Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Antlers - This is a solid little horror movie, mostly due to the fantastic cast - Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons! It definitely has potential to be better, but overall it has a strong theme of childhood trauma and PTSD. It makes the same mistake that a lot of horror movies do, and that is that it's so fucking dark (I mean aesthetically dark not psychological). How are you supposed to be scared when you can't even tell what is happening??? It never makes sense to me. Even the poster is dark - what the fuck am I even looking at??? There's also A LOT of build-up - there's a whole 45 minutes before something scary actually happens, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do wish it had some tighter editing and story-telling. But as I said, stellar performances from Russell and Plemons (as expected), and the little boy is also excellent. There's some gruesome bits, but nothing really memorable about it. Although it did have a fantastic ending that I might remember for a while. Time will tell. 

2. Ghostbusters: Afterlife - This was FAR better than I was expecting! I like the original Ghostbusters just fine, but it's not one of those movies that I hold dear to my heart or care if there are multiple remakes and reboots. But when I saw the trailer for this, as many others pointed out, it looked like a Stranger Things movie not a Ghostbusters movie (and not just because of the actor being in both). It just looked a little like it was pandering to a wider audience instead of "true" fans, which is exactly what the 2016 one mistakenly did (side-note: I thought the 2016 one was fine *shrugs shoulders*, but also Chris Hemsworth's lens-less glasses still makes me laugh on a regular basis). So, I'm surprised to say that this reboot is quite enjoyable! It's cute, very funny, a little dark and spooky, has some really strong characters - overall I don't have really anything negative to say about it (ok...it definitely could have been at least 20 minutes shorter, but that's every movie nowadays. I also DO NOT like the Harold Ramis ghost. Please STOP doing this, Hollywood. It's super fucking creepy!). It's hard to even pinpoint the most successful aspects, because it all just works so well. I think a lot of credit, though, is on the shoulders of Mckenna Grace. First, I didn't even recognize her. Like, at all. I had no idea until the end when I looked it up - solely because I thought "wow that girl is awesome! Who is she???", and was stunned by the answer. She's just perfect in this (the wink, the dorky science jokes, just perfect). I also think Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon have insane chemistry. I would watch a million movies with them as a couple. 

3. Together Together - I like that this movie does a sort of gender-swapping story, but instead of actually swapping a gendered story, it tells a story that is typically a female story (a woman deciding to have a baby on her own) and realistically makes it a male one. It's super interesting and I don't think it's been done before? I know there have obviously been stories about single fathers, but I mean of a guy that sets out to have a child on his own instead of it happening to him. It feels very modern. I also think the characters feel very real, except for maybe Jules, who is a little over-the-top, but also provides some truly hilarious moments - my favorites are when he yells at the customer who is waiting for his coffee "WHAT? Here you go!" (perfect line delivery) and when he says "do NOT name your kid Jessie" with absolutely no prompt or context. I laughed for like 3 minutes straight. But the main girl, played by Patti Harrison (I think this may be the first thing I've seen her in), does a great job at portraying a very balanced and composed young woman, who happens to be in an odd situation. She reminds me of myself, a little, in that she doesn't really divulge much unless prompted and she's awkward but not in an accentuated way. I also love seeing Sue from Veep! She plays the same no-nonsense sort of character, but I am here for it! Overall, I think this is a sweet little indie movie that's charming and unexpected. I like it! 

4. Titane - *slight spoilers* I had no idea what this movie was about - I heard that it was super weird and from many implications, I went into it *pretty sure* that the main character fucks a car? But, surprisingly, we've been there before (with The Counselor, which was not as bad of a movie as everyone claims). Also, surprisingly, I've been to a car show very similar to the one featured in the beginning of this movie. I actually like car shows, in general, and I used to go to the one at the Javits Center in NYC every year (haven't been in 3 years, but definitely plan on going to the next one). The one I went to that reminded me of this one was in LA and it was a car-slash-fashion show, which was really just an excuse to have a bunch of models in bikinis walk on a runway. Anyway, the beginning of this movie is fairly successful. It's clearly meant to be an uncomfortable watch (and the car fucking isn't even the worst part - she attempts a hanger abortion and she tries to bite off someone's nipple ring - both scenes had me cringing). I wasn't super enthralled with the whole faux-feminist murderer plot that was beginning to unfold (it's ok because he was an asshole never works for me). But then, it becomes an entirely different movie, and I'm not sure if I like it or not. It's basically a copy of The Imposter (which is somehow a documentary, meaning it's REAL. Wild, but real). Overall, I think it's just a little too ridiculous for me to truly enjoy it, but there is still a lot of good stuff within it. The use of body horror is extreme - and I had my nose scrunched for the entire movie. It's just soooo gross. I like the way it uses pregnancy as trauma (how "alien" your body becomes), and I like how it relates trauma to sexuality. There's definitely a clear Under the Skin vibe (which is one of my favorite films of all-time) about identity, gender, relationships and sexuality. I don't think it's something that will stay with me, though, as Under the Skin did. 

5. Marry Me - As I've said many times, rom-coms aren't really my thing. But as with any genre, a good movie is a good movie. And there have definitely been some really good rom-coms (13 Going on 30, While You Were Sleeping, My Best Friend's Wedding are some of my favorites. Oddly, the most recent one that I really liked was that Rebel Wilson one - Isn't it Romantic, and I was definitely not expecting to like that. So, you never know!). This is a satisfying rom-com. I don't necessarily think it's a good movie, but it hits all the notes that it should, is well-acted and charming, and has a good message. It's also very innocent and inoffensive (I'm usually super offended by most rom-coms. They are super misogynistic, especially the "girl power" ones). It has a simple story of a famous pop-star falling in love with a "regular" guy, and it's definitely a relationship the audience can root for. I adore JLo, but I'm not a big fan of her acting (terrific performer, though!), nor am I fan of Owen Wilson (I don't hate him, I just find him a little annoying). They both don't really have any range, so it just feels like they are playing a heightened version of themselves, but it works (I AM, however, a big fan of Michelle Buteau, but she is sadly under-utilized in this). I read an interesting article about how JLo consistently only has white guys as her love interests in films, which is not something I ever thought about, but obviously a bit problematic? Considering how influential she is and how she embodies this very proud Latina/New Yorker identity, I wonder if it's merely coincidental or if she designed her film career to cater to a "wider" (aka "whiter") audience? Sorry, I don't have the article link, but I'm sure you can find it if you're interested. Anyway, there's obviously some cheesy moments, and very unrealistic moments (how did a middle-school guidance counselor afford 3 tickets that close to the stage of a concert that clearly would be thousands of dollars per ticket?). There are also moments in which the audience is supposed to sympathize with this woman, because her life is just so hard (late night hosts are making fun of her!), but I rarely feel bad for celebrities (is that mean? I know they are human and have feelings too blah, blah, blah, but unless they have a family member dying or something to that extent, I just don't feel bad. Money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure makes everything easier). I also don't believe celebrity couples are real - 90% of them are for publicity. But there are also some really cute moments in this - like when she shows up at his school and the kids in the math club dance with her. The funniest part of the whole movie is when they describe JLo as "north of 35" (she's 52). Also, the line "award shows are bullshit and you don't need them to tell you how good you are", which is clearly @ The Academy for "snubbing" Lopez for her performance in Hustlers (which was good, but not award-worthy in my opinion). Overall, I had a good time with this. I'm not sure why they had to end it on such a weird note (during the credits there is a joke about a girl going on a camping trip on a first date and her boyfriend goes "she's still alive!" - ha, ha, ha he didn't murder her! SO FUNNY!).