Tag: whitney cummings

STUDIO 666 (2022)- Review

This weekend’s big film release might just remind you of a classic TV candy commercial: “Hey, you got rock ‘n’ roll in my horror!” “Well, you got horror in my rock ‘n’ roll!”. But the big question is whether they taste great together. Maybe it’s “delish” or perhaps it’s a big loud gooey mess. It’s not like the two haven’t mixed in the past. Countless monster chillers have used pounding metal music in their soundtracks, while many a “head-bangin'” band have lifted imagery from several classic and modern terror flicks (I think versions of Freddy and Jason have popped up, if not the real “things”) for their video shorts on MTV. Now, this flick goes several steps further by having a very popular group playing themselves and confronting the “forces of darkness”. Sure the Monkees were chased around by clones of Frank, Wolfie, and Drac in their 60s TV series, but nothing like this! They may be because they wisely opted against recording in STUDIO 666.

All the monster mayhem begins in that title space, actually a dingy, once opulent Encino mansion, way back in 1993. We’re placed right at the end of the massacre of the heavy metal band Dream Widow as its lead singer/drummer (Jenna Ortega) struggles to survive. Jumpcut to the modern-day music biz as label exec Jeremy Shill (Jeff Garlin), maybe that last name is a bit “on the nose”, implores Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters (yes, the real guys playing themselves) to finish their big tenth album. Dave insists that the music is all in his head, but needs the right recording venue for the proper sound and…ambiance. Aha, Jeremy and his eager real estate agent Barb (Leslie Grossman) have just the perfect spot…you know where. After she gives a quick tour of the place, Dave agrees (though the guys need a bit more persuading). Soon the band’s road crew is setting up their equipment as the guys are picking their rooms (they’ll stay there while recording). Then tragedy strikes their electrical guy (you can guess) and the fellas wanna’ bolt. Despite this, and the overly friendly, overly chatty next-door neighbor Samantha (Whitney Cummings) Dave convinces them to “stick it out”. But things get even weirder as he sees a mysterious “caretaker” skulking about with a pair of very sharp shears (nobody else spots him). Then later that night strange noises lure David to the basement where shadowy smoky black figures with glowing red eyes and teeth surround him and…Well, maybe number ten could be the final Foo Fighters work. Or will it?

Perhaps after Lady Gaga’s dazzling turn in A STAR IS BORN, followed by her great work in HOUSE OF GUCCI (Oscar got it very wrong), many might think that singers would be natural thespians. And with this film…they’ll rethink that. Grohl is probably the most natural actor of the band, though he often swallows his words, then leaps to the other extreme with contorted histrionics to convey his metamorphosis. That’s when he’s not manically bobbing his head up and down for comic effect, perhaps (Wayne, Garth, and the gang did it the best thirty years ago…yikes). The other bandmates stiffly recite their lines, mug as though they’re a revamped Little Rascals cast, or merely offer a blank stare until they can drop an “F-bomb”. They might have thought the addition of comic actors would “up the ante”, but they merely have us wishing them to be more prominent in a worthy script. Garlin tempers her usual affable exasperation with unnerving aggression. Cummings is a welcome relief with her take on the next-door wacko who loves to “spill the tea” while getting her “Fatale/groupie” vibe going. Grossman does a nice spin on the whole straight-laced real estate super-agent cliche. And SNL vet Will Forte scores some laughs as the rock star-wannabe’ food delivery guy who really wants to hand over a demo CD with the “extra ranch”. The most offbeat casting may be that of Ortega who’s almost redoing her big scene from a horror franchise reboot from just last month.

So were the filmmakers hoping for sort of a romp similar to the Beatles follow-up feature HELP? Well, this isn’t even KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK. Horror film vet (HATCHET III) B.J. McDonnell tries to straddle the line between show biz satire and a sort-of greatest hits (like many music acts) of horror. Many hard-core “gore-hounds” could almost tick off a list of “tributes’ from their Fangoria-festooned clip-boards: EVIL DEAD-check, HELLRAISER-check, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE-double check. They might have intended this to be a loving parody/nod to the VHS slasher “nasties” of the 1980s but it just becomes repetitive and tiresome as the entrails ooze and the body count rises. Yes, fans of the old latex Savini-esque disembowelings will enjoy how CGI helps to sell some of the tricks and stunts, but it’s in service of a plot that spins its wheels until a truly dopey-dumb denouncement (and it’s based on a story by Dave himself). Couple that with the awkward acting and you’ve got an hour or so better spent listening to the group’s infectious rock anthems. And that’s the foul 411 on STUDIO 666. Forsake the cameras and keep fighting Foo, fellers’!!

1 Out of 4

STUDIO 666 is now playing in theatres everywhere

Here’s the First Trailer For the Horror Comedy STUDIO 666 Starring Dave Grohl and The Foo Fighters – Opens in Theaters February 25th

THE FOO FIGHTERS RELEASE FIRST OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR THEIR HOTLY ANTICIPATED NEW HORROR COMEDY FILM STUDIO 666 – ROCK LEGENDS’ MOVIE SET TO DEBUT THEATRICALLY ON FEBRUARY 25TH. Check it out:

Open Road Films and Foo Fighters announced today the release of the first official trailer for their new horror comedy film STUDIO 666. The movie, which stars band members Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee, will be released in theaters nationwide on February 25, 2022.

In STUDIO 666, the legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album.  Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band.

STUDIO 666 is directed by BJ McDonnell and stars Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega, Leslie Grossman and Jeff Garlin. Based upon a story by Dave Grohl with a screenplay by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, the film is produced by John Ramsay and James A. Rota, and executive produced by John Cutcliffe, Dave Grohl, Wes Hagan, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffee, James Masciello, Nate Mendel, Tom Ortenberg, Chris Shiflett, Matthew Sidari, John Silva, Gaby Skolnek, Pat Smear, Kristen Welsh and Mitchell Zhang.

UNFORGETTABLE (2017) – Review

 

Time for another cinematic trek to the land of “second chance” romance, where those wounded lovers get another try at happiness in a picture-perfect little town complete with a cozy home (fireplace included, of course) and an adorable moppet. But this journey to a happy ending can’t be a smooth one. The fly in the ointment (or the more crass “t%#d in the punch bowl) is the more than a little unhinged ex. Then the trip goes from hearts and flowers to demented nannies and boiled bunny rabbits. Perhaps as a way to mark the 30th anniversary of FATAL ATTRACTION, movie-goers are  now treated to a “female-centric” take on torture and turmoil mixed with thwarted desire and homicide in UNFORGETTABLE.

 

We first meet a battered and bruised Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) as she is interrogated by a pair of somber stoic police detectives. Ms B is in big trouble as her accusers show her loads of bagged evidence. To see just how she got in this mess, the story flashes back six months, to Julia’s last day of work at a San Francisco-based publishing house. After her going-away bash, she piles everything into her cute lil’ car and drives to a bucolic Southern California burg where she meets her fiance David Connover (Geoff Stults). She’ll edit manuscripts at his opulent two-story home while he runs his beer-brewing company (started after he left the world of high finance). Julia’s still a bit on edge, seeing flashes of her abusive ex-boyfriend, who’s now out of the slammer with the restraining order about to expire (she’s not told David about that and the fact that she received psychiatric support). And then she meets David’s adorable nine year-old daughter Lily (Isabella Kai Rice) and her mother, David’s former wife Tessa (Katherine Heigl). Tessa has joint custody and resides in the same town (though she has not found a new beau). The awkward tension is thick, but the ladies put on a friendly face for Lily and David. The women have several strained encounters at home and in the village square until things seem to boil over at a big company party for David’s brewery business. After offering an uncomfortable toast, Tessa snatches Julia’s phone (as she and David share a dance). This theft is just the starting point for Tessa’s campaign of terror against Julia, one that involves a home invasion, identity theft, and eventually murder. Is Julia emotionally strong enough to endure this living “H-E-double hockey sticks” that Tessa orchestrates?

After years of terrific supporting work (including her role in all of the Netflix Marvel streaming shows), Dawson is more than up to the task of portraying the lead, the hero really, of this thriller. We’re rooting for Julia, even though there are lots of chips and cracks in her warrior armor. Dawson shows us her joyful spirit in the romantic scenes and her playful side in the scenes with Lily, but there’s that dark cloud looming overhead. She’s more than a little secretive of her past and fearful that it will thwart her new start. She’s the one we’re rooting for, but Heigl seems to be having more fun as the wicked “rhymes-with witch” Tessa. The actress has been the “diva demon” of the tabloids for the past few years (“difficult’ is the go-to label) and with this film Heigl seems to be doing the movie career variation of “turning into the skid” with this over the top, often bug-eyed, shrieking “ice queen”, parodying her perceived image, as much of a slam of those “perfect mothers” as any of the villains of the recent comedy BAD MOMS. If she were a guy she’d be twirling her mustache as she devises her revenge via social media and modern tech. I look forward to Halloween costumes Tessa will certainly spawn. Stults brings a little extra gravitas to the thankless role of the clueless hunk at the center of this war (although we often wonder what the two ladies see in this dimbulb). Kai Rice is sympathetic and sweet as the preteen pawn in this struggle. Stand-up comic (and TV sitcom creator)Whitney Cummings is rather wasted in the cliché “funny supportive brassy best pal” part, though it could easily been the “gay BFF next door”. The best surprise might be Cheryl Ladd, yes, one of Charlie’s Angels, as Tessa’s malevolent mama, proving that the bad (or sour) doesn’t fall far from the tree. She’s a nice variation of the “smiling cobra”.

 
Best known as a producer (frequently working with Tim Burton) Denise Di Novi has picked this odd “throw-back” thriller for her feature film directing debut. Its theme and execution do harken back to the early nineties nail-biters. These “deranged intruder invading a happy family” have found a new home away from the multiplex for the last decade or so, taking up residence on basic cable TV. To cut to the chase, this flick is like a “super” Lifetime (or its sister outlets) weekend premiere. Although, it often plays as a parody, much like the Will Ferrell/ Kristen Wiig satire/homage A Deadly Adoption” in 2015. Same quaint and quiet unnamed coastal village packed with perfect houses and friendly, ethnic and racially diverse neighbors. But of course this story is fronted by film stars rather than former TV series staples. Sure, it’s great that two actresses get above the title billing, but they spend much of the plot merely sparring over a man. There’s the slow build-up of “digs” and devious schemes (one resorts to the easy “hook” of child endangerment), but the pacing is diluted by several odd detours. A strange lunch date between Julia and Tessa has a weird pay-off with an awkward, almost public, sex scene (almost as odd as Tessa’s hostile “revenge humping” of a waiter). Of course, most audiences are waiting for the big physical “throw-down” between the two leads. Happily it delivers more than the old “Dynasty” nighttime soap slugfests (Evans and Collins never came close to landing a blow), but the resolution doesn’t feel logical (harkening back to FATAL ATTRACTION’s original ending which tested poorly with preview audiences). We’re then treated to an epilogue written to disturb (and maybe set up a sequel), but it plays as hilariously overwrought high camp. It would be a cheap-shot to say how forgettable UNFORGETTABLE, but considering some of the talent involved, “unremarkable” is the better phrase.

1.5 Out of 5