuine feeling and deliver an outcome that manages to really get things over the line and cooking. I wont go as far as to say their isnt a BAD performance here…Just that I cant recall any.

And tying it all together is the soundtrack, which is best described as ‘A third of tracks I dont remember at all, that are utterly forgettable. A third of tracks that I vaguely remembered, but largely didnt care for. and a third of tracks that absolutely blow me away and are some of the finest musical numbers ever composed.’ the films that fractured. Truleys song lamenting Caratticus was NOT my cup of tea at all, but an addled ex-army general singing about being carried off to ‘the posh life’ while being kidnapped in his shed by a blip, while ALSO getting dunked like a biscuit! YES PLEASE!

Hits include ‘Me old bamboo’, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, ‘The posh posh travelling life’, ‘Doll on a music Box’, ‘Choochie face’ and much…MUCH…MUCH MUCH more. go nuts. you’ll find at least half a dozen you like.

Having given it time between rewatches, i’ve found with this instance that ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ frustrated me, I really wanted to like it like I used to, I wanted to enjoy it the same way I recalled enjoying it in my memories. But the reality is, its overlong, tonally all over the place and a big chunk of the songs are just flatlining.

There is an incredible movie in here, and I think with some re-editing I could love it a HELL of a lot more than I did with this watch…But for now, I think im going to need a bit of time before I give this one another spin.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/chitty-chitty-bang-bang/

Watched on Wednesday January 1, 2025.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/bloody-new-year/4/