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 →
No Hard Feelings
SimilarAnnie Hall (1977), Billy Elliot (2000), Cars (2006), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Italian for Beginners (2000), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Pretty Woman (1990), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Talk to Her (2002), Toy Story 2 (1999),
StudioColumbia Pictures,
As big tent blockbusters like superhero movies and other franchise fare battle it out for screens and box office returns, the traditional mid-budget comedy has become increasingly rare. With adult comedies squeezed off the schedule, there are far fewer opportunities for performers who don’t want to don a cape or end up described as “the live-action version” of a cartoon. That’s part of what makes Gene Stupnitsky’s No Hard Feelings such a breath of fresh air. Continue Reading →
Spree
Eugene Kotlyarenko's satire about a rideshare driver who murders for online fame lacks the bite or nuance its premise deserves.
(This review is part of our coverage of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.)
It was just over six years ago when Sharkeisha went viral for assaulting her friend on camera. The World Star video became a meme goldmine and made headlines, and while it seemed shocking at the time, it obviously wasn’t the last. Six months later in the wake of the Isla Vista massacres, the shooter’s face spread like wildfire as he waged polemics against those he felt had polluted the earth. He sat in his car, camera on his dashboard, and tried to justify his misogyny and racism. Now he has his own Wikipedia page.
Of course, the 2010s didn’t birth this sort of infamy, but, like some sort of trickle-down economics, it helped normalize it. YouTube “comedians” like Sam Pepper churned out “prank” videos so he could justify groping women on camera. A few years later, Logan Paul went from Vine to CNN to apologize for a video in which he vlogged a dead body in a Japanese suicide forest. But what about the kids that aren’t famous, the ones that aren’t pulling pranks on the homeless? Continue Reading →