Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Heretic - Another great horror film from 2024!! Honestly, I think 2024 was one of the strongest years for the horror genre in a long time. I like Sophie Thatcher a lot, and I also like what Hugh Grant has been doing lately. But Chloe East is the star in this - just such a great performance, especially for such a newcomer. And Topher Grace is WILD casting for this considering he's the only one from That 70s Show who didn't join the cult of Scientology. The film starts off strong with the initial framing of the opening credits, and then just never lets up. The suspense begins the second Hugh Grant answers the door - we know these two girls are in danger, and it's pretty clear that they can sense it as well but are trained to believe that their guidelines will save them. Sending two women to knock on a strangers door to talk about Mormonism in the year 2024 is not safe - it's not even debatable, but women are disposable compared to the bigger picture. This is not just specific to Mormons, either. All regions are a cult, some are just cult-ier than others. The film works so well because literally everything Grant says is mere common sense, anti-cult, pro-intellectual and free thought, but he's a psychopath so there is this strange dichotomy of rooting for and trusting your beliefs (i.e these girls), even when you know it's bullshit. In particular, I love his speech about diluting the original - with Monopoly and Radiohead's Creep as his examples. I also love that these girls are smart, but make stupid decisions and yet, they are believable stupid decisions. It's very interesting, very creepy, and very intense. And *spoiler*, I was not expecting the "death" - especially so early on. The "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" cover is fan-fucking-tastic, and I just looked it up and SCREAMED when because I had NO IDEA that it was Thatcher singing??!!! Adding it to my Spotify immediately! 

2. Elevation - This probably would have made it on my Worst of 2024 list if I watched it earlier. It's BAD. The only reason I had this on my to watch list is because my husband said he wanted to see it, but then when it was released on streaming, he changed his mind (he does this a lot. He's not really a movie person. Nobody is perfect). I really like Anthony Mackie, though. And I LOVE Morena Baccarin. But the other woman in this is awful, and even worse - her haircut and those eyebrows??? I looked her up, and pictures of her are mostly normal, so WHY did they do that to her? It's so distracting and it's honestly hard to look at her. And unfortunately, they somehow erase all of Mackie's charm and Baccarin's intrigue, and make them so dry. The plot of this is kind of interesting - it's kind of like A Quiet Place, but with altitude instead of sound. And I like the twist of where the "monsters" came from. But they over-explain the monsters so much it becomes grating (we get it - they can track humans by their Co2 and can't go above 8000ft, you don't need to remind the audience every 5 minutes...). The monsters aren't even cool looking! They pretty much look like giant stink bugs. The whole thing just sucks. 

3. The Order - JUDE LAW BABY!!! I love him so much, and he is fantastic in this (I could do without the mustache and the American accent, but at least he does it better than most). Nicholas Hoult is in, like, every movie now (I'm exaggerating obviously, but 4 movies in one year is A LOT - especially when three of them were all released towards the end of the year). He's also really incredible in this, as a very unlikeable person. I like Jurnee Smollett (she's going to be in a miniseries with Taron Egerton, so I can't wait for that!) and Tye Sheridan too. And I thought this movie was a really strong showcase for both of them. It's a really interesting story based on true events about a large scale domestic terrorist group in the 80s. It feels a little long, but I was fully absorbed into it the whole time. It's definitely a slow burn story - and if you told me that Jeremy Saulnier directed it, I would have believed you. There's a lot of restraint in the story, a focus on character and relationships, and it builds on a "true crime" part without feeling exploitative. White power groups are so fucking scary, and it's even scarier that they are still around and still allowed to spread hate all in the name of "free speech". I was shocked that they ended this film by mentioning January 6th in relation to the Turner Diaries - it's quite bold (and true)!! Because I'm sure in about a decade we are going to get a film just like this, but with January 6th rioters as the focus. 

4. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Surprisingly, I enjoyed the first one - but I hated the second one. This one is slightly better, but still nowhere as fun as the first. I just love how much Jim Carrey goes for it, and even more so with this because he does two roles. I also love James Marsden! AND Krysten Ritter?!! I had no idea she was in this and she plays a baddie! Love it! Idris Elba is great voice casting as Knuckles - I kept meaning to watch the series spinoff of Knuckles, but it escaped me and now it's so far down the list, I'll probably never get to it. Keanu Reeves pops up as the voice of Shadow, too, which was really unexpected. I think some tighter editing would have made this more enjoyable. It's far too long for this type of movie - it's geared towards kids and I just don't think kids, especially NOW, have an attention span for an almost 2 hour film. But I laughed a few times (the Prodigy song really got me! I repeat - IT'S A KIDS MOVIE! And the line "Listen, I don't know if it's Godzilla or Hello Kitty down there". LOL. I laughed loud with that one). Sometimes that's all that counts!

5. Better Man - While I loved this, I do think that it copies Rocketman in a LOT of ways, and I find that annoying. But it's still really, really good. So, first of all, when this was released in theaters in America, and bombed, a lot of people blamed it on the fact that "nobody knows who Robbie Williams is". And that's simply not true. If you were a teenager or older in the late 90s, then you know who he is. He had a huge hit here - "Millennium" that was all over MTV. The video was a play on the Bond movies. It was on TRL for months. And there was another popular song too called "Angels" (the chorus is really catchy "and down the watttterrrrfaaaaallll" I can hear it so clearly in my head). I think it has more to do with the fact that it stars a CGI monkey and the average moviegoer doesn't get it. Also, it's a pop musical that's a bit fantastical, and that doesn't always reach a mass audience (even Rocketman disappointed at the box office, but mostly because Bohemian Rhapsody did so well). I know a lot of people like to write off box office, as if it's not important anymore, and while I do think it's less important with streaming revenue increasing, but it's still important for the bigger picture - it helps greenlight other movies like this getting made. Ones that are bold, creative, honest, and different than the biopics that we are constantly spoon fed that tell us nothing about the person but focus on the actor's imitation and recreating performances. And those biopics BORE ME TO DEATH. So, just like with Rocketman, we get to know Robbie as a person, and it's not all good. Second of all, as far as the monkey gimmick - it works so well as a metaphor for being so famous you no longer feel human - he quite literally becomes an animal expected to perform on command and entertain us. I get it. And I think this is especially true of boybands during this time - Take That was pretty much the UK version of our New Kids on the Block. There's a line about how it's said that people stay the age that they become famous at, and I think that can definitely be seen with a lot of people (like Britney Spears - she's MY AGE but still acts and speaks like she's 17 years old). It's a fine line that crosses back and forth between having empathy for how these performers are treated but also going "well they are millionaires who can have whatever they want, so why should I care about them", and I think this film balances those two feelings very well. Anyway, I also found a lot of it very funny and the dialogue is very witty ("I came out of the womb with Jazz hands, which was very painful for my mom"). And the performance scenes are INCREDIBLE. The "Rock DJ" scene, in particular (again, it sort of copies Rocketman's "Saturday Night" scene, but I'll allow it!). It's so fun, imaginative, and bursting with energy. I loved it all so much that it might even break into my Top 10 of 2024 when I re-evaluate in July!