Categorie archief: Films

Dungeon Classics #18: Meet the Feebles

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Meet the Feebles (1989, New Zealand)

Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Danny Mulheron, Donna Akersten, Stuart Devenie
Running Time: 97 mins.

Before he got into serious filmmaking with Heavenly Creatures and The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson was just having fun in New Zealand. His second feature film after Bad Taste is this weird puppet movie which is filled with sex, violence, dark twisted humor and thick Kiwi accents. The Feebles is a variety show starring the hysteric Heidi the Hippo. Behind the scenes, dark things are going on. Bletch the Walrus, who runs the show, is also an exploitative gangster dealing drugs and cheating on his girlfriend Heidi. Trevor the Rat is shooting puppet porn in the basement and attempts to drug and rape one of the dancers (a dog). And a paparazzi fly is constantly hanging out in the toilet eating shit and making up lies about the cast members. As can be expected from Jackson at this point in his career; there are plenty of body fluids flying around. Obviously it’s not for all tastes, but if you are curious about the legendary director’s early stuff, look no further.

The Verdict: The Matrix Resurrections

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

I was very much looking forward to this The Matrix sequel as I am a devoted fan of the first movie and I, as opposed to many others, also appreciate the sequels (especially Reloaded). So I was ready for it. HBO Max, which has just launched its streaming service in the Netherlands, offered The Matrix Resurrections as one of their main big blockbusters to stream. Bring it on, I thought, but man: what a total disaster this was!! Neo and Trinity are somehow still plugged in the Matrix and Neo works as a game programmer who made the successful Matrix game series and he falls in love with Trinity once again. How very meta. I hated this storyline and thought it didn’t work at all, but I continued to watch this turd hoping that somehow it would redeem itself. This never happened. Even the action looked much worse than in the original movies. How is that even possible? As much as I tried to like it, I cannot think of a single thing to recommend this for. It falls apart from the start and is best considered as a glitch in the Matrix that should never have happened.

The Matrix Resurrections is now available on HBO Max.

The verdict: to stream or not to stream? Definitely NOT to stream

The Verdict: Nightmare Alley

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Guillermo del Toro is a terrific filmmaker, but Nightmare Alley is ultimately disappointing. It starts off well with a grifter (Bradley Cooper) who joins a traveling carnival in the 1940s. Here, he learns a mentalist act that he uses to independently become a successful psychic. Then he meets a psychiatrist (Cate Blanchet) who is out to expose him as a fraud. The atmosphere is a mix between a dreamlike David Lynch movie and a film noir. The cinematography and production design are obviously top notch and so is the cast. Where it goes wrong is the screenplay that Del Toro wrote with Kim Morgan based on a novel by William Lindsay. All the time (150 minutes!), you are waiting for a big reveal, but it never comes. This type of noir storytelling has programmed our brains to already know for certain that the main character is doomed, but how it eventually comes to pass in this movie is predictable and unsatisfying. Alas, Nightmare Alley may be a visual treat, but in terms of storytelling it fails to move the viewer.

Nightmare Alley is now available on Disney Plus

The verdict: to stream or not to stream? Not to stream