Tag: Daniel Radcliffe

The Al Yankovic Story is Not Weird at Al. Just Bonkers.

MTV helped catapult Weird Al to fame. Without those crazy music videos, I don’t think he’d be as famous as he is now. Not every detail of the Al Yankovic story is recounted here.

The Al Yankovic StoryAvailable to view on Roku enabled devices

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is one of those ridiculous fictional biographies to not take seriously. It’s a parody more than anything else, and it’s delightfully nutters when the humour gets cranked up to 12. If there’s any authenticity to who Alfred Matthew (played by Daniel Radcliffe) was before he found fame as a comedy genius, it’s probably in how much Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) is a huge influence. But even before he fell in love with that radio show, he had a talent that needed to be nurtured.

There are some seeds of sincerity here and there, but knowing facts from the heavily embellished moments requires memorizing everything revealed about the man in VH1’s Behind the Music profile. As that documentary revealed, the record label, the Scotti Brothers, took a chance on Al. They knew he had a subtle and understated style. They allowed him to not pull any punches.

Also, MTV helped catapult this comic musician to fame. Without those crazy music videos, I don’t think he’d be as famous as he is now. This detail isn’t explored in the film, and that’s surprising when considering how important it helped this musician’s career than the accordian. I imagine the real Weird Al and Eric Appel who co-wrote the screenplay together didn’t want to bog the story down, since it would have to mean recreating all those manic music video moments–something that an older Radcliffe may not be able to do.

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Is It a Bungle in the Jungle with The Lost City?

Much of the adventure bounces between reveals of where these characters came from and how they can find that jungle gold.

TheLostCityPoster.jpgPlaying in Theatres
Spoiler Alert

Aaron and Adam Nee certainly have a solid vision when it comes to delivering high adventure comedy in The Lost City. The Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe led film is just one of many new experiments to find a team up to equal if not rival what Netflix’s Red Notice conveniently reignited the spark on–a twisted romance and high stakes adventure-drama. The first two have a schtick going, and although Radcliffe seems like the odd man out, he knows how to have fun with it and he surprised me as being an effective rogue.

In this tale, Loretta Sage (Bullock) is a lost soul. She’s never been the same ever since her husband died. This author hides behind her fiction to get by, but she’s suffering from more than just clinical depression. She thinks she can get past her problems by penning Harlequin adventure romance novels and what we see is that it’s making her feel worse. There are little details not said to flesh out her state of mind. We eventually learn she hates writing these tales. But when she gets tossed into the situation as found in the books, I can’t help but wonder if she experienced any of it at all back when she was with her husband who’s a globe trotting adventurer.

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The Lost City Teaser Trailer Drop

The Lost City Teaser Trailer Drop brings pulp action style romance and it’s no Jungle Cruise

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Release Date:
March 25, 2022

Nothing can go wrong in a pulp action style romance flick starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt.

The Lost City shows a match made in heaven, and no, this movie is not about these talents getting together. Teasers have been out for a while, and after the big game–yes, that one concerning tossing a pigskin around–there should be a proper trailer release. This work is worth checking out since after the success of Jungle Cruise, I’m anxious for another adventure in the Amazon again! Both films have been fuelled by star power, and there’s something about Sandra to like.

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No Horns are Locked Here, a Movie Review

But even as a standalone product, Horns does a good job at highlighting the career path Radcliffe has chosen for himself. With challenging products, he’s shedding that image from the previous decade easily.

horns_ver3_xlgSome fans of Daniel Radcliffe who still love him as Harry Potter may say he finally gets his chance to become Voldemort, even though this actor is certainly distancing himself from this character he helped bring into mainstream culture. In the movie Horns, he’s become a man of influence (which includes handling snakes). For some unknown reason, Iggy (Radcliffe) woke up to find devilish horns slowly growing out of him. Is that a result of a curse? That’s unknown, and there’s a mystery afoot at the same time. He’s been accused of the rape and murder of his girlfriend, Merrin Williams (Juno Temple), which has ostracized him in the town he lives in.

This supernatural black comedy is not without some allusions to the nature of what the Devil’s purpose truly is. It’s not because of the fact this figure can goad and cajole people into doing unspeakable acts, but rather in how influential it can be in people’s lives. That includes just walking into the room only to have some revealing their darkest thoughts like wishing a young girl will just simply shut up and accusing a mother for not doing her parental duty. That moment is not without some sardonic laughs. Radcliffe even pulls off some amusing reactions to everyone wanting to tell him their secrets.

When contrasted with flashback moments that reveals how Ig and Merrin became a couple in the midst of friends who also longed for her, there’s a decent whodunit to figure out who actually killed her. The surprise is not necessarily with who the person is but in who originally crafted this tale. Not many people will know that Joe Hill is the son of one of literary horror masters, Stephen King. This movie feels more like a summary of the book, and it’s condensed plotting is curious enough to have some people wanting to seek out the original treatment where its epilogue is different.

But even as a standalone product, Horns does a good job at highlighting the career path Radcliffe has chosen for himself. With challenging products, he’s shedding that image from the previous decade easily. He should keep those antlers on. The look suits him should he decide play a bad guy in any future films to come.

3½ Stars out of 5

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