Cube Critics talk about ‘Argylle’ and ‘Meat Raffle’

Cube Critics Jacob Aloi and Max Sparber discuss “Argylle” and “Meat Raffle.” Plus a Cube Critics extra: An interview with “Meat Raffle” filmmaker Aimee Chenal.

The following is a transcription of the audio heard using the player above, lightly edited for clarity.

MPR Arts Reporter Jacob Aloi: I’m Jacob Aloi

MPR Arts Editor Max Sparber: And I’m Max Sparber.

Aloi: And you’re listening to Cube Critics.

Sparber: Cube Critics.

Aloi: And then the (hums theme music)

Sparber: Music starts. We dance.

Aloi: So, Max Sparber, this week I saw “Argylle.” It is a new spy action comedy that was directed by Matthew Vaughn and it was written by Jason Fuchs. And it stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell and Henry Cavill.

Basically, Bryce Dallas Howard does her best J. K. Rowling impersonation as an espionage spy novelist — has the haircut and everything. And she gets swept up into a real-world espionage case. Because while she’s been writing these books, it’s mirrored a lot of real-life things that have happened.

Sparber: So psychic, or perhaps spy-chic.

Aloi: Exactly. So she gets swept up into this case that’s unfurling in front of her. And there’s a lot of twists and turns.

I will say, though, that while I’m a fan of things that are mediocre — I’m a big believer that things don’t have to be great to be enjoyed — this was a little too mediocre for me.

I think that the cast is great, but I think they’re underutilized. And there’s some people specifically that are a little underutilized. And if you go to see the movie, you might agree. And there’s a twist in it, but the twist kind of seems like it comes from a mile away.

Some of the shots are really great. And then some of them felt a little too campy. You know, I think some camp can work in a movie like this, but there’s one, particularly, towards the end of the film where there’s a lot of bright colors and it was just an off-putting mess for me, personally.

But if you do like that kind of comic book style that shows up in films like “The Kingsman” or its sequel, I think that you might enjoy “Argylle” — so check it out in theaters now.

Sparber: Jacob. Are you familiar with meat raffles?

Aloi: Yeah, I’m familiar with meat raffles. Yeah.

Sparber: They are when you go to a bar, give some money and you get a massive amount of meat if you win. Well, there’s a horror comedy movie called “Meat Raffle.” It is set in Burnett County, Wis., which is just an hour and a half from here. It had its Minnesota debut at the Parkway Theater a couple of nights ago.

It was created by someone named Aimee Chenal, who wrote, directed and starred in it. Although it was co-directed by Minnesotan, Shawn Engelmann, who is responsible for a really fun web series that I recommend looking up called “Creepy Acres.” It’s a horror horror-themed puppet show.

I will tell you this film is not technically polished. It kind of reminds me of a lot of movies that came out in the 2010s that were independently filmed and made by people who are enthusiastic; had more enthusiasm than a great deal of skill under their belt — but a lot of imagination, a lot of creativity and a lot of fun.

So if you have problems with stuff that’s not technically polished, this might not be right for you. But if you're looking for a film that is very entertaining nonetheless, I do recommend it.

It’s made up of community theater actors and sometimes feels like it but it is also the most Wisconsin film ever made. It’s a film about hunting, playing bar games and eating other people, which is a huge theme in Wisconsin storytelling.

And made me feel nostalgic for those kinds of movies. I really forgot how much I liked them.

Aloi: It had a charm to it.

Sparber: It has a real charm to it. So again, the film is called “Meat Raffle.” Go to their Facebook page to look for future screenings. I don’t know if they have any immediately on the horizon but they will be coming around again and — yeah, check it out.

Sparber: This is Cube Critic Max Sparber and I’m here to let you know that we’re doing a little podcast extra.

I did a phone interview with a couple of the people from the movie “Meat Raffle” that I talked about this week. And so you’re gonna hear a little bit of director, writer and star Aimee Chenal talking about the reasons for making the movie and how she went about doing it.

Aimee Chenal: The movie was filmed an hour and a half from Minneapolis, in a small town, called Frederic, it’s essentially where a lot of different shots take place. It's about 1200 people. And it's about 25 minutes from St. Croix.

I actually grew up going to the bar that a lot of the scenes were shot and worked there as well. I was a bartender there for about two years after I was living in Los Angeles. I never even thought that I would be coming home from Los Angeles in the first place.

But I had a lot of experience waiting tables and bartending and found myself at home. And I was like, Well, what better way to make money. I moved back from L.A., I was, you know, an adult now, because I spent my 20s there pursuing a career as an actress.

And when I found myself at home, working at the bar, I was introduced to what a meat raffle is, and I’ve never experienced that, in my life, like people kind of gambling around this meat, you know, and sort of like revolving their life schedules around these raffles.

And, you know, I was at a stage in my life where I was really interested in people and character. And when I first left L.A., I was like, oh, no, you know, I’m not going to be able to pursue my dream and like, there are more characters in Wisconsin.

And so like, I’m so fascinated by this, sort of like, meat raffle idea. Because I was like, why, you know, what's the big deal? First of all, what’s the big deal with meat too, like, I’m a vegetarian.

So I was kind of also fascinated about how people were, you know, eating so much meat, and like, Where does the meat come from? And I found out later in life, that meat comes from factory farms. That was really, like, disturbing to me. And I wanted to, like, use the film, you know, as a sort of a political satire to kind of call everybody out on certain conscious issues that bother me.

And so, I decided to use, you know, sort of the political weather, I guess you could say, that’s been going on the last few years. And how kind of polarized that is, to saying like, well, if we’re going to be, you know, unconsciously eating meat like this, like we might as well be eating people.