Random Richards Reviews

Preview Review: Black Science #1

15/05/25 at 11.01pm / by Random Richards / 0 Comment

This has to be the least amount of time the first issue of a comic book has wasted getting right to the action. By least amount of time, I mean zero amount of time. Within the first page, an astronaut couple is running through a strange forest being chased by humanoid frogs riding giant eels. The chase never slows down until the last page and then it starts over again. Basically, writer Rick Remender and artist Matteo Scalera have taken the same approach as Mad Max Fury Road and make the whole story a chase scene in a strange environment and place as much bizarre images as possible. The result is Black Science, a non-stop rush of pure awesomeness. Black Science has the advantage of being released first and the disadvantage of not having a ground breaking trilogy behind it. That and it being part of the underappreciated medium of comic books.

“It wasn’t until I’d met everyone else’s measure of success that I realized I’d failed myself” says our hero Grant McKay “More importantly, I failed you.” He’s referring to his wife Sara. Despite her warnings, Grant obsessively dwelled into the field of forbidden science or black science. With his family by his side, he created portals into a chain of possible dimensions. And now he lives to regret it when his family and co-workers join him in a strange intergalactic dimension. And now Sara and Grant are running through a swamp of lightning being chased by anthropomorphic frogs, with only 10 minutes to get to the crew before they teleport out of there.

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Jacques Tati: His Early Short Films

15/05/21 at 4.16pm / by Random Richards / 0 Comment

Before I begin reviewing Jacques Tati’s first feature, I feel it is important to start with the short films he made decades earlier. Like many filmmakers, he developed his skills cutting his teeth in short films. Of course, in this pre-television era, movies would always include a cartoon, a news reel and a short film so beginner filmmakers back then would have better luck. Fortunately, short films have a better chance to gain audience attention these days thanks to YouTube, Vimeo and Blip.

For those used to Tati’s style of comedy, it will feel weird for him taking such a conventional approach to comedy. Some may argue that his conventional shorts somehow feel weirder than his feature films. Sometimes to break the rules, you have to first know what those rules are. Even George Carlin and Richard Pryor started their comedy playing it safe before they did their groundbreaking work. It’s fascinating to see his early experiments with visual and sound gags. And we can see him develop his trademark style with each movie.

He made his first starring role in 1934 with On Demande Une Brute aka Brute Wanted. Tati plays Roustabat, a timid out-of-work actor who answers an ad asking for “a young man specializing in violent roles.” What he doesn’t realize is the ad is for a wrestling match for Krotov the Tartar, a wrestling champion everyone else is too terrified to go head to head against. Wresting is a classic breeding ground for visual gags and Krotov delivers a few humorous scenes especially confusing the announcer for Roustabat. The problem with this short film is that it feels like it’s trying to be like every comedies of that time. But the biggest problem is Mrs. Roustabat (Helene Pepee), who comes off as a stereotypical nag lording over her husband. It’s a trope that I think everyone is tired of because it makes both genders look bad.

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Mr. Marshall’s Madhouse Movie: Review of Roar!

15/05/14 at 9.06pm / by Random Richards / 0 Comment

“No animals were harmed in the making of this film. 70 cast and crew members were.”

-Roar tagline

INTRODUCTION

On Wednesday, April 15^th, I came to Calgary for the Comic Expo. But on that night, I stumbled upon the Calgary Underground Film Festival in the Global Cinema. It’s a good thing I came on that night because that night was a preview of the movie Roar, a notorious 1981 film starring Tippi Hedren and her daughter Melanie Griffith about a man and his wildcat sanctuary. Having bombed in its initial release, it is being rereleased in film festivals with a major curiosity from movie goers. It certainly brought a huge lineup to the theatre. Of course, this is thanks to the advertisements detailing the injuries suffered on set as detailed by the above tagline. When the actors are listed in the trailer, the film describes the injuries they have suffered. And it has clearly worked judging by this lineup.

This has to be the hardest review I’ve had to write. Usually I try to avoid behind the scenes antics unless it furthers the experience of the film. But in this case, It is inevitable because in an unusual way, the behind the scenes antics are the movie. Second of all, there is so much focus on the behind the scenes antics that most people don’t even know what the film is about. Even the program guide gives only a minimal synopsis, focusing mostly on who got hurt behind the scenes. Most of the time, I try to keep my reviews within a one page limit. There’s so much I have to talk about with Roar, the one page limit will be impossible. The biggest problem is I don’t know where the film begins and the behind the scenes ends. As a result, I’m going to divide this film into three parts. The first part will give a summary of the movie itself. The second part will go into details of what happened behind the scenes and who got injured in the process? The final part will be the review itself.

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