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Adam Pally recommended The Cable Guy (1996) in Movies (curated)

 
The Cable Guy (1996)
The Cable Guy (1996)
1996 | Comedy

"A lot of people will be like, “What?” but Jim Carrey’s best performance, possibly most grounded. I know that sounds crazy, but when you really think about the character, he’s amazing in it. Every frame he’s just electric. I could watch that movie a thousand times. I think it’s beautifully directed by Ben Stiller, who’s probably the best commercial comedy director of all time. I almost put Reality Bites on this list, he’s so good. It’s just so f*cking funny, and every scene in that movie is populated with the most genius comedic minds. Jack Black, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Owen Wilson — they’re all in that movie, and they all play hugely important small parts. They’re all amazing. It’s dark and f*cked up, and I just love that f*cking movie so much. That may be Judd Apatow’s best film. It’s so good, it’s so good."

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The Dressmaker (2016)
The Dressmaker (2016)
2016 | Drama
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Tilly Dunnage is a glamorous woman that has seen the world learning the fashion world, she has returned home for revenge after being forced to leave the town as a child, she helps the women of the town look gorgeous and extra special, while she convinces herself that she isn’t cursed. She knows how to turn heads using her cloths to make this happen. Molly is the mother of Tilly who has been living in isolation for years, she didn’t want her daughter to return, even though she doesn’t start to bond with her after all these years apart. Teddy is a young man in the town, he is one of the few people that looked after Molly while Tilly was away, he soon takes a shine to her, wanting to prove that she didn’t do anything in the first place. Sergeant Farrat is one of the people that is happy to welcome Tilly back to town, he does have his own secret which involves his cross dressing, making him easy to twist when Tilly wants information.

Performances – Kate Winslet is great in this leading role, bring us a character filled with guilt who is just as happy to show a positive confident side to the people in the town. Judy Davis is a scene stealer in this film, being able to get the laughs required to make her the most memorable part of nearly ever scene she is in. Liam Hemsworth is at the best he has ever been, which is great to see him breaking away from the roles that aren’t working for him. Hugo Weaving gets to have a lot of fun in his role too.

Story – The story follows a woman who returns home to get revenge on the people that forced her to leave, only to learn that town has just as many secrets within the walls, that revenge is just about letting them out. We get to see how a town can turn enough heads to make everything seem like nothing is wrong, only for a curse to be waiting to be lifted if it isn’t inside somebody’s mind. We do get a lot of characters being introduced which can make things difficult to keep up with because we get plenty of little factors that do lead up to the personal conflict between the characters. this is a lot more fun of a story than I was expecting even though it is sprinkled with very dark moments.

Comedy – The comedy in the film does come the quirky nature of the events as they unfold, we have plenty of fashion related comical moments as well as small town gossip, which will get laugh along the way.

Settings – The film is set in a small rural Australian town, where everybody does know everybody else, we are filled with gossip and instant reactions to anything that goes on in the town too.


Scene of the Movie – Leaving town.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Slightly too many characters.

Final Thoughts –This is a quirky dark comedy that is sprinkled by the elements of revenge, which does keep us wondering just what is the endgame of her decision making process.

 

Overall: Dark quirky comedy treat.
  
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
1995 | Comedy, Drama
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I’ve always been fascinated by the film Welcome to the Dollhouse, the Todd Solondz film. It’s a really dark comedy. It might be because I grew up in Long Island and it feels like where I grew up. A lot of the strangeness of it feels familiar to me. I love the look of it. I love the tone of it. When we started working on Freaks and Geeks, I thought a lot about Welcome to the Dollhouse, in terms of how it was lit, the production design, the strange cadences of its comedy, and these kids who feel like they’re in hell, their families and how their parents treat them. She (Heather Matarazzo) and that character (Dawn Wiener) is one of the greatest outcast nerd characters ever created in film or television. So it’s for someone who always loves a great underdog story. That’s one of my favorites and not a movie that makes it a triumphant fantasy for the nerdy girl either. That is never the Todd Solondz way. I thought about it when we did Freaks and Geeks because we often thought, “This movie is about how you handle failure. It’s not about succeeding. It’s not a show about wish fulfillment.” You see that in a lot of Todd Solondz work. I don’t think we had half the balls that he has."

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Dog Soldiers (2002)
Dog Soldiers (2002)
2002 | Action, Horror
8
8.2 (26 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Great British cast (3 more)
Black/dark humour throughout
Great one liners
One of the last films I remember to use makeup, costumes, and what looks like actual sausages for special effects and gore.
There is no Spoon
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is just one of those films from my youth that will never look back on with anything but pure joy.

The plot has already been laid out here, the reasons to watch this movie aren't really based around storyline. It's more that a group of "everyman" type British soldiers are thrust into a bat sh*t crazy situation, fighting off seven foot werewolves inside an abandoned farmhouse in the Scottish highlands. Comedy is of course going to come with that.

If the premise doesn't grab you, come for Liam Cunningham (AKA Ser Davos Seaworth) playing a bad guy, it's such a brilliant thing to see his range. If that doesn't do it, come to hear Sean Pertwee say "We are now up against live, hostile targets. So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch."

The jokes and quotables are thick and fast, the makeup and costumes of the werewolves is still analogue, and the work put into them must have been immense. They are genuinely menacing, and it's nice to remind yourself that not everything needs to be computer generated to have impact.

As a last point, Id like to point out that besides the great cast, the comedy, and the quotes, this isn't really jump scare, or torture p*rn, it's just an old fashioned run and gun, action comedy horror. It also ends in a way I just haven't seen before, with the use of photographs in a particular "action shot" kind of way, set up during the movie. Excellent.

- Rob
  
Cold Pursuit (2019)
Cold Pursuit (2019)
2019 | Action, Drama, Thriller
Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) is a simple man who spends his days clearing the roads in a remote Colorado Ski Town and spends his days with his wife and his son. Nels is so unassuming that when he is awarded Citizen of the Year he states that there are others far more worthy and fusses over getting dressed up to accept the award and make a speech.

When his son is found dead of a Heroin overdose; Nels is not willing to accept that his son was a user even though this puts tremendous strain on his marriage and has taken Nels to consider suicide. At his worst moment he learns that his son’ co-worker was involved with some shady dealing and that his son was likely collateral damage from the criminal elements involved.

With a new found sense of purpose: Nels embarks on a quest to find the truth and avenge his son’s death no matter the consequences.

One would think that “Cold Pursuit” is a standard revenge film but it unexpectedly changes direction shortly after Nels starts exacting his revenge. The film transforms into a Dark Comedy of sorts as characters get a Title Screen when they are killed many of which have a morbid humor to them. The film even takes the bold step of moving away from Neeson for a good third of the film and putting the emphasis on other characters from rival crime organizations to the Sherriff and his eager Detective (Emmy Rossum).

As such the film is not what you expect as although there is plenty of action at times; it is a Dark Comedy with dramatic elements. It is more in line of what you might expect at a Film Festival from an Indie studio versus a major studio release.

As such fans of Neeson may be disappointed in seeing a departure from the type of films they have come to expect from him in recent years while others may embrace the quirky nature of the film.

http://sknr.net/2019/01/30/cold-pursuit/
  
The Predator (2018)
The Predator (2018)
2018 | Action, Horror
Gore (3 more)
Special Effects
Jokes
Plot
Rushed in parts (2 more)
Dark shooting
Camera angles
Carry on Predator!
Well! I have been looking forward to this film for so long and although I enjoyed it as a whole, I felt it could've been a lot better.

It felt more of a comedy sci-fi than your usual Predator film with laughable moments all the way through it.

I understand that there were some requirements to cut parts of the film and edit a lot of the scenes because of this so I think I would've been happier with a delayed release than the final product if it meant honing a few things but it won't stop me from buying it when it comes out and it made for a good night out to the cinema.

Overall it is well worth the watch and is a good film but I just feel that if people are going to compare to the original then they are going to be upset!