I should’ve known what we were going to watch after the great (and funny) short film that played before our screening of Extra Ordinary. But nothing could have prepared me for the non-stop jokes and the total bunker film that it was. Coming from Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, in their directorial feature debut, Extra Ordinary benefits from an all-star cast that makes the film what it is.
Rian Johnson has developed into one of those filmmakers that I will go and see everything he puts on the screen. His fifth feature film had big shoes to fill, it has to follow his blockbuster Star Wars: The Last Jedi which grossed 1.3 billion worldwide. It’s a hard task to do but Johnson decided to do this by having an all-star cast and a modern take on the whodunit film that has been done over and over again in films. In Johnson’s hand, Knives Out becomes something special, a fresh take on the genre and a film that takes aim at today’s society.
Parasite cons you just like it’s protagonists con the family they infiltrate the life of. Bong Joon-oh makes you believe one thing and then lets the curtain fall, it’s then that you realize that you are faced with a totally different film. What Bong Joon-oh does so well is to create a feeling of comfort in you, you think you know where it’s all going and then… Goodbye comfort and hello madness. It’s wild, unpredictable but oh so delightful. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what type of film Parasite is. Not because it’s nothing but because it’s everything. At times comedy, followed by thriller to end with drama, Parasite blends genre like nothing else before.
Movies are a weird thing, objectively they can differ with everyone and you can either connect to them on a deep level or just see them as fun and move past it. For me, Brittany Runs a Marathon is nothing but miraculous. Connecting to films isn’t new to me, every year there’s just one movie that sits with me for a long time and I just wait for it to leave me only to become part of me. I have a feeling that Brittany Runs a Marathon will be just that to me. From beginning to end, the film spoke to me. I understood it and what the characters were going through. I never felt like the film was preaching to me, instead, it was just going through me and making me feel all the emotions possible. See, just like the character of Brittany (Jillian Bell), I lost a lot of weight. While we did it for a very different reason, I could understand everything she was going through because I went through it all too.
Sometimes a movie has a better premise then the final product. I went in for Yesterday, I had expectations. Not only was this a script from Richard Curtis but it was a Danny Boyle film. It was tailor-made for me. And yet, when everything was done, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Yesterday isn’t a bad movie, it’s actually pretty good but with that premise and team, I was expecting to be blown away. And that just didn’t happen.
Sometimes comedies just hit the right spot. Some comedies are just tailor-made for you, while others not so much. Late Night is not only in my wheelhouse when it comes to humour but it just hits a home run when it comes to its subject and message. Filmed in 2017, Late Night is as timely as ever and maybe even more in the post #MeToo era that we live in. And yet, while it hammers down on its feminist message and diversity message, it’s never too much. It always does it just right.
With every year, there are always a handful of films that I try and champion. Films with little-to-no marketing. This is why I almost have a film end on my list of favourites at the end of the year that nobody has heard of before.
Knives and Skin is definitely one of those movies you’ll hear me rave about for the rest of the year. If you followed any outlets that have been at Tribeca, Overlook or even Fantasia later this year, I know you’re going to hear all about this film. And you very much should. You’re going to hear a lot of similarities to Twins Peaks – and rightfully so.
Movies are an escape. They are a way for us to spend a few hours to forget our lives. It can make us happy, sad and even, sometimes, angry. But to me, the best movies are also the one that when you walk out you can relate to them on another level. Those times that when you leave the theatre you can’t help but self reflect and find out why you connected to it so much.
It seems like a new great comedy is on its way, this time courtesy of Amy Poehler and Netflix.
