Weird: The Al Yankovic story

And this week's Friday Night movie has been... Weird: The Al Yankovic story!

Original image located here. Accessed 26th May 2023

Being the uber nerd I am, it should come to no surprise that I am a fan of Weird Al Yankovic. I've seen him live twice and it's a true display of one's nerd credentials - and, as I found, a good way to annoy one's big brother. So of course I would see this movie.

Years ago, I saw the movie Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story which I thoroughly enjoyed for it's mockery of the Rock Biopic. The reason I mention it now is that Weird is telling the same joke.
But what does it matter? This was the funniest movie I have seen in a long time, with genuine belly laughs, numerous references, the blatant disregard for factual context and the complete absurdity of it all. And the fact that Weird Al is played by Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter himself - and he actually does a fantastic job is just the icing on the cake.
Seriously, I can't remember the last movie I laughed so hard at XD

Straight Outta Compton

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Straight Outta Compton!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th September 2022

I remember this being a big deal when it was released, circa 2015. Never got around to watching it - I will admit that my knowledge of the subject, N.W.A., is somewhat limited - but I was aware that this movie was generating plenty of attention. And in a way, enough that made it difficult to ignore.

I will admit that in recent years I have become quite cold towards biographical movies where music bands are the subject - Such coldness comes from watching, and enjoying, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story that points out how all of said movies tend to be formulaic and mocks them.
With such knowledge in mind, it may be difficult to take such movies seriously again.
That being said, I did enjoy the build up involved in the first half: Seeing how each member of the N.W.A. is introduced, witnessing their formation, the road to success and the controversy they courted (not to mention the danger that came with it). That part is indeed compelling and the actors involved certainly do a sterling effort of playing their real-life counterparts.
Funny thing is, once these guys stop performing live, and Ice Cube leaves, the film tends to lose focus: It goes in all kinds of directions and comes across like it's meandering around. Granted the N.W.A.'s history is plagued by infighting - and props to Ice Cube and Dr Dre for being honest about said infighting even when they're credited as producers - but somehow the second half can't compare to the fire of the first half.
Although the movie does do a great job of portraying Suge Knight as an absolutely terrifying figure.
Still I will give the movie props for avoiding the tropes associated with band-bio pics and portraying a time and place like no other

Stan and Ollie

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Stan and Ollie!

Original image located here. Accessed 5th April 2019

Once again, I see John C Reilly in a biopic. The difference here however is whilst Walk Hard was a parody, this however is done serious.
I can't say I know a lot about about Laurel (Stan) and Hardy (Ollie) beyond their status as legendary comedians and Hardy's catchphrase ("This is another fine mess..."). But i was curious about this movie because I heard some good things about it.

And you know what? I'm glad I did.
As mentioned above, i know next to nothing of Laurel and Hardy's comedy routines but I was impressed to see this routines replicated. Even more impressive is that i found routines nearly a hundred years old really funny.

But ultimately, the weight of this movie lies on the shoulders of Steve Coogan and John C Reilly as they recreate Laurel and Hardy with freakish accuracy, you'd swear you were watching the real thing.
However the humour and and recreation does not hide that this is a bittersweet movie about a partnership that's at the end of the line. That sense of finality does hang throughout this movie and certainly gives it an emotional punch.

So yeah, great movie and one of the best I've seen so far this year (meaning Endgame has it's work cut out for it)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd March 2019

I was interested in seeing this movie because it was sold to me as something of a contrast to Bohemian Rhapsody. Whereas a common complaint of Bohemian Rhapsody was that it adhered to the tried-and-tested tropes of the music bio-pic (often at the expense of the facts), Walk Hard however mocked said tropes, making them both stupid and hilarious at the same time. The ultimate irony is however that Walk Hard was a bomb whilst Bohemian Rhapsody raked in the cash.

Personally? I thought this was hilarious. The tropes are indeed all recognizable and are mercilessly mocked. Some of the cameos are a scream (the scene where Dewey meets the Beatles is one such moment), the personalities are similarly made fun of, the songs are great, and the contributions from real-life personalities are a hoot. Sure some of the jokes are incredibly stupid but it's my kind of silliness. But when the jokes do hit, they hit out of the park (witness the Bob Dylan parody and Dewey's multiple encounters with drugs through his drummer).
Plus it has Jack White (!) in scene-stealing form as Elvis (!!). Can't go wrong with that.