Mullets, big animals, crazy rednecks and moronic murder-for-hire plots are indeed a lot of fun – and you don’t need to spend six hours watching a meth-fuelled reality TV ‘docu series’ to get your kicks.
But, like me, you’ve probably already done that.
Either way, here’s three exceptionally satisfying ways to scratch that Tiger King itch this indoors-heavy weekend:
Classic / Redneck classic = Deliverance, of course. But after Joe Exotic & Co, I’d like to put a proper doc on your screen. Blackfish is the real deal, but it’s not what you need right now. The wonderful King of Kong has a vain and mulleted weirdo battling for dominion over a beast – the baddie in the Donkey Kong videogame. But for the ultimate in big animals, jaw-dropping footage and tragically misguided – but in this case, well-meaning – humans, it has to be Werner Herzog’s masterful GRIZZLY MAN (2005).
Crowdpleaser / What’s more pleasing than a glorious mullet? Nic Cage in Con Air, Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, Collin Farrell in Miami Vice, Mel Gibson in everything… the film haircut Hall of Fame is stacked with them. And if you are a locked-down male, you might soon be looking to those stars for styling tips. But I digress. Go watch POINT BREAK (1991) again, Patrick Swayze’s gorgeous surfer locks glistening in the California sunshine will soothe that cabin fever.
Wildcard / This would be a good time to obliquely recommend the gritty and star-studded but beast-less Australian mob film Animal Kingdom. But in the realm of redneck murder-for-hire, it has to be the outrageous dark comedy KILLER JOE (2011), with a magnetic Matthew McConaughey at the apex of the ‘I-don’t-give-a-shit’ post-romcom period that kicked off his screen renaissance. Warning – fried chicken may never be the same again.
MS