Netflix Nebulous: Vol. 2

Once again, I am here with three more movies, this time each one has significant allusions and themes based in other works of art/film.

The first film is called Strange Brew and I've been meaning to see it for a long time because I've heard that this 1983 movie starring Rick Moranis (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) and Dave Thomas (Stripes) is a modern, comedic take on the Shakespearean drama Hamlet. I am one who has a profound affection for the Bard's work and it can often be enjoyable when modern writer's get there hands on his concepts (see: Scotland, PA and Titus); this can also yield very different results (see: O and the 1999 version of A Midsummer's Night's Dream). Strange Brew is based on the comedic characters that Moranis and Thomas made famous in Canada called Bob and Doug McKenzie who are a beer-guzzling team that stayed popular for over 20 years north of the US border. The movie is about these two brothers who hatch a scheme to score some free booze and end up in the middle of a vicious and deadly power-struggle between a beer-company heiress and her murderous uncle. The results are ridiculous and pretty funny and make for a good Saturday afternoon movie. Rick Moranis is one of the most underrated comedians out there and he is hysterical as this blundering idiot who hash an unmatched intake capacity (you'll see what I mean...). This is part Escanaba in Da Moonlight and part Logan's Run-esque kitsch.


The next flick I watched and am reviewing is here do to the suggestion from a good friend. I have been accused before of being an elitist and not liking "mainstream" movies (which is totally not true), but I am always up for suggestions of movies I might like. This film that was introduced to me is an Australian romantic comedy featuring Rhys Ifans who you might know as the rowdy and lewd-t-shirt-wearing roommate from Notting Hill. This movie, like any, definitely has its hits and misses, but is overall a very fun, enjoyable movie with a fairly ridiculous storyline that is about crack-pot enough to be creative. The story revolves around a construction worker named Danny who lives for his chance to go on holiday with his live-in long-term girlfriend. After said girlfriend cancels their upcoming holiday trip to have lunch with a new, secret friend, Danny is forced to spend a week at home with nothing but his restlessness and spontaneity in tow. Eventually at a barbie with all of their friends, Danny fulfills a fantasy of his by tying an enormous amount of gigantic balloons to his deckchair (we now understand the title!) and floats into the air and out of sight. Due to a storm he floats into, Danny is hurled into the arms/tree of a shy woman who helps him realize the importance of caring about people and surrounding yourself with people who care about you. At first, the town's people have a fascination with the two which is reminscent of the all-powerful collective narration in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily". Then Danny becomes a local hero and teaches the people as much as they teach him. All the while, the entire country of Australia is inspired by Danny's fate-al flight to start doing things they've always wanted to do. All in all, it's a cute movie about learning that life is much more than work and our day-to-day routine. It's not quite life without a whole lot of connection.


Our final film for today is a fairly new entry in the Woody Allen catalog called Cassandra's Dream which is a classic moral play from a man who has, in recent years, ventured a little more into the darker side of film. Cassandra's Dream stars the duo of Ewan MacGregor and Colin Farrell (the latter I can barely stomach) and is a great example of Woody trading in New York and it's jazzy coolness for London and it's classical opulence. The style of this film is very much an homage to classics by Kieslovski and Bergman like The Decalogue and Scenes from a Marraige respectively. This is not a film for those with a weak stomach as this moral conundrum is gritty and effective. Some publications have blasted the film for bad acting and unrealistic characters, which isn't off-base, but I don't think that it makes this particular one bad. The situations the characters find themselves in are far-fetched, to be sure, but are completely necessary for a moral struggle of this magnitude. Woody raises tough questions about life, privilege, dreams, and most of all family and the answers are not always easy to digest, mostly because Allen has a deft touch when it comes to asking questions without actually ever giving the answers. It is not an enjoyable film to watch, but it most certainly was good.


Strange Brew: B-
Danny Deckchair: B
Cassandra's Dream: B+

Agree? Disagree? Questions? Comments? Complaints?