The End of Oak Street

Stranger Things has given the 1980s a whole new life. As a Gen-Xer, it feels a little bit like time travel. My Gen-Z kids also seem to enjoy this time period. Like I said, Stranger Things has played an enormous role in that. 1982 was a particularly outstanding year for film: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Tootsie, Gandhi, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Das Boot, Diner, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Poltergeist, Blade Runner, Fitzcarraldo, Conan the Barbarian, and John Carpenter's The Thing all came out in 1982! Just think about that. Amazing. The End of Oak Street is writer-director David Robert Mitchell's third film. I loved his first two, It Follows (a teen horror film which I think is rather brilliant) and Under the Silver Lake (a drama/comedy and an ode to Film Noir and Hitchcock - I adore this movie). If his first film was an ode to Wes Craven/John Carpenter, and his second was an ode to Hitchcock, then this third film is an ode to Spielberg. The End of Oak Street was like if Spielberg were brought back in time to 1982 and he made Jurassic Park instead of E.T. (and brought the special effects back with him too). What's it all about? Anne Hathaway (who seems to be in every big movie this year) plays Denise, who is in a marriage going through a rough patch. Her husband, Greg (Ewan McGregor), who is trying to make ends meet by delivering pizzas on the side, might have a mild drinking problem, but is doing his best to keep it all together for his family. They have two kids and a dog, and they all live in a suburban cul-de-sac which ends up time-travelling (the whole neighbourhood) millions of years into dino land where they try not to get eaten while trying to figure out what's going on. It's good marriage therapy, '80s style. I had a ton of fun with this. The best Jurassic Park movie since Jurassic Park. Head to the theatre now to time travel back to 1982, or wait and rent it from the video store at Movies 'N Stuff. 

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.