Review: Swiss Army Man (2016)

Oh boy, I’ve been looking forward to Swiss Army Man for so long now, it feels like forever since the trailer was released. I’m surprised I managed to find myself a cinema buddy for this one. When I first saw the trailer I felt a mixture of shock and disgust, but a second viewing really opened my mind to the possibilities.

The easiest way to describe Swiss Army Man is: Paul Dano is lost on an island, ready to end his life out of desperation and loneliness, until he spots Daniel Radcliffe’s flatulent corpse washed up on the beach, and uses him to try and find his way back home. No exaggerations, there. You thought The Lobster was the weirdest movie you’ve ever seen? Think again!

Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe are an absolute delight. I’m not sure just how much acting Radcliffe had to do here, but nonetheless, he really pulled off the dead-guy demeanor. I don’t know enough about movie awards to know Swiss Army Man’s Oscar chances, but Paul Dano would be in my nominations list for sure. This can’t have been an easy role to take on.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll know what to expect, but a few things did shock me whilst I was watching. First and foremost is just how gross this movie was. Flatulence is one thing, we all have it, let’s be honest. I’ve never had it quite so badly that I could propel myself and another person across the ocean, but still, that’s not the worst part. Hank (Dano) uses Manny (Radcliffe) as a water source by quite literally squeezing the liquid out of him. Hurck. The most useful thing Manny can be used for is a compass. How? His boner leads the way. Yep. That’s about it for grossness, but Manny can also shoot things from his mouth and chop wood. Swiss Army Man for sure!

The best part of the movie is the mystery of it all. I started to wonder whether Manny was even real, especially when Hank seemed to talk through his issues with him. Was Hank ever even lost, or had he just ran away? Hank has a fascination with a girl he saw on the bus, and re-enacts scenes with Manny by dressing up and even recreating the bus out of whatever he can find in the woods. It’s really quite incredible. I also thought Manny got more and more lifelike the more Hank started to find the root of his issues. He’s clearly a very troubled man.

Of course, there are also several laugh out loud moments. The boner scene was pretty funny until it got a little too much, and the first moment Manny spoke just to be punched in the face had me crying. Hands down, the best line in the movie is spoken by Hank: “If you don’t know Jurassic Park, you don’t know sh*t.” That line, coupled with the use of the Jurassic Park soundtrack, is nothing but pure genius, and is the real stand out moment of the entire movie.

I just don’t know how to feel about the ending. I mean, I don’t know how I wanted it to end myself, I guess I just couldn’t picture it. The movie itself is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but the ending reminded me of Safety Not Guaranteed, and I never fully knew how to feel about that ending, either.

Swiss Army Man will be ‘too weird’ for many, but in a world full of superhero movies, sequels and remakes, this is a breath of fresh air for me.

Flick Chicks: Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema: September 2016

Another month, another looking forward post.  How do these come around so quickly?! September is always the hardest month for this, all the blockbusters have finished, the Halloween and Christmas picks aren't ready yet, it's a bit of stop gap between blocks of loads of good movies coming out.  We should be grateful of the break I reckon!

Having finally watching a Woody Allen movie and loving it and my bizarre love for Jesse Eisenberg - this has to be my pick this month!

Set in the 1930's, Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) moves to Hollywood and ultimately falls in love with a top agent's Secretary.  I don't really know what happens next (which is amazing considering I have seen the trailer, this must be one of the only trailers that doesn't give us the whole damn story!) and i'm happy to keep it that way until I can get to the cinema!

Cafe Society is released in UK cinemas on 2nd September 2016

I'm actually kind of glad blockbuster season is over! After cramming in a record number of cinema trips this summer (which for me is like, 1 a week) I was looking forward to a quiet movie spell (mainly so I can play the new World of Warcraft expansion) but no! There's actually loads I want to see in September. I'm on the fence about Sausage Party...I can't help but groan at the thought of it, but maybe it'll be good. I'm also keen to see Kubo and the Two Strings and The Magnificent Seven. Plus, September brings the release of Bridget Jones's Baby! Yaaaaas!

All of these I can happily wait for a DVD release though. If I can drag myself away from saving Azeroth for one cinema trip this month, it'll be to see Swiss Army Man. You've got to have heard of this movie by now. I mean, it's been released already across the whole world apart from the UK and Germany! Seriously guys, living on this little island suck hard, sometimes.

If you live in the land of tea and cucumber sandwiches like I do, and haven't heard of Swiss Army Man yet, let me enlighten you. I've only ever watched the trailer and have steered clear of reviews so far, but basically, Paul Dano is stuck on a desert island, and comes across Daniel Radcliffe's corpse on the beach. Turns out a flatulent corpse can be quite useful, hence the name of the movie!

When I first saw the trailer a few months ago, I scoffed at how stupid the whole thing was and ran downstairs with my tablet to show my husband. Thing is, the second time I watched it, something just clicked inside my head and I though, this is genius! I honestly can't wait. Here's the trailer, biscuit lovers:

Swiss Army Man will FINALLY be released in UK cinemas on 30th September 2016.

Mini Reviews: Love and Mercy (2014), Hot Pursuit (2015) & Unfinished Business (2015)

This was a complete accidental find, I hadn’t even heard of this film but I love the Beach Boys music so I thought I may enjoy it.  It’s based on the true story of Brian Wilson, who was once a member of and continued to write for the Beach Boys, he wrote some of their iconic song such as Wouldn't it be nice and Good Vibrations.  I can say that the soundtrack to this was brilliant, I was singing along and I loved hearing the development of the music as Brian (John Cusack/Paul Dano) was developing it. It was terribly sad to watch his breakdown over the years but great to see his relationship with Melinda (Elizabeth Banks) develop and her save him from his manager.  Heartwarming and awesome awesome soundtrack.

When I first saw the trailer for this, I thought, great a rip off of The Heat but not as good.  Then I warmed to the idea (since falling in love with Modern Family and Sophia Vergara) so a quiet Sunday night on the sofa with my duvet led to this.  Turns out I was right the first time, it was a terrible version of The Heat with Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) as the ‘play by the book’ cop and Mrs Riva (Sophia Vergara) the high maintenance witness in her ‘care’.  The jokes are poor, the story is worse and the characters are completely unlikeable.  Where Sandra Bullock was hilarious in portrayal of the stick in the mud cop, Witherspoon was just irritating, I know Vergara can be funny but the script just didn’t give her enough to work with.  Pretty poor across the board to be honest.

Vince Vaughn’s movies have always been of the hit and miss variety, The Internship – big hit, The Delivery Man – big miss!! Unfortunately, this was the latter.  I really wanted to love it, I really liked the cast and as a story it has kind of potential, it just didn’t play out well.  Honestly, I saw it a few weeks ago and I can’t remember most of it already.  What I do remember was a host of gross out comedy (if you can call it comedy) and ridiculous surname jokes (Mike Pancake, really?!).  I wont be watching this again and I am rapidly losing faith in Vince Vaughn as a leading character without his partner in crime, Owen Wilson.