On Demand Weekly

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: RUBBER (Magnet Releasing).

A small-town police lieutenant (Stephen Spinella) climbs out of the trunk of a car and addresses the camera about the arbitrariness of various popular film plots from the past. He looks straight into the camera and repeats the phrase “no reason”. This might be musician-turned-director Quentin Dupieux’s way of warning us not to rely too much our rationale for the next 85 minutes.

 

Quentin Dupieux (Magnet Releasing)

 

Meanwhile, a group of folks who looked like they just stepped out of a voir-dire session for jury duty set up camp on the edge of the desert. Their common aim is to observe the goings on of a rubber tire that has come to life in the form of a serial killer. They train their binoculars into the distance and perhaps wonder, much like those who are watching this French produced but English language comedy horror film, RUBBER, just what they are doing.

 

The titular rubber tire, whose name is Robert, rolls down a two-lane blacktop somewhere in the American Southwest desert in search of something, its raison-d’être perhaps?

 

Robert has taken on some human qualities and appears to be on a mission. He dispenses with anyone who gets in his way. Why his victims include a crow and an innocent bunny rabbit is anyone’s guess? 

 

RUBBER (Magnet Releasing)

 

His method is to come to a standstill, focus his “mental” powers on someone, shake furiously, and then zappo! The results are something out of the George Romero handbook. This is no surprise, as clearly Dupieux is gently mocking the horror genre and where else does one go but to the original master?

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: KABOOM (Sundance Selects).

KABOOM is a film that’s so absurd, so over the top; the storyline defies all imagination, plus Director Gregg Araki has cast nothing but gorgeous youngsters and a couple gorgeous not-so-young folk, too. KABOOM exists entirely for the moment, in the moment.

 

Greg Araki

 

It’s the Kuchar Brothers mixed with John Waters mixed with early Gregg Araki…which means, it’s not for everyone, but it’s thoroughly entertaining. Just don’t think or look too hard for meaning. In the end, you’ll get it if you let yourself go for the ride.

 

The story: a college freshman, Smith (Thomas Dekker), who is sexually “undecided” arrives at a UCLA–like university with his best high school buddy, Stella (Haley Bennett) who just happens to be a lesbian. His roommate, Thor (Chris Zylka) is a hunky surfer-dude, dumb as a doorpost, who lusts for waves and girls. Their resident advisor is a druggy, older student called The Messiah (James Duvall). Or so it all seems…