Shudder Saturday: Greener Grass (2019)

Greener Grass is, basically, a riff on Blue Velvet for the 21st century. Instead of the youthful figures at the heart of it however, it focuses on the slightly older parents, people who live in the very same blend of idyllic "perfection" and nightmare fuel without often realising what exactly they have done to get themselves into the Faustian pact that seems to have been made.

Co-directed, co-written by, and co-starring Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe, this is the tale of two women who start to see a real imbalance developing between them as one slowly starts to gain everything that she wants from the other. It all begins when Lisa (Luebbe) compliments Jill (DeBoer) on her gorgeous new baby. Jill, in a moment of extreme benevolence, offers the baby to Lisa. That's a minor pang of loss at the time, but things get worse when Jill starts to lose more and more of the components of her seemingly perfect life. There's a major incident with her son, Julian (Julian Hilliard), problems with her husband, Nick (Beck Bennett), and just all manner of awfulness that starts to pile upon Jill and ruin her composure.

To best describe the world in which Greener Grass is set, aside from the first paragraph (in which I think I pretty much nailed it . . . you're welcome), you can also take the "Cheddar Goblin" ad from Mandy and the brilliant and insane "Too Many Cooks" skit as reference points (both by director Casper Kelly). DeBoer and Luebbe often ground things in a world that is easier to believe actually exists, but it's just as prone to a sudden lurch into the world of the absurd, or even some outright horror. The other common ground they all have is the way in which they hit their targets with sniper-like precision.

From the many ways people either act blinkered, or mute, in an attempt to not rock the boat to the casual offers made in conversation that you don't expect people to accept (this film may begin with a "have my baby" bit of ridiculousness, but it's played out in the way you might be appalled if you hadn't done housework for a week and someone just turned up at your door because you'd once told them to pop round for a coffee any time). The effort to maintain a happy and content facade often feels like too big a price to pay for people who find themselves in a life they then cannot change, whether going through marriage troubles or dealing with a child who shows absolutely zero respect or restraint when throwing a tantrum in the home.

All credit here must go to DeBoer and Luebbe, who do superb work both on and offscreen. They are wonderful in the lead roles, all wide grins with fear and mild panic hinted at in their eyes, and they serve up their witty script in a world of bright colours and bubbling repression. It's a Douglas Sirk movie viewed after you've been slipped a tab of acid. DeBoer and Luebbe are well supported by Bennet and Neil Casey (who plays the other main husband, Dennis), as well as Hilliard, Ashler Miles Fallica (another problematic child named Bob), D'Arcy Carden (playing a schoolteacher) and many others joining in with the absurdity, including a scene-stealing Jim Cummings.

My only minor complaint is that this could have gone even further in one direction or another. Some scary moments could have been ramped up to make them even scarier. Some of the comedy could have been made even funnier. Then again, many other people will think that the mix here is absolutely spot on, and exactly what the film-makers were aiming for. I loved this. I cannot wait to see another feature from this talented duo.

9/10

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Mubi Monday: Thunder Road (2018)

Expanding his hugely popular short film of the same name, Jim Cummings has taken the familiar premise of a character coming apart at the seams to provide an entertaining and surprisingly emotional movie that, at heart, feels very much about how one person can be floored by grief in a way that it reverberated through their life for a long time after the passing of a loved one. That may seem obvious, especially to those who have gone through it, but there's also a general notion that we grieve, we suffer, we use a funeral to say our final goodbyes and then we start to rebuild and go on with our lives. That's a lot easier said than done, especially when grief and emotions can be irrational, coming back to mess with the forefront of your mind at the sight of one location, one particular object, the sound of one song, the smell of one particular perfume or aftershave, etc.

Cummings, who wrote and directed this, stars as Officer Jim Arnaud. The film starts with him at the funeral of his mother, looking as if it will replicate the same scene shown in the short movie. But there's a twist this time to make the whole thing just as effective, yet also different. Moving on from this, Arnaud tries to return early to his job, which isn't a good move, and is then shown trying to put affairs in order, look after his young daughter, and prepare for a custody battle with his ex-partner. All of it takes a toll, and Arnaud may not have been in the best mental state before all of this started to work on his psyche.

Remember when Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler were praised for twisting Sandler's angry manchild persona into something more interesting and moving in Punch Drunk Love? Arnaud's movie could make an interesting companion piece to that movie, both showing men who have moments of explosive anger as they try to protect loved ones and work through their own problems. The big difference is that Arnaud shares more of himself with others around him, probably a bit too much, and not always with the right people. That doesn't always make him wrong though. He doesn't seem like a bad person, although he sometimes spits out bad things as he lashes out in frustrated anger. It sometimes seems clear that he isn't coping with his grief as well as others think he should be, yet there's a great deal of truth in the idea that everyone grieves differently, that nobody should rush to judge someone struggling to right themselves after being so knocked around by a number of major life events. That's what I tried to keep in mind anyway.

Having just said all that, and I know this may sound strange, Cummings has packaged this with a lot of humour. This is not a dour meditation on loss and grief, despite that being at the heart of the thing, and most of that comes from how wonderful the central character is. Yes, there are times when you laugh at Arnaud, they happen quite often, but there are many more times when he's making you swither between laughing and crying, often reacting in complete earnestness to situations that would test even the toughest minds.

I could spend this entire review praising Cummings to the skies. His writing and direction keep things tonally perfect throughout, and his acting is equally great, but it's also worth noting that he assembles a great cast to work with. Kendal Farr does well in the role of his daughter, a little girl who doesn't seem to have the best relationship with her father, although it's not one that either has entirely given up on. Nican Robinson is excellent as Officer Nate Lewis, a colleague and good friend to Arnaud, and Jocelyn DeBoer is the ex-partner making Arnaud's life even harder than it would normally be during his time of grief. There's also a great scene featuring Macon Blair as a teacher, discussing the problematic behaviour of Farr with an increasingly upset Cummings.

Uncomfortable at times, and it has an ending that both works for and against it (difficult to explain, no spoilers, but it will make sense once you see the film), Thunder Road is a gem of a film that shows the very best way to expand upon a charming short film while retaining the heart and essence of it.

8/10

You will be able to buy the movie on disc here.
Americans can buy it here.

Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead (2014)

I quite enjoyed Dead Snow. There were many who liked it even more than I did, but what was there to dislike about a horror comedy featuring Nazi zombies out to reclaim their treasure stash? Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead actually manages to top the first film. It's brisker, it's gorier, and it's a damn sight funnier.

Following immediately on from the events of the first movie, Martin (Vegar Hoel) continues to fight off Nazi zombies until a serious car crash lands him in hospital. The police have questions for him, of course, but the doctor at least gives him some good news. They've managed to reattach the arm that they assume he lost in the car crash. Unfortunately, he didn't lose his arm in the car crash. Evil Nazi zombie Herzog (Orjan Gamst) did. Martin now has a super-strong, evil, right arm. If he can get it under his control then it may prove useful in his attempts to stop whatever the undead soldiers have planned. He might also be able to enlist the help of the Zombie Squad. Will it be enough?

Full marks go to Tommy Wirkola here (who also helped to write the script again, this time with Stig Frode Henriksen and their leading man, Hoel). Everyone was obviously on the same page, and every scene feels as if there have been as many gore gags as possible slotted in. You're unlikely to see more intestines pulled out, heads smashed and limbs ripped off in any other major 2014 release. And the running gag with a zombie who keeps being killed and resurrected again and again creates some big laughs and also, amazingly enough, affection for the poor thing being used in such a disposable way.

Barring one or two scenes, this is a movie equivalent of a juggernaut heading down a steep hill with no brakes. It doesn't let up, and once plot details are revealed you know just where it's heading, making the anticipation of the climax almost as much fun as the actual playing out of the thing itself.

The only thing that doesn't really sit right is the Zombie Squad, made up of one guy (Martin Starr) and two girls (Jocelyn DeBoer and Ingrid Haas). As happened with the first movie, this film stumbles when making use of characters that are best labelled as nerds. Hey, I'm a nerd. I'm not using it as a negative label, but I also don't think the stereotypes used here (youngsters who use Star Wars quotes and spend a lot of their time online) would necessarily be the most heroic when thrown in to a situation involving real zombies. I know that I've always told my wife that in the event of a zombie outbreak, despite my love for her, I would be trying to race ahead of her, simply to guarantee my own life for a bit longer.

Hoel has a lot of fun in the lead role, especially in the early scenes that show him struggling with a new arm acting out of his control, and Gamst is once again great at simply glowering and emanating evil. Starr, DeBoer (who looks a LOT like Rashida Jones here . . . . . or maybe that's just me) and Haas do okay, considering that they're stuck with the poorest characters, and writer Henriksen also joins in with the onscreen fun, doing well enough in the role of Glenn Kenneth, an innocent bystander who ends up helping to defeat the zombie menace. Hallvard Holmen and Amrita Acharia play a couple of police officers who can't believe what they end up seeing, and Derek Mears is once again under heavy make-up, playing a Russian zombie named Stavarin (hence the title of the movie).

If you liked the first movie then you'll love this sequel. If you didn't like the first movie then there's still a chance that you could like this. It's splatstick comedy at its best.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Snow-Red-Vs-Blu-ray/dp/B00OBDKO1W/ref=sr_1_3_twi_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1420143375&sr=1-3&keywords=dead+snow

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