Triple Bill Mini Musings: Cretins and Coppers...

Return to Nuke Em High Volume 1:
What's it about?
The latest 'Tromasterpiece' from director Lloyd Kaufman which returns to the titular high school where these days it's genetically modified food, rather than nuclear waste, that's turning goody-two-shoes students into punked-out cretins.
Who would I recognise in it?
Lloyd Kaufman and some other familiar faces from the Troma entourage.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
The main problem with Volume 1 is just that - it's half a movie - there is no real three act arc over the duration of the first film, and so it all cuts off just as things are really beginning to escalate. We'll have to wait until Volume 2 to see the chaos unfold and for the story to be resolved, but for now it's frustrating to just get what is essentially half of a three hour movie. On the plus side, recent Troma flicks have boasted higher production values while maintaining their over-the-top independent spirit and style. Not for the faint-hearted or easily offended, it's a screaming-mad, dial-up-to-eleven, full-frontal assault of bad taste, nudity, gore, and Kevin The Wonder Duck. Not their best - mostly due to cutting us off half-way-through - but far, far, far from their worst. An enjoyably tasteless Troma romp. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for coppers both dead and alive...

R.I.P.D:
What's it about?
A Boston cop is killed in a raid and, due to certain transgressions, he finds himself in the Rest In Peace Department, where deceased coppers track down dead folks in the land of the living and dispense the justice of the afterlife.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, James Hong.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Feeling suspiciously like Men In Black, it's not exactly the most original genre comedy flick out there. Furthermore the plot is unfortunately 'meh' at best, going through the motions and never managing to offer much in the way of surprise or thrills. On the plus side there's a few chuckles to be had, and Bridges steals the entire movie (albeit very easily) with his rogue 1800s lawman schtick. Sadly though it's mostly a fairly forgettable affair. Alright.

Cop:
What's it about?
A gifted L.A. detective becomes obsessed with a poet/killer, convinced he's stumbled upon a serial murderer while everyone else in his department fail to believe him.
Who would I recognise in it?
James Woods, Charles Durning.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Based on James Ellroy's third novel "Blood On The Moon", this film adaptation (with the most dull and generic title they could have ever possibly given it) is rather average. Ellroy's tone is watered-down to an extent, and while much of the dialogue seems to have been lifted directly from the book, the film's sense of adaptation is curious. Many elements are directly translated, but without anywhere near enough screen time to develop them, and other elements drastically change key details of the source novel's plot. The most glaring of all is the crucial 'why' of it all - the killer's motivation - so that what once made sense and had some bite, becomes just weak and lacking. The finale is far from grand too, and feels transplanted from an entirely different movie. It's an okay flick but little more, which is a shame considering the potential of the far bloodier and more menacing novel. Sure, "Blood On The Moon" was an early Ellroy when he was still honing his style, but the film is sorely lacking the teeth - and body count - of the source text. Alright.