3 Movies You Might've Missed

Sep 09, 2020

"Put it on my tab."

PINNED: this newsletter is supposed to be a friendly recapping of the movies in, and coming to, theaters. But things be real weird right now. So until that changes in earnest, I'll either be suggesting old favorites to revisit, pointing out recent flicks you may have missed or calling out notable new VOD / streaming options.

Tenet, the movie the film industry has been waiting to: save it, confirm we're all f'd, convey some sense of normalcy, to do... something, was finally released last weekend. It made $20 million.

For context, back in 2010, Inception, a film many saw as a good comparable film (original idea, directed by Nolan, big name actors, a culturally agreed upon "blockbuster"), made $62 million on its opening weekend. So Tenet's release was a failure? Ah, but only like 70% of theaters are open, not including the two largest markets NY / LA - and the ones that are open are limiting seating. So it was a success then??

I think the simpler take is, it was.

An anecdote makes for a good story, but it doesn't tell you much beyond that. Everyone will have to wait and see how the movie continues to do (i.e. were there only a "brave" few and they're spent - or will more keep coming, albeit slowly) and how will other highly anticipated movies do (see: Wonder Woman 1984, the next Bond). Maybe by the end of the year we'll have a sense of where the industry stands. Maybe.

As for this weekend, we're back to a lull again, although there is a rom-com called Broken Hearts Gallery starring the mean older brother from Stranger Things and one of the girls tryin' to get laid in Blockers, that's coming out. In these times of ours it seems more befitting of Netflix, but they're giving it a go, so plenty o' luck to em. 🍀

When we have weekends like this, i.e. without major / notable releases, I'll kick back into the 3 Films You Might've Missed (which I just named right now) or the Does it Hold Up? thing, where we watch a movie that the collective "we" remember as being good, but is it still?!

This week's theme is... One.

LOCKE
(2013)

If I said a large aspect of this movie is staring at Tom Hardy's face for roughly an hour and a half, there's a good chance that'd be enough for a decent slice of the world's population.

But for those of you who require more than drowning in a proverbial pool of Mr Hardy's visage, I present a solitary car ride with an unknown destination, a driver with mysterious motivations, calls from anxious family and vexed co-workers, all captured by a camera that's intent on sticking around until we can find out what all this is about.

There's really not much more to it, and yet, there's obviously a lot more than you know.

Give it a Shot If: you like Tom Hardy or good enough acting that you forget most on screen experiences need multiple actors to carry them

Details: 91% on RT (214 reviews)
R, 1 hr 25 mins, A24

VICTORIA
(2015)

Whenever this movie is written about, "the line" is that it was all shot in one take, in real time (i.e. unlike the faux one take Birdman and 1917). Which is legitimately a noteworthy piece of information (cuz it's hard!), but kind of superfluous if that one take is complete trash.

You might guess this continuous shot then is not in fact hot garbage, since I'm writing about it. And based on the critical response, you'd be right! All the reviewers invariably mention the technical feat of the movie, but the ones who liked it (the vast majority) move beyond that and say they forgot about the logistical aspects and were drawn into the movie for what you generally like a movie for, its story and characters. Speaking of...

Victoria is a woman who is out partying alone in a club in Berlin (yes, there are some subtitles) where she chats up some blokes at the end of the night. It could end there, but one of the guys gets an ominous call about some nefarious activities they must tend to, so the group jets and Victoria, for some reason or another, decides to join. You can guess whether it was a good choice or not. 🙃

Oft referenced when Victoria came out was Run Lola Run, but more recently it seems that we could compare it to the Safdie brothers' movies like Uncut Gems (Adan Sandler) and Good Time (Robert Pattinson) - largely unforgiving movies where there isn't a traditional arc so much as a cinematic sandbag that sits on your chest and has increasing amounts of weight added to it, giving you nary a moment to catch your breath. So if you're looking to get that heart rate up like the good doctor told you to, but without ya know, doing anything, you might wanna sniff about this one.

Give It a Shot If: you want to feel like you're hopped up on coke (I'll let you decide which type I mean)

Details: 82% on RT (133 reviews)
NR, 2 hrs 20 mins, Adopt Films

SNOWPIERCER
(2014)

Before he made the first non-English language Best Picture Oscar winner (Parasite), Bong Joon Ho made another movie about society and class. Except in this instance, it happens to be an action movie and set on the sole vessel that keeps the remaining few thousand humans alive from freezing to death. A train. Or rather, THE train. Because unlike some mid-western colleges with mediocre football teams, when you're the only bastion for human life left, you deserve a THE.

THE train exists in a time where humans did the ultimate face palm; instead of fixing global warming, like they intended, they turned the earth into a planet where the temperature is that of a person's heart who refuses to share a delicious fresh chocolate chip cookie: freezing cold.

Now, one would like to think humans would work together, pooling effort and resources so all can have some comfort as this specialized locomotive continues moving so as not to ice up and kill all aboard. But then one would likely remember the past seven months (plus the few thousand before that) and go "ah yes, this all seems very plausible." Instead of one's wishful thinking scenario, THE train is sectioned off into how society is implicitly today, but even more starkly. The back of the train is essentially squalor and the front has pools. On a train. Now, they're no snakes mind you, but still, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty appalling when your fellows humans are getting by on sludgy nourishment packets for food.

Chris Evans is the leading man who well, leads the people from the back of the train in a rebellion against Tilda Swinton and her fake teeth and abundantly large seeing eye glasses. Swinton and her soldiers are protecting the engineer who apparently built the train and is also responsible for the societal segmentation.

Snowpiercer didn't get anywhere near the love that Parasite got upon release, but as you know if you've ever met someone who has seen it, it has an ardent following (so much so that made a TV show version).

Give It a Shot If: you want an action movie with originality and more than just crunching bones and gushing blood (but that too)

Details: 94% on RT (253 reviews)
R, 2 hrs 6 mins, Radius

Highlights

Dune - Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Sicario) takes on the sandy planet where things get *ahem* spicy.

No Time to Die - the delayed Bond (likely last with Daniel Craig) gets a shiny new tease.

Nomadland - next from Chloé Zhao (The Rider and Marvel's forthcoming Eternals). Stars Frances McDormand.

Rebecca - gothic romance w/ Lily James and Armie Hammer (based on 30's novel, directed by Ben Wheatley) - Hitchcock made a version in 1940. Note: a Netflix flick

What's In Theaters +

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