So many movies this weekend! Let’s take a look at what was worth it and what wasn’t.
National Champions – Truthfully, I really didn’t know what this football movie was really going to be about until I sat my butt down in the theater chair and the film actually started. The whole film was very tense and thrilling, and led by an extremely awesome cast! The issue at hand is a pair of collegiate football players have decided to protest playing in a championship game until the NCAA agrees to start paying these athletes. As I’m watching the film, I felt like I understood where both parties were coming from. Yes, colleges make an obscene amount of money off of the football team and their star players, with no benefit to the players. In contrast, if they accept any gift, no matter how small, they are reprimanded harshly. Without starting some huge internet debate, again, I can see both sides of the coin here, but it really doesn’t matter I suppose, since a supreme court ruling came down in favor of compensating college athletes. Regardless of all of that, it was a pretty enthralling film.
The Birthday Cake – Again, another supreme cast here! I just recognized Shiloh Fernandez and decided to watch, but I got a ton of other awesome actors and some seriously begrudged mobsters, a crooked cop, and a birthday cake that really goes on a journey. Fernandez plays Gio, an otherwise innocent member of a very gruff New York based Italian family. He encounters a ton of different family members and tense situations as his makes his way to his uncle’s birthday party. Very fun movie!
Possessor – It’s been far too long since I first saw this film last October, and I missed the boat this most recent Halloween, but this dramatic thriller holds up. I should also mention that it’s very much a body horror film, so if blood makes you queasy, this might be a tough watch. Tasya is an assassin who completes her jobs via someone else’s body. She enters their mind and takes control of them. Once the job is finished, you take a shot to the brain to sever the connection, but this most recent assignment is giving her troubles. However, you can tell the troubles are there before she even accepts the new target. She’s just going through the motions in her own life and is having a hard time keeping herself separate from her work. To make matters worse, the new target, Colin Tate, seems to have stronger control in their shared connection. Really great stuff and it’s what introduced me to all the other brilliant work done by both Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott!
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar – Another fantastic movie that’s taken me far too long to give a second viewing. Worth the wait, however, because this ridiculous comedy was just as funny as the first time I watched it. Barb and Star decide to recharge their life with a little vacation to Vista Del Mar, where they accidentally get tangled in a plot to take out the whole resort! Again, Jamie Dornan is a magical element to this comedy, and if you’re not going to watch this film, then you at least need to look up ” Edward’s Prayer” on Youtube.
Pixie – This movie really surprised me when I watched it earlier in the year. I rented it somewhat on a whim and found it to be pretty darn funny and full of fun and exciting action sequences. Pixie has got herself involved with a family of gangsters, but things get even more hairy when two local guys find a bag of drugs that belong to a crooked priest. They try their hardest to right things before skipping town, but things are never as easy as they seem. Very fun movie I highly recommend!
Ned Kelly – I don’t really know why I thought this movie was going to be different from The True History of the Kelly Gang…because it wasn’t. Or it was hardly different enough for it to matter. Perhaps a little more dramatic and straightforward, but the timeline of events played out were identical. Ned Kelly is a notorious outlaw, but really he just wants to do right by the people he loves. It’s law enforcement that really deal him a bad hand throughout his entire life. Kelly sure ends it dramatically. I can’t say that Heath Ledger portrayed Kelly better than George McKay, but it was cool to see his take on this historical figure.