Posts
Captain's Blog: TMU has resurfaced!
3 years ago
The Rotten TMUers
Beneath the trees, on a hot summers eve, we sit and speak, of the movies we seek.
This is...
Let it be known (secretly) on this day that the Secret Society of Rotten TMUers has gathered forthwith to lay our eyes upon the tiny screen and to speak in secret tongues our thoughts therein. And now having established our very existance, let us embark upon our primary order of business.
The movie this week is:
by Andy
Brother Edward G. "Money" Mumsley elocutes...
"One part B Movie Gangster party (top of the world ma!), one part Mayberry R.F.D. (thats rural free delivery to the hoi polloi) and one part Monster Mash, Con continues along his merry way. Episode 8 is most certainly the longest of the batch and as such suffers from a bit of lag. Still, it delivers hijinx, memorable characters and a briefcase of ingenuity. Highlights include the music (well suited), the nifty darkness and Harrys supper club adventures. $$$$"
Brother EthanRunt laments...
"In a cinematic landscape full of diminishing returns it's sometimes nice to see our favourite franchises back for one last run.
Sometimes, however, they get it wrong, like Star Wars or Star Trek, Many superhero movies can't even complete a trilogy properly, and in come cases, like Indiana Jones and Security Guards in Space, they nuke a fridge. Not literally in The Monk's case, but by the time he animated a thong it was more disturbing and shocking than anything you'll see in a Lars Von Trier film this year.
When it comes to Andy_Inc's Con The Don series though it has always managed to survive on a simple idea of trying to make itself laugh until it hurts, and being fun, fast and clever, without requiring the brain power to really get those cogs moving.
The new installment, Eye Spy, unfortunately suffers a similar fate to Spiderman 3, far too many plotlines, long running time and overall not much actually happens, here Con goes to Area 51, barters his way in, walks around, fights werewolves and comes back, fine, in a 5 minute comedy, but taken to 11 minutes with the usual bad audio quality from some performers and near impenetrable accents the film is largely hit and miss, a word I'd never use to describe the earlier gasps of glory that formed the first few episodes in the series.
As it has progressed Andy appears to want a moving plot on top of silly dilemmas, which is a shame because such classics as the Hitman shoot out on the radio and Con setting up an undercover lemonade stand and loving it (which is a clear reference to a Police Squad episode) had little in the way of a story arc, but were fun interstitials with beginnings, middles and ends, and more importantly, the witty banter and crazy moments were more important than anything else, here, although a fuller film, it feels emptier and it's a shame that this, like all series, is starting to bore, maybe next episode it'll pick up again. For now though it's a solid 3/5, watchable, but not as enjoyable as the older ones."
Brother Killian emotes...
"Some very amusing moments (including some very well pulled off visual gags), excellent set design work and very nice musical work. Only slight criticism is the quality of the movie; it would have looked much better as a higher quality up, but that's just me.
Looking forward to more CtD
(5 stars awarded)"
Sister Dulcinia utters (in dramatic fashion)...
"Like, this was totally my first time watching any Con the Don movies. Ohmigod I was like laughing so hard my Aquanet cemented hair actually moved! Ok, so um, like, this was, ok, like totally, funny. The, um, like, I think they’re called mods, well, they were really awesome. I was like pointing at my screen and saying “Oooo!” when I saw something new. Like, the movies still rocks dude. Um like I totally don’t like to wear my glasses because they make me look ugly and so that could explain the occasional fuzziness coming from the screen, or, like, maybe the export quality wasn’t totally high. The girl sounded like a little far away especially compared to the good sound of the actors, but like, that doesn’t mean she didn’t do a good job. Like, I don’t want to be totally a downer, ya know? I totally dug the scene that was, like, really super duper dark. It was radical. And the music had me tapping my Manolo Blahnik heels.
And like, now I know, to never trade weapons for fruit. "
Brother Daninsky states...
"The title tells us that this is part of a series, but it doesn't follow a unfolding overarching plotline that needs to be known; good thing that or I might have looked like a bloody fool trying to review this instalment.
What's it about:
Con the Don's men find a note in the pocket of a (dead) rival gang member from which they deduce that King Sting (head of the Frosted Clubs Club family; funny in a hard to pronounce way) is hiding out in Area 51. Following this clue the Don and his henchman Harry the Hitman set-out to pay King Sting a surprise visit.
Names like Con the Don, King Sting or Harry the Hitman give a good indication of what to expect, everything in this movie is about overdrawn comedy. Now naturally there s only so much slapstick The Movies allows for so most of the jokes have to rely on a verbal delivery which is a hit and miss business, but some do work better than one would expect them to like the Don s bargaining with a Area 51 Guard, in other cases they left me in want of a clearer sound file, I m not hooked up to the best speaker set there is and if you have to go back over something to properly pick it up it loses impact, bit time. Overall it is Con the Don s accent that makes the movies humour work most of the time, and it s the nonsensical nature of the jokes that make it throughout enjoyable.
I won't say that Con the Don is a prize worthy movie, but I don't think that is what it wants be. What it wants to be is to be entertaining for the viewer and even thought it feels a bit long at a runtime of just over 11 minutes and may not have had a definitive laugh out loud moment for me, it delivered with a inoffensive, good-natured nonsense humour that I personally find to be always enjoyable to watch and that made me smile even at a second and third viewing.
That's worth a good three star rating."
Brother IceAxe anounces...
"This was my first introduction to Con, but the movie stands on its own well enough without having seen the previous episodes. The story was fun, and played out a bit like a Scooby-doo story with similar themes, and a similar formula. And there’s no harm in that at all! My favourite line was “The Don don’t like sewage, Harry”, and the Don’s negotiation style was very amusing. For me, the best scene was the one in the dark where we can only see the eyes of the actors – that was a great touch!
I think there are two areas that could maybe be improved. The first was to do with the sound quality and balance. I think the audio sounds very compressed which makes the dialogue a little tricky to make out at times– for example when Don and Harry are standing outside Area 51. If the audio needs to be compressed then I’d suggest lowering the background music a tad.
The second thing relates to the sets – they seemed quite big. I think the restaurant could have been more cosy if the room were smaller.
So where do you go from here? Well, I actually thought that Harry seemed like an interesting character. I don’t know their respective back stories, but I think there could be an opportunity for you to do a spin-off with Harry in the main role. In Eye Spy I get the impression that he’s maybe a bit simple, but very likeable, and probably unaware of peril. I wonder if there isn’t something you could do with that?
So, to summarise, this is a fun movie that made me chuckle. And a good introduction to Con the Don.
4 stars."
Brother Biggstrek pronounces...
"I must confess to having missed all the previous instalments of the Con The Don series, so I am watching this with virgin eyes (so to speak). The first thing that struck me was the bearded man in the dress. I have to assume there is some sort of back story to that, and not just a really cheap attempt at laughs. If the latter, it didn't work.
To be brutally honest, I didn't get much of a laugh out of this film. That could be just me or my age. Not sure. The end result was that I was waiting for the 'funny stuff' to happen and instead the film just ended.
Now, I did get a small laugh (not out loud... more a smirk) at certain points. The big road sign of 'Area 51 - Now Piss Off' was the highlight for me. Funniest bit in the film. There were a couple of other moments that weren't too bad (the weird restaurant scene, for instance) so it wasn't a total loss. A lot of the jokes just fell flat, though.
From a technical point of view, the film was put together nicely. Set dressing was probably the best part of the film. Music was good, too. And the VOs seemed to do the job (best role was the Alabama boy).
If I had to rate this film, I'd give it a 2 out of 5. Does it make me want to see the rest of the series? Afraid not. But to be fair, this could be just me not appreciating the humour. Others will probably disagree.
Oh, and before I forget, a totally irrelevant thing in the movie that made me feel good: references to Melbourne (my home town!) Gotta love that if nothing else!"
Thank you brothers and sisters for your veritable cornacopia of thoughts and opinions. Next weeks order of business will include the unvieling of the Secret Society's Super Sexy Secret Insignia and a new movie for our perusal. Till next time, live secretly. The first meeting of the Secret Society of Rotten TMUers is adjourned.
Now if you will kindly join me for cocktails in the main lounge.
0 comments:
Post a Comment