"CATCH YOU FUCKERS AT A BAD TIME?"

Posts Tagged ‘Alicia Silverstone’

Bugonia

Monday, January 19th, 2026

BUGONIA is the 2025 movie from director Yorgos Lanthimos, who just did POOR THINGS in 2023 and then KINDS OF KINDNESS in 2024. I can’t even keep up with the guy! This one’s a little different because it’s a remake of the 2003 South Korean film SAVE THE GREEN PLANET!. By all accounts it’s great, but I still haven’t seen it, so calculate that in if you’re trying to figure out how much you’ll like this.

I assumed it was a situation like Spike Lee’s OLDBOY where producers were trying to do the English language version for some reason and found an auteur to do it, but it turns out this would’ve been original director Jang Joon-hwan remaking his own movie if he hadn’t gotten sick and handed the reins (and the script by Will Tracy [THE MENU, former editor in chief of The Onion]) over to Lanthimos. Jang is still an executive producer, along with Ari Aster and others.

Nevertheless it feels very Lanthimos, and reunites him with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, plus his team of cinematographer Robbie Ryan, editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis, composer Jerskin Fendrix and production designer James Price. I wouldn’t consider it a work-for-hire. (read the rest of this shit…)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Reviews, Comedy/Laffs, Crime | 5 Comments »

Y2K

Monday, April 14th, 2025

Y2K is a 2024 horror comedy that’s the directorial debut of Kyle Mooney. You may or may not know Mooney as a Saturday Night Live cast member from 2013 to 2022, but he also co-wrote and starred in a weird movie called BRIGSBY BEAR (2017) and I would highly recommend Saturday Morning All Star Hits! (S.M.A.S.H.!), an eight episode parody of ‘90s children’s programming he co-created in 2021. This shares with those a surface appearance of millennial nostalgia but with such specific pop cultural observations and such weird comedy ideas that it never feels like “Hey, remember that!?” in a bad way. The joke isn’t ha, we used to have VHS, it’s that an evil VCR kills somebody by ejecting a dubbed and hand-labelled VARSITY BLUES at their head.

As you may guess from the title this is set on a New Year’s Eve, 1999 when a sort of Y2K problem does happen – not computer systems breaking down, but electronic devices forming a shared consciousness, combining together into robots and trying to take over the world. Tamagotchis and iMacs attached to wheels and power drills going around attacking people. The animatronic effects (by Weta Workshop!) remind me of VIRUS, but instead of happening on a boat it revolves around a high school party. It’s kinda like SUPERBAD meets MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. (read the rest of this shit…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Reviews | 12 Comments »

Batman & Robin (20th Anniversary Ice-travaganza)

Tuesday, June 20th, 2017

BATMAN & ROBIN is 20 years cold, and CHILLED TO PERFECTION!

“There’s nobody else to blame but me. I could have said, ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’ I just hope whenever I see a list of the worst movies ever made, we’re not on it. I didn’t do a good job. George did. Chris did. Uma is brilliant in it. Arnold is Arnold.” –Joel Schumacher to Variety, 2014

a survey of summer movies that just didn’t catch on

It was June 20, 1997, and I thought BATMAN & ROBIN was the stupidest, most tasteless, worst big budget movie ever made. After the wholesale awfulness of BATMAN FOREVER went over well with audiences willing to sanction its buffoonery, Warner Brothers allowed director Joel Schumacher to go full Schumacher for the next one. It’s the same admirable, director-friendly approach that led to Tim Burton’s BATMAN RETURNS, and the bean counters would come to regret it once again. Schumacher’s purest artistic vision is like the aftermath of a rainbow sherbet fight in the costume storage warehouse for an ice skating troupe. He keeps the moody Elliot Goldenthal score and themes of mourning and vengeance, but buries them in a day-glo fantasia of overacting, bad puns, fetishistic rubber costumes and theme park stunt show style super hero battles. For me it became Exhibit A in any argument against the “It’s Not Supposed To Be Shakespeare/Check Your Brain At the Door” school of summer blockbuster permissiveness.

I wasn’t wrong. But twenty years later to the day, after many truly great summer movies, some of them even starring Batman, it’s easier for me to appreciate the uniqueness of BATMAN & ROBIN – the outrageously tacky designs, the subversively in-your-face homoeroticism, the laugh-out-loud ludicrousness of the plot and dialogue and settings and action, and especially the spectacle of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a bulky metal costume and glittery blue makeup as Mr. Freeze, playing like a simultaneous parody of over-the-top Batman villains, blockbuster excess and his own penchant for groan-worthy one-liners. He makes more than two dozen ice or cold related cracks without losing his boyish, gap-toothed Arnold charm.

Today I am prepared to admit that I own BATMAN & ROBIN on Blu-Ray. And have watched it twice in that format. And on purpose.

Ah shit, you guys. I like this stupid movie now. (read the rest of this shit…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Comic strips/Super heroes, Reviews | 93 Comments »

Clueless

Monday, July 20th, 2015

tn_clueless

RELEASE DATE: July 7
RELEASE DATE: July 19

I wasn’t intending to include CLUELESS in my Summer of ’95 retrospective, since I mainly like to look at “blockbuster” type movies. And I feel very familiar with it. I saw it a long time ago and then I’ll watch parts of it on cable now and then. But I think Mr. Majestyk or somebody said he was hoping I would do it and you know I’m like a DJ, I try to read the audience and move the crowd and what not.

And man, when you sit down and watch it from beginning to end for the first time in a while, CLUELESS really holds up. It’s a funny, unique movie, one that’s simultaneously very ’90s in attitude, music and cultural references, and timeless because of its stylishly heightened (I hope) depiction of the world of Los Angeles rich kids. And you know what, nothing against James Acheson, who won a costume design Oscar for RESTORATION that year, but do you think he ever sent flowers to Mona May, who did this shit? I mean come on. It’s brilliant. Apparently she got her start working with Julie Brown on MTV (not Downtown, the funny one who plays the gym teacher here).

Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, the spoiled daughter of an angry widower lawyer (Dan Hedaya, ALIEN RESURRECTION). She and Stacey Dash as her best friend Dionne (they were “both named after famous singers of the past who now do infomercials”) in some ways fit the stereotype of Beverly Hills teen girls: they obsess over expensive name brand clothes and their own popularity, they think less about school and their futures than about boys and parties (though they don’t seem very interested in drinking and look down on anything more than occasional drug use). They are superficial, but they’re generally well-meaning, nice people. Then one day, inspired by ex stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd, GEN-X COPS 2: METAL MAYHEM)’s comment about Marky Mark* attending a tree-planting ceremony, Cher decides to try using her popularity for good.

*This was before FEAR, let alone BOOGIE NIGHTS, so nobody called him Mark Wahlberg, not even his parents. (read the rest of this shit…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Comedy/Laffs, Reviews | 29 Comments »

  • Hey bud, thanks for reading.

    Don't feel obligated, but here are some

  • WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHIT OUT OF VERN & OUTLAWVERN.COM

    if that's your thing:

  • 1. Patreon

    Toss me a couple bucks a month, support the good shit, also get access to a bunch of exclusive writing. This is my primary source of writing money that has allowed me to cut down to part time at the day job. Thank you!

  • 2. Buy my books from your local bookseller or somebody

    click here for my Amazon author page

    (NOTE: My ten year contract has passed on the Titan books, so I don't get residuals on them like I do WORM ON A HOOK and NIKETOWN, but I would love for you to read them because I'm proud of them)

    EXTRA CREDIT: Review them on Amazon! That would really help me out. Unless you didn't like them, in which case forget I said anything.

  • 3. If you ever buy from Amazon, go through my links or search engines



    (you pay the same amount you were gonna pay anyway they cut me a little slice)

  • I also have an Amazon UK one:

    (I can't get the search box widget to work anymore, so click on MOONWALKER and then search for what you want.)

  • 4. My exciting line of fashion and leisure products

    (I get a couple bucks per item, you get a cool t-shirt, mug or lifestyle item)

  • 5. Spread the word

    Tell your friends about my reviews and my books and everything. Only cool people though please, we don't need a bunch of suckers and/or chumps around here.

    THANKS EVERYBODY. YOUR FRIEND, VERN

    * * * *

  • Recent commentary and jibber-jabber

    • Stu on Masters of the Universe: “Apparently Adam’s mother is from Earth in the original version’s history, so that aspect feels consistent, and it’s arguably better…” Jan 23, 19:56
    • Skani on Marshmallow: “Yeah, there was quite a little buzz around this, and I was with it -ish for the first half, but…” Jan 23, 19:21
    • Stu on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple: “I think the film does a great job of making Jimmy simultaneously a true believer in what he spouts, but…” Jan 23, 12:21
    • Stu on The Rip: “I liked this well enough on the first watch. I’ll need to see if it holds up on subsequent viewings…” Jan 23, 12:04
    • Ska Oreo on The Rip: “I can totally understand why some people might like this: this is a very competently made film, with pretty good…” Jan 23, 06:53
    • Bill Reed on The Rip: “Not as good as DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but it…” Jan 23, 05:25
    • Dreadguacamole on Afterburn: “Oof. Watched this last night and I thought it was dreadful. Dumb and not in a good way*, unfunny, poorly…” Jan 23, 03:05
    • Adam C aka TaumpyTearrs on Trancers: “Trancers has been on my radar for a while, so I took Vern reviewing part 1 and a few weeks…” Jan 22, 23:22
    • Hammer Time on The Rip: ““And it’s an interesting spin to combine that with “Can we trust this guy?” We never had to worry if…” Jan 22, 17:54
    • JTS on The Rip: “Great and thoughtful review. Like zikade, I instantly knew what was happening as soon as Damon started conspicuously whispering in…” Jan 22, 16:12
    • zikade on The Rip: “Yeah, I enjoyed this, but was disappointed in the ending, too, and other smaller moments that don’t feel “real.” I…” Jan 22, 15:41
    • VERN on The Rip: “I was wondering about the tattoo. Why would his son ask him that? And on his death bed? It didn’t…” Jan 22, 13:47
    • BESTIEunlmt on The Rip: ““Id rather watch a movie about how the gestapo blew off steam on the weekends.” Yeah, that would be ‘The…” Jan 22, 13:47
    • Inspector Hammer Boudreaux on The Rip: “Matt Damon’s character has a tattoo on his hand to remind himself that he will always be the good guy.…” Jan 22, 12:51
    • Mr. Majestyk on The Rip: “Yeah, I am no longer in the market for this gritty cop bullshit. Movies like this are always about whether…” Jan 22, 12:25

  • Recent Commented on Posts

  • Most Comments