Writing

It’s been a decent while since I’ve watched a children’s film at the cinema. Maybe you’d normally expect huge crowds of noisy, unsettled kids running around all over the place. Probably some loyal parents knowing they’ll be attending an illogical snorefest and will decide to discreetly catch some Zs while their kids enjoy the chaos onscreen. That certainly never happened when my brothers and I watched Pokémon and Digimon movies back in ye olden days at the Vue cinema in Reading*cough*. But this is my local Cineworld we’re talking about here, and I still only counted around 20 people filling a massive theatre. Kids were well behaved, and I didn’t spy any sleeping mamas or papas.

Continue reading “Review: Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile”

It’s a very rare film that can make me laugh out loud in a cinema. Those who know me know I’m not a big one for expressing myself with *Brick voice* LOUD NOISES *End Brick voice* as it is, so a film that can achieve this feat has got to have something special. What kind of special ingredient would this be, you ask? Slapstick, of course. Good old fashioned, silly, illogical slapstick.

Continue reading “Minimalist Moments: Anchorman 2”

It’s 1930s America, and as Amsterdam’s opening text enlightens us, most of the events we’re about to see are true. Well, that’s a better indicator of historical accuracy than director David O’Russell 1970s-set American Hustle, which only admitted to some of its content being legit. Either way, historical accuracy is used similarly in both films as a precursor to outline their screwball plots. It frames the story, but only as a necessary background.

Continue reading “Review: Amsterdam”

It’s a known, recorded fact that the grooviest pooch to grace the Animal Crossing series is based on Animal Crossing sound designer Kazumi Tokata. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t other influences involved in the creation of the K dog, who Animal Crossing Wiki describe as a ‘hippie-style travelling musician’. As the canine’s trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl informs us, ‘he can play music from all genres’. His oeuvre includes such diverse tunes as ‘K.K Folk’, ‘K.K. Rock’ and ‘K.K. Country’. Remind you of anybody?

Continue reading “Animal Crossing Autumn Roasts: K.K. Slider as Bob Dylan”

After Dr Rumack (Leslie Nielsen in his first comedic role) has just successfully stabilised a plane, a female passenger (Lee Bryant, who suggested that the gag should become increasingly ludicrous) gets stressed and is told to calm down by an air hostess, who shakes the passenger’s chair and shouts at her to get a hold of herself. Standard procedure. Nothing out of the ordinary. It’s hard work being an air hostess at the best of times. Thankfully, a fellow passenger comes along to relieve her of her duties, and proceeds to shake the passenger and slap her in the face. Not standard procedure. Kind of out of the ordinary. Romack arrives and relieves this passenger of his duties, and starts to shake the woman and slap her again. A nun appears behind and informs him that he has an urgent phone call, at which point he dutifully leaves, but not before giving the women another hard slap on the face (apparently this second slap wasn’t rehearsed. Ouch).

Continue reading “Minimalist Moments: Airplane!”