NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast
Episode 53: Deadly Games: French Santa vs. Gregory Carl (Do You Want to Build a Claymore?)
Gregory Carl maybe late for Christmas, but comes strong by offering Cool Movies Darth this movie suggestion. What if instead of the Wet Bandits, Kevin was stalked by Father Christmas? And how about we give Macaulay Culkin a marvelous mullet? What you get is the 1989's French feature "Deadly Games", the plagiarism lawsuit against "Home Alone" that never materialized.
For me, Rene Manzor claims that John Hughes and Chris Columbus ripped off this feature within a year of its release are farfetched. The tonal shifts from fun kids movie to horror makes it feel closer to the Columbus-penned "Gremlins". With that said, Hughes had bragged that he would knock out a first draft during "his kids in peril" career stretch over a weekend. I feel there is a huge leap from incompetent burglars to pet-murdering Father Christmas.
I have seen a few more French films than he has. This feature had the feel and absurdity of Jean-Pierre Juenet's early works. With his first solo outing being "Alien: Resurrection", a door to enjoying the features from France may have been opened to Mr. Carl. By suggesting that Gregory wanting to see children being abused for French amusement, he may have also been inspired to read some Roald Dahl. And that in turn means I may have suggested the more racist of the James Bond franchise. C'est La Vie.
Stylistically, "Deadly Games" pulls from a lot of classics while still seeming to be cutting edge. The snowy French country-side allows for many a call back to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" while featuring model and computer effects that you would think Stephen Spielberg had over seen. It also pays homage to American macho imagery as we have our protagonist, boy genius Thomas, celebrate "Rambo" and all of the other action movies no kid his age should have seen. Oh for the age where satire was understood.
If anything took from this feature, ironically it may have been "Gremlins 2: The New Batch". The tonal shifts are constant in this tale of a boy defending his diabetic, blind grandfather and himself against a deranged man. I would suggest that the boy's need to grow tough is very similar to how Gizmo had to toughen up to have his revenge against Mohawk. Still, the turn around for that theft would be less than a year.
It is tough to figure out if anyone stole from anybody, but this feature was never shown in an American cinema until 25 years after its international release. Warner Media and 20th Century Fox may have been trying to hide something. Or should I say, those two parties may have had their own motivations to make something this unique disappear.
Of course, it would not be a Gregory Carl podcast without some wrestling and Jean-Claude Van Damme chatter. My thoughts on the "Big Swole" controversy are said and we may have set ourselves up for a discussion about "Kickboxer" vs. "Lionheart". Gregory wants to stick to horror for his next episode, but got to lay some seeds down.
As for news with me, I think I am heading to BFest in Evanston next month. The hotel room is booked to see "Showdown in Little Tokyo" on a bigger screen. Here is to hoping that this is just a way to jinx myself into nailing one of the upcoming job interviews to land some security in my life. But still, surely I can get one Friday off after filling out a new W2.
This episode does feature a return to Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy Trash Feature Revue. This week, I watched "Before I Go to Sleep", a Ridley Scott backed Nicole Kidman feature with Colin Firth and Mark Strong (and the guy who played Ed from "Game of Thrones"). It is a feature that is enjoyable enough, but for a movie about overnight amnesia, I may stick with "50 First Dates."My Twitter account is @catbusruss. This is where I want your hate to be directed if you disapprove. Otherwise, positive feedback would be best displayed as subscriptions to my podcast and five-star reviews. Lets work that algorithm.
If you think you have a film or franchise that you are an expert on. Send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. Most franchises have at least one feature that will qualify for NinetyForChill. The runtime just needs to be between 74 and 99 minutes.
I hope I am impressing or at the very least amusing you with this podcast and I am open to any and all criticism. My biggest want is more guests and more suggestions on what to chat about (@catbusruss, russthebus07@gmail.com@coolmoviesdarth). If we can get 3 hours out of "Little Nicky", the possibilities are endless. Thanks for visiting.
For me, Rene Manzor claims that John Hughes and Chris Columbus ripped off this feature within a year of its release are farfetched. The tonal shifts from fun kids movie to horror makes it feel closer to the Columbus-penned "Gremlins". With that said, Hughes had bragged that he would knock out a first draft during "his kids in peril" career stretch over a weekend. I feel there is a huge leap from incompetent burglars to pet-murdering Father Christmas.
I have seen a few more French films than he has. This feature had the feel and absurdity of Jean-Pierre Juenet's early works. With his first solo outing being "Alien: Resurrection", a door to enjoying the features from France may have been opened to Mr. Carl. By suggesting that Gregory wanting to see children being abused for French amusement, he may have also been inspired to read some Roald Dahl. And that in turn means I may have suggested the more racist of the James Bond franchise. C'est La Vie.
Stylistically, "Deadly Games" pulls from a lot of classics while still seeming to be cutting edge. The snowy French country-side allows for many a call back to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" while featuring model and computer effects that you would think Stephen Spielberg had over seen. It also pays homage to American macho imagery as we have our protagonist, boy genius Thomas, celebrate "Rambo" and all of the other action movies no kid his age should have seen. Oh for the age where satire was understood.
If anything took from this feature, ironically it may have been "Gremlins 2: The New Batch". The tonal shifts are constant in this tale of a boy defending his diabetic, blind grandfather and himself against a deranged man. I would suggest that the boy's need to grow tough is very similar to how Gizmo had to toughen up to have his revenge against Mohawk. Still, the turn around for that theft would be less than a year.
It is tough to figure out if anyone stole from anybody, but this feature was never shown in an American cinema until 25 years after its international release. Warner Media and 20th Century Fox may have been trying to hide something. Or should I say, those two parties may have had their own motivations to make something this unique disappear.
Of course, it would not be a Gregory Carl podcast without some wrestling and Jean-Claude Van Damme chatter. My thoughts on the "Big Swole" controversy are said and we may have set ourselves up for a discussion about "Kickboxer" vs. "Lionheart". Gregory wants to stick to horror for his next episode, but got to lay some seeds down.
As for news with me, I think I am heading to BFest in Evanston next month. The hotel room is booked to see "Showdown in Little Tokyo" on a bigger screen. Here is to hoping that this is just a way to jinx myself into nailing one of the upcoming job interviews to land some security in my life. But still, surely I can get one Friday off after filling out a new W2.
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