I promise I did watch movies last weekend, but I was just too lazy to write about them. So now you get two weeks worth of film reviews.
Firebrand – To be honest, I went into this movie totally blind. I had only just recently heard about it by name, but I saw Alicia Vikander and Sam Riley and I was in. I told my friend that just as the movie was about to start and she laughed very hard. She then explained to me that this movie was about King Henry the VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr. She was right to laugh at me. I have almost no interest in history or royals, so I thought this was going to be a really rough watch. It wasn’t the best time, but they made the events in this film so tense that it felt more like a psychological thriller. So that was actually pretty cool.
Poolman – Oof. Chris Pine is cool and sexy, but his directorial debut just could not hold my attention. He plays some hippie dippie pool guy out in California who gets roped into surveilling a crooked local politician, but the road there is a weird one. Most things work out in the pool man’s favor because he’s just a nice guy, if sometimes a bit aloof. He’s juggling a lot, and there is a hodge podge of characters that come in and out along the way, but for me it just made a disjointed mess. I saw one reviewer say that they were unsure if anyone could really like this film as much as Chris Pine and that’s fair. I know this film got panned by reviewers, but I hope he gives himself a second chance someday.
The Last Stop in Yuma County – Not to be confused with Breaking News in Yuba County, this chamber piece focuses on patrons in a diner just looking to get some gas. The stakes are raised of course because two bank robbers have entered the equation and they are very recognizable to many of the diner’s guests. It’s a tense, but quiet standoff until more visitors arrive, and then it turns into a chaotic, bloody mess. If you think at least one person is making it out of there alive with the money, well…all might not be as it appears. This vehicle stars one of my favorite oddball director-actors, Jim Cummings, so it was totally worth the watch for that alone. It was an interesting take on a common genre.
Your Name Engrave Herein – I have done a piss poor job of watching anything queer during pride month, so in an effort to write those wrongs I scoured the internet to find some of the best queer films out there, and more specifically, foreign ones, and the people came back again and again with this film on Netflix. Hoo boy did they have it right! This Taiwanese film flitted through a myriad of emotions, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it all weekend. In the late 80s, after martial law has come to an end in Taiwan, students Jia-Han and Birdy fall hard, though slowly in love. It’s a tricky situation to be in, as the change in the country leaves everything a bit on edge. As a bit of a spoiler, you could view the ending as a happy one, though it was a bit sad to get there. Highly recommend!
Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now – Although this ended up being an exact replica of the Impera Tour that my sister and I got to see late in 2022, that didn’t stop me from enjoying it all over again on the big screen. Especially if it means I’m still going to have to wait any length of time for a new album or a new tour. They tried to break the show up with bits of comedy involving lore I’m unfamiliar with, but it did make me laugh all the same. I sincerely hope this gets a physical media release, because I definitely want a high definition concert film in my collection. In fact, more bands need to be doing this! In any case, we got hints of a new persona for Tobias Forge, though it’s ultimate reveal was left in a cliffhanger that I suspect will be resolved at a show in the near future. For those reluctant to embrace heavy metal, I promise you couldn’t find a more affable and fun band to start with.
Wicked Little Letters – What a quirky little British film. I put this in the same league as 2020’s film, The Duke. An historical scandal sends a British town rocking! Back in the 20s, in a town called Littlehampton, Edie Swan starts receiving some seriously lewd letters. I honestly didn’t know some of that vocabulary existed back then, but they took full advantage of it here. Though the mystery of who actually wrote the letters came to light for me very early on, it was fun to see how the drama actually played out. It’s kind of wild what some passive aggressive and just aggressive abuse can result in. The cast here is brilliant, and the decision to add a lot of humor definitely helped sell the premise more.