Audrey (2025)

 

"John Waters-Style Comedy From Australia"

After its European premiere at the BFI LFF, director Natalie Bailey's pitch black Australian comedy is getting a digital release through Vertigo Releasing.

Many years ago Ronnie Lipsick (Jackie van Beek) won awards for her acting and even had 'a two episode arc on Neighbours'. But then marriage and kids intervened and now she's a miserable and frustrated housewife with two teenaged daughters - Audrey (Josephine Blazier) and Norah (Hannah Diviney) and a somewhat bizarre husband in the shape of Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor).

When the ghastly Audrey falls off the roof of the family home during a tantrum and ends up in a coma, it turns out to be the best thing that could have happened for the rest of the Lipsicks. Audrey's planned place in a prestigious drama class is taken by her mother posing as a teenager, wheelchair-bound Norah gets to have fencing lessons, while handyman Cormack is booked to fit cupboards at a local church hall but ends up getting involved in the pastor's sideline job of making porn for Christian couples, as well as having an affair with the pastor himself.

But then Audrey recovers and everything gets worse again. What's to be done? And might Ronnie being cast as Medea in a local amateur dramatics production give her ideas?

AUDREY is quirky and entertaining and, at times, in bad enough taste that the easily offended are quite likely to be upset. Calling it an Australian John Waters film might be going a little bit too far but the Lipsicks are certainly the kind of dysfunctional family who scream at each other a lot that Waters excelled at portraying, even if everything is a little more airbrushed than what the Pope of Trash used to give us. Here's the trailer, which will give you a good idea if this one's for you:

Natalie Bailey's AUDREY is out on digital platforms from Vertigo Releasing on Monday 17th March 2025

The Second Act (2024)

"Frequently Very Funny Indeed"

The latest comedy from quirky French writer-director Quentin Dupieux, and the film that opened the Cannes Film Festival this year, get a digital release from Signature Entertainment.

David (Louis Garrel from Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS) is being hounded by Florence (Léa Seydoux from lots of things including Cronenberg's CRIMES OF THE FUTURE and Bertrand Bonello's THE BEAST) who is madly in love with him. But he doesn't have any feelings for her so he arranges for them to meet at an isolated café called The Second Act in the presence of his friend Willy (Raphaël Quenard who plays the title character in Dupieux's excellent YANNICK). Florence brings her father Guillaume (Vincent Lindon from TITANE) along and, in the presence of hopeless waiter Stéphane (Manuel Guillot), the scene is set for sheer excruciating awkwardness.

However, the story quickly becomes more awkward, and the film itself more meta, as the actors constantly break character, complain about their roles, insult each other, and prolong the telling of the story. At one point it transpires they are acting in the first film ever to be written and directed by AI, and the AI even comes to talk to them via a laptop.

Even at a brisk 80 minutes (a typical run time for a Dupieux opus) THE SECOND ACT does begin to flounder in its attempts to go even more 'super meta' at the end, but even so this is a very funny, inventive, ambitious piece of work, one which on the one hand occasionally feels like Beckett or Pirandello while on the other could almost be an 80 minute Monty Python sketch. Some of the sequences are laugh out loud hilarious, especially a wine pouring scene that just goes on and on and becomes funnier as it does so.  It might just be Dupieux's best work so far. Fans will need no further persuasion and if you're yet to encounter his work this is an excellent place to start. Here's a clip that unfortunately doesn't do the film justice as it's one of the rare bits where no-one really breaks character:

Quentin Dupieux's THE SECOND ACT is out on digital from Signature Entertainment now.

Withnail and I (1987)

Bruce Robinson's eccentric, semi-autobiographical, melancholic comedy classic gets a 4K UHD release from Arrow Films.

Camden Town in the late 1960s. Two unemployed actors - Withnail (Richard E Grant) and Marwood (Paul McGann) share a disgusting flat. Their days revolve around boozing, visits from a drug dealer called Danny (Ralph Brown) and increasing despondency about their lack of job offers.

They decide a holiday is needed and con Withnail's Uncle Monty (Rochard Griffiths) into letting them use his holiday cottage in Penrith. It turns out to be even more horrible than their London flat and pretty soon they realise they've come on holiday 'by mistake'. Only a visit from Uncle Monty could possibly make things worse, so of course that's what happens. 

One of the extras on Arrow's excellent 4K disc is a piece from Peepshow co-creator Sam Bain who sums up well what it is that makes WITHNAIL AND I such an enduring classic. It helps if you see it at the right age of course, but the mixture of eccentric characters and situations, a vast amount of eminently quotable dialogue, and likely the fact the film was based on part of writer-director Bruce Robinson's life of twenty years prior to the film being made (he's McGann's character whereas Withnail was inspired by actor Vivian MacKerrell who died aged 50. Readers of this site will know him for Stephen Weeks' 1974 GHOST STORY) gives the film an integrity and uniqueness that makes it feel almost timeless. It's a little bit like the TV series THE YOUNG ONES for the late 1960s and you can see characters like Danny and Presuming Ed returning in future episodes if this had been commissioned for television. 

As well as the Bain piece Arrow's disc has two commentary tracks, one from Robinson and another from Withnail expert (he wrote the BFI guide) Kevin Jackson. There's a new interview with production designer Michael Pickwoad and an archival interview withe Robinson, as well as four 'Withnail Weekend' documentaries that Channel 4 screened in the late 1990s - The Peculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson (39 minutes), Withnail and Us (25 minutes), I Demand to Have Some Booze (6 Minutes) and Withnail on the Pier (4 minutes). 

Finally, the set comes with a perfect bound book with a bunch of essays on the film from Vic Pratt, Anthony Nield, Martin Jones, Neil Mitchell and Mike Sutton. 

Bruce Robinson's WITHNAIL AND I is out on 4K UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 24th June 2024

Brian and Charles (2022)

After its cinema run earlier this year, Mediumrare Entertainment are releasing the charming and eccentric British comedy BRIAN AND CHARLES on DVD & Blu-ray.

Painfully lonely Brian (co-writer David Earl) lives in a cottage on the outskirts of a tiny Welsh village. His fills his time inventing things and is keen to show them off in the semi docu-drama format the film employs. The problem is that Brian's inventions are utter rubbish (a pine cone bag, a device to suck all the air out of a diving helmet) and when he decides to build a robot out of a washing machine and mannikin parts nobody is more surprised than he when it comes to life.

The robot acquires the name Charles Petrescu (and is played by co-writer Chris Hayward) and despite being eight feet tall is very much a child in terms of what he needs to learn about the world, including its evils, which rear their head in the form of a nearby family who want Charles so they can burn him on the annual bonfire.

Based on an original short film that sadly isn't included on this disc, BRIAN AND CHARLES is the kind of comedy that British cinema excels at. Brian is initially painted as a sorry soul who lives in a ghastly house and has a life that's going nowhere, but as the film goes on both he and Charles and the people they interact with are allowed to develop as characters and by the end all have shown inner strength in a story that ultimately becomes quite poignant and life-affirming. It's a unique, charming affair with endearing characters and plenty of laughs to be had along the way.

Mediumrare's disc comes with a couple of extras: there's a three minute gag reel and another three minutes of Charles answering questions allegedly sent in on twitter. It would have been nice to have a commentary and as I said above, the original short film, but even so if you didn't catch it at the cinema BRIAN AND CHARLES is well worth picking up. 

BRIAN AND CHARLES is out from Mediumrare Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 24th October 2022

The Toll (2021)

"Entertaining Black Comedy Set in Wales"

More precisely it's set in Pembrokeshire - "where English people come to die" as it says close to the beginning of THE TOLL which is getting a cinema and digital release from Signature Entertainment at the end of August.

Michael Smiley is our unnamed protagonist who, for the last 29 years, has been manning the quietest toll booth in Wales. And he's been doing that for a reason. He has a dark past that's about to catch up with him in the form of vengeful gang boss Magnus (Julian Glover) and his goons. Fortunately our hero has not wasted his time in the back of beyond and has recruited a number of colourful characters as helpmates whenever he needs somebody bumping off or a body disposing of. 

As well as Smiley the cast is populated by familiar faces including Iwan Rheon and Paul Kaye, and even Steve Oram pops up as a petrol station owner. Obviously made on a very low budget with most of the action taking place outside, THE TOLL boasts some impressive location work and a surprising amount of nice weather considering it's Wales. It's director Ryan Andrew Hooper and writer Matt Redd's first feature and exhibits the skill, timing and a fine sense of balance between comedy and (occasionally) horror that Edgar Wright is so good at. As such THE TOLL marks them as a movie-making team to watch and the film itself is an entertaining 83 minutes elevated by stylish direction and some excellent performances.

THE TOLL is out in cinemas and on premium digital from Signature Entertainment on Friday 27th August 2021 

Used Cars (1980)

"Zany 1980s Screwball Comedy"

Before director Robert Zemeckis gave us BACK TO THE FUTURE, and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT he made USED CARS, a wacky comedy from 1980 that starts broad and gets broader in every sense. 

Two rival second hand car dealerships exist opposite each other on a street in Phoenix, Arizona. One is run by Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), assisted by wide boy Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) who has plans to run for senator, Jeff (Gerrit Graham) and Frank (Frank McCrae). The other is run by Luke's brother Roy (also Warden) who is determined to get his hand's on his brother's property.

When Luke dies it's up to Rudy and his team to pretend the old man is still alive while ramping up their increasingly outrageous (and illegal) ad campaign to sell more cars. When Luke's daughter Barbara (Deborah Harmon) arrives, a potential legal minefield of a misquote from her on one of the the ads sets the scene for an increasingly ludicrous final act.

A fast paced comedy that never lets up for its 113 minutes (most comedies of this kind clock in at under 90 just because it's so difficult to maintain the tone), USED CARS is the kind of abrasive, silly, politically incorrect and just outright rude comedy that doesn't get made anymore, and depending how much you yearn for / despise films like that will dictate whether or not you'll get on with it. 

If you do, it's actually a very funny, well-made comedy, well acted by a cast of familiar faces (some of them painfully young - stand up Michael MacKean). With its car chases, lowbrow humour and sense of knockabout fun USED CARS comes across as a more intellectual version of a Hal Needham film (CANNONBALL RUN, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT).

Eureka's Blu-ray comes with a Zemeckis / Russell / co-writer & producer Bob Gale commentary track, two isolated score tracks (one being the unused Ernest Gold score), a making of, Kurt Russell radio interview, out-takes, gag reel, radio spots and still galleries. You also get a booklet with new writing on the film by Scott Harrison and Phil Hoad if you get the first pressing. 

Robert Zemeckis' USED CARS is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 12th August 2019

Heavy Trip (2019)

“Heavy Metal Comedy From Finland That Gets Funnier & Funnier”

The latest entry in a somewhat unlikely subgenre of cinema - one that includes THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984), DEATHGASM (2015) and on TV The Comic Strip’s BAD NEWS TOUR (1983), gets a digital release from Sparky Films.

Turo (Johannes Holopainen) is the lead singer in a heavy metal band in the tiny Finnish town where he lives. The band have been ‘rehearsing’ for twelve years but have never played a gig. When an accident at lead guitarist Lotvonen’s reindeer slaughtering plant gives him an idea for a riff, the boys finally have their first demo track.

A chance visit to the reindeer plant by a Norwegian heavy metal festival impresario means the band get the chance to pass on the tape. Soon they are being hailed as celebrities by the townsfolk, even though plans for them to play at the festival are still up in the air (not that anyone but Turo knows that).

They come up with a name (Impaled Rectum), take a band promo shot (I’ll leave you to find out how) and everything is looking up. Until, that is, they actually have to perform in front of an audience.

An utterly charming, endearing, and most important of all, frequently hilarious comedy that gets crazier and more outrageous as incident is allowed to pile on incident, HEAVY TRIP has been likened to Rob Reiner’s classic SPINAL TAP but it some ways it’s a funnier, tighter, and much more economical version of John Landis’ THE BLUES BROTHERS (which even gets referenced in the dialogue), most obviously in the way the climax builds and builds.

It looks as if HEAVY TRIP is only getting a digital release in the UK but I hope someone, somewhere puts out a disc with a gag reel as extras, and perhaps even a commentary track from directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren. I’d love to know if all those track titles quoted and bands referenced are real. As to if the creative talents behind this are metalheads it's almost impossible to believe they’re not and like SPINAL TAP, I certainly hope fans of metal take this with the knowing affection I’m sure its intended to convey. 

Charming, endearing, and very, very funny, HEAVY TRIP is highly likely to be one of the comedy highlights of the year.

HEAVY TRIP is out on digital download from Sparky Films from Monday 5th August 2019

Top Knot Detective (2017)

"Brilliantly Funny"

One of my top ten films of 2017 (and one of my all-time favourite mockumentaries) finally gets a dual format DVD & Blu-ray UK release courtesy of Third Window Films.

Whatever happened to 1990s top rated period Japanese detective adventure show Ronin Suiri Tantai (aka Deductive Reasoning Ronin)? How did it end up being shown in other countries under the title Top Knot Detective? Why has almost all of the footage shot been destroyed? Was it because the series was such an insane train wreck of a show, featuring robot ninjas, giant penis monsters and enormous pregnant badgers belching forth tiny badger babies bent on turning the world communist? 

Or is there a more sinister side? What about its insane writer / director / editor and star, the frankly uncontrollable Takashi Takamoto? Or the rivalry between him and co-star Haruto Koike, who played the series' chief villain? Or did the show disappear because of what happened to the CEO of its Japanese conglomerate financier (and Haruto's father)? All is revealed in this Australian film. Through interviews with cast, crew, and interested parties, we learn that TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is still a major cult item even today.

A mockumentary to rival the best of them, TOP KNOT DETECTIVE starts off hilariously funny ("He was like the Japanese Ed Wood, & I mean that as a compliment") and then manages to deliciously wrong foot you in its final act as events become rather more serious. You may still be open mouthed from the hilarious and outrageous antics of what has preceded it but then that's what the Blu-ray is for - this is a film that benefits from repeat viewings. 

The extras on Third Window Films' disc include a commentary from writer-directors Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce, the original 9 minute promotional film, a making of, a featurette on the fights, and a trailer.

TOP KNOT DETECTIVE very much feels like the THIS IS SPINAL TAP of insane Japanese television, pop music and culture in general. If that sounds appealing then grab this now - you'll be chuckling for weeks. And you'll wish that more of Deductive Reasoning Ronin had escaped the ashes.

Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce's TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is out on dual format DVD & Blu-ray from Third Window Films on Monday 18th March 2019

Buster Keaton: Three Films (1924, 1926 and 1928)

"4K Keaton!"

Yes indeed, Eureka have done a fine job here in giving a UK Blu-ray release to three Buster Keaton classics, and they've never looked so good. The package comes with a wealth of extras and a 60-page book as well. I reviewed Eureka's excellent four disc set of Keaton's complete short films here just over a year ago, and it's a delight to see them bringing out some of his longer work. So what's included?

Sherlock Jr (1924)

Keaton plays a film projectionist who is studying to be a detective in his spare time. When a watch goes missing he finds himself implicated and, while trying to clear his name, he ends up falling asleep in the projection booth. Cue an ambitious dream sequence in which Keaton steps into the film playing on the cinema screen and assumes the mantle of Sherlock Jr. Like all the films in the set, SHERLOCK JR begins quite slowly, but that's just because Keaton is a master at setting up and layering his remarkably creative gags.

Extras include an audio commentary by film historian David Kalat, a tour of the filming locations, a featurette, and a video interview with film scholar Peter Kramer. 

The General (1926)

The American civil war. When Johnnie Gray is denied the opportunity to enlist in the Confederacy because they believe his skills as a train driver are more useful to the cause, he finds himself becoming involved in the war anyway when Union soldiers steal his locomotive. With virtually no dialogue for lengthy parts of it, lots of amazing chase sequence and stunts, some quite breathtaking scenes of destruction, and huge numbers of extras, THE GENERAL looks like it must have cost a fortune.

Considered by many to be Keaton's masterpiece, watching this you can totally understand why it's still on so many people's all-time cinema best lists. Keaton uses his budget to great effect and this really is the perfect demonstration of skilled and unique artist at the very height of his powers.

Extras include a touching introduction by Orson Welles and a fairly scary one by Gloria Swanson. There's also a location tour, home movie footage, plus a new 52 minute documentary 'Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood'. You also get a brand new score to the film from Carl Davis.

Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928)

The final film in the set details a steamboat captain's horror when he is reunited with his son (Keaton) who turns out to be a black beret-wearing ukelele player (both obviously activities worthy of disdain back in the 1920s). Our hero's father tries to toughen him up but to no avail. Culminating with one of the most epic scenes of actual destruction as a typhoon hits the town, this is the one where the front of a house falls on top of Keaton and he stays standing because he's positioned just right to fit through a window. So many things get destroyed or pulled to pieces that Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich must surely have this one on their all-time top ten list. And I have never laughed so much at someone trying on a hat.

Extras include a video essay on the making of the film, plus there's another brand new score from Carl Davis. Also included in the set is a book with new writing on the film by Philip Kemp, notes on each film, archival writings, and the Keaton Family Scrapbook with lots and lots of archival imagery. A superb set. 

BUSTER KEATON: THREE FILMS is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 6th November 2017