The Ugly Stepsister

Last year my favourite film was The Substance. If you haven't seen it, you really should. If you were to take it and mash it together with Cinderella, you would have The Ugly Stepsister. This Norwegian horror comedy is something I wasn't expecting and didn't know I needed until I watched it. Quite frankly, I find it wild that it actually exists. I don't like period pieces - frilly lace, candelabras, and horse-drawn carriages usually are not my cup of tea. It's got to be pretty darn good to get my attention and The Ugly Stepsister is just that. First off, it's gorgeous - the costumes, the sets, the lighting. It feels like money, time and a lot of care went into it. Secondly, it's bananas - a body horror version of Cinderella. Seriously. And then, thirdly, Lea Myren . She plays Elvira, one of the stepsisters of Cinderella (known as Agnes in the film and played by Thea Sofie Loch Næss). Lea Myren is absolutely fantastic as the jealous, bug-eyed, will-do-anything (and I mean anything) character trying to beautify herself in order to win the hand of Prince Charming. I wish she would be nominated for some best actress awards, but sadly I think Hollywood Cinderellas will cause her to be overlooked. Like The Substance, this film is not for the squeamish - there is a lot of disturbing, gross, and very dark humour here. I loved it. Let writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt be your sick and twisted fairy godmother and catch it streaming on Shudder (or hopefully you can find a copy at Movies 'N Stuff here in Ottawa). Do it, before you turn into a pumpkin.      

The G

Back in 2021 I wrote about a film called "I Care a Lot" about a woman who was putting seniors into homes against their will and stealing all of their assets. Now, imagine that dark comedy turned more serious and directed by Jeremy Saulnier ("Blue Ruin," "Rebel Ridge"), you'd have something that looks like, "The G." Except "The G" is actually directed by Canadian  filmmaker, Karl R. Hearne and the "G" stands for Great. This Canadian film, set in the U.S., has Dale Dickey playing Ann Hunter, a tough alcoholic senior looking after her bedridden husband when suddenly she is forcibly removed and relocated to a private institution. Her granddaughter, Emma (Romane Denis), fights on getting her grandparents out and reclaim their life savings. Dale Dickey - what a show she puts on, what a performance. Like I mentioned before, the film has a "Blue Ruin" low-budget grittiness to it and the soundtrack - a mix of retro and modern synth - keeps the tension strung high. Guns, Grannies, Gritty Greaseball Gangsters, and Greenbacks - "The G" is simply Grand. Catch it streaming on Crave.  

Best Films of 2021

 I didn't bother make a list last year. There wasn't much to write about. These are my favourite films of 2021. I haven't seen everything so it's more than likely I've missed some great films. Everything here, I've written about on my blog. That's the whole point of the blog, stuff I recommend. This would be a tidy summary (in no real order):

1. The Last Duel 

2. Pig

3. Titane

4. No Time to Die

5. The Rescue

6. The Power of the Dog

7. The Card Counter

8. King Richard

9. C'mon C'mon

10. Summer of Soul

11. A Quiet Place II

12. Army of the Dead

13. Boiling Point

14. Spencer

15. Don't Look Up

16. Nowhere Special

17. Mandibules

18. Raging Fire

19. The Green Knight

20. Malignant

21. The Alpinist

22. Old Henry

23. VAL

24. The Feast

25. The Novice

26. I Care a Lot

27. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

28. Red Rocket

29. Coming Home in the Dark

30. Swan Song

Honourable mentions:  Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, CODA, The Lost Daughter, The French Dispatch, Stillwater, Bestsellers, I'm Your Man

Guilty Pleasures:  Prisoners of the Ghostland, Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City, Zola, Benedetta, Antlers, Old, Night Teeth, Last Night in Soho 

The Year's biggest disappointments/stinkers: The Matrix Resurrections, Dune, The Beatles Get Back, Jungle Cruise, Candyman, The Electric Life of Louis Wain, The Guilty, Finch, Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, Reminiscence, Cry Macho

I Care a Lot

How do you take your comedies? I take mine black. I Care a Lot is dark. It has a cruelty and goofiness which is reminiscent of a Coen brothers picture. What's it all about? Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, a conniving, evil woman who dupes seniors; Marla has them fraudulently committed to old age homes or psychiatric care against their will, has a judge give her all the rights to manage their affairs, and then she goes about selling off all their material wealth so she can steal it all for herself. She's an evil piece of work. Things are moving along just fine until Marla happens to put the wrong old lady in a home (played by two time Oscar winner, Dianne Wiest). Wiest wasn't nominated for an Oscar or a Golden Globe, but she steals ever scene she is in. She is a joy to watch. Peter Dinklage plays her son Roman. He is just as evil as Marla. Let the games begin. This is a battle of wills between two monsters and it's a zany fun ride. Rosamund Pike was nominated and won the Golden Globe for best actress in a Musical or Comedy. Well deserved. Catch this on Amazon or Netflix depending on where you live. 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Nostalgia - it's the one word I would use to describe Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. As I write this, Tarantino is fifty six years old and I just turned forty nine. A seven year gap. But I'm old enough to remember old TV shows like Bonanza, Adam West's Batman, and have spent a good portion of my life watching the films of the 1960s; Steve McQueen, Bruce Lee, and the spaghetti Westerns of Clint Eastwood to name a few. Tarantino is a film geek; I say this with great affection because so am I. He has packed so much of the zeitgeist of the late 1960s Hollywood into his new movie, it oozes with polyester, sunglasses, and cigarettes. This is a homage to the stars and the films of that area. It's also the first film where Tarantino has shown some real depth of character with Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio). What's it all about? It's about Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) who chauffeurs Dalton around. Dalton is a former TV Western star trying to make it in feature films but only manages to land roles as the bad guy. He has a drinking problem and not a lot of prospects. Oh, and he lives next door to Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski. I know what Charles Manson's family did, so when we reach the climax of the film, well Tarantino gives us his fictional version of the Manson-Tate events like he did in Inglorious Bastards. Why? I'm left puzzled by the ending. Perhaps by subverting the truth, he is giving us the "Hollywood ending" we all want - we want the hero to kick ass and win. Maybe this is Quentin's point. The ending is the only thing about the film I didn't care for but there is sooo much to like, it's worth your time to check it out, especially if you are a film geek like me. Catch it in theatres now.