Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Freak Dance
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Freak Dance
Release date: 05.15.2012
Production date: 2010
Distributed by: Image Entertainment
Directed by: Matt Besser & Neil Mahoney
Starring: Michael Cassady, Megan Heyn, Amy Poehler, Matt Besser
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Lemme start this reviewing by voicing my disdain for comedy troupes like the Upright Citizens Brigade, the parties responsible for 2010's Freak Dance. To me, they represent the biggest problem of modern comedy in that they have to be so irresolute in their belief that they're funny (in order to succeed in a very cutthroat business) that they think then that anything they touch is inherently comedic gold. So they don't sell the audience on trying to be funny - they put that burden arrogantly back onto the audience with a dictum similar to, “You bought the ticket/movie so clearly you WILL be entertained by anything we do.†It sends me into veritable fits of howling rage, I tell ya...
So, this movie ostensibly sets out as an intentionally-familiar story of young people following their dreams/hearts' desire in an homage fashion, calling out such films as Fame, Flashdance and Breakin'. But then the filmmakers here try and snag the Glee audience by making it a comedy with very few actual dance routines and a lot of songs - I mean, for a roughly :90 min. film there are 19 musical numbers. Nineteen!
And that staggering number is also to their detriment: That is, while the songs parody the Broadway format/formula they also bring actually very little to the developing the storyline beyond some very basic character beats. The songs are more distracting than anything else but perhaps that was intentional in order to hide the poor story and worse jokes, I dunno...But when they throw in an awful ripoff of the opening of The Warriors I finally had to yell at the screen. Why drag down even more far better films as the filmmakers flail about to find any cultural relevance or purpose?
Audio/Video/Extras:
Two deleted scenes that are - surprise! - musical numbers and an extended version of another are included to prolong this torturous experience. A series of PSA-style Dangers of Freak Dance clips are included featuring actors from the film and some of the more notable UCB performers. Again, prolonging the agony. The film's trailer is included which demonstrates the extent to which the filmmakers attempted to deceive anyone into thinking this film is actually funny as well. The director's commentary track could be used in a civil trial for anyone who saw this movie to get some compensation, I'd think, as it's very boring anecdotal and solely intended for true masochists to sit through the film all over again. Writer/Co-director Matt Besser's droning monotone doesn't help, either.
However, the production quality on this DVD from Image Entertainment is pretty stellar. The film itself is in 1.78:1 big ol' widescreen and is a very clean transfer that never falters. Dark strip club interiors and dusk exteriors are handled with equal aplomb. Likewise, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is appropriately bass-heavy as many of the song and dance routines rely on techno-dance songs.
Summary:
Unless you are a severe UCB fan this movie has absolutely nothing to offer: Nothing to fans of comedy, or musicals or even those weird Step Up style of all-dance movies. Seriously. Sheesh.
Posting comments is disabled.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (271)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2512)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (298)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Film Masters
Released on: April 23rd, 2024.
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Juli Reding, Lugene Sanders, Susan Gordon
Year: 1963
Purchase From Amazon
Tormented – Movie Review:
The late Bert I. Gordon’s 1963 horror film, ‘Tormented,’ is an effectively spooky ghost story made with an obviously low budget but no less effective for it.
The story revolves around a professional piano player...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:19 AM -
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Andrew Legge
Cast: Emma Appleton, Stefanie Martini, Rory Fleck Byrne
Year: 2022
Purchase From Amazon
Lola – Movie Review:
Irish filmmakers Andrew Legge’s 2022 movie, ‘Lola’, which was made during Covid-19 lockdowns, is a wildly creative movie made in the found footage style that defies expectations, provides plenty of food for thought and manages to make...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:09 PM -
-
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jess Franco, Jorge Grau, Pedro L. Ramírez
Cast: Alberto Dalbés, Evelyne Scott, Fernando Rey, Marisa Mell, Wal Davis, Norma Kastel
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Spanish Blood Bath – Movie Review:
Vinegar Syndrome brings a triple feature of Spanish horror films of the in this new three-disc Blu-ray boxed set. Here’s what lies inside…
Night Of The...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:02 PM -
-
Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Zelda Williams
Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Carla Gugino, Joe Chrest, Henry Eikenberry
Year: 2024
Purchase From Amazon
Lisa Frankenstein – Movie Review:
The feature-length directorial debut of Zelda Williams, 20214’s Lisa Frankenstein takes place in 1989 and follows a teenaged girl named Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) who, two years ago, lost her mother...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:40 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Gianfranco Giagni
Cast: Roland Wybenga, William Berger, Stéphane Audran
Year: 1988
Purchase From Amazon
Spider Labyrinth – Movie Review:
Professor Alan Whitmore (Roland Wybenga) is an American who works as a Professor of languages studies and has a fascination bordering on obsession with translating pre-Christian religious texts. He was also locked in a closet...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:37 PM -