What's scarier, the devil or groups of men?

Might just have a few movies that can help answer that question

Oct 05, 2023

In This Week’s Edition: not one, but a pair of possessed children and two movies that delve into the toxicity of our masculinity

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“You like hot dogs, right?”

-hint: from what some consider the director’s worst movie

This is the place where I write stuff sometimes. This time, is not one of those times.

NEWSY BITS 👾

All Your Favorite Movies Are Already on TikTok (Full Article) - why interesting: the article was prompted by Paramount allowing Mean Girls to be on TikTok for one day (Oct. 3) for a marketing stunt, but this has been a thing for a while - people uploading “clips” of movies that when combined, allows users to watch a full movie. It’s yet another example of how people’s viewing habits keep changing - NY Times

Major Directors, Minor Running Times (Full Article) - why interesting: just noting here that the “trend” is being noted there —> - NY Times

Letterboxd Acquired by Canadian Firm in Deal Valuing It at More Than $50 Million (Full Article) - why interesting: Letterboxd, which is essentially a place to log movies you watched, but has grown into a community and brand, has also grown in popularity over the past few years (it started in 2011) and somewhat replaced the DVD bookshelf for hardcore cinephiles. Shows there’s money in it, even if it’s not a ton in most tech circles - Variety

EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝

Dicks: The Musical - a film version of an off-Broadway musical that is a parody / re-make of The Parent Trap that co-stars Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Bowen Yang and Megan Thee Stallion. The reviews are positive, but also saying the movie is fairly specific. Playing in Limited Theaters Friday

Strange Way of Life - Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in another short film, this time from acclaimed director Pedro Almodóvar. It’s a western set love story where two men reunite after many years apart. Fun fact: it was funded and styled by the fashion brand Saint Laurent. The reviews say it’s too short, but that the cast, directing and setting are still quite good. Playing in Limited Theaters TODAY

NOTABLE NEW RELEASES 🎟 & 📺

It may be iconic now, but I imagine the process of pitching a script where a young girl screams, “Your mother sucks $%*& in Hell, Karras, you faithless slime“ and uses a crucifix in a, shall we say, non-conventional manner had to be… *ahem* interesting. I mean, the fact it got made at all is wild. The fact it got made 50 years ago. Absolutely bonkers. And sure, technically in the context of the movie it’s a demon that does those things, but in real life Linda Blair had to say those lines and make those motions at 13 years old. Pretty sure stuff isn’t going to get quite that hardcore in this reboot / direct sequel (aka “legacy sequel”) to The Exorcist, but you’re still gonna see two (!!) possessed girls spewing unconscionable things to their parents and other fine folks trying to help them cast out a couple of asshats from the underworld who’ve taken over their bodies.

But you don’t get designated a classic because you shocked a few squares or made some people faint and / or vomit, I mean hell, I can do that on any given Tuesday with my eyeball trick1. No, you become a classic because you’re a darn good movie. Which is still what The Exorcist is today. Unfortunately, The Exorcist: Believer is unlikely to be remembered much a few years from now, let alone 50 based on the pretty scathing reviews it’s receiving.

Which creates an inauspicious start to the planned $400 million trilogy for director David Gordon Green who (very) successfully did a similar thing with the Halloween franchise. But whereas Gordon Green was credited with honoring the original Michael Myers slasher by placing Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode front and center, many critics have lambasted him for including original The Exorcist star Ellen Burstyn, but merely as a connective placeholder to the original movie vs any real story reason (Leslie Odom Jr. as father to one of the possessed girls gets the real focus here).

But horror movies have a pretty willing audience, and I imagine they’ll be chill with a few jump scares, some head twisting and bit o’ puke spewing, so I think it likely we’ll see the next two chapters at some point.

Plus, you can cast the devil out, but you can’t keep him down.

Or wait, can you? 👇🔥👿

THE TRAILER

Out: Friday

Where: Theaters

2 hrs 1 min | R | 🍅: 23%

Would you say movies gotten less steamy since their sordid heyday of the 80’s & 90’s?

Because I think you could make a fairly strong case they have. Blame shifting views on sex and how it’s portrayed in media, the proliferation of online porn or don’t blame anything and just sit with the knowledge that things change and sometimes you don’t know exactly why. I know, feels a little disconcerting yet kinda nice, not having to come up with an answer.

But a hot makeout sesh is still gonna trip some triggers if it’s, well, hot. 🥵 But to keep people from watching a lone scene for “research purposes” and then skipping on to the next streaming consumable, you better have a good story wrapped around the naughty bits. And Fair Play looks like it has both - Emily (Phoebe Dynevor from Bridgerton) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich from Solo) are the two maker-outers in question who also happen to work at a hedge fund together. Due to “company policy” they’ve kept their courtship hidden from the rest of their co-workers. But when Emily gets the promotion they both expected Luke to get, weeeell, the sexy stuff is off and the power dynamics, fragile masculinity and misogyny stuff, is on.

But not like Donkey Kong, he’s a nice fella.

THE TRAILER

Out: Friday

Where: Netflix

1 hr 53 mins | R | 🍅: 87%

Taken on it’s own (and spoken in a goofy movie trailer voice) the initial part of The Royal Hotel’s official overview doesn’t sound far off from a legit rom-com… “Americans Hanna and Liv are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called 'The Royal Hotel' in a remote Outback mining town.”

And then you read a few reviews and come across quotes like this…

“Few movies have ever so palpably or intricately conveyed the violent pall of male attention, and the men here are that much scarier because not even they seem to know what they’re capable of doing, or what their endgame might be.” - from the Indiewire review of The Royal Hotel

Umm, yeah, suffice to say a romantic comedy this is not. It’s unfortunately far closer to daily life for many considering it was inspired by a documentary, Hotel Coolgardie.

You could say it’s all a matter of perspective really. Which is maybe kind of the whole point?? The men portrayed here likely think they’re “just having a good time” and yet the women clocking their every movement, making sure things don’t go the opposite of north, are constantly vying for their own safety. They are not the same states.

If all this sounds stressful, whether it’s because you’re a woman who doesn’t want to replay aspects of your life or a man who exhibits this type of leering and lascivious behavior, let it be known the movie might surprise you. Reviews say it’s not quite the direct trauma → revenge fantasy you’re thinking it might be and you should expect it to be a bit more nuanced.

But don’t get it twisted, nuance doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly see some gallant knight trotting in or the men will learn some lesson tide off in a nice little bow. This is the same director, Kitty Green, who took on what it’s like to work under the glower of Harvey Weinstein’s aura in The Assistant (which also starred Julia Garner, who along with Jessica Henwick, play the traveling Americans).

Instead, expect reality and all the complications and nastiness that comes with it.

THE TRAILER

Out: Friday

Where: Limited Theaters

1 hr 31 mins | R | 🍅: 93%

TRAILERS! ⏯

The biggest star of Priscilla is…

…Sophia Coppola, which is weird, cuz she’s not even in it, but she did direct this retelling of the story of the famous wife to Elvis Presley.

The biggest star of Argylle is…

…honestly, I’m not even sure. It kind of all depends. Is it Henry Cavill, I mean, he is (was) Superman, but Dua Lipa is a pretty big deal now too. What about Sam Rockwell? Or Bryce Dallas Howard?? Whatever, lots of stars who get all sorts of action-y in this next movie from Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn.

The biggest star of Leave the World Behind is…

…it’s gotta be Julia Roberts. Because even if we see her less often than we used to, we still love seeing her. Let’s just hope she makes it through this apocalypse, eh?