Here’s the link to the last catch up, in case you missed it. I think I might actually make a third part to this, which I didn’t initially plan, but there are a lot of movies I am still catching up on, and a number of them are worth talking about. So, keep an eye out for that, it will probably hit the site around next week or the week after. Anyway, here we go!
Freaky
This movie is an absolute blast. Following the Happy Death Day films, with the second being among my favorite films of last year, I am continuously impressed by how Christopher Landon combines the tropes of a slasher movie with those of a teen movie, and somehow still managing to inject real heart into the film. Freaky is tightly scripted, full of great kills, and has some fantastic performances, especially from Vince Vaughn, who thankfully doesn’t treat the whole body-switch as a joke. Landon has slowly become one of those filmmakers that I will follow to whatever they have coming up next. His mix of old and new school sensibilities takes the tired and makes it fresh again.
Tenet
Finally got around to this now that it’s no longer just in theaters, and yeah, I wish I saw this in a theater, not for the spectacle, but just to overhear people’s confused reactions. Tenet is an aggressively weird movie, even by the standards set by Christopher Nolan’s prior work. I almost can’t believe Warner Brothers paid for what is basically an abstract James Bond fan film, and I honestly mean that in the best way because I actually enjoyed this way more than I anticipated having already observed the online discourse about this. It is bold, ambitious filmmaking, and while it was certainly a disorienting experience, it was one I also found absolutely enthralling from start to finish.
Spiral
I’ve seen this be referred to as “the gay Get Out,” a Get Out Of The Closet, if you will. And yeah, I can definitely see the comparison, and while it’s not as great as Get Out was, it’s still really good. I was surprised by how tense and engrossing it was. Kurtis David Harder’s filmmaking is tight and stylish, and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman’s performance as this guy who grows increasingly paranoid about his neighbors after he, his partner, and their daughter move to a small town suburb, is fantastic. The big difference between this and Get Out is that it ends on a significantly bleaker note, so don’t go expecting a crowd-pleaser. Otherwise, it’s real good stuff.
The Cleansing Hour
The idea behind this film is really, really fun. There’s a live, online show where a “priest” performs exorcisms, but it’s all fake, just for show, utilizing various tricks to simulate the exorcism experience. So, what happens? You guessed it, they manage to get someone who is actually possessed by a real demon, and now the crew has to use their wits to rid the demon while their viewership goes off the charts. It does peak a bit early, some moments stretch suspension of disbelief, and it lags a bit in the middle, but it’s a gnarly, often funny, and very entertaining horror film with a really killer ending.
Sorry We Missed You
Boy, does this movie hit hard. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Ken Loach, who excels at telling stories about the everyday struggles of working class Brits, which honestly could be applied to people everywhere, and this film is no different. It takes a bit to really find its groove, but by the time it hits the halfway point, I was fully invested in this family. For so much of the film, you almost forget you’re watching the film because despite the lack of specificities in characterization, everybody feels so real and so deeply human. It might be a little too real for some, but that just makes it all the more essential.
Greenland
So, this is genuinely the best disaster film I’ve seen in God knows how long. The genre can be limiting in terms of what it can and can’t do within the confines of its basic conceit, so don’t expect this to break the mold or do anything you’ve never seen before. It just does the genre really, really effectively by smartly focusing on the anxiety of the situation and the drama rooted in that as opposed to reveling in spectacle. When the spectacle does happen, it actually carries weight, which feels like such a rarity nowadays. Gerard Butler is great, and I’m guessing his presence is why some may have initially discounted this when the trailers first came out, frankly, after stuff like Den Of Thieves and The Vanishing, y’all should really know better by now. Anyway, I was surprised by how thrilled and moved I was. If an end-of-the-world movie is something you have no problem checking out at this moment, I highly recommend it.