Hot Picks
|
|
|
The Menu
USA 2022
produced by Will Ferrell, Katie Goodson, Betsy Koch, Adam McKay, DanTram Nguyen, Zahra Phillips, Seth Reiss (executive), Michael Sledd (executive), Will Tracy (executive) for Hyperobject Industries
directed by Mark Mylod
starring Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Paul Adelstein, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, Christina Brucato, Reed Birney, Mark St. Cyr, Adam Aalderks, Rebecca Koon, Matthew Cornwell, Cristian Gonzalez, John Wilkins III, Peter Grosz, Mel Fair, Jon Paul Allyn, Thomas Goh, Jay Shadix, Brandon Herron, Michael A. Dean, Rachel Trautmann, Victor Zheng, A. Jae Michele, John Cola, Kionna Townes, Grant Henley, Alexander Goldstein, Marcus Aveons Duncan, Elbert Kim, Melisa Lopez
written by Seth Reiss, Will Tracy, music by Colin Stetson
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
Tyler (Nicholas Hould), food enthusiast and hobby cook, is over-joyed
when he receives an invitation to one of Chef Slowik's (Ralph Fiennes)
dinner parties on remote Hawthorne Island, something he has worked towards
for ages as Slowik is said to make only the most exquisite dishes with all
the most exquisite ingridients. And as Slowik doesn't accept solo guests
and he has only recently broken up with his girlfriend, he brings escort
Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy). Now the guests at Slowik's dinner are the usual
bunch of the rich and famous, nouveau riches, shady businessmen, a fading
moviestar (John Leguizamo), preposterous food critics and the like, none
of them particularly likeable - but all pretending to be food specialists
even if there's little substance to Slowik's food, his presentation is
somewhat pretentious, and his staff quite a bit too obedient. Thing is,
things are not quite alright, which our group of foodies becomes terribly
aware of when a sous chef during Slowik's presentation of a dish shoots
himself in the head - as part of same presentation. Later, one of the
guests gets one of his fingers cut off, and they are forced to witness an
execution. Of course, the guests try to rebel, but they have no chance
against the Chef's security team. Plus, despite all the horrors, they
can't but admire Chef Slowik, even when he tells them he's going to kill
them all (and himself and his staff) tonight. It's only Margot who's
street smart enough to actually look for the weak link in the Chef's chain
- and for that she even soon earns the Chef's respect. But will that be
enough for her to survive the night? A very bitter but pretty
hilarious satire on almost cult-like foodism, this is a film that doesn't
hold back when it comes to gruesomeness, but also has plenty of morbidly
funny moments, and its absurd yet fairly accurate portrayal of nouveau
cuisine alone almost makes the film worth its time. But it's a very
assured directorial effort and a strong cast who play it straight while in
on the joke that really carry the movie through to its suitably bitter
ending, and make this a very cool piece of dark entertainment.
|
|
|
review © by Mike Haberfelner
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Thanks for watching !!!
|
|
|
Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
|