The Huckleberries Vol. 7 - Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die & Iron Lung

     Obviously we want to have an area for reviewing new films here at The Film Encomium, but we want to send a message with our methodology. That message is a simple one: Don’t forget about the fun. 

Yes, film can be transformative, prophetic, and groundbreaking. It can also be none of those things and still be a damn good time, and we want to validate both of those experiences. If your goal is to dismantle the bureaucracy of an authoritarian dystopia, we recommend studying the works of Terry Gilliam—but if you want to become well-rounded, we still recommend a passing familiarity with the difference between Caravan of Courage and The Battle for Endor.

      It is from the balance of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn that we draw inspiration for the title of this section. Tom is clever; Tom is great. If there were one of those boys we were going to try to get into Harvard, it would be young Mr. Sawyer…but he will always need his Huckleberry. 

We all need our Huckleberries. Art needs its Huckleberries. Sometimes beauty is in the little things and reasoned reflection. Other times beauty is loud, bright, and bold. In the interest of providing our readers with a comprehensive experience, we are not willing to skip The Huckleberries. 

So, with that in mind, here are two engrossing flicks that dropped in theaters recently. The first will make you question your own reality. The second will truly bathe you in blood. Enjoy!

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die -

This movie has that rarefied ability to instantly enshrine itself as a cult classic. Gore Verbinski was the perfect director to bring to life Matthew Robinson’s eccentric vision here. A classic ensemble-style production, this will be one we look back a decade from now and go “Wow, I can’t believe how many actors I love are in this.”

Of course, the point guard of this formidable cast is the venerable Sam Rockwell, and he is an absolutely captivating rug to tie the whole room together. There have been a wide variety of films similar to this one that center around a typical action star who can pass for a loony vagrant when the plot calls for it. The wrench thrown in Rockwell’s character is that he is a loony vagrant who can pass for a typical action star when the plot calls for it. How you feel about this film will almost certainly be linked to how you feel about this spin, but expect it to be largely beloved.

Although Rockwell may shine the brightest, the format of the storyline leaves plenty of room for the supporting cast to flex their chops a bit as well. Zazie Beetz, Michael Peña, Juno Temple, Haley Lu Richardson, Asim Chaudhry, Tom Taylor, Georgia Goodman, and Artie Wilkinson-Hunt all summon forth notable characters which help this film really envelop the audience. Sometimes they have to make you love them with a sparse backstory and other times they only find their way into your heart after great pain is visited upon them, but as a combined force they persistently thrive in their balanced portrayal of the general population. 

One of the ways that the bizarre world created here is brought to life most effectively is through the score. Geoff Zanelli has been slowly climbing the ranks of film composers for decades now, and this—at least so far—is his magnum opus. The vibrant, trippy, imposing manner in which creatures and locations are portrayed throughout the film really benefit from a composition assembled by a journeyman who has taken the time during their career to check all the distant boundaries of their craft. Zanelli’s work here is probably the aspect of this film that deserves the most earnest awards buzz. 

As for the overall product, this is an enigmatic work of art. Sometimes it may come off silly, but it marches steadfastly towards sincerity even as glitter rains down around you. It will remind you of a thousand other flicks, and had it lived by the logic of those universes, it would have failed. What makes Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die something special is the willingness to throw us into its own reality. Much like the main protagonist, this film walks into your life, tells you exactly what it is, and doesn’t bother waiting around just because you can't keep up. 

Iron Lung - 

There will be two main predictive factors when guessing whether or not someone will enjoy the movie Iron Lung: A) Do they enjoy the Iron Lung game by David Szymanski and B) Do they enjoy Markiplier? If you don’t know the answer to either of those questions, it is going to be really difficult to tell you whether or not this flick will be for you. Still, we will always do what we can, so let’s break this down. 

First off, there is the Iron Lung game. It is a horror simulation where the player pilots a submarine. Mankind is dying out, and the “quiet rapture” is a phenomenon where all the stars and planets in the sky are slowly disappearing. An ocean of human blood is found on a distant moon, and desperate expeditions into the depths are undertaken in these one-room submarines manned by individual convicts—one of which is the main character of this game, in a submersible nicknamed the “Iron Lung”.

The other major ingredient in this formula is YouTuber Mark Fischbach—more commonly known by the pseudonym Markiplier. One of the most immensely successful content creators out there today, it was his vision that was realized in this project. Although Szymanski was involved enough in production to have a cameo in the film, the writing, directing, leading role, and editing are all Fischbach. 

It shouldn’t be surprising then, that Markiplier’s fingerprints are all over the end product. He is known for outside-of-the-box thinking, with interactive films like A Heist with Markiplier and In Space with Markiplier being amongst his most popular creations leading up to this feature-length debut. It’s also worth mentioning that Fischbach was an active player of Iron Lung before the game saw a massive surge in popularity in the wake of the real-life implosion of the Titan submersible.

The cinematic Iron Lung has already found an audience, and both it and Markiplier are finding more eager followers by the minute. We here at The Film Encomium are excited to see where his career goes from here, not to mention racked with anticipation at what the physical and streaming releases of Iron Lung may look like. As for whether or not you should check out the new world record holder for most fake blood used in a single filming? It depends if you’re up for something distinctive, claustrophobic, and unrelentingly savage. 

~The Film Encomium~