Crammed in an eclectic array of films this weekend.
He Went That Way – I love Zachary Quinto too much to be so disappointed in all the films I’ve seen him in recently. This one was at least based on an interesting true story. He played an animal trainer, Jim, who was on his way to deliver TV chimp, Spanky, to a potential buyer when he comes across hitchhiker, Bobby. He offers him a ride to Chicago but soon comes to regret that decision. Turns out Bobby is a serial killer. How Jim manages to stay alive throughout the journey is a craft, but this just lacked something for me.
Lisa Frankenstein – When I saw this quirky trailer a few months back and saw Diablo Cody’s name attached, I knew I was going to watch it. It’s a love story ultimately, but I couldn’t help but think of Beetlejuice a little when I watched it. I also very much thought of last year’s The Loneliest Boy in the World. Not just in its color choices, but also in it’s approach to the drama and humor of it all. Lisa is a strange teen at odds with her new life with her dad and his new wife. Lisa’s mother was killed by a masked intruder and everyone treats Lisa like she’s a freak except surprisingly by her new step sister. Lisa kind of wants to leave this world but finds love in a few places when a once dead young man shows up at her house. This film definitely tows the line between teen and adult, but there were tons of little oddities that made me laugh. A really good time!
Please Baby Please – As a big fan of Andrea Riseborough, I’d had my eye on this film for quite a while, so I was pleased to find that it was finally available for me to rent! Though it sells itself as a musical, there was blessedly next to no singing. It more adopted the theatrics of a play and involved mainly some dances. The film itself focuses on new married couple, Arthur and Suze, who very early on in the film start questioning everything about their sexual desires and gender roles. Arthur finds himself enthralled with the leader of a greaser gang, while Suze starts embracing her more masculine side. This was filmed in such an interesting way that really managed to capture the 50s setting while imbuing it with an 80s stylistic flair.
Eileen – This was a Sundance breakout last year that unfortunately was not available to the virtual audience. Nor was it ever released theatrically near me, so now, a whole year later I was able to sit down and enjoy this thriller. Eileen works at juvenile boys prison where she thinks about sex and escaping home from her abusive father when she meets the prison’s new therapist, Rebecca. These women are both twisted in different ways, but they also share an odd connection with each other. Eileen’s particular problems never fully came into focus for me at the end, but I found this film to be really intriguing. It definitely had me wanting to know what was going to happen next every step of the way!
Marry My Dead Body – I watched this on a whim in the middle of the week and I think it proves that Netflix actually has some interesting things to offer of quality. Am I saying this is the best film I’ve ever seen? No. But it was surely one of the strangest. Wu Ming-han is a homophonic vice detective who picks up a red envelope one day while gathering clues and finds that he’s been trapped into a ghost marriage. When Mao Mao starts appearing to him, he learns that finding who killed Mao Mao may also solve a big drug case. This film was both awkwardly hilarious (intentionally) and action packed, and then the ending had me ugly crying. I would have loved to have seen this film go just a little further in the story, but what a fun watch!