barb and star

On this episode of Cinema Death Cult I talk about the terrific 2021 comedy Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar, written by and starring Kristin Wiig and Annie Mumolo, the writers of _Bridesmaids. _ I don't want to give any details away about _Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar _.This movie took me completely by surprise. From its trailer, I expected a mediocre comedy with awkward characters acting out some thin premise padded by direction-less improvisational riffing and awkward, cringe-inducing set pieces. But the movie threw curveball after curveball at me. It’s an absurd masterpiece. Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar is the best comedy I’ve seen in a long time. But I think it’s getting ignored. I think the trailer is to blame. The trailer withholds a lot of the tone, plot and characters from the movie which is great because it lets the actual movie sneak up on you. But it undersells how good the movie is. In a world of streaming content with a billion other options it makes this diamond in the rough comedic triumph easy to skip. And that sucks because it’s really good! I want to hype it up. But at the same time I don’t want to say too much about it because almost from the start it does things I didn’t expect. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EBwBGTlGFQ)’s the trailer, which does an OK riff on the Netflix show Stranger Things and does a poor job of representing how great this movie really is. If the actor Jamie Dornan is reading this, I’m sorry I misstated your name as Jamie Dorner. But I call you “the handsome fella” several times, so your feelings shouldn’t be too hurt. Also, I’m sorry I forgot which actress played Star and which played Barb and resorted to saying Annie Mumolo’s name over and over. If Annie Mumolo is reading this, great work!

2021. Another year down, COVID is still raging, and things are looking pretty grim for movie theaters out there. The pandemic has transformed the cinematic landscape into a tempest of uncertainty, with only the most gargantuan of tentpoles being sure things at the box office. But just because profitability is scarce doesn’t mean movies are dead. Just to name a few gems, this year saw lush Arthurian legend come to life, a new freewheeling Paul Thomas Anderson flick, Ridley Scott in his element, and fresh bloodcurdling horrors. Tune in and follow along as Jeff, Derek, and Amir count down their lists.