Dear Cineplex, It’s Not Me, It’s You

Editorials /

Dear Cineplex, I feel it’s only right to start this open letter by expressing my profound love for movies. The website you’re reading this on was something I created to provide a place for my friends and I to write about movies. More than just being a movie lover though, I adore the experience of going to the movie theatre. According to a rough count of my logged movies on Letterboxd, I went to the movie theatre 62 times in 2023. Though 2024 was off to a slow start, I managed to make it to the theatre 15 times so far this year. Theatres offer a unique opportunity for friends and strangers alike to come together for a shared experience unlike any other. Some of the most profound thoughts and feelings I’ve ever had were experienced in a movie theatre.  Like most Canadians, Cineplex theatres are the only places for me to see the latest releases. Whether it was the Galaxy Cinemas in Owen Sound or the Scotiabank Theatres in Ottawa or Montreal, Cineplex theatres are where I’ve always gone to the movies. I’ve been a Scene member for 14 years and a Cineclub member from the very beginning. I give Cineclub memberships to friends as gifts, I bring countless people to the movies every single chance I get, and I often see the same movie multiple times (Top Gun: Maverick & Dune: Part Two will be tied for my personal record of 7 times each in theatres).  Basically, the point I’m making here is that I’m a very loyal customer and I always have been. But you haven’t been making it easy for me, Cineplex.  Movie theatres have been facing challenges from all sides. During the pandemic, theatres were regularly shuttered, with some never reopening again. At the same time, studios leaned heavily into streaming services. Some movies bypass theatres altogether, while others get incredibly short theatrical runs at a handful of theatres, or are released to theatres and streaming platforms at the same time. The competition is fierce and if you track the box office on a weekly basis (or follow someone like Dan Murrell who does it for me) you can see that we’re still struggling to generate box office levels comparable to the pre-pandemic era.  It’s never been more important to entice people to return to theatres. It would be easy to blame everything on companies like Netflix and their efforts to send movie theatres to oblivion as they did Blockbuster, but they aren’t your biggest problem. You are your biggest problem. You’re doing nothing to encourage people to return to theatres, you do nothing to keep the people that do go to theatres coming back, and to add insult to injury, you nickel and dime moviegoers every chance that you get. Whether it’s your absurd “online booking fees”, your price increases when a movie actually does manage to pull in an audience, or your consistent inability to enforce any sort of rules in your theatres, it’s increasingly difficult to justify going to the movies or convincing others to join me.  I bet that most people that have gone to the movies lately might not even realise they paid extra fees or higher prices. If they buy a ticket online or through the Cineplex app, they are charged an extra $1.50 per ticket. That new fee alone has gouged an additional $40 million for Cineplex from the moviegoers that still support your business. Cineplex is currently being sued over this in a class action lawsuit and by the Competition Bureau of Canada, by the way. Also, you know all those people that went to see Barbie or Oppenheimer last year? Or the ones that have seen Dune: Part Two recently? Well they might not be aware that they also spent an extra $1 per ticket because you jacked the prices up for popular movies. That’s right! The Globe and Mail’s Film Editor and Chief Film Writer, Barry Hertz, brought attention to this recently with the premier of Dune: Part Two. For the record, Canada’s second largest theatre chain, Landmark Cinemas, is also guilty of this one.  But for the sake of argument, let’s say we still make it to the movie theatre despite all of that. What do we get when we’re there? Well, if the experience is anything like mine, then it means hearing lots of conversations and seeing plenty of light coming from phones or Apple watches during the movie. It used to be that if someone pulled out their phone, they’d at least have the brightness low and would try and tuck or hide it while they took a quick look. Today, though, I regularly see people scrolling through their Instagram feeds during a movie with their brightness on full blast, holding their phone up as if they want me to see them doing it. Hell, I’ve even had someone right beside me answer a call in the middle of a movie! I have people in my life that outright refuse to go because of the constant disturbances during movies. For the times I have convinced them it was worth it, they’ve been reminded why they don’t go almost every single time. Not once in my entire life have I been to a movie at a Cineplex theatre where I’ve seen an employee reprimand someone for causing a disturbance in the theatre. Not one time! Now sure, the problem here is first and foremost the people, but we don’t even shame them anymore! What happened to the PSAs before every movie about Sally Soundtrack and Tommy Texter? At the very least, if you’re not going to enforce any rules at Cineplex you can at least remind people that they’re not alone at the theatre and that they should be mindful of the people around them.  Since I moved to Montreal, I take every chance I can to see movies in local independent theatres like Cinéma du Parc. I absolutely love it there,

Dear Cineplex, It’s Not Me, It’s You Read More »

Dune: Part Two – Shea’s Review

Reviews /

Before I saw Dune: Part Two, I considered Denis Villeneuve one of the best working directors today. During my friends’ wedding week in Mexico last year (shoutout to Mr. and Mrs. Linhares) a group of us talked about movies and one of the questions we asked ourselves was “If you could only keep one director alive today, who would it be?” My answer wasn’t Tarantino or Scorsese, like some expected me to say. It was Denis Villeneuve. You might be more familiar with movies like Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival, & Blade Runner 2049 but movies like Enemy, Incendies, and Polytechnique are also great and came early in Villeneuve’s career. After seeing what Denis could do with something like Blade Runner 2049 I was incredibly excited when I heard he was going to adapt Dune for the big screen.  At the time, I knew two things about Dune having not read the books: Much of the things I loved growing up (like Star Wars) were inspired heavily by Dune and it was considered impossible to adapt to film. When Dune: Part One came out in 2021 I assembled a group of friends together, we travelled to London, Ontario for the weekend, and we watched it in IMAX. It blew everyone away and immediately made Dune: Part Two my most anticipated movie. Now, more than two years later and after a delay in 2023 due to the strikes, Dune: Part Two is here.  Was Denis Villeneuve able to do the impossible? My Thoughts This movie blew me away. Despite having sky high expectations, this movie somehow exceeded them. Every single aspect of this film, from the direction, performances, cinematography, music, sound, and visual effects come together to make what I feel will prove to be a generation-defining film.  I really do try to not be too hyperbolic when I talk about how much I like or dislike something, but I really believe this will have the same kind of legacy that Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy has. I spent a lot of time thinking about a movie that has felt this epic and nothing since then comes close.  There was a scene in this movie that was so powerful and overwhelming that it brought a tear to my eye both times that I’ve seen it. It’s not a sad scene or anything like that either, but while watching it, I shed tears at the sheer might of what cinema is capable of and how it can make you feel.  I also need to take the time to talk about Timothee Chalamet. During the Dune: Part One press tour, Villeneuve spoke about how if Chalamet didn’t agree to play the lead of Paul Atreides then he might not have made Dune at all. I’ll admit, even as a big fan of Chalamet, I didn’t understand exactly what he meant until I saw this movie. For this whole thing to work you have to believe in Paul Atreides as a commanding, powerful, and compelling figure. When a big change happens for Paul in this movie, Chalamet went somewhere I’ve never seen him go before and it blew me away. I felt exactly how the characters felt in those moments and it has solidified Chalamet as a truly generational talent who will be compelling for years to come.  But it’s not just Chalamet that stands out in this cast. Almost every single character has moments to shine and everyone takes the most of the opportunities they are given. Whether it’s Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, or Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, everyone is just so damn good in this movie.  All of the other technical elements of this movie enhance the performances and writing too. I saw this movie twice in IMAX and the sound design is spectacular. You don’t just watch or hear the movie, you can feel it in your chest. Musically, Hans Zimmer builds off of his iconic score from Part One to enhance every feeling the movie gives you.  Visually, this movie is breathtaking. Nearly every shot is something I want to print and hang up on my walls. The cinematography and the visual effects combine for some jaw dropping shots that come at you one after the other. For a movie that reportedly cost $60 million less to make than most modern blockbusters, there really is no valid excuse to see some of the crap that we’ve been subjected to over the past few years. Some standout scenes in particular were filmed with infrared cameras and they work so well to establish this particular world and characters in a way that feels so unique.  This movie definitely benefits tremendously too from the ground covered in Part One. Part Two doesn’t need to spend lots of time establishing the world and characters and it can focus more on developing the world and characters for a richer experience. It’s precisely because of this that I think Part Two is such a clearly better movie to experience. Like Lord of the Rings though, I don’t ever anticipate myself watching one without the other after this theatrical run concludes. In the same way that Tarantino considers Kill Bill to be one movie, I think it’s best to consider Dune as one movie too.  My only issue with Part One was that it very much feels like a “part one” as it ends in the middle of a story. Dune: Part Two doesn’t face the same issues and ends a note that feels satisfying while also leaving you hungry for more.  I will also just say that Oppenheimer will be grateful this awards season that Dune: Part Two was delayed because I think this is poised for some massive awards recognition next year.  Verdict Dune: Part Two is one of the most essential films I have seen in my lifetime. I’ve seen it with two different groups of friends now and after my first viewing with

Dune: Part Two – Shea’s Review Read More »

Argylle – Adriana & Shea’s Review

Reviews /

I started Screen Love Affair because I love movies. I love video games and TV too, but movies are definitely my biggest passion. The name I settled on was meant to reflect that love and passion. There’s nothing quite like staring up at that big screen and going on an adventure. Whether it’s an emotional rollercoaster, a thrilling blockbuster, or a nail-biting horror movie, I love it all.  Nothing has ever been able to impact me as much as cinema has.  Unfortunately, none of what I just said applies to the movie I saw tonight.  Verdict This made me love cinema a little bit less. A nearly two and a half hour action comedy that only made me laugh in disgust at how bad what I saw on screen was. This was the film equivalent of a story someone tells a group of people at a work party that goes on way too long and only musters a pity chuckle from one of the unfortunate souls who had to endure it.  Well this is getting no pity chuckle from me.  Adriana said “I haven’t seen a movie I’ve hated that much in a long time.”  Beautifully said my friend.

Argylle – Adriana & Shea’s Review Read More »

The Zone of Interest – Shea’s Review

Reviews /

God bless my friend Adriana. First, she is an amazing writer that has finished two AMAZING reviews so far. Secondly though, she will ALWAYS come with me to the movies, even if that is for a Zone of Interest and All of Us Strangers double feature. It was a heavy four hours for both of us, but definitely time well spent. Make sure to check out Adriana’s review of All of Us Strangers and read on to see my thoughts on The Zone of Interest! My Thoughts We will start off with a super basic overview of the movie. I think the description provided is really helpful so here it is: “The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife, Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.” Ya, so the content of this one is heavy, but maybe not in the ways you’d expect. Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Christian Friedel as the real life Rudolf Höss and Sandra Hüller as his wife Hedwig. You might recognize Hüller from another great 2023 movie that we also reviewed called Anatomy of a Fall. Anyway, this movie was an interesting one. When the credits rolled, I was left to ponder what exactly I just watched. Similar to my experience with Killers of the Flower Moon, this isn’t a movie you “enjoy” watching in the traditional sense simply because of how serious the subject matter is. The filmmaking on display is definitely impressive but I had to overcome the bleak feeling I had when the movie was done to really realise just how good this was.  The most interesting thing this movie did that really added to its uniqueness was what they chose to show and what not to show. Much of the horror of this movie occurs exclusively in our heads as we’re helped along by some slight visuals and faint audio of some of the horrors taking place in Auschwitz.  This more subtle approach though is in essence what this movie is truly about which is how banal that true evil can manifest itself. On the surface, this movie plays almost like a simple family drama. It has all the hallmarks of family life from children, parties, gardening, husband/wife drama, difficulties at work, you name it. But what makes this different is that this family lives next to a concentration camp that the father is running.  To be clear, it’s not done in a bad or disrespectful way. It actually serves to make things feel even more disturbing by showing how casual evil can really be. Simple scenes of sitting in the garden are haunted by the faint sounds of screams and gunshots in the distance or by the smoke emanating from the camp. Even scenes where Rudolf Höss is talking about his “work” as casually as you might talk at your corporate gig going over the quarterly planning. But while you might be talking about the new marketing plan, he’s trying to find ways to optimize the extermination of the Jews in the camp. The cast is brilliant here, especially Hüller. She plays a truly evil woman that doesn’t need giant evil villain monologues for you to understand just how evil she truly is. It’s because of all of these things that I believe this is an important movie that gives more to you the longer you think about it.  Verdict Like I said earlier, this isn’t a movie you’ll enjoy watching or that you’ll really feel compelled to watch again. It’s so calculated and effective that you’ll feel unsettled throughout the runtime as the horrors of the holocaust and the banality of evil are on full display.  It’s because of this bleakness though that I feel this is such a worthwhile movie to see at least once. The craft on display here is impressive and it’s a movie that will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.

The Zone of Interest – Shea’s Review Read More »

All of Us Strangers – Adriana’s Review

Reviews /

All of Us Strangers is the Sufjan Stevens song of movies. It’s sappy and tender and very gay and very sad. It’s full of ghosts. It’s haunted by loneliness and love. Some may find it a bit too sentimental, like the 80s power ballads scattered throughout its soundtrack. But I found that it balances those feelings very well, never veering too far into treacly territory. For all of its fantastical elements, it always has one foot on the ground, rooted in feelings that ring true and deep. I think there’s a reason I keep comparing the movie to music, and that’s because it moves with a fluidity that feels musical, moving in and out of “reality”, and into dreams and fantasy and imagination and memory and drug-induced escapism, until the boundaries between all of the above slip away. Music plays an important role in the movie, too, emotionally tying Andrew Scott’s Adam to his deceased parents and giving voice to feelings that characters in the movie either can’t or won’t put into words. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal give incredible performances here, portraying two men who meet and connect in the near-empty London sky-rise they both live in. Scott is one of the most expressive actors I can think of, and Mescal has found a niche for himself playing soft-spoken young men with barely-contained sadness spilling over behind their eyes, and he’s so good at it. I can’t wait to see him do something wildly different, like a comedy or an action movie (Gladiator 2, let’s goooo). Not because I’ll ever get tired of him playing sad boys, but because he’s such a great actor, and I think it would be fun to see him go against type. I also have to mention Claire Foy and Jamie Bell as Adam’s parents, both of whom (but especially Foy) give fantastic performances in roles that could have, in other hands, felt somewhat silly or unbelievable but end up being very complex and moving. Ultimately, this is a profoundly sad and lonely movie, about people who have trouble letting go of the past and letting other people in. At the risk of revealing too much about myself, it’s a movie that spoke to me on a very personal level and moved me to tears in the dark of a theatre full of people. It’s also a beautiful ode to love—familial love and queer love and the profound impact we can have on the lives of the people around us, if only we allow ourselves to do so. Verdict This is a beautiful ghost story about reckoning with the past, moving on, and opening yourself up to love in all its forms, centred around four incredible performances. If you’re a starry-eyed emotional masochist like me, and you love movies about grief and loneliness and sad people, with the aesthetic and emotional vibes of an 80s power ballad, you will probably love this!

All of Us Strangers – Adriana’s Review Read More »

May December, American Fiction, Wonka, Maestro, & More – 2023 Review Roundup!

Reviews /

If you’re a movie lover like me, you’ve been going to the movies a lot in the last two months. In the late fall and early winter season we’re bombarded left and right with “Oscar movies” that are releasing just under the wire so they can be top of mind for voters come award season. This also comes at the same time as the holidays when seeing everything is hard and writing about them afterwards is even harder.  Fret not though, because I still managed to see a lot of movies and I have some reviews to share. I’ll cover things in the order I saw them and I’ll condense them down a bit so we can stuff more reviews in here. So let’s go! Wonka Starring Timothée Chalamet as the titular chocolatier, this was a fun little musical that was full of both whimsy and heart. This really shouldn’t surprise you if you’re familiar with director Paul King who also made the Paddington movies. Despite adoring Paddington 2 though, I still went in with some reservations but quickly got over them as the movie got going. The supporting cast is great here too and I especially loved seeing Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa.  Chalamet as Wonka I thought was good, but not great. Having just watched both Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before seeing this one I felt that, while charming and great in the musical numbers, Chalamet lacked the same weird and goofy energy that Gene Wilder and even Johnny Depp brought to the role. Overall it was just the least memorable of the three portrayals that I have seen. To contrast that with my friend Abby, she thought Chalamet was unbelievable! Verdict This was a sweet little movie that while it may not linger in my mind as long as the others, is still a great option for a little family trip to the theatre! Ferrari This was the next movie I saw and honestly I don’t have much to say about it. When the credits rolled, I felt pretty underwhelmed. I’m not a car guy at all, but I can enjoy movies about them for sure (I really enjoyed Ford v Ferrari a few years ago) so it wasn’t that.   The movie was directed by Michael Mann and starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, two things which actually had me pretty excited for this one, but the issue that stood out to me was the time in which the movie focused on. The impression I got from the movie was that the more interesting things about Enzo Ferrari’s life happened either before or after the events this movie covers. For example, the characters in the movie talk about how big the Le Mans race is so I was expecting us to build to that, but instead it shows a smaller race with less stakes. Now it becomes clear later into the race why it was important, but up until that moment, I felt less invested in what I was watching.  Another aspect that didn’t work for me is the heavy focus on Enzo Ferrari’s relationships with his wife and mistress. I think I’m just over relationships in movies. I understand how important they are to us in the real world and how impactful they can be on our lives, but I’ve also seen so many movies that are either about relationships or a big part of the movie is about a relationship that I just find myself bored watching the same stories and beats over and over again. I mean when I was excited for the movie about Enzo Ferrari it wasn’t because I was looking forward to seeing two different sex scenes with him you know?  Anyway, as far as positives go, Adam Driver was great as Enzo Ferrari and the car sequences were brilliant, but Driver wasn’t enough to overcome the boring ground they opted to cover and the racing scenes were so few and far between that I just left feeling disappointed.  Verdict I also saw this one with Kelsey who is definitely more of a car guy and was very keen for this movie and we both walked away with the exact same feeling. This isn’t an all encompassing biopic that covers the story of Enzo Ferrari’s life. It’s just a section in the middle and the time it covered just wasn’t compelling enough for me.  The car scenes were great though and Driver was good enough that it saves it from getting an extra thumbs down from me. If you’re on the fence about this one, I think you can skip it without missing much.  American Fiction Holy moly did this movie come out of nowhere for me. I dodged every trailer and really only heard about it because Jeffrey Wright (who stars in the movie as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison) has been doing the press rounds for award season for his role in this movie. I went in expecting a very serious Oscar bait kind of movie and ended up watching one of the funniest movies of the year with some pretty cutting satire all bundled together in a family drama.  I want to say as little as possible because I knew exactly nothing about this movie before I saw it so I think you should too. To that end I would also not watch the trailer if I were you. I read reviews from disappointed people that said the trailer gives away a lot of beats and solid jokes and I agree. Jeffery Wright is absolutely excellent in this movie. In fact the whole cast is perfect and everyone plays their roles so well. I especially loved Sterling K. Brown who plays Monk’s brother.  The script was amazing and the story unfolds in such an interesting way too. If you don’t know the story already, I never once knew exactly where it was all going, which is not a common experience

May December, American Fiction, Wonka, Maestro, & More – 2023 Review Roundup! Read More »

Anyone But You – Shea’s Review

Reviews /

I have sometimes been called a film snob by people in my life and admittedly I can have some film snobbish takes. I will be sending those people this review so that they can see I still love a good old fashioned romantic comedy too!  Generally speaking, romantic comedies are my guilty pleasure. Some can rise above and be movies I genuinely love and also think are great like Crazy, Stupid, Love, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and 40 Year Old Virgin to just name a few. But a lot of rom-coms also are incredibly formulaic. While I always hope a rom-com will reach for a higher gear, I’m also happy with some likeable leads and actually funny jokes. Anyone But You is about two incredibly hot people in a “will they or won’t they” romance. We may have been here before, but is this destined to be a date night classic? Read on! My Thoughts Anyone But You stars Glen Powell as Ben and Sydney Sweeney Bea. After a fateful encounter and a great first date, tragic miscommunication leads them to sour on each other. Some time later though they are brought together again during a destination wedding where they pretend to be the perfect couple for their own personal reasons.  I was definitely game for this movie after seeing Glen Powell in Top Gun: Maverick. He has “movie star” written all over him and so starring in a rom-com felt like an inevitability. I haven’t seen anything Sydney Sweeney has done, but the secret sauce to a good rom-com is some good looking leads with chemistry and these two definitely managed to check those boxes.  So far we’ve established that the movie was the “rom” but what about the “com”? Well I’m happy to report that this movie got steady chuckles out of me! I had a good group with me for this one, including Graham, Bethany, Connor, Shannon, and Jennifer and everyone seemed to have a good time with it too.  The movie was directed by Will Gluck who also made Easy A and Friends With Benefits, so he has experience with rom-coms. It’s been a while since I’ve seen either of those movies, but I think I liked this one the best. This is mostly due to the cast though, because the big criticism I have is with the script.  I know that it’s a rom-com but this one was incredibly standard in terms of the plot beats and I found the central conflict between the two leads to be so artificial that it only makes sense in a movie. Sure it’s “just a rom-com” but there are still good and bad ways to do them. This isn’t so bad that it frustrates you when you watch it or anything, but it was definitely the weakest part of the movie.  The cast definitely makes up for any shortcomings with the script though and their charm and likability make this one work! Verdict If you also love your rom-coms or you’re just looking for a fun date night movie, definitely give this one a chance! It won’t blow your socks off with its originality, but you’ll have fun with Powell and Sweeney. One thing is for sure though, Powell has it and studios need to start putting this guy in everything immediately.

Anyone But You – Shea’s Review Read More »

The Iron Claw – Shea’s Review

Reviews /

I must confess my potential biases at the start and declare that I’m a bit of a wrestling fan. I watched it when I was a kid, but fell out of it for a while. Eventually in around 2018 I started watching Japanese wrestling, including the Wrestle Kingdom pay per view with my brother. It started at about 3:00am local time and ended just in time for me to bid my father a good morning as I crawled into bed at about 9:00am when the show was over. I haven’t looked back since and when I heard about The Iron Claw I was excited to see my passion for movies and wrestling come together on the big screen. Is it worth a watch for wrestling and non-wrestling fans alike? Let’s talk about it! My Thoughts For anyone unfamiliar, this movie chronicles the heartbreaking tale of the Von Erich family.  It also has quite the cast, including Holt McCallany as Fritz Von Erich and Maura Tierney as Doris Von Eirch, the patriarch and matriarch of the Von Erich family. Zac Efron plays the eldest living son Kevin Von Erich, while Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons play Kerry, David, and Mike Von Erich, Kevin’s brothers.  Not featured though is Chris Von Erich who was unfortunately cut from the movie. Chris’ story is no less important though and I do encourage you to look him up after you’ve seen the film. I understand why it had to be cut and frankly including him could make the movie feel more unbelievable than it is but I promise you the full story is somehow even more heartbreaking than what you’ll see here.  I have to start this off though by discussing Zac Efron. The term gets thrown around a bit and maybe you’ve seen more of his work than I have, but he was an absolute revelation to me in this movie. I had my perceptions about him knowing very little of his filmography beyond the High School Musical stuff which I never have actually seen, but whatever I thought he was going to do in this movie was way off base. The same goes for Jeremy Allen White, who plays Kerry. I’m most familiar with White as Carmen Berzatto from The Bear (which you can watch on Disney+ right now and I highly recommend that you do) and comparatively Kerry is a bit more reserved as a character but battles some significant inner demons too.  Holt McCallany as Fritz was absolutely phenomenal in this too. A different breed from a different generation, Holt is so cold and commanding as Fritz but he also adds something else with his performance that allows you to understand why his sons want to work so hard to make him happy. Maura Tierney as Doris doesn’t get as much to do as the rest of the cast, but she makes the most of the time she’s given and does so much storytelling with just her reactions.  As a whole, this movie really works. I was worried going in that my familiarity with the story would perhaps lessen the impact the movie had on me. I think it’s a testament to just how good the movie was that despite knowing all the twists and turns before they happened, I was still captivated by what I was watching. By the end of the movie I was an emotional wreck, thinking about everything I just watched, but about my own family and my own brother too.  It’s even harder to comprehend when you learn about other things that the movie left out, including the fate of Chris Von Erich. We often hear about movies that exaggerate the truth, but this movie actually had to hold back some details because if they included them audiences might find the story too unreal to believe.  The commitment by the cast and crew is apparent on the screen, from the beautiful shots, to the work the cast (especially Efron) put into the wrestling sequences.  Even if you’re not a fan of wrestling, you’ll still find a lot here to enjoy. While this movie is about a family of wrestlers, it’s much more about their personal lives and not just the wrestling. In fact, one thing that could have made this movie a bit better was more wrestling sequences, including one of the more important matches for the Von Erich family that we only get to see glimpses of on TV.  I’m a little bummed out by the super late release date for this one because I genuinely think there is greatness in this movie that would be getting more buzz and attention if it came out earlier in the Oscar movie release cycle. Verdict This is an easy and enthusiastic recommendation from me. It has all the things you’d expect from a “prestige picture” with captivating and transformative performances, but it’s a story that I don’t expect most people today to be aware of. The tale of the Von Erich family is one stuffed with heartache but through all of these lows I was left feeling grateful for my family and especially for my brother.  At its core, this movie is a reminder to cherish the time you have with the people you love. Whether it’s a text, a call, or a visit, you won’t regret time spent with a loved one. It’s only after they’re gone that you realize just how precious that time is. So hug your people (and go see The Iron Claw)!

The Iron Claw – Shea’s Review Read More »

Poor Things – Shea’s Review

Reviews /

It’s the holiday season which means we’re inundated with a bunch of films seeking some awards buzz before the Academy Awards early next year and my Scene card has been working overtime!  I had the pleasure of seeing Poor Things twice now, but needed a second viewing to really form my feelings about the movie. This isn’t really because the movie requires repeat viewings to appreciate it, but our Friday night crowd was on the more disruptive side and so I wanted a less tainted experience with the movie before I put my thoughts together. Luckily, I was able to go again on Monday with Kelsey so without any further adieu, here’s my review for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things!  My Thoughts There is so much to cover with this one that I almost don’t know where to start. To get the setup out of the way though, Yorgos Lanthimos is the director of this one. Some of his previous work includes The Favourite, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Lobster which is my favourite of his movies. Lanthimos is definitely a unique filmmaker with a distinct vibe to his movies. They can range from quirky to flat out bizarre and, at least stylistically, this movie is more in that bizarre camp. Emma Stone stars as Bell Baxter, a grown woman physically but not mentally, and the apparent daughter of Willem Dafoe’s Godwin Baxter. As Bella’s mental skills sharpen, she hungers for experiences and adventure and Mark Ruffalo’s Duncan Wedderburn tempts her with what she craves. The film also stars Ramy Youssef as Max McCandless who is Godwin Baxter’s student and assistant.  Before we get into more about the performances, I want to talk about the visual style of the film. It’s a period piece, but it’s a hyper stylized world that feels like the production designer was inspired by The Wizard of Oz but also took a lot of psychedelics as they built the sets. It’s a treat to look at though and some frames in particular would make for some beautiful stills to hang up on your wall as art.  Shifting quickly to costumes and makeup, I haven’t seen anything else this year that can really compete in the costume department. The outfits are extravagant but still grounded and Bella gets some particularly stunning outfits throughout the movie. On the makeup side, this is most notable with Dafoe. While still recognizable, he is covered in makeup that gives him a somewhat monstrous look that felt sort of distracting at the beginning but I quickly found myself overcoming that feeling.  This also weaves nicely into the score which fits this movie perfectly. It feels eerie and unsettling often, but when the story requires a lighter touch it delivers that too while not feeling like a completely different sound. I’m no musician so I can’t really touch on all the details that go into it, but it matches the movie’s vibe while enhancing what you’re watching on the screen throughout. Moving on to the performances though, I want to talk about Emma Stone. This was definitely her best and most interesting performance, which is saying something considering she has also won an Oscar, but it’s absolutely the case. This has to be the most adventurous role that I’ve seen of her too. Bella is a grown woman but acts as if she’s a small child from her movement to her speech. A baby struggles to walk as it lacks the bone density and the strength to manage it, let alone learning to balance. So this aspect of the performance isn’t as simple as copying how a baby walks. How do you walk if you don’t know how, but you have all the things you need to accomplish it already? Then you factor in her speech and vocabulary as well. In lesser hands you’d be laughing at the performance, but what Stone manages to do here, you believe it entirely. Emma Stone and Lanthimos worked together for a long time in rehearsals to figure all these details out and how the performance would evolve over the course of the movie and the range of this performance is truly remarkable. This is definitely one of the best performances of the year! However, one character manages to absolutely steal the scenes away from Stone when they’re together and that would be Mark Ruffalo’s Duncan. Holy smokes, I did not know that Ruffalo had this sort of performance in him. He’s always been good but his roles have been pretty safe by and large and in this movie Ruffalo plays a narcissistic buffoon perfectly and had me bellowing out laughs nearly every time he opened his mouth. I think that Emma Stone was one of the year’s best performances, but it wasn’t even my favourite performance in this movie, which speaks to just how good Ruffalo is here. Best Supporting Actor is probably one of the most competitive categories this year with a lot of great options, but Ruffalo deserves to be in serious contention with the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Robert De Niro, and Ryan Gosling.  As far as how all these pieces come together though, about halfway through the movie I had this feeling that I was just watching an incredibly weird version of Barbie. It wasn’t just that this movie was like Barbie though, I think this movie was able to go a bit deeper than Barbie with what it was trying to do. What enables this I think is that while Barbie is really good, it still has a board level of accessibility. Kids and adults can watch it and have a good time which is clearly why it had such great financial success. Poor Things is definitely for adults which I think allows for a deeper exploration of themes. It’s not that this inherently makes Poor Things a better movie, just that it’s a different viewing experience.  Adriana pointed out afterwards that this movie also had

Poor Things – Shea’s Review Read More »