Something for Everyone!

Happy Wednesday! I thought for 2019 I am going to try something different, and give you a recap of what movies I have seen this week. In the past, I focused mainly on new stuff I was seeing at the theater. But now, I am going to keep track of every movie I watch, and share some short reviews.

Let's start with Escape Room (2019).

Escape Room (2019) Columbia Pictures

Adam Robitel previously directed The Taking of Deborah Logan, which I enjoyed, so I bought a ticket for Escape Room expecting some suspense and I feel like it delivered. 6 Strangers end up at an Escape Room in a high rise, touted as "unsolvable", with a $10,000 prize for anyone who can make it out. The premise isn't exactly new, and this movie reminded me a bit of Cube, and little t, my movie cohort, of Saw, but without the gore. Instead, it was thrilling and the rooms the group had to escape were very inventive. This is a fun popcorn flick. Not super scary, but big on thrills, and even a few twists.

High Anxiety (1977) Fox

I love Mel Brooks. I have since I was a kid, and I think most of his films hold up as still very funny, and very smart. The doctor had never seen High Anxiety (1977), and I had not watched it in at least 20 years, so we popped it in the bluray player and had some laughs. Brooks' send up of Hitchcock is more than just a parody. He pays tribute with almost every shot, in both blatant and subtle ways. The cast, including Brooks, Harvey Korman, Dick Van Patten and especially Cloris Leachman, are all delightfully over the top as the staff of the Psycho Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, where something very strange is going on. It's up to Dr. Thorndyke (Brooks) and the daughter of a notable patient (Madeline Kahn) to get to the bottom of things. This movie is silly and highly enjoyable.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) AnnaPurna

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)opened this weekend at Cinemapolis, and I am very glad I was able to see it. Barry Jenkins' follow up to Moonlight is stunning and devastating. Based on the book by James Baldwin, Beale Street is a love story between a young, black couple in the 70's, which is interrupted by the false conviction of a violent crime. Told in flashes from the point of view of Tish (Kiki Layne), the focus is on the love between her and Fonny (Stephan James), who have known each other since they were kids, an now they are fully in love, trying to start their lives in a world where the color of their skin is a strike against them. Baldwin's strong source material is matched by the breathtaking cinematography by James Laxton. In fact, the look and score by Nicholas Britell evoke as much emotion as the acting, which is pretty powerful (Regina King, anybody?). So yes, this film deals heavily in themes of race, but it is also about love. Please, check it out.

A Simple Favor (2018) Lionsgate

A Simple Favor (2018) is a film I wish I'd been able to catch at the theater. This stylish thriller from Paul Feig, and based on the book by Darcey Bell is tinged with humor. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively play an unlikely pair of friends- Single mom and vlogger Stephanie (Kendrick) and brash high powered PR exec Emily (Lively) bond over martinis and their kids, who have become friends. Then, Emily disappears and Stephanie goes into full Nancy Drew mode. But hey, TWISTS! So many twists, and that's what makes watching this film play out fun. Could handsome husband Sean (Henry Golding) have killed his wife? Is she even dead? What is Stephanie's angle? Oh this plot thickens and thickens right up until the end.

My Best of 2018

2018 was a great year for movies, especially genre stuff. I was able to get to the cinema 71 times. More than in the years past, and I've got Moviepass to thank for that. Sadly, this year also saw good ol' Moviepass implode. It wasn't easy to come up with what I think were the best of the year, but here's my top ten of 2018.

1. Suspiria
2. The Favourite
3. Sorry to Bother You
4. Hereditary
5. Border
6. Black Panther
7. The Rider
8. First Reformed
9. Mountain
10. A Quiet Place

For me, Suspiria was far and away the best film I saw in 2018. Then, I saw the Favourite. These two were close for me. Sorry to Bother You is undeniably one of the most important, most original, films of, hell, the decade. The statement it makes on race, class, and capitalism alone makes it worth seeing multiple times. Hereditary I'll get to when I talk about best horror. Border, was delightfully strange and beautiful. First Reformed has one of Ethan Hawke's best performances ever, and is an excellent look at trying to keep a grip on ones faith as its slipping away. The Rider is a quiet and beautiful film, that's also about trying to hang on to a way of life that's being taken away. Mountain is breathtaking and at turns devastating, I can't remember a documentary keeping me on the edge of my seat the whole way through like this one. I think if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know how much I loved Black Panther. A Quiet Place is a film that may not work as well on a smaller screen, but in a theater full of people afraid to even chew their popcorn or make any noise, made this film work best. And I was totally a sucker for the story and cast.

Now, let's talk horror. 2018 had so much to offer, and I know there is still a bunch of stuff I haven't seen, but here's my top 10.

1. Hereditary
2. Terrified
3. The Devil's Doorway
4. Cam
5. Piercing
6. Mandy
7. Assassination Nation
8. Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
9. Halloween
10. Revenge

Hereditary is a revelation, from story to the shocking scares to the acting. No other movie this year scared me like Terrified. There are images from that movie that still pop up in my head and make me think I should sleep with a light on. The Devil's Doorway and Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum are both found footage, but coming from completely different directions. Devil's Doorway is also a commentary on the Catholic Church and the dirty secrets they've always tried to hide, and Gonjiam hits on the obsession with instant fame and fortune that come from going viral. Cam is a thriller that's a cut above- having ones identity stolen is everyone's nightmare, but losing it while watching someone else is portray you? Crazy and terrifying. Piercing is super stylish, psychosexual, and darkly comic look at the pleasure one takes from pain (or murder).  Halloween is just really well done fun. Assassination Nation I walked out of feeling very much like I wasn't sure how I felt. It was so stylish, and so crazy, but as time went on, I felt more and more like I had just seen such a scathing satire on the current culture of privacy in a world where people share every detail. Plus, the most toxic of toxic masculinity that surrounds us every day. Same with Revenge, I couldn't understand why people went crazy for it, until a rewatch, and some thinking. And Mandy, that shit was just crazy. Everyone went nuts for Nicolas Cage, but for me, the look, feel, and sound of Panos Cosmatos' second film are what make this film one to see. Cage is at his Cagiest, but Andrea Risebrough and Linus Roache are much more interesting as characters. And maybe the Cheddar Goblin.