Swiss Army Man (2016)

The movie opens with Hank (Paul Dano) marooned on an island and preparing to put himself out of his misery.  Before he does, he spots a body on the beach!  Thinking perhaps he is no longer alone, he rushes over to find the man (Daniel Radcliffe) is dead.  Oh well.  Once again, he returns to his makeshift noose and plots his demise but then the corpse starts farting.  The farting is so extreme that the body starts maneuvering through the water.  Hank has an idea!  Using the gassy corpse as a jet ski, he departs the island and hopes to find his way to the mainland.  Sure enough, he and the corpse arrive on the mainland and thus begins their friendship.  Hank names him Manny  Clearly, Hank has suffered a mental breakdown since he is able to have conversations with Manny.  Manny also proves to be useful in many ways, serving as a pellet gun, a knife, an axe, a harpoon gun, a water jug, and more.  In their conversations, Hank often obsesses over a woman - Sarah - he saw on a bus (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).  Clearly, he was smitten by her but was too shy to do anything about it other than taking a snapshot of her with his phone.  This seemingly chance encounter soon becomes the centerpiece of all their conversation and even roleplay.  Weird.

In the end, it turns out that Hank was an unreliable narrator.  By strange coincidence, it turns out that Hank and Manny have been 'stranded' in the woods behind Sarah's house.  The entire ordeal has taken place within a short distance of civilization.  Yes, Hank is a stalker who has been hiding near Sarah's house and his phone has quite a few pictures of her.  The shy guy who found himself a castaway is all in his head while the creepy stalker living with a corpse is the reality.  Any sympathy one had for Hank fades away quickly with this reveal.  His obsession with the 'chance encounter' on the bus is fully explained.

However, in the climactic scene where everyone is on the beach and Hank is being arrested, Manny again begins farting.  Manny slips into the water and jet skis into the sunset, baffling everyone on the beach.  Sarah puts it best when she utters, "What the fuck?"  Indeed.

So, what is true and what is fantasy?  Except for the last 10 minutes, this is all Hank and he is clearly not right in the head.  He's playing make believe in the woods with a corpse.  Fine.  However, the closing scene where all these witnesses see Manny fart his way into the surf tends to confirm Hank's fantasy.  Huh.  Mostly unwatchable and best avoided.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

Weird Al (Daniel Radcliffe) is rushed to the emergency room where a doctor (Lin-Manuel Miranda) desperately tries to save his life.  No, he is dead.  Just as the doctor gives up, Weird Al bolts upright and demands a paper and a number 2 pencil; he needs to write down the lyrics to Like a Surgeon.

Years before, Weird Al has a difficult relationship with his father.  That Al wants to play the accordion is unacceptable.  However, Al's mother assists his dream of playing the accordion.  After leaving home and living with several friends, Al has inspiration making bolonga sandwiches while the Knack's My Sharona is playing on the radio.  He sends My Bologna to Doctor Demento (Rainn Wilson) and it proves to be a breakout hit; Al is a star!  From there, the story really goes off the rails.  Al rockets to stardom and, like most megastars, becomes self-destructive.  He has a torrid affair with Madona (Evan Rachel Wood) that turns out badly.

Entirely unlike the real life of Weird Al Yankovic, this is hugely entertaining.  The funny twist that Michael Jackson's Beat It was a parody of Al's first original song, Eat It, was hilarious.  In this universe, Weird Al is the King of Cool.  Many of his big hits make an appearance: My Bologna, Another One Rides the Bus, Amish Paradise, Eat It, Hey Ricky, Like a Surgeon, and more.  The movie is also stuffed with cameos from such figures as Wolfman Jack, Pee Wee Herman, Elvira, Tiny Tim, Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and more.  It is a great throwback to the early 80s.  Ludicrous and off the wall, this is nonstop comedy.

Recommended.  Great popcorn fun.

The Lost City (2022)

The story opens with Dr. Angela Lovemore (Sandra Bullock) and Dash McMahon (Channing Tatum) bound next to each other on a stone floor where they are surrounded by vipers while the nameless villain (Steven Lange) monologues that he will soon have the fabled Crown of Fire while they will be dead.

Delete.  Delete.  Delete.

Romance author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) is entirely unhappy with the climax of her latest book and instead leaves it unresolved.  Her publisher, Beth (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), is not thrilled, but the deadline has arrived.  Her book, The Lost City of D, is published and a book tour follows.  Encouraged to wear a sequined purple jumpsuit (which serves as her totally inappropriate atire for the majority of the film), Loretta appears onstage with cover art model Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum).  The women in the crowd are more interested in asking 'Dash' questions than Loretta.  After an argument with Alan, Loretta storms off, only to be abducted by the oddly named billionaire, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe).  Fairfax has located the Lost City of D and, having read her book, discovered that Loretta has practical knowledge of the hieroglyphic language.  Indeed, her deceased husband was an archeologist and she used his research as a basis for her book series.  Fairfax needs Loretta to decipher some clues he has discovered at the ruins of D.

Meanwhile, Alan and Beth are desperate to recover Loretta.  Alan proposes contacting his yoga instructor.  Beth is baffled.  He explains that his trainer had been a Navy SEAL and CIA operative.  Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) agrees to rescue Loretta, but will need her phone.  Alan agrees to deliver Loretta's phone.  Of course, Alan expects to be part of the rescue, repeatedly ignoring Jack's demands that he stay out of the way.  His tagalong routine is played for laughs.

The parallels to Romancing the Stone are obvious.  Lonely author finds herself on an adventure with a handsome man, just like in the books she writes.  However, Abigail is a laughable villain and Alan is a useless bumpkin.  The best action scenes of the movie occur during Brad Pitt's brief appearance.

Enjoyable to watch but far inferior to Romancing the Stone.