Welcome to the first of three Review Roundups! We have 21 new reviews coming at you over the next week and we will kick things off with our first 7 in this review.
Between work, covering the Austin Film Festival, and life in general, we’ve been pretty busy but we still wanted to get our reviews out for movies that you might have missed. So, without further ado, let’s jump into these rapid fire reviews.
Anora
A must see for sure. Sean Baker is a special filmmaker. He previously made The Florida Project and that movie has stuck in my mind since I first saw it in Ottawa years ago.
Anora follows Ani, an exotic dancer portrayed by Mikey Madison, as she embarks on a whirlwind romance with Vanya, the son of a powerful Russian oligarch.
For anyone unaware of Baker’s previous movies, they have this raw authenticity that you don’t see very often. One thing Baker does is populate his movie with real people from the locations they shoot in. Even if you didn’t know that while you’re watching, you can still feel that authenticity in the world and that emanates throughout his work.
Anora is surprisingly funny but manages to remain pretty grounded and raw. Mikey Madson certainly will be a frontrunner for that Lead Actress Oscar too. I had a blast watching this movie, both at an early screening for it at the Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal and again at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas.
I initially felt torn on the ending, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more it really suits the movie and remains true to its core.
Expect to see this one in my best of the year list and definitely give it a chance when it’s showing near you!
Saturday Night
I won’t lie, I didn’t think I would like this movie. The trailer didn’t work for me and I was worried this woulda been pretentious as all hell. But dammit, I liked this one!
This movie takes place over the span of about 2 hours before SNL hits the airwaves for the first time. While SNL is a recognizable institution now, it wasn’t always. In fact, it would’ve been very easy for the show to fail, and the chaos of that is on full display in this movie.
The fast pace made this one feel like a breeze and there was a steady stream of jokes, heart, and bits to keep me engaged. I’m a bit of a TV historian too, so I was very aware of the story of SNL, the original cast, and the politics at NBC, so I thoroughly enjoyed all of those nods and bits. I do wonder if you’re not as invested in these people going in though if your enjoyment simply wouldn’t be the same.
The thing that stuck with me most though was the performance from Cooper Hoffman. Cooper is the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of my all time favourite actors, and I’ve been eagerly following Cooper’s career to see if some of that magic has passed on. I think it definitely has, and one scene in particular stood out to me so much that it made me giddy. I genuinely can’t wait to see everything Cooper Hoffman will do in the future.
Woman of the Hour
Woman of the hour is directed by and stars Anna Kendrick in her feature film directorial debut! It follows the experience of Sheryl Bradshaw and the real life Dating Game Killer. Without giving too many details of what actually happens, Bradshaw was on the Dating Game TV show when Rodney Alcala was a contestant, who actually ended up “winning” a date with Bradshaw. Alcala though was in the middle of a spree of killings at the time for which he obviously hadn’t been caught yet.
Overall, I enjoyed this one enough and it was a solid directorial debut for Kendrick. If you’re a true crime person, this will definitely be up your alley.
I did have a couple issues, namely Kendrick’s character’s involvement. It’s not that the performance was bad or anything, but the whole dating game angle just doesn’t weave very naturally into the story. Such a prominent focus on Kendrick’s character just feels out of place given how little she had to do with anything that actually happens in the case.
The fact this serial killer ended up on the dating game is certainly weird, but aside from an intriguing premise, they just don’t manage to weave that angle into the movie very well.
This was pretty close to a half heart rating, but I do like the true crime genre and definitely enjoyed this one enough to justify a positive rating.
The Apprentice
A movie without an audience no doubt. If you love Trump, you don’t care to see the Hollywood take on the more formative years of the former (and now future) President of the United States. If you hate Trump, you’re probably not all that interested in learning more about what made him the man he is today. And finally if you’re indifferent to Trump, you’re probably sick of hearing about him over the last decade.
With that said, there’s some solid stuff in this movie. I was impressed with what I felt was a bit more balanced of a take on Donald Trump. I certainly wouldn’t say it was even, but it didn’t play as fast and loose with the truth as you might expect it to, at least as it relates specifically to Trump himself.
I really like the performances here from Sebastian Stan as Trump, who I would say emulates Trump more than he does an impression of him, and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, Trump’s friend, lawyer, and mentor.
The movie does some fun things visually to match the vibe of the different decades it spans too which I liked.
The only issue I really had was that I walked out of the theatre wondering why the movie exists and what it really had to say or offer.
This is very much a Frankenstein like story, but perhaps it’s just because Trump has been so talked about for most of the last decade that it feels like there really is nothing new or unique to say about him.
Also, I just wanted to note that since the election, Sebastian Stan was invited to be a part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, which I usually love, but nobody was willing to come on to talk to him about his movie. That’s definitely one of the more ridiculous things that’s happened in Hollywood recently. It’s really unfortunate though because I think Stan and Strong deserve a lot of credit for these performances that they seemingly won’t be getting.
I think it’s a good watch and is definitely one I recommend you watch simply for the performances alone.
Terrifier 3
The Clown King of the box office and one of the biggest surprise successes of the year! This is the third installment of the Terrifier franchise and is arguably the best one yet.
I will state up front, this movie isn’t for everyone. The Terrifier movies are known for being incredibly violent, gorey, and over the top. Art the Clown has become a slasher icon that specializes in coming up with inventive and graphic ways to kill his victims and really enjoys doing it.
These movies excel because they know exactly what they are and are confident in that identity. With the second and now third entries, they offer just enough character moments for the main cast to keep us engaged and invested without distracting us from what we’re really here to see.
It’s incredibly refreshing to see a movie this confident in its identity and so unashamed of what it is.
If you’re a slasher horror fan, don’t miss out on this one and give it a try this Christmas season!
The Substance
Speaking of things that aren’t easy to watch, let’s talk about The Substance! To be clear, I’m talking about some gnarly body horror that involves lots of needles. If you can handle that, there’s a special movie here worth watching.
This is a body horror flick with some fun and kinetic filmmaking and an interesting premise that I don’t want to give away here. At a high level, the movie is about beauty standards and an aging star. While it may not sound the most original, it’s the way that the movie engages with that subject matter that makes it so interesting.
Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore are fantastic as Sue and Elisabeth Sparkle respectively. I also loved Dennis Quaid, who stole basically every scene he was in. It’s crazy that in a movie with so many grotesque scenes, watching him eat was easily the grossest part of the movie.
This one is a wild ride full of an abundance of gratuitous ass shots, a particularly wild fight sequence, and an even wilder ending.
I had a lot of fun with this one and I think you will too!
A Different Man
Sebastian Stan makes another appearance in this roundup in what I thought was another enjoyable little flick.
I want to get into as few details as possible, because I knew nothing going into the movie, and I think that kept me more on my toes. This is definitely a surreal movie and a little bit bizarre, but that’s all part of its charm.
Adam Pearson also stars in this and is fantastic as well. I hope he finds more roles in future projects too because he was such a genuine delight here.
Is this a must see? Nah, but you definitely could find something worse to watch.
Adriana Wiszniewska