Bo Burnham: The Inside Outtakes (2022) - Movie Review

Well, it looks like leftovers of already-reviewed movies are still on the table, after looking at Jackass 4.5 earlier this year, as Bo Burnham has released an outtakes reel for his (in my not-so-quiet opinion) genius production Inside onto his YouTube channel. Seems like a fitting place for this to turn up, given his internet content roots along with the emphatically homespun production values of the special itself. But while this could easily be written off as just a behind-the-scenes scrapbook of the main event, I’d argue that this shows Burnham finding more ways to be creative even in this capacity.

Bo Burnham: Inside (2021) - Movie Review

I won’t claim to be the biggest Bo Burnham fan out there; I haven’t watched everything the man has ever done or anything. But with everything I have seen of his (Country Song, Eighth Grade, his performance in Promising Young Woman, his work on Chris Rock’s Tambourine), I’ve always walked away with a sense that this is a dude with talent to burn and a willingness to try different things. And while his latest comedy special might not technically count as a film… well, as I’ll get into, that distinction doesn’t really mean a whole lot, considering the how and why of its creation.

Oxygen (2021) - Movie Review

A woman wakes up in a cryogenic pod. She has no memory of how she got there, or even who she is. She has no contact with the outside world, save through the pod’s built-in A.I. MILO. The oxygen levels in the sealed pod are down to a third, and there is no way for her to get out. And… action!

Nomadland (2021) - Movie Review

Wanting to just say “Fuck it”, pack into a van, and go anywhere other than here is a rather common thought nowadays. Even as a functional introvert, I feel as if recent events have been testing my willingness to spend most of my waking hours indoors. So with indie filmmaker and soon-to-be MCU inductee Chloé Zhao’s latest feature, there’s definite timeliness to be gotten out of watching Fern (Frances McDormand) roam America in her RV, and wishing one could do the same in these days of lockdown. Only what’s being tapped into is at once removed from the here and now (taking place in the wake of the global financial crisis), but also informed by events that have been steadily growing worse in the interim.

Relaxer (2020) - Movie Review

This film doesn’t seem like much when explaining the plot as it is. Set in the final days of 1999, it’s the story of Abbie (Joshua Burge), who is given a challenge by his brother Cam (David Dastmalchian): Get past level 256 in Pac-Man. He is not allowed to leave his apartment, or even his couch, until it’s completed. For the entirety of the film’s run time, we never leave this apartment or Abbie’s side. I know that the prevalence of Twitch streamers nowadays somewhat makes the idea of watching someone else play video games for hours on end seem plausible, but does that make this watchable? Well, in the hands of writer/director/editor Joel Potrykus, more so than you’d think.

The Night Eats The World (2019) - Movie Review

I’ve gone on record a few times in previous reviews that I have a serious weakness for zombie movies. Far as I’m concerned, the weirder, the stupider, the more outright insane, the better. And yet, with how much I’ve delved into my love for this sub-genre, one question still seems to elude me: Why? Why is it this specific brand of genre cinema that sticks to my heart the easiest? I could just chalk it up to nostalgia for Planet Terror, the film that made me realise I loved film at large, let alone zombie films, but that still doesn’t seem to fit. I bring all this up because today’s entry in the genre makes for a distinct diversion from the norm… and honestly, it helped me finally pin down why I love this genre so damn much.

It Comes At Night (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: A mysterious contagion has reduced the world to a barren wasteland. Among the only known survivors are Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) and their son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who have set up shelter in a secluded house in the woods. They soon come across Will (Christopher Abbott), his wife Kim (Riley Keough) and their son Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner), who stumble across the house and are soon invited in to share it. However, suspicions start to arise between the two families, with the constant fear of one of them being infected, some drastic measures may have to be taken.