What to Watch This Weekend: Tenet, Lupin III, Boxing, 1994, Louis van Beethoven, Greenland, Hunter Hunter, Paint, KFC

For A Mindbending Blockbuster Film - Tenet (Redbox and Digital)

Christopher Nolan's time bending tale is finally available on Redbox and digital.  If you didn't want to head to the theaters this summer, now is great time to check out one of the few movies that came out in theaters this summer!

For The Anime Fan - Lupin III: The First (Digital

Lupin III: The First has beautiful animation, an upbeat soundtrack, and an exciting heist adventure that takes the gentleman thief all over the world.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Documentary About Rolling With The Punches - Suffer For Good (Digital)

Suffer For Good highlights the importance of hard work and determination, and shows that in life you are never too old to pursue your dreams.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Little Bit of Political History - 1994 (Topic)

1994 highlights an explosive and dramatic year in Italian politics, with interesting characters, an engaging story, and an impressive commitment to the time period.  For more information, check out our review!

For Some Musical History - Louis van Beethoven (Virtual Cinema and Digital)

Louis van Beethoven composes a wonderful portrayal of the Beethoven's life with its great cast, excellent use of music, and humanizing story of the larger than life figure.  For more information, check out our review!

For a Summer Blockbuster in Winter - Greenland (Digital)

Greenland is the summer blockbuster you need for the wintertime, with exciting special effects, a great cast, wonderful sound, and some interesting moral choices.    For more information, check out our review!

For a Raw and Realistic Survival Horror - Hunter Hunter (Digital)

Hunter Hunter's interesting, low tech lifestyle, commitment to realism, brutal scenes, and palatable tension will trap your interest right from the start!    For more information, check out our review!

For An Artistic Drama - Paint (Digital)

Paint's interesting characters, multiple story threads, and unapologetic look at the image-conscious art world paints a wonderful picture of dark humor and deep drama!  For more information, check out our review!

For Some Deep Fried Advertising Ridiculousness - A Recipe for Seduction (Lifetime)

A Recipe for Seduction's spicy scenes, bite-sized duration, and piping hot cast led by a salt and pepper Mario Lopez make it one campy movie you'll want to dig into.  For more information, check out our review!

A Recipe for Seduction Review: A Spicy and Bite-Sized Advertisement

Release date: December 13, 2020
Running time: 15 minutes
Starring: Mario Lopez, Chad Doreck, Justene Alpert, Tessa Munro, Martin Morrow

A woman must choose between a handsome chef she met and a would-be husband chosen by her mother.  Jessica Mancera (Alpert) seems to have everything going for her.  Good life, loving boyfriend, and a delicious Christmas dinner.  But digging deeper, we find out that maybe her life isn't all it's crackling up to be.  When a mysterious new chef, Colonel Harland Sanders (Lopez) enters the picture, Jessica develops a hunger for a something new.

First off, yes this is a real thing.  The movie is clearly an advertising collaboration, but I'm thankful to say that it's not as overt as you would expect.  There are several scenes with fried chicken, Colonel Sanders, and a "secret recipe" but other than that this is your typical campy made for TV movie with an exaggerated style.  The biggest draw is Mario Lopez as Colonel Sanders, and thankfully he made the larger than life figure his own rather than trying to emulate the brand figurehead.  He doesn't have a fake accent, but he does have more salt than pepper in his hair, thick glasses, and a strong mustache and soul patch.  But it's also Mario Lopez so his white outfit doesn't hide his biceps.  The other characters are fun to watch and fit into the overall feel for the film.  They're not overly complicated but they provide some intrigue and conflict as Jessica tries to decide what she wants for her life.

And the story of A Recipe for Seduction is simple but effective.  Being a 15 minute mini-movie, there isn't much room for nuance.  The relationships don't so much simmer, but flare up like a battered drumstick dropped in oil.  There are some spicy scenes and and the story moves relatively quickly given the limited time.  And as stated earlier, the story has several KFC references, but thankfully it's not thrown into your face.  They took a good balance here of evoking the brand and some campy positivity without taking over the whole movie.  I don't think there is even red and white bucket shown in the film but the build up advertisement did call it a "piping hot love affair of deep fried romantic goodness."  The brand leaned into the camp, with overly dramatic acting and several threads in this short mini movie.  And the film ends with a twist, so maybe there will be a spicy sequel sometime in the future.  Sure it's made for TV so that means there is a limited cast and some of the effects are not great, but overall this is a fun, silly made for TV movie that highlights a brand collaboration that is enjoyable without being overt.

A Recipe for Seduction's spicy scenes, bite-sized duration, and piping hot cast led by a salt and pepper Mario Lopez make it one campy movie you'll want to dig into.  

Watch it.

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A Recipe for Seduction debuted on Lifetime on December 13, 2020.  Check your TV listings for additional showings.