Mimics
Kristoffer Polaha wears both the first-time director and leading man hats in Mimics. The film follows a down-on-his-luck impressionist with big dreams. When a mysterious agent offers immediate fame, it comes with a few caveats.
Sam must use a specific dummy and suffer the consequences of never saying no. As he skyrockets on social media, his confidence grows, but his dummy, Fergus, does not enjoy being the butt of the joke. Sam’s autonomy disappears, and violent things begin to happen.
Polana scores big with his cast. Singer Mōriah delivers a sweet and fleshed-out love interest. Thank you to screenwriter Marc Oakley for not making her a cliche. Oakley actually makes a voice cameo as the spam caller that repeatedly contacts the Reinhold household. Stephen Tobolowsky plays Sam’s adoring grandfather, Melvin. He is so darling, you want to put him in your pocket. He elevates the entire project.
Chris Parnell is Late Show host Jack Conrad. Like Tobolowsky, his easy presence makes Conrad a believable icon. Kristoffer Polaha is effortlessly charming. I genuinely enjoyed his impressions. He has an aura similar to Jim Carrey in his dramedy roles. He carries the film like a pro. 
Calling Mimics a light horror is anything but an insult. It is a genre-bender: a sweet love story, a character study in ambition, passion, and an eerie warning about the trappings of fame, all wrapped in culty folklore that wouldn’t surprise me if it were ripped straight from the bowels of Scientology. It’s a breezy genre film that twists in unexpected ways and one that puts Kristoffer Polaha’s underrated talents in the spotlight.
Mimics Trailer:
Written by: Marc Oakley
Starring: Kristoffer Polaha, Mōriah, Chris Parnell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jesse Hutch,
Jason Marsden and Austin Basis
Produced by: Ken Carpenter, Kristoffer Polaha, Adam Karm, and Ben Wagner
MIMICS is the daringly unique directorial debut of Kristoffer Polaha — delivering fun, fright, and romance. When a struggling impressionist and a contract for fame take center stage, the battle for a good man’s soul takes the spotlight.
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The series centers on Michael Kenneth Williams as Rock Banyon, who becomes the prime suspect in the double murder of his occasional lover Fresno Foxglove (Maya Rudolph) who is found dead with another man. Panicked, Rock splits for Mexico where he reunites with his one-time big band singer Delores DeWinter (Kristen Wiig). With 72 hours to clear his name or fry in the electric chair, Rock and Delores embark on a dangerous quest for the truth that takes them into an abyss of sex, drugs, betrayal, and of course, jazz. While his world crumbles, Rock’s hard-charging manager Alistair St. Barnaby (Haley Joel Osment) pressures him to record a mainstream jazz album.
Funny Or Die can pretty much do no wrong in my opinion. Following up on the 2014 The Spoils of Babylon, The Spoils Before Dying is another total win. If you haven’t seen the first season in IFC, imagine a Sin City narrative combined with the Rodriguez/Tarantino Grindhouse schlock and add in the compressed timing of an SNL Digital Short (sort of, each episode is 30 minutes). Tough in our age of binge-watching, you can happily run through the entire series in the time it would take you to watch any other film, half as fun. The mock commercials stuck into the episodes are as completely tongue-in-cheek as the rest of the production. 
The performances are off the rails hilarious. Will Ferrell reprising his role as Eric Jonrosh is pure insanity. His oftentimes linear thinking combined with overindulgence and narcissism is pitch perfect. Michael Kenneth Williams is a breath of fresh air as he takes on his role with (almost) complete seriousness. We all knew Maya Rudolf has a set of pipes on her, but I had no idea that Kristen Wiig can sing. And when I say sing, I really mean SAAAANNNNNGGGG. The songs are unapologetically ridiculous AND maintain gorgeous melodies. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Haley Joel Osment, who steals each scene he appears in with total commitment and one over-the-top accent. With appearances by Tim Robbins, Kate McKinnon, Molly Shannon, Michael Sheen, Chris Parnell, Tim Meadows, to name a few, you simply cannot go wrong with this series. The Spoils Before Dying is now available in DVD. Check out the trailer below!
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