Mindhorn (2016)

Director: Sean Foley
Starring: Julian Barratt, Simon Farnaby, Essie Davis, Steve Coogan, Richard Cabe, Andrea Riseborough, Russell Tovey, David Schofield, Harriet Walter, Simon Callow, Kenneth Branner. UK. 1h 29m

When your indie retro styled Brit Flick has major stars like Andrea Riseborough, Kenneth Brannagh and Simon Callow playing minor little cameos then you’d assume you’ve hit the big time or at least have an idea so crazy it might just work!? Mindhorn is a triumph of British comedy, starring Julian Barratt, who’s made us all laugh in comedy shows like The Mighty Boosh but has also astounded fans in solid trippy dramas like A Field In England, but let’s face it, if you don’t laugh at he antics in the Ben Wheatly classic then you’d end up in an asylum. But in this ridiocusly production he takes the lead and delivers an outstanding performance as a dated washed up actor who is called in by Isle of White police to help them fight a devious criminal.

It’s the truth time!

There has always been a strong comedy troupe, about that one guy who won’t let go of the past, He’s the chap in the corner of the pub, talking about his old band and possibility of being a Rockstar, but he just missed a great opportunity, all of this is maximised in Mindhorn. Julian Barrat plays the role of a hasbeen actor, who once had the role of a lifetime the lead in a hit TV show where he is a blend of 6 million dollar man and James bond, but today he’s washed up, he can’t get a role, drinks too much, no one takes him seriously and he still wears his retro 70’s clothing and a ridiculous mishmashed toupe.

“This isn’t the Bronx, this is the Isle of Man!”

Mindhorn is totally pathetic but he truly believes in himself as his tv character and with the chance to live that lifestyle again he jumps at the opportunity but fails miserably at every hurdle, the man can’t even make a phone call without wrecking the room. As a blend of Mr Magoo and Inspector Clouseau  he’s a tornado of antics but at least he’s hysterically funny for the audience otherwise this would be jarring. Any hero who wakes up part naked on a police officer’s desk, half naked and high on pills having to explain drawing a pair of tits on someone’s land rover, is worth a few minutes of your attention, am i right?

If you’re a fan of the Boosh and subversive British humour then this can’t be missed, let your hair down and don’t take life too seriously, alongside the cast and have a super funny night even is Barret does wear black face for part of the film, i doubt anyone will be triggered due to the circumstances.

TLDR:

Mindhorn (2016) Indie British Comedy starring Julian Barratt as a washed up actor who can't drop his vintage detective character, after getting caught up in a live police investigation he manages to fall further from grace. Laugh out loud comedy gold. pic.twitter.com/VkIelunwXD

— Admit 1 Film Addict (@admitonefilmadd) January 3, 2022

Rating: 5/10

Related: Hot Rod (2007), Black Dynamite (2009)

Lists: Modern British Comedies

Spotlight:Julian Barratt, Andrea Riseborough, Simon Callow, Kenneth Branner.

Trailer

Prevenge (2016)

Director: Alice lowe
Starring: Alice Lowe,Gemma Whelan, Kate Dickie,Jo Hartley, Tom Davis, Kayvan Novak. UK. 1h 28m

Alice Lowe returns after the brilliant collaboration with cult director Ben Wheatley in their darkly entertaining Sightseers (2012). She returns as an equally unusual character but this one is on a course of revenge with her unborn baby. Lowe might just have backed herself into a typecasted corner and to be truthful it’s okay, as she does this disturbing comedy thing way to well and we honestly need a lot more of her thing in the unpredictable British market where we like to be on the edge of wrongness.

La Weekend August 1

 

District 9 (2009) – I was flabbergasted when I realised just how much this film was hated, I got my copy for free when I asked if anyone has seen it, people were giving it away.. so I was a bit dubious about watching it, but I was hooked within seconds.. it’s a mockumentary look at a group of alien (workers) who have go stuck in South Africa. The effects are brilliant, both the alien technology and “Prons” design look and “feel” impressive. Obviously the setting is key, the messages are deep an poignant. The film is elevated by the amazing and life changing performance from ?? who plays Vikers he goes through every emotion and reacts in non Hollywood’s way, giving a more interesting and diverse story. Personally I find it so attuned and turned on, I was really hoping for a sequel, but I guess I’ll have to sit quite tight. [REVIEW]10/10

Arachnophobia (1990)

Director: Frank Marshall
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman .USA. 1h 43m

It seems so odd writing a review for this so many years after watching it, but the fact that the film is still one of my favourites is a testament to it’s amazing ability to thrill and entertain, but this is coming from an old timer who’s love of horror will never die and when a new golden age of creature features was descending upon us.

Movies that actually scare me.. a short list…

I always hear people complaining that horror movies don’t manage to scare them anymore, which for the large part is true, but every now and again a story or film will crack our tough exterior and we find ourselves sleeping with the lights on.

I’m a huge horror enthusiast, but the thrill that I’m looking for is something that really gets under my skin, something to pry into my psyche and give me a few grey hairs. There are movies which play on our phobias, childhood fears, the unknown and ultimately dying and death itself which are big winners for scaring an audience.

The biggest market is that of gore, slasher and jump/shock tactics. These tools are most widely used by directors and writers to get our adrenaline running. The flip side to this is by making the movie very real true crimes or horrific events can easily unnerve an audience. Defining horror is something I’ve been doing over a number of year and articles so I’ll leave this for another day, but it’s very easy to realise that fear is a personal  matter and not something that we can predict.

Its quite odd, but not every movie that will scare you are even be horror. If you have a phobia of falling then a lot of action movies will make you wet your pants, something simple like Watership Down (1978) will scare anyone with leporiphobia. And the list goes on with personal quirks and histories.

Without further ado, here’s my list of movies that have at some point made me sleep with the lights on…and maybe they still do?

Twilight zone the movie (1983) 

This movie has frightened me all of my life, when I was little I was exposed to all movies, my mother and babysitter didn’t have any problems with me picking what I wanted from the movie van/shop and that’s how we rolled in the 80’s, but I think some movies that I couldn’t comprehend had a lasting effect on me. This is one of them. The white rabbit from hell and the gremlin from hell, the little boy from hell, Dan Akroyed is obviously from hell and no matter when this film will guarantee me a nightmare or two and a higher electricity bill. It’s strange to think that as an adult this movie still scares me but there is obviously something on a deeper level that it affects me, an inert fear maybe? and usually if I’ve accidentally stumbled upon it then I resemble the frightened flight passenger (John Lithgow) myself…

 

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

Another old school favorite of my mother. I can watch this during the day and might be OK by the evening.. I really don’t like the clowns and no amount of comedy popcorn is going to ease that fear. I suppose it’s quite popular to not like clowns and so I hope a lot of people will identify this terror with me.

 

Poltergeist (1982)

This movie used to really frighten me on a massive scale as a child, yeah I was about 4-5 when I first saw it and it disrupt my sleep for a while, but after a conversation about special effects I was OK  considering my other favourite movies at the time were, the Thing, Teen Wolf, Nightmare on elm street and Alien, I should have already been desensitized? This is why I find it interesting to discuss movies that make it through a persons tougher exterior  Its little strange things that you wouldn’t always expect. As a child the steak and face pulling did it for me, as an adult the clown scene still freaks me out. Its probably a good time to point out that the clowns arms had to be cut as they were actually strangling the child actor and had become knotted.. Spooky? Yeah it doesn’t make me sleep any easier.

Gremlins (1984)

oh my goth! This movie has terrorized me in the strangest ways over the years. Firstly lets say that I really don’t like little creatures laughing at me while they KILL ME!It really does mess up my day. Sometimes I wonder if audiences really take this in!? They might be “cute” by they are killing you, and laughing at you!

There are a lot of factors to this, after seeing the movie for the first time and being deeply unsettled, I got left with a babysitter who had the movie poster on the back of the door… I stayed awake ALL night, just in case. If anyone is actually following my blog they might have noticed that I mentioned having this movie still in the wrapper..  I had to buy it.. but I still don’t have the courage to open it.

ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ – Shutter (2004)

for years I had no movie scares, it was my biggest dry spell, now its not to say I hadn’t been affected by a movie in all this time. But nothing really affected me. Until shutter, this movie is so good, it really draws you in and has so many shocks and tension. The best thing is that ultimately there is.. I don’t want to give anything away… Lets say it has a lasting effect. I don’t know if it was just the movie or the fact that my other half was sitting next to me freaking out that really did it for me?

Rec (2007)

after shutter I went to see rec. I hadn’t seen anything l like this before, I adore the religious aspect of the “zombies” and as much as I was in awe I was also kacking my pants. It is an entertaining movie and I love the shocks and scares, there were a few areas of research that i looked into afterwards and I managed to track down Javier Botep who is an amazing guy and has a great YouTube channel.

Rec 2 (2009)

Now I was expecting that part two would try to out scare part one.. and it did! I got it from Blockbusters during the evening but kept hold of it until the following morning so I had the day to get it out of my system before bed.. but it didn’t work!? They managed to outdo themselves, which pleased and distressed me, apart from the awesome firework comedy death scene.. that did lighten the mood for me a little but I do remember not being able to laugh about it for a few days after.

It might sound strange but lets hope I can add to this list at some point! I am expecting  Mama (2013) to be able to rock my socks if just a little bit..

Banshee Chapter (2013)

A perfect blend of an old hobby and something I would love to try, makes me a very nervous girl. So this remake of HP Lovecraft’s From Beyond mixes the idea that a DMT trip while listening to a certain radio station will open a portal into another dimension, either way the movie has a profound effect on me and really hit home that classic HP Lovecraft link that any random events might just open a portal into the unknown, so what do you do, live your life in a cave or experiment? Terrifying visuals and a sinking feeling of dread about my hobbies colliding really set me off when I first saw this…