Stuff I watched in...December, 2024

Black Christmas (1974)

Starting off Christmas season with this groovy slasher from the 1970s (directed by Bob Clark, who also directed Christmas classic A Christmas Story), I was really surprised at how vulgar and violent this movie was (happily surprised). Set in a sorority at Christmas break, the ladies of Pi Kappa Sigma have been receiving sexually aggressive phone calls from a man they dub "the moaner". But when members of the house go missing, the women have to wonder if the moaner is not just an obscene caller, but a violent killer as well.

I love 1970s clothing and decor, as well as the overall vibes of the 1970s. So I really enjoyed Black Christmas even though I'm not generally into the slasher subgenre. If you're into horror, especially slashers and/or Christmas horror, this is one to check out.

Grade: B

***

Peeping Tom

Directed by Michael Powell, Peeping Tom was very controversial when it was released in 1960. The film follows a man, Mark Lewis (Karlheinz Bohm), who has a passion for photography...and MURDER. He enjoys killing women in particular and films them as he stabs them to death (with a blade attached to his camera's tripod--very clever).

While Peeping Tom has obvious themes of fetishism and voyeurism, what *really* turns Mark's crank is fear. We find out that he was the victim of his psychologist father's experiments on fear in children: Mark's father would purposely scare him and then film Mark's reactions. This, of course, led Mark to being the fear-and-film obsessed killer he is as an adult.

Peeping Tom has gorgeous cinematography, which makes sense give that Michael Powell also directed the visually stunning Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes (although Peeping Tom had a different cinematographer than those other two films). Clearly, Powell valued beauty in film, even a film with ugly content. I'm really glad I finally watched this classic psychological horror film. 

Grade: B+

***

Subservience

This movie, released directly to Netflix, stars Megan Fox as an android purchased by Nick (Michele Morrone) to help with childcare, cooking, and cleaning while his wife, Maggie (Madeline Zima), awaits a heart transplant in the hospital. Of course, this sexy maidbot, named Alice by Nick's daughter, becomes sentient...and evil.

Subservience is a perfectly entertaining mindless popcorn flick about the dangers of technology that can think for itself. I have a feeling we're going to see a lot of movies like this is the coming years. There's honestly a lot more action than I expected in this film (I guess I assumed it would be more...mind games? Cat and mouse?) and action mostly bores me, so I was definitely playing on my phone during the last 20 minutes. Take that as me not recommending this movie, although it certainly could have been worse.

Grade: C

***

Jennifer's Body

After watching Subservience, I was inspired to rewatch the movie that put Megan Fox on the map. Jennifer's Body, directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, was released to middling reviews at the time but has now gained cult status as a "good for her" type horror film. When I saw it in 2009 I remember being disappointed that it wasn't as good as Juno (another Diablo Cody-penned film) and I thought most of the "cute" turns of phrase that Cody likes to include in her scripts were forced and not very clever. 

Upon a rewatch, I now see Jennifer's Body as....drum roll please...a good but not great movie! *confetti*

I have more of an appreciation for it now, and I think Adam Brody's turn as the Satanic lead singer of an extremely mediocre indie band is hilarious, but overall I'd still rate it as just ok. At the time of its release, I feel like the movie caught both sexist flack for starring an attractive, yet not particularly talented (sorry) actress in the lead, but also feminist flack for...the same reason? There was definitely discourse around the movie. Watching it now, I don't really see the movie as particularly feminist OR anti-feminist. It has two female leads and they pass the Bechdel test, but Jennifer's Body doesn't really feel all that subversive to me.

I'm glad I rewatched it and I'm glad it attained cult status, but, to me, it's just ok.

Grade: B

***

Home Alone

I was SO into Home Alone as a kid and then I didn't watch it for a long, long time. Now, I am introducing it into my cycle of Christmas movies (there are like five movies that I regularly rewatch at Christmas, but not every Christmas so I don't burn out on them. It was Home Alone's turn this year).

As an adult, I have a lot of appreciation for Chris Columbus's surprisingly dark and unhinged tale of a young boy, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), left behind at Christmas while his family jets off to Paris. While staying squarely in a PG rating, Home Alone is pretty fucked up. Kevin is really treated as a pest by his entire family. He lives in a world that is uncaring and hostile to children. No wonder he wishes his family would disappear!

And then you have Harry and Marv, played brilliantly by Joe Pesci (who struggled mightily not to drop f-bombs while filming) and Daniel Stern. When the "Wet Bandits" realize that Kevin is home alone, they figure burglarizing the McCallister homestead will be an easy job. After all, what can a little kid do? But Kevin is...precocious. I will say that Macaulay Culkin is not the most natural child actor I've seen. He says his lines with a forced and overly loud tone. But I'm not going to criticize a kid who was abused by his piece of shit father. In some ways, Home Alone is a bit of a guilty pleasure knowing that Culkin, a huge child star of the 90s, was being treated like crap by his family and Hollywood at the time. 

If we put that nastiness aside, Home Alone is a deeply fun, funny, and enjoyable movie that holds up really well 35 years later. There's a reason we can still say "keep the change, ya filthy animal" and most people get the reference.

Grade: A

***

Edward Scissorhands

It had been years since I watched Tim Burton's classic story of the uncommonly gentle man with scissors for hands. The movie unnerved the hell out of me as a kid, so I don't think I watched the entire thing until...college? In any case, it had been a while and I decided to revisit it.

Edward Scissorhands is an almost excruciatingly bittersweet film. The content itself is bittersweet: a very gentle man created by a mad genius and left alone in a castle is brought into society by a well-meaning woman, Peg Boggs (Diane Wiest, just wonderful here), only to become the object of fascination by a bunch of shallow, ignorant suburb-dwellers and then a hunted scapegoat when things go wrong. The movie is also bittersweet on a meta-level in that it represents a time when Time Burton made interesting, creative, heartfelt films instead of ugly Hollywood dreck and Johnny Depp was an exciting up-and-comer and not an abusive weirdo. 

We didn't know how good we had it. 

Edward Scissorhands is notable for that weird mix of colorful, suburban conformity and BDSM-goth vibes. Although Ed Wood is my favorite Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands feels the most Burton-y. It also has an absolutely beautiful score by the great Danny Elfman. The music really jerks those tears out of you.

Really glad I rewatched this one. 

Grade: A-

***

Daddy's Head

Daddy's Head is an incredibly unnerving horror film on Shudder. James (Charles Aitken) is killed in a car accident. He was a widower and recently remarried to Laura (Julia Brown). He leaves behind his young son Isaac (Rupert Turnbull), now an orphan. Laura waffles on adopting Isaac and becoming his legal guardian. She also has a drinking problem that gets worse in the aftermath of the accident.

And then the...thing...shows up. A creature that moves quickly in the dark and can mimic human speech. This entity starts to convince Isaac that it is his father. In a different body, sure, but very much alive. Isaac's insistence that his father has returned and Laura's constant drunkeness and resentment towards her stepson reach a boiling point. 

So, yeah, it's another grief horror movie. They are so hot these days, but I'm starting to think they might be overstaying their welcome. You can't top Midsommar and you shouldn't even try. But even though Daddy's Head is a middling movie, it's got some seriously creepy creature design. It'll definitely spook you!  

Grade: B

***

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

In preparing to see Robert Eggers take on Nosferatu, I revisited Werner Herzog's 1979 version starring Klaus Kinski, Isabella Adjani, and Bruno Ganz. Hands down, the best thing about this movie is the music. The score was composed by Popol Vuh, a West German musical collective. They do amazing, mesmerizing work here. 

The cinematography is also stunning. Between the music and cinematography, Nosferatu the Vampyre has an almost hypnotic quality to it. It's very slow and the plot is thin and familiar. But it doesn't feel boring. It's almost...relaxing. Klaus Kinski is extremely creepy as Count Dracula (not Count Orlock in this film, as the character is called in the 1922 version)...he's serving rat face, which is appropriate given the role rats play in the film.

Nosferatu the Vampyre is a very nostalgic film for me because it brings me back to my college years when I was watching a lot of Herzog and exploring artsy movies. I would only recommend it to people already inclined to watch it anyway--fans of Herzog and artsy vampire movies. It might be a bit too slow for others.

Grade: A-

*** 

Carry-On

Another mid-level Netflix movie, Carry-On is good, but ridiculous, fun. Starring Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent working at LAX on Christmas Eve and feeling a little...mixed. He just found out he's about to become a father with his girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), who also works at LAX, but he's also just kind of drifting through life and his ennui is becoming more apparent and obvious to both him and Nora.

Inspired by a conversation with Nora, Ethan asks his boss, Sarkowski (Dean Norris), for more responsibility and it allowed to work the xray machines. When he discovers an earpiece in one of the bins and immediately gets a text telling him to put it in his ear RIGHT NOW, Ethan is swept into a situation he was never meant to be part of. The man talking to him using the earpiece goes only by "the Traveler" (Jason Bateman) and he explains to Ethan that a man will soon be in his line with a suitcase and Ethan must let the suitcase go through. Ethan asks what's in the suitcase, but the Traveler refuses to tell him...which is how Ethan knows that it's bad. Really bad.

Carry-On has excellent pacing. Although there are many familiar beats to the movie, it's never slow and never boring. It is, of course, completely unrealistic. So many things would foil the bad guys' plot, but let's just ignore those and enjoy the ride. 

Despite the fact that Carry-On is technically a Christmas movie, it will never be in the Canon and is likely doomed to obscurity since it's just another mediocre and forgettable straight-to-Netflix film. But, like a one-night stand, its a fun way to pass the time.

Grade: B

Nosferatu (2024)

For cinephiles, Robert Eggers' adaptation of the 1922 German film Nosferatu was one of the most anticipated movies of 2024. Eggers is known for his slow, atmospheric, historically accurate films and Nosferatu is a great fit for the director of The VVitch and The Lighthouse.

I would say that Nosferatu is probably my least favorite of Eggers' films...but even the "worst" Eggers film is still miles beyond the best work of many Hollywood filmmakers. I only say it's my least favorite because while all of his films are slow, his previous ones have been surprising and unfamiliar in a way that Nosferatu is not and cannot be for me since I've seen the 1922 version, directed by F.W. Murnau, multiple times and the 1979 version, directed by Werner Herzog, multiple times as well. There isn't much here to surprise me.

Which isn't to say it's a bad film. By no means! Nosferatu is GORGEOUS. The cinematography, lighting, costumes, and set design are all delicious. Set in 1838 Germany, the film feels strangely cozy even as death and destruction haunt its characters. 

The plot is simple and familiar: Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is a newly married estate agent who travels to Transylvania to sell a piece of property to an old, eccentric Count Orlock (Bill Skarsgard). His wife, Ellen (Lily Rose-Depp), begs him not to go, telling him of a dream she had that portends death. Thinking of his and Ellen's future financial security, Hutter doesn't heed her protestations. 

Although locals try to warn Hutter away from going up to Orlock's castle, he arrives and is...uh, welcomed...by the Count. Skarsgard, mostly hidden in shadow, wears pounds of makeup to look like the rat-faced and utterly terrifying Count. Unbeknownst to Hutter, what Orlock is really after is Hutter's wife. Orlock spends several nights drinking Hutter's blood until the man is weak and weary...he then tricks Hutter into signing a document in an ancient language that dissolves Hutter's marriage. Orlock leaves the ill man in his castle and makes his way by ship to Wisborg, Germany to claim Ellen. 

Meanwhile, Ellen is living at Friedrich and Anna Harding's home and is sleepwalking and having fits every night. In this interpretation of Nosferatu, Ellen and Count Orlock are bound by a childhood wish Ellen made. As a lonely child, she prayed for a "guardian angel" to come to her...and, instead, awakened the Count. She believes that the Count is essentially her own inner darkness made corporeal and therefore she is to blame for everything that happens. I found this to be a really interesting interpretation of the story and one that anyone with anxiety will relate to: the idea that bad thoughts and fantasies inside your own head will somehow become real and cause destruction to everyone you love.

Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson) examine Ellen and the doctor recommends bringing in Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe), who is an expert in the occult. Friedrich is skeptical but desperate for a solution, so he allows Von Franz to examine Ellen. 

In the final third of the movie, three plot points come together: Hutter, after being nursed to health by nuns, returns to Wisborg; Count Orlock arrives on a plague-ridden ship to Wisborg; and all the men involved (Friedrich, Sievers, Von Franz, and Hutter) realize that Orlock is ultimately after Ellen and they try to figure out how to stop him.

But both Ellen and Von Franz know that the only way to truly stop Orlock is for Ellen to sacrifice herself to the Count. If she can entice him to feed on her throughout the night until daybreak, the Count will die. They engineer an opportunity for that to happen without Hutter interrupting. Hutter loses his beloved, but the people of Wisborg are spared from the plague that the Count brought with him.

Nosferatu, which is a slightly different retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, which itself is an amalgamation of vampiric folklore and historical events, has many interesting and layered thematic elements. It's a story about infection, as Count Orlock is the bringer of the plague--of death and disease. It's about the clash between old ways and new ways, between ritual and science. It's also about the fear of women and their sexuality. Robert Eggers' Nosferatu leans heavily into the sexuality angle and folks have called this the "horniest" interpretation of Nosferatu yet. There is much orgasmic moaning, gyrating of hips, innuendo, and the like throughout the movie. Ellen's constant gaspy breathing and hysterical fits eventually got on my nerves, as I'm sure "hysterical" women got on the nerves of men throughout the centuries. 

I'm not going to go into a super deep and detailed reading of the movie, but I took it to be this: Hutter, Friedrich, and Sievers represent science, modernity, polite society, and masculine control over nature. Ellen and Orlock represent nature, "base" instincts, sexuality, the old ways, and the ultimate feminine dominion over men. Von Franz is the bridge that links the two worlds: he is a man of learning, but he accepts the reality of magic, superstition, and things that science can't explain. While men try to dominate and control women/nature, ultimately nature wins out. And letting Orlock and Ellen follow the path of destiny is the only thing that stops the death and destruction along the way. 

So there you have it--my interpretation of this ageless tale. I enjoyed the movie a lot and it was pretty much exactly the film I thought it would be. Solid, but no surprises. I definitely recommend it, though I'm pretty sure The Lighthouse will always be my favorite Eggers film.

Grade: B+

Babygirl

Anchored by a strong performance by Nicole Kidman, Babygirl was a bit of a letdown for me. This is not to say it's a bad movie, but I do think it was marketed incorrectly. The previews for Babygirl, directed by Halina Reijn (who previously directed horror-comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies), painted the film as a high-stakes thriller in which a powerful CEO, Romy (Kidman), risks losing everything to engage in a tawdry BDSM-tinged affair with a much younger intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson). Well, that's partially what happens in the film...but to be honest the stakes never feel that high.

Romy Mathis seems to have it all: she's the CEO of a company called Tensile which focuses on automating repetitive tasks (so, she's a capitalist pig who made her fortune taking jobs away from blue collar workers...but the movie doesn't really get into that...), she has two lovely daughters, and her husband is literally Antonio Banderas. But what she doesn't have is honesty about what she needs sexually. She has never had an orgasm with her loving husband. Romy fantasizes about domination. But she doesn't have the courage to ask for it.

When she meets intern Samuel, she is shocked when he casually says that he thinks she "likes to be told what to do". Shock transforms into obsession and she and Samuel begin an affair in which neither of them really know what they're doing. Samuel is what I'd call a bush league dom. He's kind of stumbling around, telling Romy to get on her knees one minute and then laughing and asking "well, is that what you want?" the next. Romy is not much better. Although she's spent years watching BDSM porn, she literally doesn't know how to ask for what she wants...she doesn't even know what she wants. And she's fighting against every instinct telling her that she should be a strong woman who doesn't get on her knees in a filthy, cheap hotel room.

But get on her knees she does and Samuel, er, manually brings her to an explosive orgasm. Nicole Kidman goes vanity-free as she practically barks like a dog when she climaxes. I appreciated the obscenely realistic sex scenes in Babygirl. It's interesting because there's not a ton of nudity and you don't actually see much of the sex, but what you do see is so awkward and unvarnished that it feels very, very real. This is no perfectly choreography sex in a beautifully lit room. This is no Bridgerton. 

I also appreciated the realistic approach to BDSM. Two people who don't know what they're doing probably would approach dominance and submission in this way because they have no clue where to start. Samuel is no Mr. Grey and thank god for that. However, he's not particularly sexy either. Dickinson plays Samuel as a mumbly, immature dude who looks like he probably doesn't wear deodorant. Definitely not *my* dream guy, but I think he is so alien to Romy and her perfect little world that he represents the ultimate escape. 

As much as the messiness was refreshing...I have to admit that I didn't find Babygirl particularly sexy or thrilling. Again, the previews made it look like Samuel could take everything away from Romy with one phone call. But I just didn't buy that. If you're a CEO with that much power, I think an affair could cause serious consequences but it's not like you'd end up destitute.

And guess what? Romy and Samuel do get found out. And what happens? Does Romy get fired? No. Does her husband divorce her? No. Do her children hate her? No. In fact, she becomes more empowered at work. She becomes even closer to her husband. Overall, the affair actually makes her life better.

And here's the thing...I think a movie about a woman who cheats on her spouse and doesn't end up horrifically punished is kind of great because our culture treats cheating like it's a crime worse than murder and that is insane. We especially see female infidelity as grotesque. Don't get it twisted: I do believe that infidelity is wrong and very damaging to relationships. But I've always felt like *some* people are sexually jealous to the point where it's scary and, guess what, women get killed over sexual jealousy. 

But! I do feel that Babygirl is insufficiently critical of the fact that Romy is fucking her intern. The power dynamic gets brought up a couple times, but then is dismissed because Samuel himself says that he does not feel used or take advantage of by Romy. 

I found this...maybe not troubling, but morally ambiguous in a really lazy way. For all the realism about sex in Babygirl, something rings false about the movie. It's all just tied up a little too neatly in a bow at the end. Perhaps, like Romy with her husband, I was left unsatisfied and unfulfilled by a movie I thought would be blisteringly hot and heart pounding.

That said, Babygirl isn't a bad movie and Nicole Kidman is excellent in it (as she always is). I think if you go into the movie not expecting a high-stakes thriller and instead prepare to see some awkward and fumbling sex, you'd probably enjoy it!

Grade: B

Wicked

I had no intention of seeing Wicked: Part One because I have never seen the stage version and it's just not the kind of film that would normally be on my radar (a fantasy musical). But when the reviews started pouring in--almost all of them positive, even glowing--and my mom expressed interest in seeing the movie, I went ahead and gave it a watch. And I'm so glad I did! Wicked is a delight and quite relevant to our current moment (despite the source material, the novel, being 30 years old). 

Directed by Jon M. Chu, Wicked: Part One is a feast for the senses. Paying homage to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is absolutely saturated with gorgeous color and packed with detail, from intricate and unique outfits for every extra to easter eggs referencing the L. Frank Baum novel and the 1939 film. It's a film that rewards multiple viewings, including viewings at home where you can pause and examine individual frames.

Ariana Grande-Butera plays Glinda (formerly "Galinda") Upland, whom we are introduced to as she travels in her little bubble to Munchkinland to inform the residents that, indeed, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead. When a Munchkin inquires if the rumors are true that Glinda was friends with the Witch, Glinda ushers us into the story of how the Wicked Witch came to be...

The product of an affair, Elphaba Thropp was rejected by her father, the mayor of Munchkinland, at birth when she came out the womb with green skin. Despite being tormented by children and unloved by her father, Elphaba still had the capability to love others, namely her wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose. When Nessarose begins school at Shiz, a university in Oz (I looked it up and can't figure out why it's named "Shiz"), Elphaba's father demands that Elphaba (played by Cynthia Ervio) stay and look after her sister (who is the apple of her father's eye), despite Nessarose's desire for independence. 

Though Elphaba balks at this, she accidentally reveals incredible power during a moment of anger and a well-respected professor, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), convinces Elphaba to enroll at Shiz and take private sorcery lessons with her. Oh, and she forces Galinda and Elphaba to room together. 

For a long time, Elphaba is at best ignored and at worst mocked and humiliated by the students of Shiz, including the incredibly beautiful and popular Galinda. But after a moment of public humiliation caused by Galinda, the so-called Good Witch has a change of heart and decides to become friends with Elphaba and take her under her wing.

The friendship (or frenemyship) between Galinda and Elphaba is THE reason to see this movie. First of all, yes there is a ton of sapphic subtext. Or maybe just text. Wicked is a very gay movie, as is to be expected given that it's 1) a musical and 2) about the Wizard of Oz, a famously gay story. But the relationship between the two women isn't pure. There is condescension on Galinda's side and resentment on Elphaba's side. And yet...there really is love between the women even though they are destined to be turned against one another. I loved how complex their relationship was.

Without going into too much detail, there is a conspiracy afoot in Oz. Whereas previously animals could speak and hold jobs, just like humans, a rising tide of bias and hate against animals leads to the firing of all animal professors at Shiz. Most of the students don't care, but Elphaba, who develops a friendship with Professor Dillamond, a goat (voiced by Peter Dinklage), is horrified and disgusted. She knows what it's like to be scorned and treated like garbage. 

Elphaba's quest to meet the Wizard, once motivated by her desire to be seen and accepted, is now motivated by a desire to help the animals. But the pinnacle of Elphaba's triumph, where she discovers just how powerful she is, is poisoned with disappointment when she realizes just who is behind the bigotry against the animals of Oz. And how pathetic the Wizard really is. This brings us to the song which defines the musical--"Defying Gravity"--and the point at which Elphaba is declared to be a wicked woman. She is too powerful, too dangerous, and those already in power must turn the tide of public opinion against her. And that's where part one ends.

Wicked walks this perfect balance of being both light and dark, current and timeless, frilly and serious. I haven't read the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, but I do love The Wizard of Oz, and there are lots of references and homages woven into the story. I enjoyed the musical numbers, particularly "Dancing Through Life", "Popular", and "Defying Gravity"...and both Ervio and Grande-Butera have incredibly powerful singing voices. Unless you genuinely hate musicals or The Wizard of Oz, I feel like you're going to find something to love about Wicked.

Really glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone to see Wicked on the big screen. It's one of the most thrilling movies of the year and I am psyched to see part two in 2025.

Grade: A-

Stuff I watched in...November, 2024

A Different Man

It's best to go into this dark, unsettling comedy knowing as little as possible, but you might need to know something about the movie to be enticed to see it. Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, A Different Man tells the story of Edward (Sebastian Stan), a man with severe facial deformities (neurofibromatosis, to be specific) who ekes out a living acting in educational videos about how to treat coworkers with deformities. He lives in a small, crappy apartment and endures people taunting him or, weirdly, "recognizing" him and being overly friendly.

Edward partakes in a medical treatment that cures him, giving him a "normal" face. He reinvents his life, going by "Guy" now and working as a real estate agent. But when he discovers that his previous neighbor, a playwright, is working on a production about the deformed man she once lived next door to...he has to get involved.

A Different Man takes some VERY unexpected turns. I won't go into plot detail, but I will say that about halfway through, Oswald, played by an actor with actual facial deformities, Adam Pearson, shows up. Oswald is funny, charismatic, personable, intelligent...all the things that Edward/Guy never was and still isn't, despite his medical treatment. On the one hand, this film seems to suggest that if you have a shitty, boring personality your looks don't matter--you could be ugly or beautiful, but people won't want to be around you because you inherently suck. On the other hand, I don't think the writer/director *actually* believes this (anyone not living under a rock knows that a handsome face can get you nearly anything you want). While not fantasy or science-fiction, A Different Man takes a few liberties with reality, making the film feel like a satirical fairytale. A reverse "Beauty and the Beast" if you will.

Anyway, that's enough information to go on. I highly recommend this uncomfortable, strange film that explores identity in a really unique way. It's a great (although much more low key) companion piece to The Substance.

Grade: A-

***

The Shawshank Redemption

It's unbelievable that it took nearly 39 years for me to watch one of the most beloved films of all time. However, I did read the novella, penned by Stephen King, that the movie is based on so I pretty much knew the entire plot going in. Still, it was well worth the watch. The Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, lives up to its reputation as a wonderful, heart-wrenching film about an innocent man serving a life sentence in prison who finds not just one reason, but many reasons to keep living and not give up.

I probably don't have to go into the plot since I'm literally the last person on planet Earth to watch this movie. I really appreciate the role that books and libraries play in the film. I truly believe in the power of reading and information, so much so that I dedicated by career to it. It's awesome that Andy Dufresne finds his salvation in a prison library. 

The Shawshank Redemption, similarly to another favorite of mine, It's a Wonderful Life, is a movie that feels old fashioned and nostalgic--conservative, even--but is actually pretty radical at its core. Just as It's a Wonderful Life can be read as a screed against capitalism, The Shawshank Redemption can be read as prison-abolition film. Given Stephen King's politics, I'm not surprised the tale really sticks it to the man (specifically, the greedy and cruel prison warden) in the end. But politics aside, it's just a damn good movie and I'm glad I watched it. 

Grade: A+

***

Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society is a very, very nostalgic film for me and one of my all-time favorites. In recent years, the movie has been the subject of some critical opinion pieces that argue that it does not do justice to the humanities and that any English major worth their salt should see it as a sappy and reductionist film.

Good thing I wasn't an English major!

Look, DPL absolutely feels dated, and for many reasons. The argument that John Keating (Robin Williams in one of his most affecting roles) is a reckless and self-important teacher is a legitimate one. He is, of course, the person who encourages Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) to simply tell his hard ass father (played by the excellent Kurtwood Smith) about his passion for acting and OF COURSE dad will magically understand. This leads to Neil playing the role of Puck in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, deliberately disobeying his father and getting pulled out of Welton Academy by the domineering old man. Which leads to Neil taking his own life. John Keating is indirectly responsible for Neil's death. 

But, with age and experience, I appreciate how Dead Poets Society sits in moral ambiguity, with John Keating as both a hero *and* a villain. Or, not exactly a villain, but in many ways just as hard-headed as the stuffy old men who run Welton Academy. Keating has his agenda which works on many of the young men in the movie, namely Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), a shy boy trying to get out from under the shadow of his older brother, a well-known alum of Welton. But Keating's agenda fails Neil Perry. The whole system fails Neil Perry. Keating, his father, his mother, and Welton itself. 

Art and poetry do not save Neil Perry. But art and poetry absolutely do save lives and make life worth living. These two facts sit at the center of a film that is both a tragedy and a triumph. And while the boys of Welton focus on the many well-known Dead (White, Male) Poets--Whitman, Thoreau, Frost, and Herrick among others--if you substitute an artist who changed YOUR life when you were 16 or 17 years old, the scenes of mirth, joy, secrecy, and danger we see when the young men gather in the cave to hold their meetings can feel very familiar and very personal.

Dead Poets Society, like Welton Academy, can feel stodgy through a modern lens. But if you let it, it can also allow you to access those feelings of wonder and excitement you found in discovering Radiohead or Godard or Anais Nin or whatever the fuck turned your mental and emotional crank as a teenager. I love this movie and I will sound my barbaric yawp to defend it to the death.

Grade: A+

***

Schindler's List

Good lord, this is a tough one. The last (and only) time I watched Schindler's List was when it aired unedited on TV in 1997. I think. I mean, I definitely watched it was when I was young-ish and have not watched it since because it seems masochistic and sick to revisit such a heartrending film. 

But I did revisit it, and what is there to say? It's a masterpiece. To say that Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film is about "the Holocaust" is accurate...but it's really a movie that focuses on the moral arc of, well, a member of the Nazi Party, Oskar Schindler. Played by Liam Neeson, Schindler is more into money and women than anything else. At least as he is portrayed in the movie, he doesn't really care about Jewish people or their plight in Nazi-dominated Poland. But he doesn't really hate them either. If he can use them for cheap labor in his factory, he's cool with that. There's a darkly funny scene where Schindler's Jewish accountant, Itzhak Stern (played beautifully by Ben Kingsley), nearly gets put on a train going god knows where because he forgot his papers before heading to work one day. Schindler figures it out in the nick of time and gets him off this train. Schindler says to him, "What if I had been 5 minutes later? Then where would I be!?" to Stern. 

As the war goes on, and particularly after witnessing a massacre at the Krakow Ghetto, Schindler realizes that his own Nazi Party might be a little...fucked up. Using his connections and his power of persuasion, he is able to build a factory at Plaszow concentration camp, hiring many of the people who previously worked for him who were sent to the camp. By the end of the war, Schindler was basically subverting the Nazis as much as he could and he spent all his money doing so. The film has that famous scene where Schindler agonizes that he "could have saved more" if he had been even more savvy or brave. Don't judge me, because this is the most stereotypical movie scene of all time to get teary-eyed over, BUT I GOT FUCKING TEARY-EYED. That haunting score by John Williams just kicks in and the waterworks start. 

Schindler's List is a movie about genocide through the eyes and experience of a member of the genocidal party. This cannot be denied. And there are many other films and documentaries that capture the experience of survivors themselves and those are so important. But for what Schindler's List is, it does it so well. It's a movie about a man who moves from a privileged position of not caring to a position of caring to a position of active political sabotage that could cost him his life. I think that's a worthy story to tell. Movies about historical atrocities are so fucking difficult because how can you possibly capture the enormity of human evil in a two hour film? But I think Spielberg does an excellent job here and it's a film worth revisiting.

Grade: A+

***

Conclave

I saw this film, about Catholic Cardinals being messy, dramatic bitches, the day after the election and it held my attention long enough to briefly forget the shitshow that our country has become. 

Starring all your absolute favorite old white men--Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci--Conclave is about the process of electing the next Pope when the previous Pope has died. And all the wheelings and dealing that go into this supposedly divine process. 

I'm not Catholic...or religious...so it all seems like a bunch of hooey and hokum to me. But damn, it makes for compelling watching. "Real Housewives of the Vatican". Fiennes plays Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the convener of the conclave, in which a bunch of Cardinals lock themselves in a building until they have a majority vote on the next Pope. Lawrence is friends with Cardinal Bellini (Tucci), a very liberal potential Pope who would in theory guide the Church towards a more open mind towards women and gays. He is up against a more traditionalist Italian Cardinal, Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and a very socially conservative Nigerian Cardinal, Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati). There is a lot of bitching and backstabbing, uncovering of secrets and indiscretions, scheming and strategizing. 

There is a "twist" at the end which I found pretty unnecessary and I think probably took away from the movie more than it added to it, but overall Conclave is a fun, gossipy thriller of a movie. It's also a reminder of how many people in the world allow a small group of egotistical, vain men decide how to live their lives under the guise of "God's will", which is really sad. 

Grade: B+

***

Face/Off

I don't know what I expected from this John Woo joint starring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta, but wow. Just wow. I was flabbergasted by what I witnessed. I knew the premise of the film and assumed it would be a little more scientific...but no. There are so many plot holes and improbabilities in the film that it may as well be a fantasy movie. And once you accept what it is, you're in for a good time.

Face/Off is an objectively terrible movie...but it's SO fun. Seeing John Travolta "do" Nic Cage and Cage "do" John Travolta is really enjoyable (and proves that Cage is the superior actor, in my opinion). It's also so sleazy, with Cage's bad-guy character, Castor Troy, sleeping with the wife of his nemesis, Sean Archer (John Travolta), as well as ogling Archer's teenager daughter. It's all the weirder since it's John Travolta acting as Castor acting as Sean (after Castor steals Sean's face). This movie is a fucking M.C. Escher painting. 

This is a difficult movie to grade because it's a "so bad it's good" viewing experience. The movie itself is like a D+, but the viewing experience is an A-....so we'll go with a nice, middle-of-the-road B-. But trust, Face/Off is well worth seeing if you want to watch a ridiculous mindfuck of a film.

Grade: B-

***

Moonstruck

Directed by Norman Jewison, this classic romance starring Cher as a widow and Nicolas Cage as her lover (and the younger brother of her fiance), fell really flat for me. I mean, it's fine. I don't think it's particularly romantic or particularly funny. Most of the humor rests on Italian stereotypes of loud families and hot-blooded romance...but, frankly, My Big Fat Greek Wedding did is better with a couple you actually want to root for. Loretta (Cher) and Ronny (Cage) don't have that much chemistry and their relationship is kind of icky. Not offensively so (even though Loretta is cheating on her boring-ass fiance), just in a "I'm not that into it" kind of way. They fuck like 10 minutes after meeting, and I 100% didn't buy it.

I'm gonna say it: Moonstruck is hugely overrated! 

Grade: C+

***

My Old Ass

Directed by Megan Park and starring Maisey Stella in a wonderful film debut, My Old Ass is a comforting, yet bittersweet film that begs the question: if your older self and younger self met, what advice would they give each other?

Elliott (Stella) has just turned 18 and is spending her last summer working on her family's cranberry farm before she leaves for bigger and better things. To celebrate her bday, she and her friends take a camping trip and do mushrooms. While under the influence of the shrooms, Elliott meets her 39 year old self (played by Aubrey Plaza). Older Elliott puts her phone number in younger Elliott's phone and even after the shrooms wear off, young Elliott finds she can call and text old Elliott!

She asks old Elliott for life advice, but all that old Elliott can do is warn her to avoid a guy named Chad. Well, it just so happens that Chad (Percy Hynes White) is working at the cranberry farm that summer...and he's a lovely guy. Young Elliott doesn't understand why old Elliott is warning her off of this guy, and the audience spends most of the movie waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But My Old Ass is about much more than the Chad plot line. It's about how your older self only knows the "right" and "wrong" way to live your life because your younger self made mistakes. It's about the bittersweet truth that life can only be lived in one direction, which is exactly what makes life meaningful: you CAN'T go back and correct so-called "mistakes". You can learn from them, but you can't relive the past.

Old Elliott is 39 years old. I will be 39 in a few weeks. This movie is aimed at people my age because the point of being young is that you never think you'll get old. And before you know it, you are your own old ass. But that's not a bad thing because you need both your young ass and your old ass in order to be your full self. And young Elliott has words of wisdom for old Elliott too, because young asses can be very wise.

Grade: B+

***

Heretic

This much anticipated psychological horror film starring Hugh Grant in a villain role started strong, but got progressively less interesting as the film went on. Still, it was a very entertaining watch. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East play Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, Mormon missionaries who arrive at the home of Mr. Reed (Grant), a harmless looking man who invites them in and tells them that his wife is in the kitchen baking a pie.

Reed initially seems interested and knowledgeable about the Church of Latter Day Saints, but eventually begins to ask the young women challenging questions about their faith. The turning point in their conversation is when he asks them about polygamy. Sister Barnes explains that the belief in polygamy served the early church when there was a need for population growth but that now the LDS knows better. Reed counters that Joseph Smith wanted to have consequence free sex with a lot of women and used his power to take advantage.

Barnes, the more worldly of the two women, starts to realize that something is wrong when she sees a scented candle and deduces that there is no pie...and probably no Mrs. Reed, either. But when she and Paxton attempt to leave, they find that they are locked in and that their phones don't work. Reed pulls out the big (intellectual) guns and forces the women to listen to his lengthy explanation that religions are just iterations of one another--copying and stealing from previous beliefs, much like Radiohead copied The Hollies and Lana Del Ray copied Radiohead. He then forces the women to choose between a door labeled "Belief" and a door labeled "Disbelief".

I think many people will go into Heretic thinking that it's a different kind of movie and will therefore be disappointed and annoyed that the first half of the film is essentially a older man lecturing two younger women about why their religious beliefs are bullshit. I actually enjoyed this half of the movie more, mostly due to Grant's performance as a genteel, mansplaining villain. It was interesting to both agree (mostly) with Reed's intellectual argument while also disavowing how he makes his argument. I do believe that religions are iterations of one another, which begs the question: how do you know that your religious beliefs are the "right" ones? But I also think trapping women in a house to force them to reckon with this is, uh, shitty.

Heretic loses me in the final act when the film morphs into something we've seen in a million movies before. I won't give it away here, but let me just say that I think the final revelations blew it for me. However, the experience of watching the movie was very entertaining. I can't see myself watching it again, but I am hype to watch a YouTube video essay about it from the POV of a former Mormon missionary!

Grade: B

***

Say Nothing (TV series)

Based on the critically acclaimed book by Patrick Radden Keefe, this show (streaming on Hulu) is about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and specifically about two sisters, Dolours and Marian Price, who worked for the Irish Republican Army in the 1970s and 1980s. 

There is a LOT to cover in 9 episodes and I feel that the show didn't spend enough time helping the audience understand why the IRA engaged in so much violence for decades. I know a little about the Troubles, but not a lot, and I know there is a lot of nuance to the situation in Northern Ireland, but for someone who knows nothing, I think it's going to be difficult for them to empathize with the sisters who are willing to harm and even kill anyone and everyone in service to "the cause". 

One aspect of the Troubles Say Nothing explores is how easily a just cause can turn into a cult of personality with the head honchos directing people to kill without ever pulling the trigger themselves. The man who orders the execution never drops the blade, does he? The show explores the role Gerry Adams played in the IRA and his eventual disavowal and denial that he had any involvement as he goes into politics. You know, in many ways Say Nothing is less about the Troubles and more about human psychology and what drives people to completely rearrange their moral and ethical values if they believe (or are convinced by others) that the end justifies the means. 

I'm not a pacifist, but I also think that violence should be the nuclear option on the path to civil rights mostly because I believe that humans tend to develop a taste for it once they cross that line. If we look at examples of violent revolutions throughout history, we can see that the violence doesn't just end when the agreed upon "bad guys" are dead...people tend to move the goal posts to find new victims once they experience the power that a gun in their hand gives them. Call me a misanthrope, but I do believe that power and violence rot the soul, even (maybe especially) when the cause is just. 

Just some food for thought!

Grade: B

Stuff I watched in...October, 2024 (oops, all scaries!)

Regular readers know that horror is my favorite genre. However, my focus this month was exclusively on horror and thriller ("oops, all scaries") films. And the first one on this list is one of the scariest movies I've seen in a hot minute.

Oddity

I was very impressed by this Irish horror film directed by Damian McCarthy. Not only is it genuinely watch-through-your-fingers terrifying, it's also just a dang good movie!

(Spoilers ahead)

Carolyn Bracken plays Dani Odello-Timmis, a woman renovating an old country house with her psychiatrist husband, Ted (Gwilym Lee). One night, while she is home alone, a man knocks on the door and begs to be let in. He claims he saw another man enter the house while Dani was looking for something in her car. Dani isn't sure what to believe. This man looks deranged, but he is insistent.

We cut to a year later and find out that Dani was murdered--presumably by the man at the door, a patient named Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy) who was recently released from the psychiatric hospital where Ted works. Ted has moved on. Not only does he live in the house where his wife was murdered, he also has a new girlfriend. When he receives a visit from his wife's twin sister, Darcy (also played by Carolyn Bracken), a blind woman who owns a curiosity shop and claims to have psychic powers, he's more than a little annoyed. But Darcy has a shocking piece of information: Olin Boole is not the man who killed Ted's wife.

Oddity has great acting (especially Bracken playing the twin sisters), a great story, and absolutely terrific scares. No movie has scared me like this one in a very long time. The atmosphere is unsettling, the feeling of dread is thick, and as a bonus, Darcy brings a very, very creepy wooden mannequin with her when she visits Ted. 

Grade: A

***

Caveat

After watching Oddity, I wanted to watch Damian McCarthy's first feature-length film. Caveat has a really interesting premise, but is ultimately a little too boring and slow for my taste (it felt long at 88 minutes). Jonathan French plays Isaac, a down on his luck man who takes a job "babysitting" his old landlord's adult niece, who lives alone on an island and has catatonic spells. The landlord, Moe (Ben Caplan), explains that he's just nervous to leave his niece alone when she's catatonic and he'll give Isaac $200 a day just to hang out with her. Isaac wonders what the catch is.

Well, the catch is that Isaac has to be locked into a vest that is connected to a chain that is staked into the cement floor in the basement. He can wander around the house, but the chain prevents him from going into the niece's bedroom. She's terrified of a man attacking her (so says Moe)...so this is the caveat (ha) that Isaac must accept. He tries to back out, but it's kind of too late.

Of course, there's much more to the story than this, but that central premise is pretty fascinating. And there are some really terrifying scenes that feel like they were downloaded directly from Damian McCarthy's nightmares. The man has a way with disturbing (though not gory) imagery. But even so, Caveat felt too insubstantial to be a feature-length film. It would have been great if it were 20 minutes shorter and had slightly better writing. 

Grade: B-

***

Red Rooms

I have been waiting to watch the French-Canadian psychological thriller Red Rooms for over a year. Directed by Pascal Plante, Red Rooms starts out as a courtroom drama. A man, Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), is on trial for the murder of three teenage girls. But he didn't just murder them: he tortured them to death in horrific ways and live streamed it all on the dark web for pay. 

Two women who have no relation to either Chevalier or the families of the murdered girls are sitting in to watch the trial: Clementine, a Chevalier "groupie" who believes the man is innocent (played by Laurie Babin), and Kelly-Anne, a model whose motives for attending the trial are unclear (played by an excellent Juliette Gariepy). 

Red Rooms is a film about obsession with crime. We see Kelly-Anne do alarming things, such as hack into the email account of a mother of one of the murdered girls. We don't know why. Perhaps Kelly-Anne is just a thrill seeker. She enjoys gambling in her spare time, so maybe she just likes to live an edgy life. But we can't help but wonder if she has more sinister motivations.

Go into Red Rooms knowing as little as possible. If you are worried about gore, be assured that we never see anything violent. However, we do hear the screams from the films and they are screams that will haunt your nightmares. Red Rooms is an intense film on many levels: the mystery, the plot, and even the musical score are designed to unsettle you.

Grade: A

***

Sleepaway Camp

Although I know the infamous twist which is revealed at the end of 1983's Sleepaway Camp, I had never seen or had much interest in the film. But there seems to be a bit of a resurgence in interest in the movie (I feel like a number of YouTube videos about it have been posted recently), so I decided to check it out.

Sleepaway Camp is not a good movie, but it is iconic. The movie focuses on cousins Angela (Felissa Rose) and Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten), who are sent to summer camp by Ricky's extremely weird mother, Martha (Desiree Gould). Seriously, I think that 50% of why this movie is remembered today is because of Gould's two scenes in the film. 

Angela is extremely quiet and shy. As a child, she lost the rest of her family in a boating accident, which is why she's being raised by creepy Aunt Martha. The other girls at Camp Arawak mostly ignore her except for Judy (Karen Fields), a snotty bully who begins to resent the quiet girl for attracting the attention of fellow camper Paul (Christopher Collet). 

tl;dr a bunch of gruesome murders take place at the camp, and they seem to happen to the people who torment Angela (including a kiddie-touching cook who gets scalded to death by boiling water)...WHO COULD THE MURDERER BE?? But the real twist of the film isn't the reveal of the killer, it's...something else. And it's what makes Sleepaway Camp an almost guilty pleasure and an iconic film within queer circles. 

Grade: C

***

Woman of the Hour

Anna Kendrick's directorial debut mixes fact and fiction about serial killer Rodney Alcala, aka "The Dating Game Serial Killer". In 1978, Alcala was a contestant on The Dating Game and actually won. The woman who picked him out of three potential bachelors was Cheryl Bradshaw, a woman we hardly have any information about. Kendrick plays Bradshaw and fleshes out the character, imagining her as an aspiring actress who agrees to go on The Dating Game as a last-ditch effort to get exposure.

But that is ALL fictional, as is her behavior on the show (Kendrick imagines Bradshaw as a whip-smart woman who tires of the sexist treatment she receives from the host of the show and she rewrites the questions mid-show to make a fool out of the host, Ed (Tony Hale), and the eligible bachelors). 

What is not fictional are the crimes of Alcala. Alcala is played by Daniel Zovatto in an absolutely stunning performance in Woman of the Hour. Feels weird to praise the guy playing the killer in this feminist film, but praise where praise is due: Zovatto plays Alcala as a charismatic, magnetic, intelligent man who is able to get women alone so that he can rape and kill them. 

But as wily as Alcala is, one of his victims, Amy (Autumn Best), is wilier. She plays a fictional version of the only victim who lived to tell her tale and she survived by beating Alcala psychologically at his own game. She escaped and went to the cops...but he would go on to kill two more women before he was arrested and put on trial. 

Woman of the Hour is good and it blends fact and fiction really well...though, I wonder, to what end? Kendrick skillfully shows how women were already treated like slightly overgrown children--emotional beings not to be trusted--and how that allowed men like Alcala (and Ted Bundy, etc etc) to get away with so many murders. It wasn't that these men were geniuses...it's just that a culture of misogyny allowed for them to carry on with murder and rape sprees. 

But the movie still does make Alcala look like a weirdly attractive killing machine. I think that's just the way Zovatto plays him and I don't think it was Kendrick's intention to play into serial killer awe/worship, but I still have to wonder why we have a movie that focuses on this man. Sure, it focuses on Bradshaw too, but a fictional version of her. 

I might be biased because I am currently reading Jessica Knoll's Bright Young Women, a novel that is entirely from the perspective of the female victims and survivors of a serial killer. The book really makes an effort to take all power and worship away from the fictional killer (simply called "The Defendant" in the book) and refer to him as small, ugly, and stupid. 

Anyway, Woman of the Hour is a solid film and a very good directorial debut. I do hope, though, that we'll continue to see less media that focuses on the supposedly criminal masterminds that are serial killers and more on the victims of those killers--after all, it is the victims who are special, NOT the killers.

Grade: B

***

Milk and Serial

This 60 minute found footage film, directed by Curry Barker for $800, is free on YouTube. Barker plays "Milk" and Cooper Tomlinson plays "Seven", two friends who run a prank channel on YouTube. After Seven plans an elaborate prank for Milk's birthday party, the prank war escalates...with devastating consequences.

This is one where you just want to go in blind. I can't say that I was totally surprised by the twists in this film, but it's a very solid and fun short movie, especially given its micro-micro-micro budget. 

If you're into found footage type movies and/or YouTube, you'll probably dig this one. You can watch the film for free here.

Grade: B

***

The Devil's Bath

(spoilers)

The Devil's Bath is an excellent German film directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the duo who previously directed The Lodge and Goodnight Mommy. Having seen their other films, this one feels like a big step up for them.

Set in 1750 Austria, Agnes (Anja Plaschg) marries Wolf (David Scheid). It's a tough transition into married life for Agnes, especially when she realizes that 1) her mother in law, Mother Ganglin (Maria Hofstatter), will be heavily involved in her and Wolf's business and that 2) Wolf won't consummate the marriage.

Agnes is a sensitive, dreamy woman who would rather spend time in nature than helping her fisherman husband with his trade, which she is expected to do. She hopes for a baby, but given that Wolf turns over in bed and ignores her every night, that dream fades away. Agnes becomes melancholic and since this is the 18th century, there's not much that can be done about it other than pray and subject oneself to very questionable home remedies. As time goes on, and with almost no support in the community, Agnes seriously considers doing something drastic.

The Devil's Bath is based on a book by Kathy Stuart titled Suicide by Proxy in Early Modern Germany: Crime, Sin and Salvation as well as historical records of two women who engaged in "suicide by proxy"--because their religious beliefs forbade suicide as a sin that would send the person straight to hell, these women committed murder, guaranteeing they would be executed. But they were offered confession and forgiveness before their sentence was carried out, so they had the chance to be cleansed of sin and allowed into heaven by God. Pretty sad and gruesome, but also a fascinating look into how depression and suicidal ideation was dealt with some 250 years ago.

Streaming on Shudder, The Devil's Bath is more of a historical drama than a horror film. It's also the best depiction of severe depression I've seen in a movie since Melancholia. But unlike Melancholia and even Franz and Fiala's previous film, The Lodge, The Devil's Bath has a gentleness and a beauty to it which makes it a bearable--and worthwhile--watch. 

Grade: A-

***

Stuff I watched in...September, 2024

The People's Joker

The People's Joker is a satire of superhero films written, directed by, and starring trans director Vera Drew. Drawing inspiration from her own life as a trans woman, she explores the mythology and themes around the Batman villain Joker. Drew crowdfunded this movie and it very much feels like a DIY passion project where a bunch of creative people came together to put on a show. What's interesting is that even though the film looks low budget, it doesn't feel low budget. Unlike schlocky low budget films like Sharknado, The People's Joker has purpose and heart.

Drew plays a trans woman who grew up in Smallville, Kansas and whose mother was in denial about her child's gender identity. Young Vera is given a medication called Smylex that forces people to "put on a happy face" no matter how they're feeling inside. Vera grows up and moves to Gotham City, where she tries out for the comedy show UCB Live (a reference to Saturday Night Live), but is disillusioned by the legal constraints put on humor (the film takes place in a dystopian future where unapproved comedy is illegal). She and Oswald Cobblepot (Batman fans will recognize this character as a version of the Penguin) start their own comedy troupe, but call it "anti-comedy" to skirt around the law. 

Vera then meets and begins a romance with a trans man, who dresses like the Jared Leto version of the Joker and goes by Mr. J. However, their romance quickly becomes toxic as Mr. J proves to be controlling and manipulative. Still, he supports Vera in her physical transition. Vera, going by Joker the Harlequin now, fights for a spot as the host of UCB Live while also trying to reconnect with her mother.

There's a lot going on in The People's Joker and it's a very personal movie. As a cisgender woman, I still related to the themes of "putting on a happy face" or presenting a certain way to make other people feel comfortable as well as being annoyed when people expect me to act or look at certain way as a woman. In The People's Joker, Vera physically transitions (diving into a vat of estrogen at one point), but retains masculine elements in her looks and demeanor. I really loved that Vera Drew made a movie about how people exist between the binaries and how it can be empowering to refuse to let some parts of yourself fade into the background to make people feel more comfortable. It's a timeless message that feels very timely right now.

I really loved The People's Joker. It's messy and cobbled together, but it's got heart. Big and true heart. Definitely check it out if you're interested. I'm excited to see what Vera Drew does next.

Grade: B+

***

Please Baby Please

Please Baby Please is a very queer, delightful, and weird movie directed by Amanda Kramer. It's about a 1950s couple, Suze (Andrea Riseborough) and Arthur (Harry Melling), who come home to find a leather gang, The Young Gents, beating some people to death outside their apartment. The horrified couple are even more horrified to realize they are attracted to the gang. After their encounter with The Young Gents, Suze starts talking about how she wishes she could be a man so she could wear a leather jacket and act like Marlon Brando. When friends tease Arthur for not being willing to fight like a man, he says, "I won't be terrorized into acting like a savage just because I was born male". The Young Gents have awakened Suze and Arthur's innermost desires, which involve fucking with their gender roles.

Please Baby Please is classified as a musical, but there are no songs. There are fantasy dance sequences filled with leather-clad men and Suze in lingerie. The movie is very kinky, despite having no sex and very few kisses. In fact, the costuming is the kinkiest part of the movie. The film feels like a stage play, with heightened dialogue that no one would use in real life and Andrea Riseborough in a snarling, unhinged performance. It's a strange, strange film that will appeal to specific tastes. I described it as  "if David Lynch directed Cruising and then that movie had a baby with John Waters' Crybaby". If you read that and know what the hell I'm talking about and it appeals to you, you'll probably like this film. 

I mentioned that Andrea Riseborough gives a crazy performance, but Harry Melling (best known for his role as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies) is also wonderful as the quiet, passive Arthur who longs for the touch--and protection of--Teddy, one of the Young Gents. Yeah, this movie is queer as fuck in multiple different ways. The movie itself resists categorization even as its characters resist being categorized as one gender or another, one sexuality or another, and even one personality or another. It's a kinky celebration of ambiguity and endless possibilities. I loved it. If "queer, BDSM West Side Story" sounds appealing to you, give it a watch. 

Grade: A-

***

Mrs. Doubtfire

Chris Columbus's 1993 family film starring the late, great Robin Williams has only gotten better with age. For a movie that is about a man who dresses in drag to pose as a nanny in order to get closer to his children during a divorce, Mrs. Doubtfire has shockingly few offensive jokes. Furthermore, it's remarkable how divorce is treated in this 30 year old film. No one in this movie is truly a villain. Daniel Hillard (Williams) is a man-child whose antics drive his wife, Miranda (Sally Field), to file for divorce. Despite being a bit of a stereotype as a high-strung career woman, Miranda is not treated as a bad or unreasonable person. Even more remarkable, her potential new love interest, Stu (Pierce Brosnan), is also not a bad guy at all! If anyone in this movie is the bad guy, it's Daniel, who undermines his wife and makes her job as a parent very difficult.

It's interesting that Daniel magically becomes a better parent through the power of drag. After he transforms into the soft-spoken yet firm older woman, Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire, with the help of his makeup artist brother (Harvey Fierstein, always a welcome presence in a movie), Daniel finds it within himself to actually be a parent and not just a friend to his kids. Not only does he get them to finish their homework on time and complete their chores, he also connects with them in a way he couldn't when he was just Dad and not Doubtfire.

In the real world, Daniel's antics would probably land him in jail and would certainly result in less time with his children, not more. But through the magic of Hollywood, Miranda realizes that not only does Daniel need his kids, they need him too, and they end up sharing custody more equitably. That a slapstick comedy involving fake breasts being set on fire in one memorable scene could also have such a generous and humane approach to divorce and co-parenting is really beautiful. 

Grade: A

***

Rebel Ridge

The latest film by Jeremy Saulnier (best known for his punks vs. Nazis thriller Green Room) is a tight, action-packed movie that's also wickedly smart. Aaron Pierre plays Terry, a Black man who gets pulled over by the cops in a small town in Louisiana while biking to the court house with a backpack full of bail money to get his cousin out of jail. When the cops realize he has $36,000 cash in his backpack, they seize it, claiming that it might be drug money. This is all legal, by the way. So now Terry can't bail his cousin out and his cousin is being transported to the state prison where he is in danger because he informed on a powerful gang leader.

Terry tries to make a deal with the police chief to get the bail money (10k from the 36k), and he'll let them keep the rest--he won't go through the appeal process to repossess his own (legally acquired) assets. The chief, Sandy Burnne (played by Don Johnson), says no deal. The police see Terry as an easily swatted-away nuisance and the cash as funds they can use for their department. Turns out, Terry was in the Marines and is specially trained in close-quarters combat and if he can't ask nicely or bargain for the money back, he'll fight for it. This leads to some sick fight scenes where Terry easily disarms cops. 

I won't go into more detail because there is a lot more plot, but suffice it to say that Rebel Ridge is consistently thrilling and smart (if a bit over-the-top at times). It feels like Saulnier wanted to educate viewers about injustices in our legal system as much as he wanted to entertain them, and he strikes a good balance between dialogue explaining all the legal stuff and heart-pounding fight scenes and chase scenes. It's not as entertaining as Green Room, but it's a very solid action-thriller. 

Grade: B

***

Ingrid Goes West

Directed by Matt Spicer, Ingrid Goes West is a disturbing black comedy about a woman, the titular Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza), who has a habit of obsessing over and stalking women she doesn't know on social media. The film opens with her storming into a woman's wedding reception, screaming at her for not being invited, and pepper-spraying the woman in the face. The kicker? Ingrid was never friends with this woman--she only knew her from Instagram.

After being released from a mental health facility, Ingrid, flush with cash inherited upon her mother's death, begins stalking a new victim: Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), an LA-based influencer. Ingrid moves to LA and begins her machinations to worm her way into Taylor's life, which involve kidnapping Taylor's dog and then returning it, much to the relief and gratitude of Taylor and her husband, Ezra (Wyatt Russell). 

At first, it seems like things are working out for Ingrid. Taylor is also a bit crazy and reckless, as well as fake (she's a social media influencer, after all), so she's a good match for Ingrid's unstable personality. But when Taylor's sociopathic brother, Nicky (Billy Magnussen), comes to town, he sniffs Ingrid out for the bullshit artist she is immediately.

Y'all, this is a dark movie. It's delightfully nasty, and actually fairly sympathetic towards Ingrid even though she is legit terrifying. Ingrid Goes West skewers the Instagrammable lives that influencers live and shows that even though she's more mentally stable and socially acceptable, Taylor is, in many ways, just as big of a liar and a fraud as Ingrid is. A very dark and uncomfortable movie, Ingrid Goes West hurts so good.

Grade: B+

***

Speak No Evil (2024)

James Watkins' Speak No Evil is a remake of a Danish film that came out only two years ago (which I reviewed here). Understandably, cinephiles were confused and bemused about why a remake of an already solid film was necessary at all, let alone within such a short time period. Some wrote it off as a cynical cash grab.

I do agree that it was not strictly "necessary" to remake Speak No Evil...but, honestly, the remake is pretty fun. It makes some massive changes to the final third that will possibly infuriate people who loved the bleakness of the original, but it still makes for a fun thriller. 

The film follows an American couple, Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) Dalton, who move to London with their 12 year old daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler). The family meets another family while on vacation. Paddy (James McAvoy) is a bit of a macho boor, but his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) is sweet and their son Ant (Dan Hough) gets along with Agnes so the two families spend a good amount of time together while on vacation. Paddy and Ciara invite the Daltons to their farmhouse for a long weekend and, despite some trepidation, they decide to go.

To make a long story short, once they arrive, Paddy and Ciara (especially Paddy) begin pushing the Daltons' boundaries. First, in small(ish) ways, like encouraging vegetarian Louise to eat a bite of the prize goose Paddy butchered and cooked for dinner. But soon, the boundary-punishing moves from odd to irritating to dangerous and the otherwise accommodating Daltons are forced to fight back.

The premise at the core of both the original and remake is that some people (or some cultures, as the original was a specific commentary on Danish politeness) prize politeness and not wanting to cause a scene over their own comfort and even their own lives. The original took this premise to an extreme (and, in my opinion, more realistic) conclusion whereas the remake suggests that there is a breaking point where people will fight back. 

The original is the better horror film because it truly leans into horror in a way the more "Americanized" remake does not. The remake is the better thriller because it's more, well, thrilling, to see victims fight back. So, both films are good, it just depends on what you're in the mood to watch: a bleak, nihilistic fable about the dangers of having weak boundaries, or a popcorn thriller about people overcoming their own fear to fight back against their enemies?

Grade: B

***

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

I had heard that this documentary, directed by Kurt Kuenne, is one of the most heartbreaking movies of all time. I'm not sure whether it's better to go in knowing the whole story or not, but either way, Dear Zachary will absolutely break your heart. The rumors are indeed true. This is a difficult movie. 

The elevator pitch is that the director's longtime friend, Andrew Bagby, was found murdered in Keystone State Park in Pennsylvania. The most obvious suspect was Andrew's on-again, off-again girlfriend, Shirley Turner, who fled to Newfoundland after the murder. Due to various failures in the Canadian justice system, Shirley was released on bail and not immediately extradited to the United States. But it gets worse...Shirley was pregnant with Andrew's baby.

So, you have a very likely murderer living free and raising a helpless child. Kuenne began the documentary as a gift to Zachary, the child. He interviews numerous friends and family about Andrew, who was deeply beloved. He also documents Andrew's parents' agony at having to share custody of their grandson with their son's likely murderer...a woman who is also deeply disturbed. The fear and rage are unimaginable.

But that's not the end of the story. You'll have to watch this excellent documentary (or read spoilers) to find out what happens. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is one of the rawest, most emotional docs I've seen. The good news is that the film lead to some reform of Canada's justice system so that others will be more protected in the future.

Grade: A

***

The Road to Wellville

I recently revisited this very bizarre and poop-filled sex comedy (you heard that right), which I was kind of obsessed with as a young teen. I was obsessed with it because I had a crush on Matthew Broderick, who has a lead role in the movie, but the film's wacky horniness was also...intriguing...to me at that age. 

The movie, based on the novel by T.C. Boyle, is a fictionalized take on the life and work of John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins). Kellogg was a real person and he was obsessed with clean living. He ran a health clinic in Battle Creek, Michigan and was a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian who was a vegetarian long before it was a common thing to be. He was also extremely anti-masturbation to the point where he recommended genital mutilation as a way of deterring children from masturbating. That part is thankfully not in the movie.

The movie centers around a couple, Will and Eleanor Lightbody (Broderick and Bridget Fonda), who arrive at the good doctor's clinic to help Will fix his stomach troubles. The prescription is abstinence from sex (including with one's spouse), a wholesome diet of grains and produce, and enemas. Lots and lots and lots of enemas. The Lightbody's are separated and make the acquaintances of several people who tempt them into extramarital activities. The thesis of the film seems to be that the repression of sex leads to obsession, a belief I can get behind.

Behind? Get it? Hahahah

The Road to Wellville is a movie that is both kinky and wacky. A strange, though not unprecedented, combination (check out Exit to Eden for another kinky/wacky movie). I personally really like it, especially Anthony Hopkins as Kellogg. It reminds me a bit of one of my favorite movies, Quills. Both movies take a real historical figure who was abusive and sick (Kellogg in Wellville and the Maquis de Sade in Quills) and clean them up for the screen, making them seem relatively harmless.

But unlike Quills, I can't in good conscience call The Road to Wellville a "good" movie. Which makes it hard to grade because I like it, but it's objectively a pretty bad film. So we'll leave it at a C+. 

Grade: C+

***

Apartment 7A

Oh, man, what a disappointing movie. Perhaps even more so because I had a feeling it would be disappointing. Directed by Natalie Erika James and going straight to streaming on Paramount, Apartment 7A is a prequel to Rosemary's Baby. Before Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse moved into the Bramford apartment building and were drawn into the machinations of a coven of witches, there was Terry Gionoffrio. There's a scene in Rosemary's Baby where Rosemary briefly speaks to Terry, a dancer who lives with kooky older couple, Minnie and Roman Castevet, in the laundry room. Terry mentions that the older couple were kind enough to help her get off the street and off of drugs. A day later, the Woodhouse's come home to see that Terry has jumped out of a window of the Bramford to her death. 

Apartment 7A is Terry's story. And I apologize if the above is a spoiler, but Rosemary's Baby came out 55 years ago, so the statue of limitations on spoilers is up. I LOVE Rosemary's Baby, so I was curious to watch Apartment 7A and see how it expanded on the story. The result is very meh. The acting and production are good, but the story is just mediocre and rushes headlong into a very anti-climactic ending. The one thing I enjoyed about the film was Dianne Wiest as Minnie Castevet. The incomparable Ruth Gordon played Minnie in the original film and it was delightful to see Wiest try her hand at the iconic role. She gets the accent, the mannerisms, and the ability to switch from slightly nosy but sweet old lady to dismissive, cruel, and calculating old lady down pat. Kevin McNally as Roman Castevet was very good too. 

But unlike Rosemary's Baby, where Rosemary slowly puts the pieces together about a conspiracy to have her give birth to the antichrist, Apartment 7A has Terry find out because a nun tells her what's going on like 10 minutes before the movie ends. She puts a few clues together, but there isn't that sense of creeping dread and paranoia that infused the original film. Rosemary's Baby has no jump scares and no gore...just endless dread (and misogyny). Apartment 7A has nothing. Skip it unless you're a huge fan of the original and want to see another gifted actress step into the shoes of Minnie Castevet.

Grade: C