Shithouse

Cooper Raiff wrote, directed, and starred in the remarkable film, Shithouse. It's about an overly sensitive and shy boy, Alex who is living away in residence for his first year of college. His roommate gets blackout drunk and Alex feels disconnected to his environment - he hasn't made any friends. Then he manages to sleep with the dorm supervisor, Maggie (Dylan Gelula - she is amazing). For Alex, this is world altering. Alex has fallen hard for Maggie hard and expects she is feeling the same way about him, except she isn't. This isn't a typical rom-com. It has a real authentic feel of emotions, dialogue, and pacing. Shithouse reminded me Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles. Raiff perfectly captures what it is to meet someone at Alex's age, what is it to form friendships at this time in your life. Alex is far from a perfect character; there are times I wanted to give him a smack for being an overly emotional baby. At the same time, everything Alex does seems so real and his action and reactions are wonderfully consistent to the character's nature. The is Cooper Raiff's first full length feature and it's rather remarkable. Catch it on streaming services.  

The 40-Year-Old Version

It's a black and white comedy set in New York about a failed theatre playwright, Radha Blank. It was written, directed, and stars, Radha Blank in this semi autobiographical film which reminded me a little of Woody Allen when Allen was at his best. It also has the pacing of a Jim Jarmusch film. If you ever saw Curtis's Charm, The 40-Year-Old Version borrows a bit from this too. I loved it and I loved Radha Blank. The story goes she was once a promising up-and-coming black star of the theatre world - she even got a plaque naming her one of the 30 under 30 most promising talents - but now she is 40 and hasn't produced anything in a decade. She teaches theatre to a bunch of foul-mouthed horny teenagers as her gay agent friend tries to revive her career by bringing back one of her works to the stage, but with artistic compromising edits. Blank deicides to go all 8-Mile and become a rapper. This sounds ridiculous but it's the best parts of the film. The 40-Year-Old Version is one of the warmest, charming films I've seen all year. Catch it on Netflix. 

Promsing Young Woman

 

Carey Mulligan stars as Cassandra, a medical school dropout who is working in a coffee shop who spends her evenings at bars pretending she is extremely drunk so men pick her up to see what they will do; a kind of date-rape vigilante. How did Cassandra get to this place? We find out over the course of the movie. I Spit on Your Grave has been turned into I Spit into Your Coffee. This #MeToo drama is dark and gives us the perspective we need when boys behave criminally when it comes to sexual assault, where the victims are blamed for making bad choices. Promising Young Woman is a cut above most revenge dramas because it carries extra emotional depth, thanks largely to Carey Mulligan's great performance. Catch this on streaming services. 

Run

It's a thriller. You have seen all of this before, but like Don't Breathe it's an extremely well put together monster. Everything is taut, lean, no fat. This is 90 minutes of pure suspenseful fun. What's it all about? It's about Cloe Sherman (Kiera Allen - she is wonderful) as a girl born with a series of aliments - sick from out of the gate. Her mother, Diane (Sharah Paulson - loved her in this) has been caring for Cloe with great tenderness for the last 17 years. Diane prepares all of her daughters meals, even growing her own vegetables in a large organic garden outside their home. This is healthy stuff for someone who needs to be so careful with what they eat - Cloe is diabetic, asthmatic, and has no use of her legs, bound to a wheelchair. But Cloe is a fighter and smart. So smart that she is soon off to college - she is just waiting for a college acceptance letter to come in the mail. Why aren't they coming? I won't say anything more. Get out your antianxiety medication for this movie, it will keep you on the edge of your seat. Catch it on streaming services.   

Sound of Metal

 

Riz Ahmed stars as Ruben Stone, a heavy metal/punk drummer in a two piece band, a kind of reverse White Stripes ensemble, with his girlfriend, singer and guitarist, Lou (Olivia Cooke). Ruben, for reasons unknown, although maybe because of constant exposure to loud noise, suddenly loses his hearing. Ruben, now four years clean from heroin addiction must learn to deal with his new-found deafness. He does so at a compound for the deaf/those in recovery center. The center is run by a deaf-hippie-therapist named Joe played with great charm by Paul Raci. It's the performances by Ahmed and Raci which gives this movie it feel of authenticity. Ruben, who has been working out his anger with the world through his drumming, must find a new way to deal with himself when he loses his hearing. It's a riveting performance. I wouldn't be surprised if Ahmed was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Oscar and a best-supporting for Raci. The film has a rawness to it, the grittiness of The Florida Project, American Honey, and Vox Lux to name a few recent films with similar aesthetics. Catch this one on Streaming Services. 

Another Round

 This is Danish director, Thomas Vinterberg's latest movie staring Mads Mikkelsen as Martin, a high school teacher who has lost his way as a teacher, a husband, and as a father. He has become by his own estimation (and to some degree others') boring. Life has overtaken Martin and the years of routine have found him settled into a complacent existence, that is until he discovers (maybe rediscovers) the liberation provided to him from the joys of consuming alcohol. Martin and three of his close friends and fellow teachers embark on an experiment - keep their blood alcohol level in their blood stream at .05% during the day. The idea being, we are better versions of ourselves with a few libations coursing through our system. This film is billed as a comedy, but it's more drama than anything. It's about our relationship with alcohol and society's relationship with alcohol - both at times revered and shunned. There is a societal respect for characters like Hemmingway and Churchill who accomplished so much, often drunk, whereas the gym teacher caught day-drunk is shunned. Vinterberg explores this dichotomy by pointing out that Demark, like Canada, promotes drinking and it's built into our culture - however calling someone "a drunk" carries much shame. These ideas are tossed around by Vinterberg, like he was sharing a bottle of booze with friends. Another Round is more sad than funny, like the guy at the bar who has had one too many. Vinterberg has made a film that feels like it was made in that sweet spot of a few drinks, where inhibitions are lost and we are doing our best work. Drink this one up on streaming services. 

  

The Outpost

What you need to know: This is based on a true story of an American army outpost in Northern Afghanistan in 2009. The outpost is a regular target by Taliban fighters - they seem to take daily pot-shots at the base; sometimes they get lucky, most often though, these Taliban fighters get picked off like Star Wars stormtroopers. There is a local Afghani who is helping the Americans. He often appears yelling, warning, "The Taliban are coming, the Taliban are coming!" This never-cry-wolf scenario plays itself out until, well, guess what, the Taliban show up. Big time. Then the battle happens which is what this movie is all about. I didn't think I would enjoy The Outpost because I thought it would be all rah-rah-America, a kind of, aren't-we-great movie. So I went in with low expectations. It's a bit rah-rah-America and I'm okay with that because let me tell you what this really is: It's an outstanding action picture. This is one of the best action pictures I've seen in a long time. The problem with all the super hero movies we are constantly inundated with is all the action that takes place, nobody really gets hurt. It's cartoon violence. When people get shot in this movie, well they are real people who could die - the stakes are high. I'm not familiar with director, Rod Lurie, but he has done a remarkable job with this film. If you want to see the best action film of the year, catch The Outpost on Netflix.