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| | | Hot Seat review – call centre guy is pinned down in office chair in schlocky thriller | | by Leslie Felperin Aug 2, 2022 | | Office equipment turns deadly after a bomb-maker targets a reformed hacker at work. Can Mel Gibson and a D-list cast save him from server-room peril? Kevin Dillon heads a mostly D-, E- and F-list cast in this schlocky but not entirely unwatchable thriller; he plays Orlando Friar, a one-time hacker who’s gone straight and works for a computer helpline. One sunny day in southern California, Orlando makes excuses as to why he can’t stay at home and attend the birthday party of his teenage daughter Zoey (Anna Harr), citing work demands. His wife Kim (Lydia Hull) is so fed up with his perpetual absence, she hands him divorce papers. But off to work he goes nevertheless, where he is soon punished for his lack of paternal commitment when he discovers that an unseen bomb-maker, at first just a voice on the phone, has set a trap for him at work. Unless Orlando helps the bomber with some hacking tasks, a bomb planted under Orlando’s chair will explode if he gets up or even wheels beyond a new rug by his desk. The office equipment theme extends in budget-friendly ways throughout the film which is mostly set in just one location, and eventually encompasses deadly traps in an elevator and a server room a few floors down. I was expecting the stationary cupboard or breakroom microwave to yield a deadly surprise, but alas no. Still, the script and direction by prolific low-budget film-maker James Cullen Bressack do spring a few mild surprises and minor twists to spice things up. That doesn’t quite make up for the tackiness elsewhere – such as the cheesy animation near the climax that illustrates bits and bytes going down internet wires to trigger explosive outcomes – or the simpering, thinly written roles for poor Zoey and Kim who spend much of the film cowering and looking worried. Continue reading... | | | | | All work and no play: why the cartoon world needs to stop copying the corporate | | by Nicholas Barber Aug 2, 2022 | | According to animated movies, all human life is controlled by monsters or rabbits or leprechauns diligently working a 9 to 5 in a metaphysical office complex – where’s the fun in that? Do you feel lucky? Well, do you, punk? If you do, it could be because some supernatural busybodies are manipulating you from the comfort of their hi-tech control rooms, in between sips of coffee from the staff canteen. When they press one button, you find a £10 note. When they press another, you fall down a manhole. That, at least, is the premise of Luck, an Apple+ cartoon premiering in August. The film reveals that human affairs are influenced from the Land of Luck – although, judging by the trailer, “The Office Complex of Luck” would be more accurate. Hundreds of leprechauns and rabbits (and a black cat voiced by Simon Pegg) bustle along the corridors of a shiny business campus, delivering parcels, reading memos, and reporting to their smartly suited boss, a dragon voiced by Jane Fonda. Continue reading... | | | | | |
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