Review: ‘Maximum Overdrive’ Doesn’t Give a Ladybug!!!
Maybe you’ve heard of my now-defunct podcast, High Art Camp, that I made a while back with Parzz1val. In the podcast, we discussed the artistic merit of a film on a few different levels, including technical skill, total aesthetics, and cultural relevance. I usually took the low “campy” road, while Parz took the “high” artistic road, and we met somewhere in the middle.
I think part of any movie’s charm or artistic merit also relies on the ability to seep into the collective consciousness. How many terrific and technically sound movies have just slipped away from our minds, just because it was not engaging enough with its audience? Sure, there are some that strike both such as Us, Hereditary and The Lighthouse, but it’s not always the case.
Same with the other side, of course, but when it comes to camp, there’s an endearing and engaging quality to it. It reaches out to the Every Man (or the marginalized) and envelopes us into the, albeit sometimes shitty, story and characters. Yes, these are often not the budget or vision of more technically sound movies, but to pass them off as having no artistic merit is an insult. An insult to the audience of these movies – which is HUMANITY, man.
Let’s discuss.
The Plot (Spoiler-free):
As the Earth crosses the tail of a comet, machines start going crazy and have a maniacal thirst for human blood. They just can’t stop killing people! They love it.
A working stiff, recently on parole, is just trying to cook some damn eggs while his boss is shorting him money. A hip chick is catching a ride from a gross Bible Salesman. Clones of Haley Joel Osment, just celebrating their new marriage, fight their way to get to a safe haven. And a small child is the lone survivor of the pop-can massacre of his little league team.
All of these strange characters come together as more machines start taking over, being stalked and terrorized by the worst of them – The Green Goblin!
How will they survive this folly of man? Will things ever get back to normal? And will Curtis ever get the chance to watch his newly-wedded wife take a leak?
All this and more in…MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!!!
Thoughts (Spoilers):
Yes, yes, even our mothers and Great-Aunt Cathy know that Stephen King was quoted in Hollywood’s Stephen King as allegedly saying he was “coked out of (his) mind all through its production, and (he) really didn’t know what (he) was doing.” We know. We all know.
That’s everyone’s go-to for this movie and why it exists, but let’s be real, King has always had a wild side and just usually doesn’t have the reins. But in this one, we got to see the full force of his (and the 80’s) hubris and grandeur.
Honestly, this should be so much higher on the list of cult films because it has, I believe, literally everything in this film – smack-talking ATMs, gore, a gross romance, civil liberty disputes, a montage of filling up gas tanks, explosions, AC/DC, aliens (???), and some of the most amazingly quotable quotes:
(And 100% that’s what the photographers of Pixabay thought their pictures would be used for)
And of course, the classic:
But within this kaleidoscope of 80’s whimsy and wonder, there’s some legitimately good performances, most notably from Emilio Estevez (Golden Raspberry, aside) and Ellen McElduff. I thought Estevez played the role with focus and intent, acting like a man looking for amends in a shitty world that cared very little for him. And, well, Ellen McElduff was just a delight from start to finish, especially giving her all for the “We Made You!” scenes.
Plus, in the end of the movie, they made it to freedom in a LGBTQ boat. And we’re all asking…was this actually a LGBTQ allegory?
Oh wait, the whole entire human race is telling me, “no”.
Brain Roll Juice:
I really loved Pat Hingle’s secondary villain character. He was a shitty businessman exploiting those who were most vulnerable, and enjoying the thrill of subjugating those he felt were under him. Pat Hingle played it to a T, being the cigar-chomping, dumb-line-spouting son-of-a-bitch that we’ve all probably had a brush with at least one point in our lives. That one guy that made us work harder or longer than we were supposed to just because he could. I’m not naming names…
And it’s a valid concern for people who were or are incarcerated. Finding decent work is difficult, whether it was in the 80’s or now. In fact, as of 2018, “formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27% — higher than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression.”
With such shitty prospects, that’s often why people turn back to crime…and subsequently get sent back to jail. And while those number are going down and things are getting better, it still remains part of a systemic issue.
I mean, Emilio Estevez’s character had a job, was working, and still faced discrimination and was exploited for work. Jobs for people who had prior convictions is often segregated, and is often shittier work in comparison to their peers. And society seems okay with that, while “up-right citizens” pat themselves on the backs for finding these “down-and-out ex-prisoners” a scrap of bread for the long winter.
Image by Anastasia Gepp from Pixabay
And…of course, race plays into it. Because of course it does. And while some studies have shown that the disparity is dropping, it’s dropping slowly for Black men.
At least Handy made it out alive in this movie. (GIANT, ETERNAL SHRUG)
Bottom-Line:
This is a hoot and a half with a rockin’ soundtrack and fun, typical King cast of characters. Is it art?…Sure. Let’s say, “Sure”.
(4 / 5)
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Episode two of Amazon Prime’s Fallout was equal parts funny and bloody. This almost always leads to a good time.
The story
We begin this episode with the birth of some puppies that look like they’ve had a rough start to life. Each one is weighed, with the ones who fall short being incinerated.
One pup who is just below the correct weight gets a bit of a thumb on their scale. The scientist weighing them, Wilzig, writes down the proper weight. He later takes the puppy home to raise instead of putting them into what looks like an unforgiving training program.
Eventually, we see Wilzig put some blue glowing thing into his neck. When a soldier comes for him, Dog attacks the soldier, and the two escape.
We go from there to the wilderness, where Lucy is recovering from the last episode and enjoying a campfire at night. Wilzig and Dog come out of the shadows, saving Lucy from a bug monster. Wilzig tells Lucy she should go home. And if she’s not going to go home, she needs to evolve.
The next day Lucy finds her way to a town called Filly. As a Pennsylvanian, it hurts me to spell it that way. Lucy is entranced by this town, though clearly put off by the fact that no one is very nice here.
She eventually finds her way to a shop run by a delightful woman named Ma June. Ma doesn’t seem particularly interested in helping Lucy. Or, frankly, having Lucy in her shop.
Or in her town.
Eventually, Wilzig is tracked to this same shop, being tracked by The Ghoul. This is our final primary character. Lucy defends Wilzig, being aided at the last moment by Maximus.
Maximus, by the way, has been having a terrible time. After finally becoming a squire he’s disappointed to find that his knight, Knight Titus, is a terrible person.
Fortunately, Maximus doesn’t have to put up with Titus for long. After Titus gets the bright idea to go hunting, he’s attacked by a mutated bear. Maximus freezes, unable to save him. Then, well, he decides not to save him.
It was Titus’s idea to go hunt the bear, after all.
What worked
The first thing I want to draw attention to is the shootout scene at Filly. This scene checked every box a fight scene should check. It was fun to watch, with great effects. But it also gave us insight into the characters. Lucy is a decent fighter and has a strong moral compass. The Ghoul is callus and desensitized to death. And Maximus continues to be, well, sort of bad at this whole fighting thing. But with enough moral fortitude that we have a hard time blaming him.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the dog. Who’s name, as far as I’ve been able to ascertain, is just Dog. Which is fine. He doesn’t need to have a name to be a very good boy. He’s sweet, loyal, and fearless.
Also, puppies. Puppies are always great.
Finally, I’d like to shine a spotlight on Lucy’s reaction to the world at large. She is both amazed and terrified by everything. And while she certainly doesn’t want to be rude, she also doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. The best example of this is when she stops to ask for directions with a bright smile and a gun.
Once again, I don’t have anything bad to say about this episode. It was funny, dark, and fun to watch. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season.
(4 / 5)
Launching with worldwide excitement, Fallout is based on the extremely popular game series of the same name. Fans of the series have waited with anticipation and trepidation to see if the Prime series would live up to the game.
Having now watched the first episode I can say that, so far, it’s successful.
The story
Our story begins with a children’s birthday party. A performer is there with his daughter, giving horse rides and taking pictures with the kids.
As much as the adults try to focus on the party and the kids, it’s impossible to ignore the looming threat of war that’s on everyone’s mind.
Of course, it’s during this party that war comes, and the bombs drop.
We then cut to after the war and into one of the vaults established to protect humankind and the American Way. For future reference, this is Vault 33. We meet Lucy, our first main character, who’s petitioning to be married to a man from Vault 32 to ensure DNA diversity.
On the wedding night, though, Lucy and the rest of Vault 33 are met with a horrible surprise. The group they let in is not in fact from Vault 32, but is instead a team of raiders from the surface. The raiders kill a lot of the vault dwellers and kidnap Lucy’s father.
We are then introduced to our second main character, Maximus. He is in training to become a Knight in the Brotherhood of Steel. And, well, he’s not doing great.
Things get worse when his best friend Dane becomes a squire before him. But when Dane is hurt, Maximus gets their spot.
We then go back to Lucy, who has decided to leave the vault and find her dad. Of course, the council of her vault doesn’t want her to go. So she is aided by her brother Norm and cousin Chet in a wild escape.
What worked
The first thing that deserves attention is the exceptional character work. Our three main characters are fleshed out and relatable right away. We feel sympathetic for The Ghoul before he’s even introduced as such. We love Lucy’s nativity and selflessness. And we love Maximus for his honesty and passion for his cause.
While these characters are their own people, they also exhibit the three responses we might expect to see in a post-apocalyptic world. We have the hopeful optimist who doesn’t understand how bad things are. We have the aspiring hero who wants to make the world better by force. And we have the self-serving individual who’s given up on the rest of humanity and is only focused on surviving.
Another thing I enjoyed about this episode was the balance of humor and gore. Because there was certainly enough blood and guts for even the most hardcore horror lover. We had a violent sabotage, a brawl with raiders, and even several nuclear bombs.
But there were a lot of funny moments as well. Usually from Lucy. Her overall goodwill and fearless gumption are absolutely hilarious, especially given the horrors she’s facing. It never ceases to amuse me.
Both of these aspects are done perfectly. The jokes land and the bloody scenes pull no punches. It was delightful.
All in all, this was an exciting start to a much-anticipated series. Here’s hoping they’re able to stick the landing.
For more tv shows based on video games, check out my review of Witcher.
(4 / 5)
Episode seven of American Horror Story Delicate was a classic AHS flashback episode. If you were excited to see what Preecher had to say to Anna at the end of the last episode, I’m sorry to say that you will not get that satisfaction. However, we did learn all sorts of other fascinating things about the strange coven hunting Anna. And, we learned all sorts of things we didn’t know about Dex’s first wife, Adeline.
The story
We begin our story with a woman giving birth alone in a barn. When it becomes clear that she’s not going to be able to deliver vaginally, she pulls out a knife and cuts her stomach open to pull out her children.
For whatever reason, this is when the coven of witches decides to make themselves known.
We then cut to 2013, when Dex was still married to Adeline. In true Dex fashion, he’s surprised her with a puppy.
While that sounds great in theory, dogs are something a couple should talk about, not gift each other with as a surprise. An adult would know that. A trust fund boy like Dex does not.
Adeline owns a vegan restaurant called Ave Hestia. Love that name. She seems to be living a great life. She has a career she’s passionate about, friends who love her, and a husband she seems kind of fond of.
Maybe that’s why she didn’t want a puppy. She already had one.
Of course, things aren’t as good as they appear. We soon find out that Adeline was one of those babies we saw at the start of the episode. The other baby was Sonia, the painter.
And yes, both of these characters are played by Annabelle Dexter-Jones.
Adeline has stepped away from their family, and whatever dark things they do. But the family isn’t happy with her decision. And if she isn’t going to come back willingly, they’re going to make her.
What worked
To start with, I loved the character, Adeline. She is fierce, she is fearless, and relentless. I feel like this would have been a far different story if Adeline had been our main character. It was astounding to see her interact with the same people Anna has, and get a completely different response. It’s clear now, how much everyone around Anna resents her for simply not being Adeline.
I also appreciated that there was just a shocking amount of blood in this episode. From the start when Adeline and Sonia are born, to the climactic end of Adeline, this episode is just drenched in blood.
Finally, I’m fascinated by the changes in this season from the book it’s based on. Because absolutely none of this was in the book. Compared to this, the book is heartwarming.
The book is kind of heartwarming even without the comparison.
But I love the fact that, even with just two episodes left in the season, I have no idea what’s going to happen. I do not know what Anna is carrying. I do not know if she’s going to survive this. I do not know what these people want with her.
But I can’t wait to find out.
What didn’t work
All that being said, it is a bit frustrating to have no forward momentum in this episode. This was all backstory, and it felt like there wasn’t enough backstory to fill a full forty minutes. Because of that, it dragged. There were a lot of scenes that just didn’t need to be as long as they were. It felt like they could have cut that down considerably, and had some time to check in with our main characters at either the start or the end of the episode.
There are only two episodes left in the season, and I can honestly say I have no idea what’s going to happen. But so far the story has been dark, bloody, and provocative. So I hope they can manage to end it on a high note.
(4 / 5)
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