Movie Review: Tusk (2014)

It's no secret to anyone who knows me or listens to the podcasts I've been on that I am a huge Kevin Smith fan.  From the first time I watched Clerks I was enthralled with his work.

I finally got around to watching Tusk and at first I wasn't sure what I thought of it.  There's the Kevin Smith humor but it's mixed in with a little bit of a Human Centipede-esque type of film.

Tusk is about an obnoxious podcast host(Justin Long) who travels to Canada to interview an internet sensation.  Unfortunately for him, he is unable to get the interview but he finds out about another person(Michael Parks) who seems like he may be interesting to talk to as well.  Things don't go well and the podcast host will go through some serious changes.

Smith is able to get the most out of the actors in this film.  Michael Parks is masterful as the walrus aficionado.  Justin Long plays his part as the podcast host as excellently as well.  As with most Kevin Smith films, the cameos are fun to watch for(I didn't even recognize Johnny Depp, guess I better watch it again).  The Canadian humor is funny as well.

As for the film itself, it wasn't exactly my favorite.  That's not to say I didn't enjoy the film, it's just not one I would watch regularly.  It's definitely worth checking out but be warned, it's not for those of you with a weak stomach.

On a scale of one to five, Tusk recieves Four Pile Drivers.

Please comment below and let us know what you thought of Tusk.

Please check out my other reviews here on Cinema Head cheese and also check out my other blogs & podcasts on MaskerpieceTheatre.blogspot.com

Movie Review: I'll Follow You Down (2013)

I admit it. I loved The Sixth Sense. I loved that adorable little scamp, Haley Joel, as he muddled through his little life scared shitless of all the ghosts he could see. And though HJ has a TON of work on his resume, I’ve only seen him in 2 movies. Maybe my subconscious could see that he was basically a one-trick pony. 

I’ll Follow You Down is about Gabe, a scientist, with a loving wife, Marika, and an adoring son, Erol. Gabe heads out to Princeton for a conference but doesn’t return after the planned three days. Marika enlists the help of her father, Sal (another scientist), to find Gabe. Sal hacks into Gabe’s computer, investigates a secret research room filled with crates labeled “A. Einstein”, and discovers Gabe’s wallet and phone tucked away in a desk.

Not a good sign.

12 years later, Gabe is still gone. Erol is a young man studying theoretical physics in college and Marika is a fucking wreck. She’s never been able to ‘get over’ Gabe’s disappearance and barely makes it through each day. Sal, in all this time, has been studying Gabe’s notes and discovers something shocking: Gabe was working on time travel and may have actually succeeded in traveling back to 1946.

But what happened to him? Why didn’t he make it back home? After joining his grandfather in cracking the time travel code, Erol realizes he must follow his father back to 1946 and set the time line right. You see, since his father’s disappearance, everyone affected by it has been living in an altered time line. And it’s not all candy canes and Skittles-shitting unicorns.

Movie Review: Tusk (2014; Demarest Films/SModcast Pictures)

...once upon a time, if some might fondly recall, there was an absolute 'looney' tale of a certain stuttering pig, ambitiously seeking out the notorious and ever-evasive Do-Do bird...a mad, screwball creature, capable of changing & altering the visual and environmental perspective, far and above that of the 'normally' manipulative, cartoon-flavored perspective, in an effort to evade detection and capture...oh, hell, if at the very least, to gleefully f**k with his hapless, would-be pursuers. Anyways, at a certain point of his arduous search, our intrepid adventurer...uh, for the sake of arguement, let's just call him 'Porky', 'kay??...comes across a rather striking sign of destination, marking the border...itself, marked with a sign that says 'slippery when wet'...between the cartoon's 'natural' reality, and the surreal, mad, hallucinogenic, albeit ironic world, where the elusive Do-Do is reputed to reside (...'snicker'...that 'rubber band' always seems to stick out in my mind, for some reason). "Welcome to Wackyland", the sign reads, where "...it can happen, here!!"...

...cutting to the chase, and thusly, this viewer's point...yes, folks!! Welcome to 'wackyland'...where indeed, it can happen here. Only, in the case of writer/director Kevin Smith's latest departure from his sometimes angst, often poignant, pop-culture savvy, and invariably comical New Jersey-based exploits...namely, a skewed, horror-themed venture, called "Tusk"...'wackyland', and the film's unconventional Canadian setting...well, if one truly considers it, the former and the latter really don't seem all that far removed from each other, in Kevin's eyes...much to the benefit, intrigue and chagrin of those privy to the new film, as you shall soon see...