Y2K (2024)

I admit that I expected the worst when I pressed play on Y2K. I hadn't heard many people saying good things about it, and I wasn't sure I could trust the praise that came from some people who seemed to revel in the nostalgia inherent in the premise. Thank goodness I never let such things put me off though, and now I can be one of the few other people encouraging others to give this one some time.

It's a very certain New Year's Eve. The new century is approaching, and the news has a lot of talk about the millennium bug, with some people warning about it and others reassuring everyone that all will be well. Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison) are two high-school friends who are more concerned with spending some time at a cool party, where Eli can hopefully spend some time in the company of the cool and gorgeous Laura (Rachel Zegler). The partying and celebrations end up rudely interrupted, however, by a "glitch" that causes all computers, and any piece of tech, to rise up and attack the humans, aiming to ultimately enslave them as a power source.

The directorial debut of Kyle Mooney, who already has years of acting experience under his belt, this is a horror comedy co-written by himself and Evan Winter that can be nicely summed up as the result of people rewatching Maximum Overdrive far too many times before then wondering how it would play out if the laughs were intentional. It's very light and silly from the very first scenes, setting up an onscreen world akin to any seen in John Hughes movies of the 1980s, and just gets sillier when the robo-carnage begins, which is all well and good when the film-makers themselves know how wonderfully absurd the whole thing is.

Martell and Zegler are decent leads, and Dennison delivers another performance that ensures he'll keep being cast as the young man who can be relied upon to deliver a healthy dose of fun and self-confidence. Daniel Zolghadri and Lachlan Watson play two supporting characters who start off feeling a bit too underdeveloped and mildly irritating before turning into people you don't mind spending some time with, Eduardo Franco continues to be someone I now enjoy popping up in anything, Mason Gooding cements his "scream king" reputation with another solid turn, and there's a fantastic cameo appearance I won't spoil here, despite the fact that most of you will already know all about it.

The pacing works well, especially as the characters desperately try to escape one threat after another, the soundtrack is full of some great tracks from a quarter of a century ago, the practical effects are entertainingly lo-fi and absolutely in line with the tone of the whole thing, and this is entertaining fun for those who go into it with an open mind. I laughed more times at this than I have laughed at some recent outright comedies, and the third act delivered a level of cheesiness that will work on those who retain any fondness for the music and memories of the turn of the 21st century. In fact . . . I kind of loved it. 

8/10

This week - a film guaranteed to not get top Marx from Tyler, and Dave gets a pleasant surprise from the fact that not one but TWO of his co-hosts have actually read the source material for one of the movies discussed. Wild times. Here we are - https://raidersofthepodcast.blogspot.com/2025/06/synaptic-rotation.html We're also here - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/raiders-of-the-podcast/id1250657197?i=1000711988462 And everywhere here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast

 

It's A Wonderful Binge (2022)

I quite enjoyed The Binge. I didn’t love it, and it isn’t a film I rush to recommend to others, but it was an enjoyably amusing distraction while it was on. So hearing that there was now a Christmas-tinged sequel meant that I had another film to add to my ever-bulging bag of festive viewing options. I wasn’t expecting anything amazing. I just hoped it might be as enjoyable as the first film.

Thankfully, it was.

The premise is similar to the first film. All drink and drugs are illegal, with a notable exception for one night a year, known as The Binge. Deciding that people cannot face the stress, and the family time, sober, The Binge is moved to Christmas. Which makes sense. One of our leads, Hags (Dexter Darden), wants to stay sober anyway, aiming to propose to his girlfriend (Sarah, played by Zainne Saleh), but poor Andrew (Eduardo Franco) may want to get as wasted as possible, considering how miserable he feels after spending a small amount of time with his entire family. Elsewhere, a mayoral candidate (Kaitlin Olson) wants everyone to live better lives, meaning that she wants them to turn their backs on The Binge, while her daughter (Kimmi, played by Marta Piekarz) feels extra pressure to behave in a way that won’t enrage her uptight mother.

While not everyone returns from the first movie, there’s nothing here that feels like viewers are being delivered any lesser options. When your supporting cast features Danny Trejo, Tim Meadows, Nick Swarsdon, and the aforementioned Olson, as well as a number of others helping to add to the fun, it’s enough to at least guarantee you a good time.

Jordan VanDina returns to the writing duties, but also takes over as director this time around. They do a good job helming the film, using the Christmas season as an excuse to heap more pressure upon the characters while also riffing on It’s A Wonderful Life (that strand featuring Trejo as some kind of angel in what I would say are some of the best scenes in the movie).

Franco and Darden may not be the first choice for many lead movie roles, but both do a great job here. Franco has been building up a decent comedy filmography over the past few years, and Darden proves himself just as capable as his co-star, helped by the script giving him wonderfully ridiculous obstacles to overcome as he tries to arrange a well-timed marriage proposal. Olson has fun being stressed throughout, Meadows steals every scene that he is in, and Trejo feels very much like he just came on set and acted like Trejo for a day or two (not a criticism, it adds to the fun of that character). Saleh and Piekarz do well, even if they aren’t given many of the more effective comedy moments, and there  are some great moments featuring Tony Cavalero (returning from the first movie) and Patty Guggenheim.

I cannot see anyone disliking this if they enjoyed the first movie. It’s absolutely on a par with it. Maybe not as Christmassy as it could be, which is a shame, but viewers should find enough to enjoy throughout.

6/10

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The Binge (2020)

A typical teen comedy, in many ways, The Binge focuses on three friends who are out for what should be a legendary night out. Griffin (Skyler Gisondo) wants to reach a big party and confess his feelings to Lena (Grace Van Dien), Hags (Dexter Darden) wants a night that massively boosts their status, and Andrew (Eduardo Franco) is just enjoying the journey, fuelled by drink and drugs. Andrew has a mean brother who may spoil their plans, and Lena is the daughter of Principal Carleson (Vince Vaughn), which makes things complicated.

Directed by Jeremy Garelick (who also gave us The Wedding Ringer, but don’t judge him on that alone), The Binge is a decent selection of set-pieces and minor chuckles written by Jordan VanDina with one big twist that adds to the fun. This is a film that is set in an America where all alcohol and narcotics have been banned, with everything accessible only one day a year. Yes, it is The Purge, but with drugs and alcohol. All other laws and rules still apply, as clarified in a hilarious speech from the Proncipal to the school pupils.

Admittedly, there aren’t too many big laughs here, and if you want something unpredictable then a teen comedy is not what you should be looking for, but the idea is good, and silly, enough to do a lot of lifting. It feels like we haven’t had a strong full-on comedy for a couple of years now (maybe that is just the elasticated time factor of the past year or so) and this does what you want it to do be or just over ninety minutes. There’s even a fun musical number to enjoy.

Gisondo, Darden, and Franco are decent leads, the latter having made an impression on me in a number of recent enjoyable comedies. Van Dien is a bright and appealing love interest, typically so lovely and funny that you are not quite sure why she might be interested in the lead character, but these films are mainly fantasies. Then you have Vaughn, giving another superb turn as the Principal, and someone who is very much anti-binge, perhaps with strong reasons to be that way. Vaughn has been excelling in a variety of roles recently, and I hope he is rewarded for some of the great moments that he has been delivering.

There could be more done here, the script could have been polished up a lot more, supporting cast could be better, and the soundtrack could have had a selection of hits throughout, but this generally succeeds in what it is aiming to do. People drink alcohol and take drugs, and the results are fairly amusing. There are also a couple of very fun impressions of Pacino in Scarface.

Unlike the activities depicted onscreen, you probably won’t regret this once it’s all over. Nothing great, but a decent enough choice if you’re in the mood for some dumb fun.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Package (2018)

The Package is a comedy directed by Jake Szymanski. The last comedy I watched that was directed by Jake Szymanski was Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates, which did not make me a fan, but I liked the sound of this one, and had heard some good feedback from a friend who had already enjoyed it.

Donnie (Luke Spencer Roberts) is looking forward to a weekend away with his friends, Sean (Daniel Doheny) and Jeremy (Eduardo Franco). It's going to be all guys together, maybe their last chance before Sean heads away back to new pastures.That was the plan anyway. But Jeremy ends up inviting his recently-made-single sister (Becky, played by Geraldine Viswanathan) and her friend (Sarah, played by Sadie Calvano), who just happens to be the ex-girlfriend of Donnie. Anyway, they get to their destination, start to drink and have fun, and then Jeremy accidentally slices off his penis while playing around with a butterfly knife. The rest of the film concerns the loyal group of friends trying to get Jeremy and his penis reattached to one another.

The Package is silly, very silly indeed. It had the potential to be downright awful but writers Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider make some good choices, not least of which is spending an equal amount of time on the characters and the moments of standard teen angst in between the penis-centred set-pieces. You get a number of times in which the dismembered member is in peril, or needing handled by someone who really doesn't want to be handling it, but you also get a potential budding relationship between Sean and Becky, and plenty of barbs exchanged by Donnie and Sarah.

Szymanski directs everything well enough, walking a thin line as he chooses to put the package front and centre in a number of scenes without always making it laughable or squirm-inducing. It's gross, yes, but it's also just a part of Jeremy that his friends want to get back to him safely. The most obvious "gross" gag - a snake bite that has to be dealt with - is outrageously funny enough to at least make viewers smile, and also leads to some fun lines later in the movie. A lot of this is down to the script, of course, but Szymanski makes the right choices when it comes to what to show and what to hold back on.

The cast, all largely unknown to me, all seemed to be having a good time. Franco may be separated from the group early on, but he has plenty of fun moments while in a hospital, Doheny is a perfectly acceptable, albeit slightly bland, lead and Roberts works best when being put in his place by Calvanoe. But the star is Viswanathan (who also stood out in Blockers), a young actress who I already look forward to seeing in any role, thanks to her ability to work equally well with comedic and more (brief) serious moments.

The Package is not a film to watch if you are already rolling your eyes at the main premise. And it's not a film that, aside from that core idea, does anything new with the teen comedy subgenre. But it's better than you might expect, and an amusing enough way to spend 90 minutes.

6/10

Here's a very different film with the same title.
Americans can collect a package here.