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By Alex Purnell. A genuinely disturbing feast of a film, Hungry Joe sticks with you well after you have stopped watching with its ghastly visuals and consistent, torturous sounds.

Inspired by Tarrare, a 17th-century man who ate anything and everything he could get his hands on, Hungry Joe follows the mother of a monstrous eater, who’s insatiable appetite grows so uncontrollable that it starts seriously affecting those around him.

The short, running in at 20 minutes, is grotesquely engaging, whilst also being unforgivably vile with its obscene, albeit sometimes obnoxious, sound effects that are so invasive that one might think you have somehow ended up in someone’s mouth whilst they squelch and chomp down on some unidentifiable food.

To complement this main course is a side of grizzly practical effects and gruesome props that are sparsely scattered to create a haunting visual element that worms its way into the viewers head. 

Andrew Greaves, who plays the lead of Joe, is sinfully brilliant at doing his job of putting me off my breakfast. I found myself grimacing whilst viewing Greaves shovel mouthful upon mouthful of compressed, mushy food into his face with no expense for cleanliness.

This particular scene of Joe and his mother at the dinner table is executed beautifully, causing the audience to feel sympathetic towards Joe and his obvious eating problem. His mother watches on at her abomination of a child with such disgust, as he devours the slush in front of him like a junkie finally getting his fix.

Hungry Joe is an obscenely clever film, skillfully paced with just enough gore and grossness to make it chilling, though not too much to push it over the top.

If you have a strong stomach, I would recommend giving Hungry Joe a watch. The short has strong, disturbing visuals, nightmarish in a verminous way that can make it somewhat of a challenge to get through depending on your tolerance.

Comedic directors rarely morph into established auteurs in modern cinema, yet Judd Apatow has accomplished just that with his storied career. Along with producing and writing some of the millennium’s most beloved comedic works (Bridesmaids and Superbad come to mind), Apatow has also established a distinct, improve-heavy directorial approach with winning crowd-pleasers like Knocked Up and Trainwreck. With his latest venture The King of Staten Island, the comedic stalwart offers a satisfying evolution of his craft, creating an endeavor that feels equally grounded and personal. 

Based loosely on Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson’s life story, The King of Staten Island follows Scott (Davidson), a burnout stuck in a state of arrested development from his firefighter father’s passing. When his supportive mom Margie (Marisa Tomei) begins to date another firefighter Ray (Bill Burr), Scott is confronted with his lifelong grief as he connects to his father’s past. 

Apatow’s filmography features a plethora of projects that extenuate the talents of their uniquely-fitted lead star (Adam Sandler in Funny People), with Pete Davidson joining that impressive lineage with ease. Playing off his real-life persona as Scott, an affable, quick-witted slacker who quietly carries his overwhelming emotional baggage, Davidson shines in a performance that is simultaneously humorous and revealing. It’s a joy to see the actor operate in an intimate platform that allows him a therapeutic opportunity to explore his grief and traumas, with his adept performance signaling a bright future in the film industry. 

Marisa Tomei dials her performance to perfection as Margie, acting as a supportive pillar in Scott’s life that desperately tries to shake his life into motion. Perhaps the actor that shares the most screen time with Davidson is provocative Bostonian comedian Bill Burr, with the two developing a natural rapport that starts from a place of mutual distaste before altering into a genuine connection. Burr can draw laughs with impressive ease, while thankfully morphing Ray’s New Yorkian attitude into a genuine character. 

The King of Staten Island not only portrays the evolution of Davidson’s acting career, but also a decidedly more grounded effort on Apatow’s part. Working with acclaimed DOP Robert Elswit, Apatow paints Staten Island in a loving, yet honest manner, capturing a suburb that bristles with life despite its modest appearance. The camera work is fluid and free-ranging, with its grounded, Sundance-indie approach fitting the project to a tee. Even the aspects of the director’s style that some criticize fit this project like a glove, with its meandering pace being an ideal fit for Scott’s aimless journey of self-discovery.  

Rarely is there a dull moment buried in King of Staten Island, but opportunities are missed to make this grounded coming of age portrait even more impactful. It’s a shame that the script sanitizes some of its more intriguing topics, with mentions of Scott’s mental illness and criminal wrongdoings having little dramatic payoff.  I also wish that some of the film’s colorful supporting players got more of an opportunity to shine, especially Bel Powley as Scott’s charming on-again-off-again girlfriend.  

Bookended by two cathartic Kid Cudi tracks, The King of Staten Island proudly encapsulates Pete Davidson’s distinct sensibilities on its sleeve in a winning coming-of-age crowd-pleaser. 

‘As The Earth Turns’ is a silent film that was originally released in 1938, and was written and directed by Richard.H.Lyford. After receiving warning messages from someone called ‘PAX’, the warnings of apocalyptic disasters are ignored. However, as they get worse, a reporter and soldier go to investigate, and find out who is sending the messages.

This was the last film of this genre that Lyford made. Considered an ‘indie’ filmmaker, Lyford would end up working at Disney. Before this, he created 50 plays, and 9 award winning films, all of which were never released for public viewing.

This film is an example of achieving what you can with very little, and the result is inspirational. The film industry had moved on from the silent era almost 10 years before this film’s release, with the release of ‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1921. Therefore, the decision to make this silent was presumably due to costs; Lyford used his own equipment, and the disaster sequences are displayed by using models, e.g.: trains and planes, as well as creating establishing shots via pencil drawings. The latter, especially, makes the film stand out and gives viewers a unique perspective on a shot that they are used to seeing. 

The film draws in similar themes to ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’, a film that would come out around 13 years later, as well as the character of PAX drawing a similar vein to that of Andrew Ryan, from the horror game ‘Bioshock’; if this film influenced those two properties in any way, that would come as no surprise to me. Lyford plays PAX, the German scientist who was appalled at what the Germans were doing during the First World War and exacts revenge on humanity because of this. He brings a glimpse into the Silent era furthermore; while the other lead actors act through the film as realistic as possible, aside from a few comedic scenes, Lyford plays PAX like the theatre actors before him, and gives the character an overdramatic feel, which suits the character. 

‘As The Earth Turns’ was digitally restored by GT Recordings in 2019 and the restoration is impressive. Care has been taken to make sure this can be viewed in the best quality as possible without damaging any of the film reel. Furthermore, a musical score has been added, composed by Ed Hartman (‘KillJoys’ and ‘Lucifer’), that elevates the film. Despite being composed recently, the score blends in perfectly with the visuals, and sounds like it belongs in the same era.

‘As The Earth Turns’ is overall enjoyable. The digital restoration is an impressive piece of work and the new score adds to the visuals. ‘As The Earth Turns’ is also inspirational to any film-makers wanting to create their films, but are unsure of what steps to take.