Yes, voting for the Independent Spirit Awards starts this weekend, and no, I still haven’t watched Blue Bayou or Drive My Car. I just haven’t managed to be in the right mindset for a serious drama and a three hour saga (regardless of how well it’s been reviewed). Lately, I’ve been trying to go for quantity, not necessarily quality, but I do plan to squeeze the two in before this weekend rolls around. Instead, I watched a bunch of stuff on Hulu!
A Nasty Piece of Work – After doing a little bit more research, I’ve learned that this was actually an episode of television for the Hulu original series Into the Dark. It’s an anthology series, so watching any other episodes wouldn’t have made an impact, so with all that being said, this was a truly strange viewing experience. Two dudes, Ted and Gavin, get invited to their awful boss’s house, along with their wives, to compete for a new, VP-level role at the company they work for. As soon as they step in the house, it’s kind of bonkers. Both their boss and his wife are super sexually inappropriate, but then start pulling guns on each other. The pair keep trying to push the envelope to see just how desperate Ted and Gavin are for the job, but things do eventually work out in the, very weird, end. I can’t say I’d recommend this to anyone, nor does it entice me to watch the rest of the series.
We Broke Up – Doug and Lori decide to end their 10-year relationship after Doug asks Lori to marry him and she responds by vomiting. Only thing is, they’re due to leave the next day for Lori’s sister’s wedding. The two decide to act like they’re still together for the long weekend so it doesn’t ruin the wedding. Throughout various wedding-related activities, there are both tender and awkward moments, along with a reconciliation, but the pair take a good step back and evaluate what they want out of life before making their final decision. I thought this was a very sweet and often times funny film. For the most part it’s a feel-good watch, so I recommend giving it a watch.
Ride the Eagle – Leif is kind of living his best hippie life in a mini house with his dog, Nora, when he learns that his mother died. The two have been estranged since he was twelve, when she chose a cult over being a parent. Over the years she’s tried to reconnect, but Leif refused her calls and attempts. Evidently, she’s left Leif her Yosemite cabin, but it’s a conditional inheritance. He must complete a list that she left him accompanied by a video explaining that she missed out on teaching him a lot of things, so she was going to teach him the most important ones. Throughout his doing of “the list,” he’s able to reconnect with an old flame, but most importantly, find out what makes him happy. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen, but the cast is great and it pulled at my heartstrings a little bit.
Sweet Virginia – My final choice was a somewhat twisted, slow-burn of a thriller. It starts off with three murders, and then that murderer sticking around to collect his pay and befriending a local motel owner, Sam. Sam is an array of things, equal parts sweet and caring, but he’s lived the life of a bull-rider and has suffered his own personal tragedies. It all ends in a gunfight, but you can tell it’s going to mentally impact Sam for a long time coming. What I enjoyed most about this film (besides it starring Christopher Abbott and Jon Bernthal), was how you learned of more interlocking connections as the film went on between all of its main characters. Despite it being a pretty short film, I thought it could have picked up the pace a little bit, but sometimes just simmering in a scene worked, too.