Mini Retro Review: D-Tox (2002) #badmovies

D-Tox aka Eye See You

2002

Psychological Thriller- Horror 

A waste of a potential slasher premise, D-Tox (based on the novel, Jitter Joint) crumbles due to Slyvester Stallone's miscasting and filmmakers totally blow it with the set-up. Directed by the same man who did I Know What You Did Last Summer - his one and only notable critical, - if not commerical success -, D-Tox is a supposed Friday The 13-type slasher: think The Thing with a bit of Wes Craven's Scream. D-Tox sees an alcoholic FBI agent sent to rehab of sorts & on the hunt for a serial killer, who killed his bride-to-be. The film was shot and produced in 1999 and distributed by Universal at the cost of $55 million yet it didn't get a release until 2002 in the U.S as it got shelved for 5 years, so technically it is a late-1990s movie that was pushed towards direct-to-DVD. Yet the release was limited under the title, 'I See You'. It received multiple re-shoots, rewrites and initial test screenings were negative; that, and the original producer pulled out. It is so blase & hackneyed and as a straight to DVD film, it is what it is sadly. Besides the kills, the rest of the film is stale as bread. The characters hardly register on any level, whatsoever, the kills are not shocking enough, lacking the sadism of the over-the-top extremity of Paul Verhoven's much-maligned Hollow Man & the film is watered down. That film divides a lot of people, yet shocks-wise it is far better and much more entertaining than D-Tox. Subjectively speaking, as Sly Stallone films go, this is (arguably) one of his worst. 

Is It Worth Watching?

For Sly Stallone completists only 

Overall:

Movie Review: Boiling Point (2021)

Boiling Point

2021

Cast: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice May Feetham, Hannah Walters, Malachi Kirby

Genre: Drama

Plot: Enter the relentless pressure of a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year 

'A Gripping & Engrossing One-Take Must- See For Those Who Have An Interest In, Or Work In Any Line of Service and Food Service Industry

Directed and co-written by Philip Barantini, Boiling Point is Hell's Kitchen on steroids as one restaurant owner & head chef, Andy experiences the most unexpected night of service of his career in this eclectic - yet raw and unbelievably engrossing & unflinching drama, thanks to the engaging characters and stimulative direction. 

Andy arrives one evening on a busy shift, sleepless and fraught and discovers his ex-boss & celebrity chef, Alistair has booked a table at his eatery. As the customers fill up and orders pile up, tensions run high, or be it higher as disagreements, staff fallouts and clashes, an unexpected visit from a health inspector and bickering threaten to ruin the entire night; all that, plus Andy has difficulty maintaining his composure as he tries to hide his drug addiction and extramarital woes.  

The film manages to keep the dramatics going for 90 minutes in a single take, thus serving to highlight the challenges and difficulties people who work in the service industry in real-life do encounter themselves in understaffing issues, unexpected inspection visits and easily irate customers.

Henceforth, anyone who has ever worked in McDonald's', KFC, or any type of restaurant or eatery can easily relate to the characters and problems that can arise in a highly pressurized working environment. Whereby mental and emotional stress can take a substantial toll on people. Working in the food court at Costco myself, Boiling Point resonates and speaks to me on so many levels many of the points it makes ring true. You have your good days and bad days, at one-minute things are going well, the next they are not; it can feel like (dis)organised chaos, and in contrast to working in retail or any other department where you might be working independently, with this one, working relationships, in addition to personal relationships are as dysfunctional and put to the test. People with varying personalities, some of whom you don't see eye to eye with have to pull together and help each other out as a team to provide a quality customer service. Boiling Point nails this part and the hospitality aspect realistically, when another similar type of movie of this theme might struggle to do so.

There have been a few movies like Chef but Boiling Point is something else and is on an entirely different level, which also deserves extra credit for boldly, fearlessly and candidly illustrating the pitfalls and highs of working in the catering industry with passion and weight. I was awaiting a film with a subject matter and theme such as this that not only highlighted such issues but also spoke for me and millions of other people who do this or have done this type of work in their field. In discovering there was a movie titled Boiling Point and one made in Britain, immediately it piqued my curiosity. 

Stephen Graham, who was in the Elton John biopic, Rocket Man, creates an intimate experience on working in what is a cutthroat business: and an industry that is far from revered by many (& is to this day seeing high staff turnover) as workers manage to stay strong, motivated and composed under such immense strain. The performances themselves and across the board are terrific and so naturalistic, the camerawork drifts in different directions and focuses on lesser and smaller characters, as well as the main one, Andy and the script, Stephen Graham's turn and the food theme will draw in audiences.   

An astutely produced effort, Boiling Point sees chefs on the brink of breaking point, whilst it faithfully depicts the scenes and drama occurring behind the counter when the customers are out of view, and the one-shot approach works; it makes it unrelentingly recognisable, as well as relatable right from the bat: from the so-called self-entitled customers, in the passionate, highly demanding and not so empathetic bosses to the hard-working chefs, dishwashers who are belittled for their efforts by some of their peers. You feel as you watch this you are in the film itself, picturing yourself as a paying customer or as one of Andy's cooks and immersing yourself amid all the chaos and drama; talk about fine dining when working in a hectic, fast-paced restaurant, the day is anything, but fine. 

Final Verdict:

Some may argue it could have been less bleak, but personally, the level of bleakness that is conveyed was fitting. 

With the night fully imploding in front of Andy's, the staff and the audiences' eyes, it alone makes Boiling Point one of the must-see compelling films, & moreover dramas of & from 2022. 

Overall: 

Movie Review: A Star Is Born (2018)

A Star Is Born

2018

Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Elliott

Genre: Musical Romantic Western 

Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $486 million

Plot: A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his career into a downward spiral  

'Unluckily For Some, Lady Gaga's Star Is Unborn This Way'

A seasoned musician in Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers a struggling artist, Ally (Lady Gaga - real name Stefani Germanotta) who is making a living as a waitress in a run-down restaurant, whilst also doubling up as a club singer at night; eventually, he falls in love with her. With his help, Ally follows her big dream of becoming an aspiring singer. 

Lead performances aside, Bradley Cooper's take on A Star Is Born (and the fourth one to this day) attempts to sell the love story between a country singer and a would-be songwriter and the disintegration of their relationship as she makes it big and his life is turned upside through drugs and alcoholism. 

The film's major problems ensue as soon as Gaga's Ally transforms from an underdog to a star and the film fails to show both sides to their stories, with Cooper's Jackson's doom and gloom dominating as the director employs an unyielding male gaze and leaving Gaga to play second fiddle & as Ally is never more than being his lover, girlfriend and wife; in doing so her career and life are put on the backburner for the sake of his- despite her star billing on the poster. I thought this was a Lady Gaga-led movie that the critics and the film alluded to... well, surprisingly after I viewed it on BBC1 last night, it was far from it. For Lady Gaga fanatics looking forward to seeing their idol on screen, the film sells itself short. 

To think a movie as established as A Star is Born, would give someone like Lady Gaga, one of the most well-known celebrities & biggest pop stars around today a role (and no less a far less distinctive one) that undermines her influence and talents, here, Ally is rendered a powerless woman who spends most of the movie either in tears, bemusement or angry. 

Whilst the story stumbles and characterisation fumbles, it is the acting efforts by those involved, as well as the music that keeps A Star Is Born afloat and its head above water, all spearheaded by lead single, Shallow (although in part my personal favourites from the motion picture soundtrack are Head, Body, Face and Always Remember Us This Way).  

The film's low-key take on performance art and its insistence to show that pop music is not only a waste of Ally's talent - the angle is not that being a pop star is a sellout -, rather it is lacklustre, and to its detriment doesn't generate enough entertainment or interest. If the story or film-making was told and approached in a way that was as accessible and bold as say Taylor Hackford's Ray (being one example of several music biopics, be it factual or fictional), A Star is Born would make for a far more enticing and entertaining movie to watch.

Final Verdict:

One does wonder and ask themselves how much different A Star is Born would & could have been had it come out in the early 2000s & whether audiences would have latched onto it had it had the rumoured R&B singer, Aaliyah, who was in martial arts thriller fest, Romeo Must Die with Jet Li, as Ally and The Fast & The Furious's Paul Walker as Jackson, with the film going down the R&B route instead. It would have been interesting to see. 

Yet what we get instead is a vanity project that is much less so as the duo of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, but more of a solo act in Cooper and Gaga propping up as his support act. 

A Star Is Born didn't grab me, however, the extra half a mark I give is for the performances by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and the soundtrack, which slays. 

Overall: