I've been on a reviewing bonanza lately, but I still have a few miscellaneous films (and a TV series thrown in for variety!) to briefly review. Please enjoy!
Slow West
It's been two months since I saw Slow West at the Nashville Film Festival, so it's not exactly fresh in my mind. However, I do remember liking how director John Maclean combined traditional elements of western films with dreamlike scenes and settings, as well as wry humor in the film's dark moments (I have to reveal just one: when a literal jar of salt accidentally spills into one character's fresh bullet wound--couldn't help but chuckle at that). Consider it a Clint Eastwood film by way of Wes Anderson.
The plot is simple enough: 16 year old Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) travels from Scotland to the American frontier in search of his love, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Jay isn't remotely cut out for the violent world of the West and comes across taciturn outlaw Silas (Michael Fassbender). He pays Silas for protecting him on his journey. Unbeknownst to Jay (but beknowst to Silas), Rose and her father have bounties on their heads...and Jay is leading the amoral Silas right to them.Its mordant sense of humor and interesting camera work sets Slow West apart from more traditional westerns, and its climatic final scene is worth the price of rental alone. Slow West is a good film to check out even if you don't really care for westerns.
Grade: B
***
Pitch Perfect 2
Like most sequels, Pitch Perfect 2 is basically the same as Pitch Perfect 1 only...less than. The sequel finds a cappella superstars the Barden Bellas in the middle of a humiliating scandal (you've all seen the preview: Fat Amy's leotard rips, revealing her aca-muff during a show attended by President Obama) that gets them kicked off the America aca-circuit. However, they discover a loophole that allows them to participate in an international competition. Beca (Anna Kendrick), Chloe (Brittany Snow), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), and the others have to overcome their differences as well as their busy schedules (Beca is interning at a record production company; Fat Amy is busy hooking up with Bumper [played by the divine Adam Devine]) to beat the competition.
Pitch Perfect 2 has its moments. The best scene, for my money, is when the Bellas and a bunch of other groups participate in an aca-off at a party hosted by an eccentric millionaire, gloriously played by David Cross. We saw basically the same scene in the first Pitch Perfect, but it's what the audience wants, dammit! And I respect long-time actor, first-time director Elizabeth Banks for giving us what we want.
However, Pitch Perfect 2 does not have the emotional resonance of the first film and generally feels like diminishing returns. It's good fun for fans of the first Pitch Perfect, but will only be modestly amusing for others.
Grade: C+
***
Would You Rather
Would You Rather, a horror film I inexplicably chose to watch on Netflix right before bed the other night, is essentially the same movie as Cheap Thrills, which I reviewed a couple months ago. However, where Cheap Thrills had a sick sense of humor, Would You Rather has no sense of humor, making it a sadistic drag rather than a guilty pleasure.
Protagonist Iris (Brittany Snow) is in major debt taking care of her ailing younger brother. Strange millionaire Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs, absolutely chewing the scenery) invites her, along with a bunch of other people who need money for various reasons, to his mansion with the lure of potentially gifting them money if they win a game. Apparently none of these people have ever seen a horror film because then they would know that if a millionaire lures you to his house with the promise of money, you'll probably end up dead or maimed.
The group, including characters played by veteran actress June Squibb and adult film star Sasha Grey, is forcibly subjected to a deadly game of "would you rather", which starts with contestants choosing to administer a painful electric shock to themselves or to their neighbor and gets way, way worse from there. The central question of the movie is "how far would you go to get the money you need/help your loved ones?" which was also the central question of Cheap Thrills. The only difference is that in Would You Rather the characters are held captive at gunpoint and forced to "play" the "game". So the "plot" is basically a vehicle to show people stabbing little old ladies with ice picks and being drowned in barrels of water.
A nasty little piece of work, Would You Rather is a psychological horror film with no horror, no payoff, and no point.
Grade: D
***
Winnebago Man
I didn't really know what to make of Winnebago Man, a documentary about Jack Rebney, the reluctant "star" of some outtakes from a Winnebago sales video that went viral (first on the underground "found footage" circuit and later on YouTube) because of Rebney's f-word-laden outbursts. Director Ben Steinbauer discovered the clips and became obsessed with finding the man behind them. When he finally does contact Rebney, who has essentially become a recluse living in the mountains in northern California, he is disappointed to find that Rebney barely seems to remember the Winnebago video and couldn't care less that he is an Internet superstar.
...but then Rebney calls Steinbaur a week later wanting not only to change his image as "the angriest man in the world" but to get his (admittedly, curmudgeonly) opinions about how the world is going to hell out to an audience. What follows is a strange dance between Steinbauer and Rebney. It's very difficult at times to tell if Steinbauer is taking advantage of Rebney, who, though extremely intelligent and verbose, is not exactly in touch with the modern world and social media. It's also difficult to tell what, exactly, Rebney wants. He claims he doesn't care what people think about him, yet he clearly enjoys spouting his opinions (they aren't even that heinous--for example, he hates Dick Cheney) to anyone who will listen.
At times during Winnebago Man I felt icky because it seems that we are meant to laugh *at* Jack Rebney, not with him. However, the final act of the documentary, in which Rebney attends a screening of the clips and is met with praise and applause by his fans, tugs hard at the heart strings. Rebney appears almost shell-shocked by the audience response to his clips: laughter, applause, praise, and thanks. Fans tell him that whenever they have a bad day, they watch his profanity bombs and feel a little better. It's clear they are laughing at life's absurdities and trials *with* him. The ending of the film saves it from being boring and cringe-y. It gives the film heart.
Grade: B-
***
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Set in 1920's Melbourne, Australia, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is a delightful series you can watch on Netflix. The titular Miss Phryne Fisher (played by the wonderful Essie Davis) is a lady detective with a knack for finding both clues and, occasionally, lovers, at the scene of the crime. A thoroughly "new" woman, Miss Fisher carries a pearl-handled pistol, has a steamy love life, can hold her liquor, drives a car, and is as sharp as a tack. In every episode she matches wits with Detective Inspector Jack Robinson who, in early episodes, is annoyed at what he perceives as meddling and intrusion into *his* crime scenes, but eventually realizes that Miss Fisher is an excellent detective and tries to work with her rather than against her. Of course, the two have the hots for each other--but they never act on it, allowing for a slow burn that is both delightful and frustrating.
Most episodes of Miss Fisher use cultural touchstones of the 1920's as settings or plot points--for example, a murder occurs on the set of a silent film. In another case, Miss Fisher investigates the death of a lady race car driver and must contend misogyny toward female drivers. The show is filled with feminism and has great female characters. Whether you love the 20's, enjoy "cozy" mysteries, or dig strong female protagonists, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries has something for everyone.
Grade: A
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