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.

VHYes (2020) - Movie Review

There’s something inherently nostalgic about VHS tapes. I remember growing up right when the big transition from VHS to DVD was taking place, and I have a lot of fond memories of trawling through the family’s excessive collection (we had numbered crates full of tapes, along with a written register for what was in which crate) to find something I could occupy my time with. And with this latest film from Jack Henry (son of Tim) Robbins, the nostalgia glands are lovingly milked to make an exceptionally bug-fuck offering.