Like with last year, I’m going to take it a little easy as the year comes to a close, so I won’t be doing full reviews on some of the new releases or screeners that I’ve been catching up on because I want to try and see as much as I can before doing my Best Of list. But just so that I can still bring you something to read, I will provide some brief thoughts on some of the films that I’ve caught up on recently that I think are worth writing about, some have been out for a while, and some are new releases. I hope you can find something interesting here, and maybe give it a look. This will be the first of probably two parts, the second of which will come out sometime around mid January as I catch up on more films I missed out on.
Klaus
Since we’re in the holiday season, this feels like an appropriate place to start. I gotta say, if I were to read what happened in this movie, it would not seem all that interesting. The idea of an animated grounded Santa Claus origin story does not sound the least bit appealing, but this is seriously a totally charming movie that – in its best moments – reminded me of the kind of stuff we would see in the Disney renaissance of the 90s. It’s a spectacular film, very moving, very funny, and the animation is gorgeous. If you’re looking for something for the whole family to get into the Christmas spirit, I can’t imagine anything more perfect than this. It’s really wonderful.
I Lost My Body
Another animated movie, and another one that is available on Netflix right now. This one, on the other hand, is definitely geared for an older audience. It’s a somber, strange, and haunting little film with a bizarre premise about a disembodied hand trying to find its body with occasional flashbacks to the story of a young man trying to find his place in the world. The animation is not quite as clean and polished as something like Klaus, but it works for the kind of story I Lost My Body is telling. The music is dreamy, melancholic, and the story takes some turns that are thought provoking and challenging, and it builds up to a strong finale. Won’t be for everyone, but I enjoyed it.
Asako I & II
This film is almost like an anti-romance movie. It’s not so much a romance, as much as it is about the nature of love and romance. It’s about this girl, Asako (Erika Karata) who falls in love with a boy, but he soon vanishes, and years later, she bumps into another man who looks exactly like him, and forms a bond with him. Asako is one hell of a complicated, and at times unbelievably frustrating, character. However, that frustration is clearly purposeful, and it sometimes adds to some subtle humor, which is sprinkled throughout the film as well. I’m not super well versed in the filmography of writer/director, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, but after seeing this, I am very curious to check out his other work. This also has one of the most breathtaking shots I’ve seen all year. It happens near the end, you’ll know when you see it, and I hope you do, it’s quite something.
Diane
Mary Kay Place stars in Diane as…well, Diane, and it’s one of the most tender and gut wrenching performances you’ll see this year. While the film might be too small to make much of an impact this awards season, she deserves so much for what she does here in a career already full of wonderful performances. The film is essentially a slice-of-life drama about a woman who does everything she can to help the people around her, including a sick, dying relative and a son who is a drug addict. She has a lot going on, and the film is more or less a character study of the kind of person who basically uses her time to help others as a way to block out the issues that she is dealing with in her own life. It’s a small, very intimate film, at first seeming like it will be an intimidatingly dreary experience, but it’s incredibly engrossing, very watchable, and the performances are all terrific and worth experiencing alone.
Hala
Another film with the title being the same as the main character’s name. This one is starring Geraldine Viswanathan as Hala, a young Pakistani Muslim woman who is struggling to balance her desires with the expectations of her traditional family. The film is written and directed by Minhal Baig, and it’s a film I liked quite a bit. It does have some flourishes that feel a bit too typical for these kind of quaint indie/festival darlings, but aside from that, it is deeply felt, and made with such warmth and tenderness that it more than makes up for it, and the story itself gets more interesting and dynamic as it goes along. Viswanathan continues to show that she is one of the best young emerging actors out there; she really shines with this material, and I can’t wait to see what she and Baig do next. This is now streaming on AppleTV+.
In Fabric
Peter Strickland is one weird, weird dude, and I hope he never stops making movies. I’ve seen all of his films except his 2009 debut, Katalin Varga, which doesn’t seem to be available anywhere, and I’ve loved each more than the last. Berberian Sound Studio is great, The Duke Of Burgundy was one of my favorite films of the year it came out, and his new film, In Fabric, is just as good, if not better. I love his aesthetic fascinations with 70s Euro horror and giallo with this one especially. It’s equal parts disturbing and hilarious, and it touches on ideas of consumerism, corporate culture. It’s super strange, and the performances are really strong. It’s a truly hypnotic experience, and stylistically bold. I loved this one a lot, and if it seems like something that’s up your alley, I strongly urge you to check this out, and maybe Peter Strickland’s other work as well.
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