To be fair, I have been watching new movies, but to clarify, this weekend I watched a few potential Oscar contenders, along with some other new movies! This is exciting stuff people! With the Oscars getting pushed back to April, there is more time for contenders to release, which means I have to wait until next year for a good chunk of them. That’s why it’s exciting to get to see some now!
Mank – Oh, man. David Fincher’s latest effort has been hyped up for quite some time and it finally made its way to Netflix. I knew from the go that I wasn’t going to love this film, heck, maybe not even like it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome! The film focuses on writer Herman Mankiewicz, who is most famously known for Citizen Kane. He’s a raging alcoholic but is able to charm almost anyone he meets. In just a little over two hours you get to see a fairly large chunk of Mank’s life from before he wrote Citizen Kane, to when Orson Welles offered to pay him to keep his name off the screenplay. The flashbacks were cleverly achieved by using stage directions, and I appreciated the use of black and white to portray this period in time. With all that being said, I felt like maybe too much material was trying to get covered in the amount of time allotted. Definitely for film buffs.
Ammonite – A very quiet romance from Francis Lee, who brought 2017’s acclaimed God’s Own Country to the screen, is at the sea this time. Also, this time it is exploring the blossoming relationship between a self-taught paleontologist, Mary Anning and the depressed wife of a novice paleontologist, Charlotte Murchinson. Mary is tasked with essentially baby-sitting Charlotte for her husband while he travels and learns more about paleontology. Both women are at first grumpy and avoid each other, but when Charlotte falls ill, Mary can’t help but find herself falling for Charlotte. I found this movie’s quiet nature, drab town, and pace very melodic, but Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan lacked a bit of chemistry despite the very graphic sex scenes. Still a great watch from a clearly talented director. I imagine this could grab some awards season love!
Freaky – From the director who gave us Happy Death Day and Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, comes Freaky! This is a very fun twist on the body-swap, and it’s a horror-comedy, which is always my speed. Millie is an an awkward high school teen who gets pretty routinely bullied by everyone, and the Blissfield Butcher kills teens around the time of homecoming every year. Unfortunately for Millie, their paths cross and she gets stabbed. Only thing is that stab causes the two to switch bodies. The butcher is loving his new life and unlimited access to teens to kill, but Millie is trying to get her body back! Yes, the deaths are gory, but there are equal amounts of one-liners. Vince Vaughn had me in stitches with his teenage girl impression. Must watch!
Dreamland – Definitely the weakest of the bunch, even with stars Margot Robbie and Finn Cole. I’m an Animal Kingdom fan, so watching this seemed like an obvious choice even though the reviews were tepid. I think I understand why. Not much happened. Even though the narration hinted at something really foreboding, nothing happened that I didn’t already really expect. Eugene comes across an outlaw, Allison Wells, who is wanted for theft and murder. She sweet talks him and he falls for her, eventually stealing a car so the two can skip town. The trip is pretty well short-lived once Eugene realizes all the talk about her is true. I guess he is a young and naïve boy, but come on. I liked both of their performances, but the action was predictable and boring.