I don’t know if the films I landed on this weekend could have been any more random. But they were all aces!
Cora Bora – I’d heard rumblings about this movie when it premiered at South by Southwest earlier this year. Led by breakout Hacks star, Meg Stalter, she plays the titular Cora, a young adult just barely getting by. Through a small opening montage, it appears Cora was a part of a mildly successful band out in Portland, but when we catch up with her in the present day, she’s singing some rather weak and awkward songs at open mic nights (and some day) in LA. She’s been fine with this new life for maybe way too many months until she learns that her girlfriend might be in love with someone else. Sure, it was Cora’s idea that they be in an open relationship, but she just must not have thought through the catching feelings bit. Headed back to Portland she meets a very handsome stranger who has a thing for broken people, but his unending kindness as he runs into her again and again is really endearing. It’s not until fairly late in the film until we learn why Cora has just been floating in this limbo land for such a long time. I loved that this film was both funny and tugged at your heartstrings. Check it out!
Longlegs – This film was probably one of my most anticipated of the year and it did not let me down. Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe in a horror film together? You know it was a good time! I also recommend checking this out, but at your own risk. Monroe plays FBI agent Lee Harker, who’s a bit off compared to the rest of her co-workers, but she’s seems to have a some psychic abilities when it comes to messed up killers. She’s tasked to put those skills to the test with an elusive serial killer who’s been having males slaughter their families on the 14th of any given month over the course of many, many years. Lee is smart, but connecting the dots only gets her halfway there. After actually catching the killer, things take a turn for the bizarre, and I don’t know how she’ll ever be the same. I will spoil this and say it does skew a bit supernatural at the end, but that doesn’t take away from the film’s successes. I felt tense and an extreme sense of dread for this entire film, but the opening scene is one that is going to stay with me for a long time. It chilled me to my core and I had trouble sleeping that night! That’s high praise!
Egoist – After re-watching Monster last week, I wanted to see what else Japan had to offer by way of queer films. The internet led me to this drama and I was not disappointed. Kosuke is a fashion magazine editor who seems to be stuck in a bit of a rut personally. Though he has a boisterous group of friends and visits his father often, it doesn’t seem as though he’s been able to move on from his mother’s passing many years before. At the suggestion of his friends, he gets back into personal training with young, kind, Ryuta. The two quickly grow intimate and then that’s when the first bomb is dropped. I have to say I was not expecting it! Rather than end the relationship, Kosuke is more than willing to make it work. There are some other, somewhat frustrating obstacles in the way, but otherwise all seems to be going smoothly until the other shocking twist gets dropped in. Ultimately, Kosuke needs to heal from his past losses and learn to embrace himself, but it was a fine journey to work through here.