Tusk

what the fu*k did I just watch? 😶

okay what the * just I watched?

So… am I clearly unable to deliver what I’m feeling? Yeah, kind of… but let’s try again, soo… 😊 The movie was going really well, and the dialogues were pretty catchy, but boom—the first thirty minutes are over, and you get the first disappointing booster shot. They really didn’t have to make him this disturbing. I know, I know—it was the whole point of the genre—but it was disgusting, is all I can say. It was super disgusting to watch, and believe me, I’ve watched things. It was disgusting in a way that kept bugging me. Even if they wanted to do that to him, they didn’t have to make him super talkative and active at first. The transition was unbearable. My Final takeaway is whenever you have to travel to a remote area, make sure to text the address of the place you’re headed to your loved one.

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source: Tusk

"The walrus is far more evolved than any man I've ever known. Present company included." Howard Howe (Michael Parks) Tusk may be the most accessibly bizarre film you will see this year. Writer/director Kevin Smith, not known for subtlety, has crafted a smart horror film that comments on humanity, relationships, and obsession. If you're not into philosophizing or theme hunting, you can still enjoy his expert use of horror-film tropes to satisfy your macabre urges. Podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) travels to Manitoba to interview Howard Howe, an eccentric adventurer claiming to have great adventures to tell. Before long, Wallace is kidnapped by Howard for the purpose of transforming him into a walrus. That's weird, of course, but Parks and Smith make it a believable obsession, as John Lennon made the lyrics of I am the Walrus sound as if he actually was saying something profound. Based on the Lewis Carroll poem, the Walrus and the Carpenter, Lennon's lyrics picked the villain of the duo for his title while he really meant the good guy (the carpenter). Anyway, the walrus motif here is part absurd and part profound, the latter relating to the reduction of a foul, motor-mouthed podcaster into the animal he really is (witness his blathering egotism with his girlfriend, Ally Genesis Rodriguez and his more important mockery of a YouTube self mutilator). For me, a dilettante compared to knowledgeable freak geeks, the makeup used in that Walrus bit is effective—so much so I had to look away even though it wasn't grotesque. It just fit perfectly in the man-is-an-animal theme. Smith again shows his low-brow versatility when he humorously slams both Canadians: "I don't wanna die in Canada!" (Wallace Bryton) and Americans (see the carryout sequence).

In some ways "Tusk" succeeds as a comedy. I found myself laughing at a lot of the films jokes and there seemed to be a LOT of intentional humor there. The problem was that as the movie progressed the line between what was intentionally funny and what was not got shady. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe this movie had it's silver linings. This movie had two AWESOME performances in it from Michael Parks and Johnny Depp. Parks just seems to pour his heart and soul into his role as the eccentric, psychotic Howard Howe. His stories and monologues are spoken with absolute conviction and believability. He's interesting to boot. Heck, you even believe he would be the type a guy to deform a human being into the form of a walrus. And Johnny Depp (as he always does when Tim Burton isn't involved) knocks it out of the park with his performance. He is truly funny in my opinion and vanishes into his role as detective Guy Lapointe. The movie's weakness however is it's very premise: a man being surgically transformed into... a walrus. The movie kind of dropped off the rails for me, and I believe the rest of the theater whenever the big walrus reveal happened. Here it was, the big moment, the reveal the movie has been thrusting with full momentum towards since the first second AND.... laughter from all around me. I mean what else can I say? It looks as ridiculous as it sounds, and it became very distracting because every time I tried getting back into the illusion the walrus would pop back up, the people behind me would start laughing, and I'd be right out of the illusion again. The movie suffers from an identity crisis. It's marketed as a "more cuddly "Human Centipede"", but at least "Human Centipede" knew what it was. A gross-out horror film. It is not by any means a good film, but it's easy to stay focused and not get distracted. "Tusk" is just as disfigured as it's Justin-Long-Walrus-Monster...Thing. It talks like a comedy, it walks like a comedy, but something about the tone is trying desperately to be a horror film. For this reason, I think the film would have benefited from going full balls-to-the-wall comedy. As I was saying to my fiancée last night, I am a Kevin Smith * and I want to support everything the man does. I loved "Red State" and thought the film was a masterpiece. I mean that 100% and could argue for it all day. "Tusk", however, just kind of left me, I'll admit, a little confused about how to feel. I still love Kevin Smith and will continue to support what he puts out, but for now I have to say #WalrusNo.

I watched when it first came out on DVD... Haven't watched since... bought the DVD... still in shrink wrap. This isn't to say I don't like the movie, but I don't know when I'm going to feel ready to 'attack that beast' again It really opened up the important question - what WOULD you do if your partner were turned into a walrus?