Home Media Magazine - January 27, 2008 - (Page 26) REVIEWS I WEIRDSVILLE www.homemediamagazine.com Order Date: Street Date: Prebook 1/8; Street 2/5 2.26.2008 3.25.2008 SRP $19.99 CDN $21.99 Magnolia, Comedy, B.O. $0.008 million, $26.98 DVD, ‘R’ for drug content, language including sexual references, and some violence. Stars Scott Speedman, Taryn Manning, Wes Bentley. W I DEATH AT A FUNERAL Prebook 1/30; Street 2/26 Fox/MGM, Comedy, B.O. $8.6 million, $29.98 DVD, ‘R’ for language and drug content. Stars Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, Andy Nyman, Rupert Graves, Alan Tudyk, Peter Dinklage. TARGETED ADVERTISING: including Fangoria and Rue Morgue Campaign targeting Horror Audience T SPECIAL FEATURES: Short Film: Laughter, Original Trailer and Stills Gallery SPECIAL FEATURES MAKING-OF FEATURETTE he maxim is what can go wrong, will, and Death at a Funeral takes this concept and drops it in the middle of a funeral for a family patriarch in uppermiddle-class England. Directed by Frank Oz, it’s an uneven comedy that fortunately gets its gears going more strongly in the second half. The few laugh-out-loud moments are definitely due to the very talented ensemble cast, including Americans Tudyk (Serenity) and Dinklage (The Station Agent). Daniel (Macfadyen of Pride & Prejudice) is a stuffedshirt milquetoast presiding over his father’s funeral. His brother Robert (Graves) breezes into town, a successful novelist from NYC whom everyone, to Daniel’s chagrin, expects to provide the eulogy. Add a hypochondriac, a drug addict, a sleazy lothario looking for love, a cranky incontinent uncle in a wheelchair and a blackmailing guest with unexpected information about the deceased, and that’s how Oz and writer Dean Craig wring some laughs from the unfunniest of occasions. The extras on this DVD release are a bit meager: no featurettes, just a gag reel and two commentaries. The gag reel is about as funny as the worst parts of the film — it’s just the actors cracking themselves up, rather than causing the audience to laugh, and many of those moments are repeated in the film’s credits. Oz’s commentary track is genial. He shares trivia on the filming process and hands out kudos aplenty to the cast, especially Tudyk, who steals the film with his wide-eyed portrayal of an accidental hallucination. The second commentary is a round-robin between Craig, Tudyk and Nyman. In the beginning, Tudyk and Nyman have to coax information on the writing process out of Craig, but they loosen up over time. Only the biggest fans of the film will care about these extras, but most viewers will be newcomers looking for a clever, dark comedy and will probably be pleased by the absurdness of this funereal tale. – Laura Tiffany eirdsville is a blast. It can’t be found on any maps, but Weirdsville is a destination that is well worth the trip. Distinctly reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s exhilarating, unabashedly druggy epic Trainspotting, which accomplished the novel trick of almost making substance abuse look cool, this film is a pitch black comedy that has cult classic written all over it. As best buddies and aspiring safecrackers Royce and Dexter, Bentley and Speedman are revelations in their performances, playing dramatically against type as scruffy, clueless junkies who, in order to avoid attention from the police, decide to bury the body of a girlfriend (Manning) after she overdoses. Unfortunately for them, when they go to do the deed, it just happens to be at the same time and place that an old high-school classmate, now the TARGETED ADVERTISING: Instinct Magazine and aggressive viral online marketing campaign including Advocate.com and Dlist.com Fangoria.com and Twitchfilm.net FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR TO PLACE AN ORDER, CONTACT YOUR DISTRIBUTOR SALES REP. sales@tlareleasing.com tlareleasing.com — 1.800.333.8521 x 2031 ©2007 TLA RELEASING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. leader of a band of devil worshippers, is committing a human sacrifice. Wanting to avoid legal action himself, he commands his followers to pursue the witnesses. Add in a brutal drug dealer to whom the main characters are indebted, as well as a swarm of littlepeople knights, and the potential for a very long night on the run is established. That this film might find more of an audience on home video should be little surprise because the director is Allan Moyle, the man responsible for the teen favorites Pump Up the Volume and Empire Records, both of which boasted legions of fans. While wildly goofy and offbeat similar to his earlier classics and filled with the same angsty nervous energy, Weirdsville is decidedly more mature in subject matter and the lifestyle it depicts, even if the overall tone is lightweight and played for laughs. – David Greenberg 26 Home Media Magazine January 27–February 2, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.salon.com http://tlareleasing.com http://Dlist.com http://ocate.com http://Fangoria.com http://witchfilm.net http://tlareleasing.com http://tlareleasing.com
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