It’s quite something to go into a film like this blind. I knew very little: only that it is a musical following various loosely connected pairs of lovers in New York City ― like an all-singing, all-dancing Love, Actually.
What I expected was something light, airy and decidedly PG… so you can imagine that I was surprised when the first vignette ― set in 1901 ― begins the film with a prostitute having (rather anatomically incorrect) song-sex with a returning soldier.
Hello Again is, I believe, cinema’s first sexually transmitted musical.
In that first encounter, the prostitute sings to her customer, while his speech remains strictly non-musical. Yet that same actor returns in the second 1944-set vignette, and this time his every word is sung. The film goes on like this, as if music is being passed down the through the decades, it’s transition prompted not by love but by sex.
Hello Again has everything you could want in a movie: dominatrix nurses, bathtub masturbation, Audra McDonald as an autotuned popstar named ‘She’, the Titanic… and all of this with singing. All of it. It’s an object of awe, to be gazed at like one might gaze into a kaleidoscope. Imagine seeing The Room for the first time ― except it’s a musical with a bigger budget and (slightly) better actors ―and you’ll be close to picturing what it’s like to watch Hello Again… but nothing could prepare you for the real thing.
So watch Hello Again. Watch it with your friends, and exchange alarmed and bewildered glances as if to say: ‘Are you seeing this?’ ‘Is this real?’ ‘How did this happen?’
Hello Again may well be the worst movie I’ve seen all year. Then again, I’m not sure it’s fair to classify it as a ‘movie’. It is a collection of sounds and images, sure ― but none of them compute. It is a carnival of horrifying delights, here to be gawked at. Believe me: you will gawk.
Hello Again will make its world premiere at the 25th Raindance Film Festival on September 24th, followed by a repeat screening on September 30th
Join America’s original buddy cop duo as they take you on a thrill ride filled with comedy, action and heart as LETHAL WEAPON: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON comes to Blu-rayTM and DVD on 25th September. Based on the hit movie franchise, LETHAL WEAPON tells the story of Martin Riggs, played by Clayne Crawford, a slightly unbalanced former Navy SEAL who teams up on the Los Angeles police force with veteran detective Roger Murtaugh, played by Damon Wayans. Damon isn’t the only successful actor in the Wayans family, he’s part of an acting dynasty who also include Shawn and Marlon.
To celebrate the release we take a look at some of the Wayans families most hilarious and memorable roles.
White Chicks (2004)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr714ziK5yM
Arguably one of the best Wayans family film, White Chicks sees two FBI agent brothers, Marcus (Marlon Wayans) and Kevin Copeland (Shawn Wayans), accidentally foil a drug bust. As punishment, they are forced to escort a pair of socialites (Maitland Ward, Anne Dudek) to the Hamptons, however things don’t go to plan so Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from African-American men into a pair of blonde, white women. Tongue in cheek hilarity ensues and leaves the audience with some witty one-liners in the modern American classic.
Scary Movie (2000)
An unexpected box office success, Scary Movie set the standard for parodying and roasting the most popular cultural and iconic moments from television and film. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and starring Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, Scary Movie takes aim at 90’s classics, such as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, and The Blair Witch Project.
Blankman (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSFaU4cN-qI
With the surplus of superhero films and television shows out at the moment, we can’t forget the 1994 superhero comedy Blankman. Starring Damon Wayans as Darryl Walker and Damon’s two sons Damon Wayans Jr. and Michael Wayans, Blankman follows Darryl, a Batman fanatic and clumsy nerdy repairman who is also an undercover genius. After realising all of his city’s issues, Darryl is inspired to become a vigilante super hero named Blankman. Creating a bulletproof overcoat and custom weapons and gadgets, Darryl sets out to end the corruption of the city.
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
Keenen Ivory Wayans feature film directorial debut and starring himself and brother Damon Wayans, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka is a parody of “blaxploitation.” The film follows a black hero wannabe known as Jack Spade (Keenen Ivory) who reunites former black heroes from the 70s to help him get revenge on Mr. Big, the neighbourhood chain lord responsible for the epidemic that claimed Spade’s brother’s life.
Major Payne (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NkE0MHksCQ
Major Payne, a 1995 comedy starring Damon Wayans as Maj. Benson Payne delivers all the one liners you may need when trying to whip someone into shape with sheer fear. When Maj. Benson Payne is honourably discharged from the Marines due to the lack of wars; this live, breathe and dream war veteran has a tough time adjusting to a quiet civilian life. That is until he is hired to train a group of slacker Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps students who would rather mess about than train.
Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
If you’re a fan of the Wayans family, this 1996 parody comedy is an underrated must. Starring Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Kim Wayans and Craig Wayans, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood spoofs a number of classic African American films such as Juice, Jungle Fever, Boyz n the Hood, Menace II Society and Above the Rim. The film follows Ashtray (Shawn Wayans) as he returns to the place he grew up, the inner city, to live with his father. During his time back, Ashtray receives some valuable and crazy lessons about life on the streets from his old friends.
LETHAL WEAPON: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON comes to Blu-ray TM and DVD on 25 September, 2017.
Shadows of a Stranger (2014) it’s a low budget debut feature film co directed by Richard Dutton and Chris Clark. This supernatural thriller makes us travel to the city of Meridian where detective Sherborne (Ian Mude) is going through a rough patch: cheated by his wife, scorned by his daughter, with a huge debt on his shoulders and haunted by the return of the village Christmas serial killer to top it off. When eccentric and filthy rich William Fallon (Colin Baker aka Dr Who n. 6) offers a million pounds reward to find his disappeared son, Sherborne sees his golden opportunity. He will team up with Xander (Chris Clark), a solitary young man with psychic abilities, to find Fallon’s son; a journey between dimensions that seemed to converge but are actually parallel and cases that looked parallel but eventually will become the same is about to begin…
Now, as it couldn’t be any other way, first thing to address is the visuals: in order to shot the movie, the filmmakers created their own blue screen and placed it in a barn somewhere in Lincolnshire. Therefore, all the scenarios where the scenes take place are digitally created. Let’s remind the reader this is a low budget debut feature film and such eventualities are understandable. It is what it is. It could also be said that at least is consistent as the whole movie is shot like that; there are no shot-on-location scenes whatsoever. Thing is it doesn’t look good. It could if it was an aesthetic choice (Scanner Darkly, Sin City…) but it doesn’t seem the case. Yes, this is a low budget film but it is fair to judge it from the audience point of view and personally (and disagreeing with other reviews I’ve read) it kept bothering me as I watched it. On the other hand it does bring some nostalgia from videogames times gone by and every now and then that is actually somehow satisfactory.
Another issue is the soundtrack. Again, fair enough, well tried, it’s almost like… but it’s not. In this case it is directly the filmmakers’ choice and I think it’s a wrong one. It is a bit intrusive, melodramatic, it doesn’t help the narration and it can get quite clichéd: to the point that the old and loaded man who never leaves his house haunted by his son’s disappearance listens to Pachelbel’s canon… That’s what I mean when I say this one was the filmmakers’ choice: it has nothing to do with budget; and there’s nothing plainer than Pachelbel’s canon.
In regard to acting, it is all right. The cast is quite impressive considering the low budget nature of the film and it is fair to say there are good performances; there are bad performances too… And again, the digital environment doesn’t help when you see an actor clearly trying to use his body to make up for the lack of surroundings. It surely works in the theatre, meters away from the stage; but not with medium shot car sequences…
Finally, story: the most important part. The part that can make all the previous points look like minor details… I mean… It’s alright. It’s not bad. It is a thriller with supernatural elements that follows the classical structure of the genre, it has a twist and there’s a certain amount of mystery and suspense. In my opinion it lacks a bit of action or the characters being under actual threat more often but I understand that also means money and it’s already been established that’s what the movie lacks the most. I’m not particularly thrilled by the story or the script to be honest- and it has nothing to do with lack of budget. In BRWC we have reviewed many independent low budget films and if there’s something they have is the ability to use their weaknesses as strengths or at least rely more on subtlety or just a very strong story (even a different approach to filmmaking which by itself it’s a reason to watch a movie; it being better or worse…). To be fair, probably this is the lowest budget one of them all and therefore the challenge is even bigger. Having said that, a great story normally makes up for everything else and, unfortunately, it is not the case.
However, after judging this film as I would judge any other, as a show of respect and honesty, the movie shows ambition, a great understanding of some filmmaking techniques (framing for instance), and a good first step for its authors. Patronizingly enough (me being probably younger and less experienced than them but happening to write for a cinema blog) I think the movie shows that huge things can be achieved by persevering and never giving in and that’s not a small thing. The directors, cast and crew have managed to successfully produce a feature film that has all the ingredients its genre demands. It looks more like a good exercise before the actual thing, but it is not easy and it has to be appreciated as such. Having said that, nice try and best of luck for the next one.
Our Last Tango (2015) understands that outside of the specific interest of tango and dance in general, audiences may have trouble engaging with a documentary specifically about two world class dancers. That’s why the film manages the extraordinary task of creating a hook to keep viewers engaged, by wrapping the subject of the tango in a magical docudrama that goes beyond what’s expected of it, weaving together universal themes of love, grief, ambition and arrogance in a way that keeps the narrative flowing.
Focusing on the lives, careers and love of Argentinian dancers Maria Nieves Rego and Juan Carlos Copes, the film has the sprawling sense of a historical melodrama, flitting between archive footage of the two dancers, reenactments of memory and fantasies, documentary style one-on-one interviews with the two subjects in the present and then real life sequences that come off as a mixture of all three. The main driving force of the story is mostly told from the perspective of Rego, though Copes does get his fair share of the spotlight as well.
We see her interact with various Buenos Aires-based young stars as she takes them through what can only be described as a series of half dance lessons, half oral memoirs. This choice of framing device is a stroke of genius as it adds a sense of wonder to what could have been a flat presentation if it were solely interview based. Indeed, the way in which Rego’s storytelling is performed with a sense of mythic romance is complimented by the art of the dance. The way it seems to organically come through, as if it were all part of the act, is what elevates the subject matter to a work of real artistry.
Overall while the initial premise of the film may not initially appeal to a wider audience than dance fans, the film is deceptive in that it transcends any potential pigeonholes of genre, and instead take the viewer on a magical journey of two young talent stars as they navigate fame, tremendous talent and a turbulent love life. The combination of great story and glistening images of great cinema, from the glossy reenactments to the low-fi archival footage, makes this a great mixture of heart and spectacle.
Slow motion is the go to guy when you want to underline a scene. Whether you’re trying to evoke emotion, draw attention to a specific act or, frankly, just look really cool, slo-mo is the director – and movie star’s – friend. No-one knows this more than the icon that is The Hoff. Having cornered the market in slo-mo back in the 1990s with the global appeal of Baywatch, the art of running in slow motion has become this giant of entertainment’s signature move – and one he uses to great effect in Killing Hasselhoff, the hilarious, tongue-in-cheek comedy arriving on digital download from 18 September and on Blu-ray and DVD from 2 October 2017.
In honour of the great man, let’s take a look at some other stand-out uses of slo-mo on film.
Killing Hasselhoff (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5GpWtYkqBA
David Hasselhoff reprises his signature slo-mo move in his latest film, Killing Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff plays himself in this dark, screwball comedy, in which he finds himself on the hit list of Chris (Ken Jeong), a struggling nightclub owner who fails to pay back a debt to a loan shark. Chris decides that in order to get the money, his only option is to kill his entry in an annual ‘who will die this year’ celebrity death pool: David Hasselhoff. At one of Hasselhoff’s infamous pool parties a guest falls into the pool and begins to drown. Naturally, all eyes turn to The Hoff, once the megastar of LA lifeguard soap opera Baywatch. Hasselhoff has no choice but to roll back the years… The camera slows, Hoff grabs a red float, and dives into the pool to save the day. Could you write it…!
Wanted (2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDT897xtlNs
Director Timur Bekmambetov makes zero effort to hide his fondness of slo-mo in this ridiculous action thriller. The plot revolves around Wesley (James McAvoy), a frustrated office worker, who learns that he is the son of a professional assassin and that he shares his father’s superhuman ability to curve bullets around corners. Recruited by the Fraternity, a group of assassins who maintains balance in the world with similar powers, Wesley’s abilities are revealed to him in an intense demonstration whereby fellow Fraternity member Fox (Angelina Jolie) stands between him and a target and tells Wesley to hit the bullseye. Wesley runs up, whips his shooting arm around and fires. The slo-mo kicks in and the bullet swings silently around the still, unfazed Fox; brushing past her hair and sailing into the bullseye.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
In Edgar Wright’s cult classic Hot Fuzz, “policeman-officers” Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) and Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) partake in a breath-taking shootout versus the evil Neighbourhood Watch Alliance in the Battle of Sandford. Amongst the chaos, Wright finds time to pay homage to Michael Bay’s detective comedy thriller Bad Boys II (“You ain’t seen Bad Boys II?!”). Cop-film lover Danny replicates Will Smith’s horizontal leap through the air, firing two guns simultaneously at his target. Now, if you film a man jumping sideways through the air firing two guns at once in real time, it doesn’t last very long and it ends up looking a little bit silly. Bring on the slo-mo!
The Matrix (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNrSNcaYiZg
It would be interesting to know the exact percentage of scenes filmed in slo-mo in The Matrix. If anyone has any spare time on their hands, do let us know…! We suspect it’s very high. As such, it was a tough task picking our favourite, but we’ve gone for the legendary rooftop bullet-dodging scene. Caught in an epic shoot-out with Agent Jones, Neo (Keanu Reeves) empties two full clips leaving himself defenceless. Agent Jones takes aim from point blank range and fires, forcing Neo into an iconic, back-bending evasion. The scene is slowed down and we see the bullets ripple through the air and whizz mere inches past Neo’s face; an unforgettable move and surely a cornerstone of cinema for any aspiring action-thriller directors.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Reservoir Dogs announced one Quentin Tarantino to the world in no uncertain terms. A heist movie that joins the heist after it’s been botched, this audacious debut seared itself onto the retinas of all who saw it – and everyone saw it. The film has since been responsible for a lot of very, very lazy fancy dress decisions and we’re not sure it should be forgiven for that, but it also delivered some of the most emulated and explosive scenes in cinema history, not least of which being the casual, slo-mo long walk that frames our antiheroes. Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi et al have all gone on to great things (and Tarantino has done alright since) but it’s hard to imagine a more iconic ensemble or a more successfully bottled zeitgeist.
The Untouchables (1987)
Brian De Palma has, at various stages in his career, been a virtuoso and a master of schlock but The Untouchables is arguably a high water mark in an undoubtedly dazzling career. Retelling the oft-filmed story of Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and his war against Al Capone (Robert De Niro), which included casting perma-Scot Sean Connery as Irish Jim Malone, the film stands up as a classic, with many fans recounting one standout scene. The slo-mo shootout on the steps of Union Station itself nods to 1925’s iconic Battleship Potemkin, which saw a child in a pram become horrifying embroiled in the violence of war. In Eisenstein’s Potemkin scene the pram serves as a proclamation against the savagery war brings whilst De Palma’s take (practically a wholesale recreation) effectively serves his plot in a microcosm – the good guys are horrified, the bad guys will do what they need to do. Proof, if it were needed, that slo-mo doesn’t always equate to cheese.
Chariots of Fire (1981)
British classic Chariots Of Fire is famous for a host of reasons, be they writer Colin Welland proudly announcing at the Oscars that ‘the British are coming’ (news rarely greeted with rapture in historical terms), the iconic score from synth-maestro Vangelis or its painstaking recreation of period Britain in all its glory. It is also, though, infinitely famous for it’s slo-mo running sequences. The film opens with a band of athletes training on a beach so bleak it could only be in Britain in what is arguably the pre-cursor to The Hoff’s own slow paced jaunt across the sand in Baywatch and beyond. The story of Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) as they take different journeys to the 1924 Olympics, the film remains stirring stuff, as much for the slo-mo as anything else.
Killing Hasselhoff is available on digital download from 18 September and on Blu-ray and DVD from 2 October 2017
