Saturday Night

Now into its 50th season, Saturday Night Live is a late night staple for North America and has been the birthplace of some of the most influential comedians: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Bill Murray, Adam Sandler, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Hader; and the list goes on and on. SNL, arguably one of the most important television shows ever, "Saturday Night" is the story of how Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) managed to get the first episode to air (or almost didn't). It's riveting stuff. Jason Reitman's camera zooms and jumps from scene to scene with the manic energy of cocaine and too much pot. Part of the fun is seeing the impressions of the young cast of John Belushi (Matt Wood), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O'Brien), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), and Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt). Each actor did such a great job it felt like I was watching the real cast, an incredibly talented bunch of unknowns. How truly gifted these young people were. Reitman gives each of them time to shine while the tornado of the set swirls, the minute hand of the clock spinning towards 11:30, live showtime. Shout out to Nicholas Braun who plays both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson - Braun is great. It's a nostalgic ride with a whip smart and punchy script.  Catch one of the best films of the year, now in theatres.  

Woman of the Hour

Anna Kendrick. When I thought of that name I used to think: bubbly, smart, charming, rom-com type of girl. After seeing her in "The Accountant" (one of my favourite action films in the last few decades) and in "Up in the Air," my thoughts of Anna Kendrick began to change. This is a girl capable of bigger things and seems to desire more serious material. Well now, after "Woman of the Hour" I have a whole new and deepened respect for Ms. Kendrick. David Fincher has set the bar for serial killer movies, in my book. Do we need another one? Ms. Kendrick felt we did and after watching "Woman of the Hour" I can't say she is wrong. Women, so I have read, are the main consumers of true crime fiction. Maybe that's because men are dangerous and Ms. Kendrick would very much like to remind of us of that fact. There are few scenes from this film which have haunted me since it's viewing. Dark stuff here. What's it all about? It's the true story of rapist and murderer, Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) as he sets foot on The Dating Game as one of three suitors for Cheryl Bradshaw(Anna Kendrick). It's also about the women Alcala meets and kills along the way, told in a jumping timeline. Anna Kendrick may not be Fincher (who is?), but she can hold her own and has proven she is capable of a lot more than maybe people thought (myself included). This is an engrossing thriller. Catch it in theatres now.   

The Idea of You

Goddamn it, I didn't want to like this movie. A romantic-comedy-drama with Anna Hathaway. I mean come on, I watch films, not this nonsense. Ah, who am I kidding, I pretty much watch everything to bring you this blog of only the best stuff. I wade through the Hollywood trash dump and occasionally I find a treasure. Like "Pretty Woman," "The Idea of You" is a gem found in a toilet bowl of romantic comedies.  Nicholas Galitzine plays Hayes, a world famous 24 year old star in a boy band. He accidently runs into Solène (Hathaway) who has taken her daughter to see Hayes' group perform at Coachella. This is the goofy setup. Paparazzo, internet gossip, dealing with an ex-husband and juggling a teenager: it all fuels the comedic fire of, "The Idea of You." If this sounds pedestrian and stereotypical of the genre, well it is. But here is the thing, it doesn't feel so by the numbers and I'm not exactly sure why. I think it's co-writer and director Michael Showalter's really smart script and the fabulous performances of the two leads. They have steamy chemistry for sure. I found myself sucked into their relationship like a soap opera, waiting to see how it would all play out. Will it win any awards? Absolutely not. Well maybe a Golden Globe nod. Will you enjoy yourself? I think so. Catch it steaming and streaming on Prime or catch it on video when it gets released.    

Mother, Couch

Sigmund Freud would have loved it! Surreal, strange, the unconscious is working overtime here, or at least writer and director, Niclas Larsson is. What's it all about? Ewan McGregor plays David, a man who has found himself in a run down, bargain-bin, furniture warehouse, where large empty spaces are filled with boxes, lamps, and furniture is covered in plastic wrap. David's mother, played by the great Ellen Burstyn, has decided to take a seat on a couch on the second floor. She refuses to move. Why? It never becomes clear. Nothing here is clear. And yet, I found it compelling. David's marriage is on the fritz and he finds himself in all kinds of stressful situations. Maybe the film is a parlor trick? Compelled to watch arguably for characters and a story we don't really understand. But here is the thing, I don't feel duped. Just the opposite, delighted I was on the strange and compelling journey - maybe equally happy to see Ewan McGregor not doing dumb Disney Star Wars shit. F. Murray Abraham also stars in this. "Mother, Couch" - go check into therapy and catch this one at a rep theatre near you.   

The Substance

Bananas! This film is a sci-fi body-horror-comedy which gives nods to 80s horror films ("Dead Ringers," "The Thing," "Carrie," "From Beyond") and it's the wildest ride you will take this year, maybe this decade. What's it all about? Demi Moore plays an aging Hollywood star, Elisabeth Sparkle. We start with Ms. Sparkle doing a 20-Minute workout style class on TV, something out of Jane Fonda's playbook. The studio head, Harvey, played to perfection by Dennis Quaid, shitcans her. She's out. Then a mysterious opportunity arrives, a way to get her beautiful youthful body back. Her youthful self, who becomes known as Sue, is played by Margaret Qualley (who is also in the other strangest film this year, "Kinds of Kindness"). "The Substance" is a movie is about society's obsession with youth, and particularly Hollywood's obsession with it. Demi Moore, although she remains a beautiful woman, she is now 61 and for the last two decades has done mostly TV. Maybe it has to do with raising three kids. Or maybe it's because Hollywood has said she is too old? Watching Ms. Moore, it felt like she brought 20 years worth of fuck-you to the role - a powerhouse performance. A bold choice considering she had to do half the film nude. Remarkable. This is one of my favourite films this year. Catch this now in theatres. 

Footnote: This was directed by Coralie Fargeat, who directed one of my favourite films of 2018, "Revenge." It appeared in my very first movie blog post here: McPherson's Movie Marquee: Top Films of 2018 (mcphersonsmoviemarquee.blogspot.com)

His Three Daughters

Katie (Carrie Coon) and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) have come to stay with their sister, Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) to be with their dying father who is living at home in hospice care. Rachel is an adult and has been living with their father in her shared New York apartment. Between smoking her daily weed, Rachel has been shouldering the heavy burden of looking after their dad, for the most part. The movie begins close to their father's end. Azazel Jacobs wrote and directed this smart and poignant film. Each character is given a full life. You know these people. The older A-type judgement sister, Katie, who pours and drinks red wine like she were stabbing someone. The peacemaker, Christine, the former deadhead, hoping everyone can just get along. And Rachel, the pot smoking piece of damaged goods who seems to have a chip on her shoulder. The actors here breathe full life into these characters and you feel them. These people are real. This is a meditation on family dynamics, identity, and death. "His Three Daughters" is one of the best movies of the year. Expect to see this one at all the award shows. Catch this now in theatres. Soon to be streaming on Netflix or wait and go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff here in Ottawa when it arrives on the shelf. 

Speak No Evil

If you have already seen the Danish original, then do you really need to see this American remake? This is the question I asked myself. Yes you do. They are very similar for sure, however James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis,  Scoot McNairy and the rest of the cast are so good in it and it's so much fun, it's must viewing in my opinion. What's it all about? Well, it's a remake of the Danish 2022 film of the same name. It's about a couple, Ben and Louise,  who meet another couple, Paddy and Ciara, on vacation and are subsequently invited by them later for a follow-up vacation at Paddy and Ciara's countryside home. Paddy and Ciara have a son who doesn't speak. Paddy, who purports to be a doctor, claims his son to have been born with an abnormally small tongue which prevents him from speaking. Everything is not as it seems at the farmhouse. Things go from odd to really strange quickly, and then move in the direction of terror. It's a fun and funny ride fingernail-marked with a white knuckling ending. "Speak No Evil" - shout loudly how much fun this one is! Catch it in theatres now.