"Top Ten" List - #3

 3. Crank These Up to Eleven and Roll Down the Windows!

These movies were everything I wanted and I loved them. And while I can’t quite put them among the 2s, these were among my favorites. Also, this being the 1982 of horror, at least half of these were horror movies. I make no apologies.

Ambulance

Michael Bay has been doing bloated, overdone action movies for a while now and it’s pretty much his brand (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but this is genuinely the most engaging he’s been as a director since his 1990s heyday. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a life-long criminal who convinces his adoptive brother (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a Marine and Afghanistan war veteran who needs money to pay for his wife’s experimental cancer surgery, to join him on a heist. Things go awry, as you’d expect, and they end up stealing an ambulance with a paramedic and a cop they injured and spend the rest of the movie fleeing the police OJ-style. If you wanted to call this absurd and overblown, you wouldn’t be wrong, but it is extremely entertaining and compelling. Every time I watch movies like this, though, I have questions about whether all these characters would be *that* familiar with the city’s geography. I guess that would be part of the job if you were a cop or ambulance driver, but I’ve lived in New York 14 years and still don’t know every single nook and cranny of Manhattan, much less the other boroughs. In any case, if you miss films like THE ROCK and SPEED and other high-octane 90s action flicks, you will love this. I’m sad it didn’t do better at the box office because I could do with more like this. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Barbarian

This was one of the most talked-about horror movies of the year, and I can’t tell you how many reaction videos I’ve seen of it. It’s a movie of great surprises and one of those movies where it’s best not to know anything going in, so I’m not even sure how much to say about it here. It really plays with your expectations throughout, perhaps especially in the beginning, where what looks like a potential nightmare situation becomes a meet-cute before the real nightmare scenario is revealed. And juuust when the scary stuff starts, we cut to something entirely different. This movie has a lot to say, obviously about #metoo but also about suburban decay. The movie’s final girl is unique in that she does everything wrong and still survives – though I would argue she does at least one thing right in playing along with Mother, which I think ends up benefitting her more than not. I liked this movie a lot, but I do wish we could start moving away from evil or scary being portrayed as a human being who just looks different, especially in ways they can't help. In every single reaction to this that I watched, all anyone could talk about with Mother was her sagging breasts, which … is something a whole lot of normal women have. Obviously the movie has a lot of sympathy for this character, even while portraying her as repulsive, but I just wish it wasn’t such an obvious go-to to be like “ewww, look at this ugly woman and her droopy tits.” I also did not really enjoy the “joke” at one character’s expense where we’ve learned that they sexually assaulted someone and then they end up being forcibly breast-fed as a narrative “punishment.” This movie gets so much right, but those things stick out. (Available on HBOMax and to rent on streaming services.)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

To start with, this is not quite as accomplished as the first Black Panther film. You can tell that they had plans, as soon as they started developing a sequel, to tell a particular story (with Namor) but then something awful happened and they had to change the movie to be in part about that. The Namor story and the grief over T’Challa story don’t entirely work together BUT I don’t care that much as everything is so gorgeous and rewarding to watch. The movie had me at the Marvel intro, which was edited to make every hero shot a shot of Chadwick/T’Challa. The opening sequence feels a bit rushed, but I’m glad they decided not to show T’Challa in any form, not even as a faceless body. The turns this movie takes are pretty extraordinary, and among several very strong performances, Angela Bassett is at an all-time high here. Letitia Wright has to carry a lot of this movie on her tiny shoulders, but she does it very well, especially since she could not have known when she signed to do this movie (nor could anyone else) that Shuri would be the main character. Great visuals, good storytelling, amazing costumes, incredible music, and a fitting tribute to Chadwick Boseman. (Still in theaters.)

DO REVENGE

I really loved this, but it also depressed me, having once tried to write something set in high school (during and some time after my college days). If I’d been able to get it in good enough shape to show someone back then, it might have become something, but between this movie and Euphoria, I know for certain that stories about people that age have long since passed me by and I don’t understand nearly enough about that generation to write anything meaningful about them; those are not my stories to tell. This movie has rightly been described as a new MEAN GIRLS, but wow, these girls are so much meaner! It takes place at a private school, one of those Ivy League prep schools, and the reality is incredibly heightened and the fashion a very particular flavor. DO REVENGE takes all the classic teen movie tropes and gives them a very modern twist. The revenge plot is very STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, but that’s only part of the movie. Camila Mendes is great as a character that is somehow both Regina George *and* Janis Ian. And she and Maya Hawke are incredible together as unlikely friends who become involved in each other’s drama. And the visuals are stunning -- a perfect fit for a generation that doesn't know a time that Instagram didn't exist. This is an excellent addition to the teen movie canon. (Available on Netflix.)

Fresh

This was the year of cannibalism, apparently, between this and BONES AND ALL and even a bit of the second season of CHUCKY. I see some notes of HOSTEL here as well, with the commodity element. You could even make a small film festival with this movie and all the other “rich people are awful” movies from this year alone, like TRIANGLE OF SADNESS and GLASS ONION. And while this movie is certainly not the first movie to be a rom-com/horror hybrid, I’ve never seen the romance tropes weaponized quite like this, where the movie serves partly as a cautionary tale about dating and trusting someone too much too soon. Our heroine Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) starts the movie very disillusioned about dating and the absolute a-holes she keeps getting paired with (I don’t blame her in the slightest, given the example we see). And when she meets Steve in the produce aisle of the grocery store, it feels like fate – who needs all these dating apps when you can meet your dream man in the most unexpected place? Noa’s friend Mollie is rightly skeptical, but it’s easy to see why Noa would fall for Steve (not just because he’s played by Sebastian Stan). You can tell something bad is about to happen, and if you’ve seen the movie’s poster, you’ll have a good idea of what it is. But the power dynamics and how manipulative Steve turns out to be are what makes this movie really stand out. It’s also another great example of ladies helping ladies, which I’m always here for. My one quibble is that incoming phone call at the end. Noa, I know you’ve been through a lot, but don’t answer that phone. (Available on Hulu.)

Hatching

Finnish body horror, hell yeah! This reminded me a lot of POSSESSION, but without all the psychosexual stuff. Also BLACK SWAN a bit, with the element of a sport/art form (gymnastics, in this case) that we associate with grace and beauty, but which can often be quite brutal. Our heroine, Tinja, is a 12-year-old reluctant gymnast whose mother is a lifestyle blogger and influencer. After a traumatic incident with a crow, Tinja rescues its(?) egg and incubates it, first under a pillow, then as it grows larger, a stuffed animal. It eventually hatches and Tinja, naming it Alli, takes increasingly horrific measures to hide it and take care of it, and over the course of the movie it gradually transforms into Tinja’s doppelganger. The family dynamics here are fascinating, especially as we see them contrasted with Tinja’s devotion to Alli (even as Alli becomes more and more terrifying). Child actors can be real hit or miss, especially in horror, but Siiri Solalinna is exquisite in the dual role of Tinja and Alli. Sophia Heikkilä is also great in the fairly thankless role of an incredibly unlikable mother, and I think this mother and Lexi’s mother from CHUCKY should get together and go bowling. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

The Northman

This movie could also be called Men, Screaming; you could seriously cut the testosterone with a chainsaw. This is based on the old Viking tale that inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and while you can certainly see some familiar notes here and there, the movie sets itself apart from both of those stories. Our hero is Amleth, who as a child witnesses the murder of his father and the kidnapping of his mother, both at the hands of his uncle. He flees to avoid being killed himself and returns years later to exact his revenge, only to find out that things might not be as he has always remembered. Like Robert Eggers’s previous two movies, there’s an aggressive authenticity in this movie that makes you feel fully immersed in a very specific world. This is a very, errr, Masculine movie, but for me the women – particularly the two most significant women in the movie, played Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicole Kidman (holy moley, Nicole Kidman, y’all!) – are its secret strength. This is a great big T-bone steak of a movie, and I’m sad that having come out so early in the year it seems to have been all but forgotten in the awards-bait rush. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Orphan: First Kill

Look, I’m not saying this is some masterpiece. Wait, yes I am. It’s a campy prequel to a campy original and I love everything about it. I love that Isabelle Fuhrman, who was an actual child in the 2009 original, is now a 25-year-old woman playing an even younger child … only not. I love the addition of Julia Stiles, playing an absolute Karen whose family came over on the Mayflower, dammit! I love that Esther is not the only one with a secret here. I love that, despite the title, this is not in fact her first kill. I love the ties to the original, like where Esther learned to do the blacklight art. And most of all, I love that the filmmakers knew exactly what kind of movie fans wanted and gave it to them. I’m not usually a fan of fanservice, at least when it comes to specifics, like plot points, character beats and especially callbacks (gah, the way some fans want to be winked at constantly is just bewildering). This is fanservice done right, where it’s exactly the tone and level of wildness that people expect from an Orphan movie, and specifics aren’t that important, as long as it’s insane. Long live Esther! I hope they do another prequel where the even older Isabelle Fuhrman plays an even younger Esther! (Available on Paramount+ and to rent on streaming services.)

Prey

This movie was such a gift. I’d seen the first two Predator movies and enjoyed them, but I’d heard enough about the later sequels and crossovers to want to steer clear. There was only so far they could take the original concept by continuing to tell stories in the present day. So deciding that the original PREDATOR was not the first time these kind of creatures hunted on Earth opened the door to a whole lot of exciting possibilities that I hope are explored in future films. But I absolutely LOVED that they went with 18th century Great Plains, where our hero is a Native American woman – a woman who has to struggle with being undervalued and underestimated because of her gender and expected role in society. (And something I love almost as much is how butthurt fragile male fans were about “Woke Predator.”) Amber Midthunder is an incredible action hero and I sincerely hope this is just the beginning of a long line of asskicking women she gets to play. And I can’t wait to see where and when the Predator is going to pop up next. Feudal Japan? Regency England (#prideandpredator)? Ancient Rome with gladiators? Gimme gimme gimme! (Available on Hulu, including a version in Comanche, which is how I would recommend watching it.)

Project Wolf Hunting

Another hit from Fantastic Fest, and where something like HUNT is clever and brilliantly structured and thought-provoking, not all movies have to be like that. Some movies can be just mindless fun. This Korean movie is part CON-AIR, part ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and part JASON X. Set on a ship where a bunch of dangerous prisoners are being transported from Manila, Philippines to Busan, South Korea, things go pear-shaped pretty early and predictably, coming to a head when the guards find themselves in a standoff against a bunch of newly unbound prisoners looking to party. But nobody counted on having to deal with Korean Jason Voorhees (well, one person did, apparently, but spoilers). He’s just this unconscious body on one of the decks (presumably another prisoner, as I recall? Maybe incorrectly?) that has to be injected periodically with a tranquilizer. Until he wakes up and turns the movie into a full-blown splatter flick. There are perhaps too many characters and too convoluted a plot, but I didn’t care that much. This is brutal, bloody and amazing, and a great one to see with a crowd. (Not yet released.)

Scream (5)

First off, please just give these movies numbers. You don't need to be cute and clever (though 5Cream would have been deeply hilarious). I’ve been meh on the Scream sequels, even though I think they’re much more solid than most slasher sequels and a lot more care seems to go into them. I love having most of the gang back together in 2, though the constant rewrites to dodge leaks made the plot and reveals less than satisfying. Number 3 is a bit of a mess and I hate how they basically retcon all of the murderers’ motives (don’t even get me started on the assassination of Maureen Prescott), but it does have Parker Posey and that awesome Carrie Fisher cameo. The fourth one was surprisingly good and Kirby would have made a great final girl if they weren’t still determined to make this all about Sidney (I love Sidney, but damn, give that girl a break!). But the fifth one, I think, is genuinely terrific – easily the best of the sequels, though nowhere near the heights of the original. I love most of the new characters we’re introduced to, and I love how they fold in our OG trio, especially Sidney, who is nowhere near the action until Ghostface kills … *sobs* STILL NOT OVER IT). The reveal that the wake/party is in the old Macher house is INCREDIBLE, and the action climax is suitably emotional and bloody. And the commentary on toxic fandom (this movie absolutely CAME FOR a certain section of Star Wars fans) was probably my favorite part. I’m still not sure how I feel about de-aged Skeet Ulrich, and the fact that Sam is Billy's daughter creates some wonky math with the teens’ ages. But I thought this was great, and it got me actually excited about the Scream franchise for the first time in a loooong time. (Available on Paramount+ and to rent on streaming services.)

Top Gun: Maverick

It kind of boggles my mind to see this movie in the Oscar conversation, but it *is* immensely entertaining and an honest-to-goodness improvement on the original (a movie I also love). I think some of the dialogue, especially early on, is painfully bad, and aside from the obligatory topless male revue of a football game, the movie is weirdly sexless. I do love that Maverick goes to Penny’s house and they just hang out and talk in her bed, which is super cute, but the original was so horny (TONGUE!) that it feels weird for there to be nothing of that sort here. But the storytelling is first-rate. I love the device of showing us the course of the dangerous mission in a digitally animated form, so that we can follow it more easily when they have to do it for real – it reminded me of that scene in TITANIC when they show the animation of the sinking, for the exact same narrative reason). I always laugh at stories where these young’uns just can’t do what needs to be done, so we have to get the old veteran in here to show everybody up and be the one who actually saves the day. I’m glad this movie doesn’t *quite* do that and shares the glory a bit (Glen Powell’s character-arc-completing moment is especially satisfying). And while the movie might lean a *bit* too hard on the nostalgia buttons, the movie’s finest scene by a mile is the one with Iceman. It’s so good to see Kilmer and Cruise together again and that they found a way to use Kilmer and work around his difficulties. (In some theaters again; available on Paramount+ and to rent on streaming services.)

The Woman King

I don’t know why I just couldn’t bring myself to see this in a theater, but it finally came to streaming and I watched it and of course it’s remarkable. Beautifully filmed, well written, and incredibly acted, especially Viola Davis and the movie’s MVP, Lashana Lynch. I’ve loved every film I’ve seen from Gina Prince-Bythewood (all the way back to LOVE & BASKETBALL) and this was no exception. There are some questionable bits regarding historical accuracy, but I don’t know how effective a completely unvarnished story set in this world would be. And since Viola Davis’s character is fictional, I can kind of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS it and imagine that, if she *had* existed and had that same relationship with the king, perhaps things would have been different. The battles in this movie are off the chain, and the women playing these warriors have clearly worked very hard to get into the condition they needed to be in to pull those scenes off. If I have one note, I’d say that it traffics a little too heavily in some predictable and melodramatic tropes. I found myself thinking “oh, we’re doing that?” a few times. But it’s a relatively minor quibble in what is overwhelmingly a successful piece of storytelling. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

"Top Ten" List - #4

 4. The Surprises

These are movies that, for various reasons, I didn’t expect much from going in but which ended up impressing me greatly.

The Batman

I’ve had superhero fatigue for a while now, and it’s also been a while since I’ve been very interested in Batman. I’m not even as in love with the Nolan films as others. So imagine my surprise at being very much into Matt Reeves’s THE BATMAN. It’s dark and gritty but still very much a heightened comic book-style reality. Nolan’s movies always struck me as if they were embarrassed of where they came from and were trying incredibly hard to *not* be comic book movies. And honestly, the more grounded you make Gotham, the less it feels like you need a costumed vigilante and the more appropriate things like government reform and task forces sound. I think Robert Pattinson makes a pretty great emo Batman, though (we don’t really see enough of his Bruce Wayne for me to have an opinion on that). This movie’s Gotham is like Westeros – it feels like you can’t even take two steps out of your door without getting bruised. The color palette here is largely very bleak with lots of black, gray and green, which would normally annoy me, but I like it here because it makes the rare splashes of color pop so much more and mean so much more. Especially in perhaps the greatest scene – certainly the most iconic visual in the movie (to me, at least) – where Batman leads a group of people to safety and the screen is absolutely saturated in red, which is used in a way I’ve never seen (hopeful, not horrific) and which kind of overwhelmed me. I’m excited to see another film in this particular cinematic universe. This movie also has easily the best car chase of any movie this year. (Available on HBOMax and Amazon Prime, and to rent on other streaming services.)

Beast

First off, I desperately want to double feature this movie with ROAR, a movie that is meant to be a touching story about a family living with big cats but which plays like a horror movie. I also want to show that movie to people who complained that all the animals here are CGI -- dudes, you don't even know how much better that is for EVERYONE, including/especially the animals. BEAST knows exactly what kind of movie it is, and while it is *also* a touching family story about a widowed father trying to reconnect with his daughters, it is also an incredibly tense and well done thriller. This is honestly one of my favorite Idris Elba performances, at least partly because it doesn’t feel like an advertisement for how cool and sexy he is. I don’t need to be sold on that; I don’t think anyone does. His character is not doing great as a dad, and his daughters are alternately embarrassed by and resentful of him. But this family experiences a real crucible in the form of a safari trip that turns terrifying when they are attacked by a lion that has gone rogue after poachers killed most of his pride. Sharlto Copley is great in a crucial supporting role, and the actors playing the daughters are impressive as well. I love that the family has real issues before they’re even in the biggest struggle of the film and that that doesn’t just disappear when shit gets real. They come together to help each other survive this ordeal, sure, but you never get the sense that, oh well, everything’s okay now and they don’t have those issues anymore. They certainly do, but what’s different by the end is that the dad has proven – in the most intense way imaginable – that he is willing to fight to hold his family together. (Available on Peacock and to rent on other streaming services.)

Blood Relatives

I’ve seen a lot of vampire movies and a lot of road movies and a lot of father-daughter stories. And the description of the movie made it sound a bit more saccharine and heartwarming than I usually care for. I love, then, that this movie doesn’t really traffic in sentimentality. It’s kind of PAPER MOON  meets NEAR DARK, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Longtime Rian Johnson collaborator Noah Segan (he plays the stoner guest in GLASS ONION) directs and also plays the main character, Francis – a vampire and a drifter, who can’t stay long in one place because of his particular diet. He is approached by a girl named Jane, who tells him she is his daughter (from a previous relationship with a non-vampire woman), and we soon learn that she is both vampire and human. She needs to drink blood but she’s not as affected by sunlight and, unlike full-fledged vamps like Francis, she ages. The relationship dynamics here are excellent, as Francis struggles with what it would mean to let this girl be a part of his life (or let himself be a part of hers). I especially loved Jane’s clear-eyed vision of the future, in which they’ll have to play these various roles for society as she ages and he doesn’t. This was great, and I was excited by the prospect of seeing more of this world and these characters (Segan in the Q&A at Fantastic Fest suggested a sequel called “Dracula: Dad and Loving It”). (Available on Shudder and to rent on other streaming services.)

Bodies Bodies Bodies

At a time where most slasher movies are either tired retreads of the classic formula or tired “clever twists” on said formula – with characters that aren’t nearly as interesting or fun as their 70s and 80s forbears – this movie was a breath of fresh air. It’s also a refreshing take on Gen Z in that it doesn’t feel condescending or like it was made by some Old who just doesn’t understand. It revolves around a group of barely twentysomethings who have gathered at the huge house of one of their parents for a hurricane party. There’s your standard insufferable and/or punchable young’uns but there’s also a 40-something Lee Pace sticking out like a sore thumb as the much older boyfriend of one of the young women, and he’s actually the most likable character (to me, but I’m also an Old, so what do I know). Another odd person out in this group is Bee (played by BORAT 2’s Maria Bakalova), who was brought by her girlfriend (played by HUNGER GAMES’s Amandla Stenberg) and who is kind of the audience surrogate. The group decide to play “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” a whodunit game that most viewers will have played some iteration of, perhaps by another name, in their youth. Things get horror-flavored when people actually start dying all over the house, but to say more would be serious spoiler territory. This is really well written, with dialogue that feels fresh from a Twitter thread. The performances are all pretty great (Rachel Sennott is the MVP -- her rant about how hard podcasting is floored me). And I was especially impressed with the lighting, which gets dark when necessary but not prohibitively dark and makes excellent use of what the characters already have on them (cell phones with flashlights, Rachel Sennott’s glow stick necklaces). If you’re looking for a slasher that’s a little different and has a more modern sensibility, I highly recommend it. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Final Cut

It’s a remake of one of my favorite horror movies of the past decade. The original is perfect, and this should have been a disaster. I fully expected it to be. It’s a French remake, directed by Michel Hazanavicius (who directed the 2011 Best Picture winner, THE ARTIST). I’d seen one of his Bond spoofs, so I felt pretty confident that he’d be able to navigate the comedy end of things. The plot stays very close to that of the original – too close, it seems in the first half, since the plot of the movie-within-the-movie is almost identical to the Japanese version, even down to the Japanese character names. But like the original, everything has a purpose and nothing whatsoever is wasted. I didn’t like this as much as the original, but I was very surprised at how good it turned out to be. Some of the emotional beats, while different, managed to affect me as much as the original (the human scaffolding at the end was a bit different in context, but still wiped me out). If you can only see one of them, I’d recommend the original, but this is actually quite good. (Not yet released.)

Fire Island

Just when I thought we’d been through all the permutations of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, Joel Booster Kim comes along and parlays the novel into a gay romcom. I love that this movie takes all the tropes and plot points from the novel that we’re expecting but doesn’t make it such a cookie cutter find-and-replace exercise that things feel shoehorned in. There are maybe one or two things that feel a bit forced, but this far out from watching the movie, I can’t even remember what they are. This movie handles the differences between gay love stories and straight love stories more successfully, I think, than BROS does – particularly in its discarding of the “marriage ending” (because dude, these guys have only known each other a week). Yet it still manages to be heartwarming and romantic. Conrad Ricamora makes a great addition to the Darcy pantheon and Margaret Cho as the movie’s Mrs. Bennett is inspired. It’s just done so well and has such a specific setting that’s hilariously and irreverently analogous to Austen’s marriage market. I think my only real problem is that I still feel like the casting of this movie’s Lydia and Kitty is backwards. (Available on Hulu.)

Hellraiser (2022)

Yet another Fantastic Fest movie (the second of the two secret screenings), and this was a ton of fun. I love the first two Hellraiser movies, have a bemused not-quite-fondness for the third, and haven’t trudged into the bajillion other sequels. But I have a fair amount of familiarity with the basics of Hellraiser and the Cenobites. I really dug this and I feel confident nodding in agreement with people who are way more conversant in this canon than I am and who think this is the best Hellraiser movie since the second one. There’s a really good story here, with our final girl being a troubled woman who’s struggling to kick a drug habit, as well as trying to save her brother. And her conflict with the Cenobites and the puzzle box are a great way of dramatizing her issues with addiction and the pain in her life. Jamie Clayton makes a fabulous new Pinhead, so much so that she apparently inspired Clive Barker to write a new story revolving around her. The Cenobites look amazing. I’ve seen complaints about the loss of the leather, but the director said they were trying to move away from the black leather look (which felt very taboo in 1987 but not so much nowadays) and decided to let the Cenobites be their own leather. My favorite thing about this new movie, though, is that for the first time I really felt like I had a handle on what the puzzle box was and what it could do. And I love that the things the Cenobites are supposed to give people – things people think they want, like pleasure and power – are never what the wishmakers expect, but instead the Cenobites’s hellish version of those things. (Available on Hulu.)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Like most people, I found Jenny Slate’s “Marcel” voice utterly adorable, but I wondered how the short YouTube videos that originally established this character could be made into a tolerable feature-length movie. But this turned out to be pretty great. I loved all the little devices and processes Marcel and Connie use to get around the house and do things. I like the tone of the movie and that it’s not too precious (especially when Marcel posts a video asking for help in finding his family and is annoyed that most of the comments just talk about how cute he is). The story itself is a fairly basic against-all-odds destiny quest story, but the details and voice performances are what really make the movie sing. Marcel has a little monologue about being at a party and feeling overwhelmed, and I swear I have never felt more seen by a stop-motion shell in my life. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Resurrection

If you haven’t yet jumped on the Rebecca Hall train, it’s beyond time to rectify that. She elevates every single thing she’s in, and her directorial debut (last year’s PASSING) was one of the best movies of 2021. I’m not always a fan of movies where none of the horror (or anything supernatural or magic, for that matter) is actually real, which is why I was slow to warm to this. But to this movie’s credit, it never tries to fool you. You know almost from the first moments of the film that Margaret has had to deal with some psychological trauma, otherwise she wouldn’t give such convincing advice to the young woman who confides in her. And not very long at all after Margaret’s ex David comes into the picture, we know that trauma involves some heavy duty gaslighting. We don’t get any flashbacks to what happened, which means we only have the characters’ own accounts to go on, which yes, probably was better for the film’s budget, but also puts us squarely in Margaret’s shoes (there’s a joke here about the barefoot thing, but I’m too classy to make it :P). She can’t tell what’s true and what’s not, and neither can we. This was pretty remarkable, and yet another astonishing performance from Rebecca Hall. (Available on Shudder and to rent on streaming services.)

Spirited

I went to a mystery screening in early November and it turned out to be this. I hate walking out on movies, but I just can’t watch Christmas movies *that far* from December. So I caught up with it the week of Christmas, not hoping for much (I’m not as in love with Pasek and Paul as others are), but wow, this is a new holiday favorite. There are LOADS of adaptations of “A Christmas Carol,” many of them “clever twists” on the story, but this is the first one I’ve seen since that episode of Doctor Who that truly earned that description. You think you know how this one is going to play the Dickens tropes, but it has some real surprises up its sleeve. Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds are predictably great together, and I love seeing Octavia Spencer playing a love interest, which I don’t think she’s ever done before. Most of the songs are quite good – some of them very heartstring-tuggy – but the best by far is “Good Afternoon,” which I want to watch about a hundred more times. (Available on AppleTV.)

Terrifier 2

This was perhaps the biggest surprise of all of these films. I had no real knowledge or curiosity about it until it screened at Fantastic Fest and was a huge hit both there and in its theatrical release. I spent a few weeks watching reviews of and reactions to the original movie, and I was pretty convinced that it was just too much for me. But I kept hearing about this sequel and what a blast it was with an audience and decided that I’d seen enough of the original through the reactions and reviews to understand what I needed to going into the sequel without watching the first one. So I went to see it. And yes, it is extreme. But it’s also a ton of fun. I did eventually see the original, which was exactly as traumatizing (no more, no less) than I was expecting, but it’s more a proof of concept than a movie. The sequel takes things up several notches in every area. The acting is stronger, the character work is stronger, there’s an actual story rather than just a series of kills, the score is on a whole other level, and the gore is stronger and even more creative. (I agree that the bedroom scene is more violent and bloody than the hacksaw scene in the original, but the hacksaw scene – along with the, um, “wig” scene? – has a layer of something else that’s more upsetting to me than anything in the sequel.) I love the mythology being set up here, but my one complaint is that it is way too long, and that being so long, there’s no excuse not to give us a bit more to go on with the mythology and backstories. Still, I liked it far more than I expected to. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

"Top Ten" List - #5

 5. The Acquired Tastes 

This is the “key lime pie” category (h/t NATURAL BORN KILLERS). Most of these movies have a weird tang that can be off-putting, but the off-putting-ness has its own satisfaction or thrill. Basically, all of these movies are wackadoo as all get-out, but I think I love them because of it?

Flux Gourmet

This is director Peter Strickland’s follow-up to the incredible IN FABRIC, and I think his films are getting progressively weirder and I am here for it. The movie takes place at an artistic institution (more of a retreat), whose director is played by Gwendoline Christie. The group in residence during the film is a band that specializes in “sonic catering” – a kind of extreme ASMR in which the musicians make weird and disturbing noises with various foods. The movie follows their day-to-day rituals and activities (there’s an exercise they regularly do where they pretend to be in a supermarket and the director gives them various strange and really specific scenarios), and we see the power struggles and creative crises play out in public and in private. And there are some out-there subplots, like an assistant who suffers from excessive and uncomfortable flatulence. Everyone here is committing to the bit one thousand percent. Gwendoline Christie and Fatma Mohamed are especially game (if you’ve only ever known Christie as Brienne of Tarth, her performance here is spectacularly different). I don’t feel like this is as strong as IN FABRIC (and I still think DUKE OF BURGUNDY and BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO are my favorites of Strickland’s films that I’ve seen). But this was enjoyable in a “wow, I really just watched that” kind of way. (Available on Shudder and to rent on other streaming services.)

Glorious

This feels very Lovecraftian, and while it’s an original story, the character of Ghatanothoa comes from Lin Carter’s Xothic legend cycle, which is based on Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. So it’s indirectly Lovecraftian, I guess. The story revolves around a man who, hungover, stops at a rest stop and has a strange encounter with the man in the next stall by way of a glory hole. But it’s not what it sounds like! The man in the next stall is not a man but a demigod, whose father is trying to find him so he can use him to destroy humanity. The demigod, Ghatanothoa, needs something from Wes (the hungover man) in order to transcend the physical plane, elude his father and prevent humanity’s destruction. This is quite a short film, but it still feels a bit thinly stretched. It all takes place in the bathroom, and while the two actors (one of them Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons, playing Ghatanothoa) make their exchanges compelling, I think it could have been even stronger as a maybe 30-minute short film. (Available on Shudder and to rent on other streaming services.)

Kids vs. Aliens

One of my favorite experiences from Fantastic Fest, this is Jason Eisener’s first feature film since his 2011 film HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. According to Eisener, both films take place in the same universe – the Hoboverse, if you will (I just made that up, please don’t blame Mr. Eisener for that) – and I find that fascinating. Like HOBO, KIDS VS. ALIENS is pretty brutal, but KvA is a *bit* tamer, thankfully, as its main characters are children. This reminded me a lot of THE GATE, especially its older sister / younger brother dynamic, and I really liked it overall. All of the kid characters are great, with nary a cloying over-wise Fanning type in the mix. While there sadly is no adorable ginger death metal kid (i.e., Terry in THE GATE), there *is* an amazing ginger kid in the person of Jack, who for my money is the MVP of the entire movie. The kids in the movie are amateur filmmakers (occasionally joined by the older sister) and the aliens have a very B-movie aesthetic (almost as charmingly ridiculous as the little aliens in the opening of NIGHT OF THE CREEPS). This movie is steeped in such childlike glee that I couldn’t help but be won over by it. I am really excited by the prospect of seeing more of this universe, either in film or TV form.   (Premiering on Shudder on 1/20.)

La Pieta

This won Best Picture at Fantastic Fest, and the director – who introduced the film at the screening I went to – was so bonkers and unpredictable that I had no idea what to expect. (He got lost going souvenir shopping in Austin while we watched his film and was unable to attend the post-screening Q&A; I hope he made it home alright.) The movie centers around a codependent mother-son relationship that becomes more and more toxic after the son is diagnosed with cancer. The film takes place in 2011 and we see lots of news reports about North Korea and Kim Jong-il, leading to a bizarre but surprisingly apt analogy between the relationship between this mother and son and the relationship between the North Korean government (especially Kim Jong-il) and its people. The movie has a very aggressive style with an almost suffocating pink and gray color palette (the art decoration of the mother’s house alone should be in a museum). And the whole thing is incredibly over-the-top and operatic. In a good way. (Not yet released.)

Leonor Will Never Die

I missed this at Fantastic Fest but finally caught up with it a couple months afterward when it was released in theaters. My main takeaway from this movie is … GIVE ME MORE ELDERLY WOMEN AS ACTION HEROES. The movie follows Leonor, a retired screenwriter who is known for writing great action movies. She is living with her son and the situation is not ideal for either of them, for many reasons. Leonor finds an ad looking for screenplays, so she pulls out an unfinished script and starts tinkering with it. While working on it, she becomes the victim of a freak accident when a television falls on her head and lands her in a coma. While unconscious but not exactly asleep, she finds herself as a character in her own movie, affecting the story and trying to figure out the ending. This was really great and unexpectedly emotional (Leonor’s story about Ronwaldo’s namesake is devastating). And I know it’s become a cliche to end a movie with a musical number, but I loved this one. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Moonage Daydream

This movie is certainly an experience, and I loved seeing it at the Lincoln Square IMAX with the director Brett Morgen in attendance. I’m not sure how much new stuff we’re actually learning from it, despite the use of tons of never-before-seen concert footage, photos, interviews, etc. I consider myself to be a fan of David Bowie, but I’m not nearly as knowledgeable about his career or the breadth of his musical oeuvre (or filmography, for that matter). As such, I was pretty overwhelmed by this and found myself wondering if I was even a true fan at all. This isn’t a documentary by any known standards; it’s much more of an overall impression and headspace. It’s fascinating to see his evolution as an artist as it’s presented here, and yet there’s so much that’s left out. I’m not sure how to even evaluate it except that it’s an experience I’m glad I had. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Smoking Causes Coughing

I’d only ever seen one of Quentin Dupieux’s movies before this, but that movie was RUBBER and it was about a rubber tire that kills people, so I was here for whatever this filmmaker was about to give me. The main characters in this movie are a group of avengers that call themselves Tobacco Force and are sent on a compulsory teambuilding retreat. Much of the movie is a bit like an anthology movie, with the characters telling scary stories that are dramatized for us. There’s an apocalyptic threat that feels a bit tacked on and inconsequential, to be honest, though it does culminate in a hilarious ending. My favorite bits, though, were the random details of this skewed universe. I love that the Tobacco Force are famous and that families want “us-ies” with them. I love that the team’s boss is a rat puppet who is a real ladies man, despite constantly secreting some kind of ooze from his mouth (and, you know, being an anthropomorphic rat). I love the 24-hour convenience store in the team’s cabin that’s staffed by just one person who has to sit there all day and all night until one of these five people decides they want something. This is a bit more fun than RUBBER, if a little less focused. I loved it. (Not yet released.)

Three Thousand Years of Longing

It’s been seven years since we’ve had a George Miller-directed movie (2015’s FURY ROAD) and while this wasn’t *precisely* my jam, there’s a lot to love. This movie is essentially an anthology story wherein Idris Elba’s character, a djinn who grants wishes, is summoned (unintentionally) by a scholar played by Tilda Swinton. Having a very comfortable life and being educated enough to know how all wish-granting stories inevitably end, she resists making any wishes. He then tells her three tales to explain how he became imprisoned in the bottle she released him from, and by the end she has decided on her first wish. This is beautiful, with some really stunning visuals. The love story is a bit odd to me (though perfectly understandable that a woman would make a wish to be Idris Elba’s lover), but I do love the interplay between Swinton and Elba and their characters’ perspectives. My favorite thing about the movie, though, is how different it is from what George Miller tends to be known for. I think, when we look back on his career, the Mad Max films stand out as his most iconic achievement. But it gives me such joy to know that he can also make a film like this (not to mention THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, BABE: PIG IN THE CITY and the HAPPY FEET movies). (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Triangle of Sadness

This was the much-hyped closing film of Fantastic Fest, and while I was meh on the director’s previous film, THE SQUARE, the trailer had me pretty excited for this. I think most of the movie has unfortunately been overshadowed by the extended “vomit” sequence, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s one of many movies this year that comments on class and satirizes the super wealthy. And while there’s plenty of that biting satire and class commentary in the first half – Yaya and Carl’s discussion about who pays for what, the rich woman who thinks she’s giving the poors a real treat by insisting on their abandoning their duties and going for a swim, and of course the Captain and Dimitry literally having an argument about socialism and capitalism – the second half takes it to another level by completely upending the established class structure. Everyone in the cast understands the assignment, but Dolly DeLeon is the MVP (in every way) and I’m fully behind the campaign to get her an Oscar nod. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

Unicorn Wars

Honour! Pain! Cuddles! A French-Spanish anti-war animated film with the animation style of an uber violent My Little Pony is something you’re either going to be into or you’re not. I expected this to be bonkers but I didn’t expect it to be as sincere as it is. The story’s main conflict is a war between religious zealot teddy bears and environmentalist unicorns, and it is surprisingly gory and obscene for an animated movie. (Definitely not for kids – in addition to the violence, there is drug use and a few teddy bear penises.) There is a secondary plot revolving around two of the bears who are brothers who have sustained a lifelong rivalry for their mother’s affections, going back to just after their birth. If the combination of cute and brutal appeals to you, this movie might be right up your alley. (Not yet released.)