Hey! Making a real dent in things! There were some solid films this weekend and that always makes me happy.
Heretic – Ever since I saw the trailer for this horror film many months ago, I’d been intrigued. I only had reservations because I wasn’t sure if it was going to be supernatural in any way. I’m not crazy about that. But, with insanely good reviews from critics, I decided to take a chance and watch this in theaters. Firstly, Hugh Grant’s creepy factor was through the roof! He played a seriously fucked up guy who craftily locks two Mormon missionaries in his home and challenges them with discovering the “one true religion.” While this whole film had me balancing on the knife’s edge of suspense, I couldn’t help but walk away from the film not fully understanding what I was supposed to take away from it. Still, it doesn’t take away from the successes of the film, but it won’t be sitting high on my favorite horror films of all time.
Anora – As a Sean Baker enthusiast, I have been patiently waiting for this film to come to a theater near me and it was totally worth the wait! It completely deserved the top honors it received at Cannes and I really, really hope this see both love and wins at the Oscars next year. Anora, aka Ani, is a stripper living in Brooklyn when one night at her club her Russian speaking skills are requested by a young client, Vanya. He falls in love with her ability to speak and understand Russian, along with her flesh, and Ani falls in love with his lavish lifestyle. The two get married on a whim in Vegas just two weeks after they meet, but when Vanya’s parents find out he hightails it, leaving Ani to deal with three unlikely “henchmen” as they try to find Vanya and get the marriage annulled before his parents land in the States. Ani and her three captors are comedy gold and no minute of this film goes wasted. You’d be a fool not to watch this!
The Critic – With an exceptionally brilliant British cast and middling reviews, I was a bit nervous but still excited to check out this recent drama. Jimmy is an old and crotchety reviewer of dramas for an infamous paper. The paper is struggling and going through some extensive changes with the previous owner’s son now at the helm. Jimmy is also notorious for ripping plays apart. In particular, he has no empathy towards popular and talented actress, Nina Land. When Jimmy gets in trouble for both his review and brush with the law regarding his homosexuality, he decides to leverage Nina’s pull with his new boss to his advantage. Jimmy is only out for his own best interests and he manages to destroy a few lives in the process. The twists were neat, though I think this concept could have played out better over the course of a few episodes rather that one short film.
The Childe – I have finally manipulated my company’s movie club into watching this amazing film, so I obviously had no issues watching it again. What more could I possibly glean from this film? No clue, but who cares! For as much action and gore as this film has, I don’t know if I will ever get over how expertly it manages to weave in humor. Plus, the film is gorgeously shot. Yay for my movie club friends!