Unfrosted
SimilarApollo 13 (1995), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Barton Fink (1991), Basquiat (1996),
Ben-Hur (1959) Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Brazil (1985), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), D.E.B.S. (2005), Forrest Gump (1994), Garden State (2004), Ice Age (2002), JFK (1991), M*A*S*H (1970),
Manhattan (1979) Mars Attacks! (1996), Schindler's List (1993), Serial Mom (1994), Shrek 2 (2004),
Shrek the Third (2007) Sugar & Spice (2001), The Apartment (1960), The Avengers (1998), The Fisher King (1991), The King of Comedy (1982), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004),
The Party (1980) The Party 2 (1982) The Queen (2006), The Simpsons Movie (2007), The Tin Drum (1979), To Die For (1995), Transamerica (2005),
StarringJon Hamm,
I will give Unfrosted, director/co-writer/star/breakfast aficionado Jerry Seinfeld's heavily fictionalized, would-be-gonzo take on the invention of the Pop-Tart, this: I did laugh, albeit mirthlessly. For one sequence, Seinfeld and his creative collaborators push past stale, semi-affectionate satire and into the rarefied realm of "Yes, we're going for it." It's a funeral. The deceased is laid to rest with the highest honors a breakfast food developer may be accorded. Why is he dead? An office culture that prioritized the appearance of safety (testing the revolutionary self-stable fruit pastry in a full space suit, complete with isolated oxygen supply) over actual safety (keeping said oxygen supply next to an overclocked toaster). After all, beating Post to market is far more important than protecting your staff from violent immolation.
The Corn Flakes rooster, Toucan Sam (Cedric Yarbrough), Tony the Tiger (Thurl Ravenscroft, as played by Hugh Grant), and Snap, Crackle, and Pop (Kyle Mooney, Mikey Day, and Drew Tarver), among others, perform the rites. As the deceased's widow (Sarah Burns) looks on in increasingly horrified bafflement, these priests of the breakfast table lower the coffin into the ground and then dump cereal and milk into the grave, topped with fresh fruit laid by professional mourners. A cereal box prize is presented like the flags given to the family of slain soldiers.
It's an audacious, out-there scene, a moment of distinct, morbid silliness that reminds me of when Barry B. Benson had Winnie the Pooh sniped. In a world where rival cereal companies seek the aid of Kennedy (Bill Burr) and Kruschev (Dean Norris) and the head of Big Milk (Peter Dinklage) can have someone tortured for daring to suggest that breakfast might not always need cow juice, Full Cearal Honors feels like Seinfeld and company cranking up the dial to eleven and jamming while dancing around Stonehenge. What is there to do but laugh? Continue Reading →
Jules
SimilarA.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Chicken Little (2005), Mars Attacks! (1996), Predator (1987), Stalker (1979), The Thing (1982), The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008), War of the Worlds (2005),
Watch afterBarbie (2023) Blue Beetle (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023), Shortcomings (2023), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023),
In a media landscape with fewer and fewer options actually targeted toward adults (often tied to the death of the mid-budget movie), audiences take the scraps they're given and make the best of them. This is the space that Jules occupies, a sci-fi fairy tale about the specific loneliness of senior citizens who feel isolated, ignored, and afraid. It’s also a thin, often ham-fisted take on a tale that could have had real legs in more capable hands. Continue Reading →
Home Sweet Home Alone
Studio20th Century Studios,
Disney brought out the nostalgia machine for Home Sweet Home Alone, the latest installment in the franchise of the same name. While it’s not a carbon copy remake, Home Sweet Home Alone lacks the charm of the original 1990 film. It narrowly slides into being a passable family film thanks to the work of a committed cast featuring Archie Yates, Rob Delaney, and Ellie Kemper. Continue Reading →