Diabolical Danger

In 1962, one film changed everything. No, not a big budget spectacle, or an Academy Award winner (for those of you interested, the Best Picture was West Side Story), but rather a low budget action B movie, which somehow helped spawn one of the most successful (and longest running) film franchises of all-time. . . you guessed it, Dr. No. Soon, From Russia with Love (1963) and Goldfinger (1964) were released – proving that Dr. No was no anomaly. . . rather, this was an all out craze. And, with millions of cinemagoers flocking to see them, other studios soon sought to capitalize on this unique combination of an action spy picture with cheeky comedy by developing their own Bond knock-offs.

If, for whatever reason, you are looking for some advice on kissing, then Good Boys, directed by Gene Stupnitsky, is probably not where you should be starting your search. Written by Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, and produced by Seth Rogen, it is like Superbad for tweens. . . instead of a triumvirate of friends looking for alcohol to impress as they head to a party (hoping to finally get laid), this story finds three buddies on a quest to learn how to kiss before going to their first kissing party – they must also try to track down a new drone after destroying one. This is Good Boys narrative in a nutshell.

Reworking the spaghetti western one strand at a time, Quentin Tarantino updates the Italian sub-genre for the modern age, 2012's Django Unchained, an epic tale of lost love and hopeful reunion. . . and, of course, bloody revenge. Following a charmingly charismatic and cunning bounty hunter. . . who used to be a dentist, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is a master planner who has a flair for the dramatic. Tracking down a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx), he needs the man to help him finger his next set of criminals (setting him free for the task). Without giving away what happens on the first bounty Django joins him on, it is the quintessential mix of Tarantino humour combined with bloody violence – a scene of utter perfection.

A new feature that will appear from time to time, ‘What Could Have Been’ will look at movies that had a chance of being something special, but, due to script, production, budgetary, or any other type of issue, it does not reach its full potential. . . first up, Brian De Palma’s 2019 Danish (though English language) crime thriller Domino. When it comes to Brian De Palma, you tend to fall into two camps. . . defender or trasher. I have long been a huge fan, so when you hear that he is finally filming a new movie some seven years after his last picture, it is cause for excitement. Though, soon after, rumblings were heard. . .problems with the producers, the budget, the script. . . making everyone, even ardent De Palma fanatics, a tad apprehensive.

Ah, the birthday – a time for family, friends, presents and cake. . . but what if no one was to show up to that party? Could the effects of such a frightful occurrence have repercussions on a young child’s psyche? The genesis event of the 1981 Canadian slasher film Happy Birthday to Me finds veteran director J. Lee Thompson (1962's Cape Fear) transporting the audience into a violent murder mystery with a twist. Straddling the line of a slasher film and an Italian giallo, the killer is no mindless harbinger of undefeatable evil seen in features like Halloween and Friday the 13th, rather a sometimes straight-razor-wielding killer dressed all in black except for their white running shoes – I know what you are probably thinking, what horrible fashion sense. Furthermore, those being killed recognize their murderer, adding another layer to the mystery.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if fifty savage prisoners attempted to attack a single man in a prison stall, then 2014's The Raid 2 might just be for you. Before moving on, to let you in on how they shot the scene, a simply genius technique is used where the stall walls are on hinges – so that the handheld camera can get in and around the developing action. Written, edited, and directed by Gareth Evans, this Indonesian import is a sequel to 2011's The Raid: Redemption (also created by Evans), starting up a mere two hours after the previous film finished. Miraculously, you really do not need to see the original, as this story is easy to catch on to, despite its complexity when compared to the 2011 feature. If Redemption was shot in the style of a non-stop action video game, its sequel is as if John Carpenter (Escape From New York) and David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) came together with Martin Scorsese to create a twisty story along the lines of The Departed.