Out Now
Let's talk about how movies are back
About a month ago, I wrote an edition of this newsletter that gave some recommendations of movies to watch on various streaming services because, quite frankly, there was NOTHING really going on in theaters.
The dog days of August are over and the movies are slowly starting to come back into our lives. We’ll shortly be staring down the barrel of Awards Season™️ and studios are finally starting to give us the good stuff after an insufferable amount of weeks with scraps. There was a point this year when DC LEAGUE OF SUPER PETS was the number one movie in America although that movie is kind of funny tbh, so I get it.
You might have missed it, but over the past couple of weeks there have been some good movies released in theaters and put out into the world for you to watch and folks, I’ve done some watchin’.
Let’s walk through some of those releases together and you can decide which of these you want to invest your time in. A small note: most of these movies are playing exclusively in movie theaters. I never want to assume someone’s comfort level with going out into the world, so if you wanna wait for these movies to hit streaming, I totally get that. If you feel comfortable, I highly recommend seeing these films in a theater.
If in the infinitesimally small chance you’re a higher up at a movie studio and you’re reading this newsletter, I’ve got a message for you: spread ‘em out. Please respect the month of August a little more and put some more movies in theatres. It’s hot! People want to sit inside in the air conditioning. Quit withholding and give us the good stuff. You don’t have to make us wait until November, I promise we’re interested now!
Movies: They’re back!
Movie: BARBARIAN
Where To Watch: In Theaters
I’m starting with this one because I feel like it’s the one you might have heard of already by word-of-mouth. If you’ve heard one thing about this movie, it’s probably to go into it blind and to know as little as possible. I am certainly in that camp and it’s how I saw this movie, so if you are interested I recommend stopping reading right here and coming back after you’ve seen it. I’m not going to spoil anything in the discussion below, but I will be discussing the movie at large and even that might give away too much. If you don’t mind that, keep reading.
I am on record as being a certified Big Baby when it comes to horror movies, but if there’s one thing that I hate more than being scared, it’s missing out on movie discourse and I kept seeing this one EVERYWHERE online, as well as being told by some trusted friends that it’s worth the watch. (I also think I might not be as big of a baby when it comes to horror movies as I previously thought, but more on that in a future edition of this newsletter next month).
This movie rocks for several reasons, but one of the biggest is its cast of Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell, and Justin Long. Not only are all the performances great, but the movie uses its casting AND setup to keep you on the wrong foot for the majority of the movie. Almost nobody is who you think they are. There are some HUGE tonal shifts in this film that I think could be jarring, but that I actually found quite enjoyable. It also delivers big time on the scares. The first 30 minutes in particular had my nerves in shreds.
BARBARIAN is directed by Zach Cregger, who some of you you might recognize from the sketch troupe The Whitest Kids U Know. I loved WKUN back when they dominated FUSE TV (remember FUSE?) and Zach delivers some extremely funny moments in this film on top of the horror.
This movie is unlike anything else this year and that’s reason enough alone to recommend it. It might be one of my favorites of the year so far and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up on my “Favorites of the Year” list come December. Nut up and go see this one baby.
Movie: See How They Run
Where To Watch: In Theaters
If I told you right now that you could watch a murder mystery movie based on an Agatha Christie premise that stars Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, and David Oyelowo, would you be interested? If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, I have to assume you would be. I’ve got some great news for you. That movie exists and it’s playing in theaters right now.
One thing about me? I’m a complete sucker for a whodunnit/mystery movie. I want to know whodunnit. I want to try and figure it out the entire time I’m watching just so I can feel smart at the end of the movie before inevitably being so widely off target as to almost be insulting.
It took me a little bit to get on the same wavelength as SEE HOW THEY RUN. It’s a movie about a movie being made and that movie is based on a theater production and it is meta as HELL. Once I got on the same page, however, I was very into it and even though they might telegraph the ending in the first third of the movie, I still enjoyed it immensely. It’s only 98 minutes long. Beautiful. Saoirse Ronan absolutely crushes in this movie. I will watch her in anything.
SEE HOW THEY RUN is also a prime example of marketing letting a movie down. I have seen a preview for this film maybe once before another movie. It is a loaded cast in a genre of movie that historically does well and it’s made by Searchlight Pictures, one of the most respected indie movie houses left in the game, and yet I know people that hadn’t heard of this movie until I asked if they had seen it! Do better!
Movie: Confess, Fletch
Where To Watch: In Theaters and on VOD ($20 on Prime or Apple or wherever else you rent movies)
Is there a celebrity that you think you would be friends with or, at the very least, think would enjoy your company if you got to hang? Jon Hamm is on that list for me and CONFESS, FLETCH does nothing but reinforce that.
Hamm is, to me, one of the more interesting actors working in Hollywood. He starred in one of the best television shows ever made (MAD MEN, start the watch/rewatch now) and clearly has comedic chops (BRIDESMAIDS, 30 ROCK) but it doesn’t feel like anybody has known exactly what to do with him and he’s been relegated to authority figures, like in this year’s TOP GUN: MAVERICK.
This movie really nails what makes Hamm funny. He’s the smartest guy in the room and he knows it but also there’s a light sense of nihilism around his actions. This movie is super fun because it’s another murder mystery/art heist film (I have a type) but the stakes are low. I wouldn’t say this movie hangs together the best out of any of the movies I’ve seen recently, but that doesn’t really bother me. A lot of fun people show up and I found myself going “Oh, I like this person” when they appeared on the screen.
This is another one of those word-of-mouth movies that’s getting positive reviews and again seems failed by its marketing department. I would watch 10 more of these movies and I hope they make them.
Movie: Do Revenge
Where To Watch: Netflix
I went into this movie with pretty much zero expectations because the Netflix Original Movie brand has left a lot to be desired. There have been some bangers for sure, but most of the time it has that Netflix sheen over it. You know the one I’m talking about.
I found DO REVENGE to be fairly charming. HEATHERS meets CLUELESS with a dash of Tik Tok and juuust enough of a nod to STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. I know that’s a fairly bizarre sentence and DO REVENGE certainly isn’t as good as any of those movies but Maya Hawke has really been on a hot streak recently and I’m excited for her future. She looks and sounds just like her mom, Uma Thurman, and if there’s someone I wouldn’t mind having two of, it’s Uma Thurman. Sophie Turner also turns up in this movie for about 5 minutes of total screen time and she might steal the whole show.
Movie: The Woman King
Where To Watch: In Theaters
*1994 Standup comedy voice* A WOMAN KING? Has science gone too far?
Now THIS is a movie. A historical action epic from a studio with a big budget? We used to make movies like this all the time and now I’m thrilled if we get one a year. THE WOMAN KING is that movie. It rocks ass. Viola Davis is on fire in this movie. That’s not exactly new, but from her work in WIDOWS to now, I feel like she really hasn’t missed.
This movie opens with a big battle. It ends with a big battle. There are smaller battles in between. There is also nuance and maternal love and an incredible performance from Lashana Lynch, who almost steals the movie from Davis.
The big hook of this movie is the all-women warrior tribe, but it never feels preachy or like you’re being hit over the head with it. It’s just understood that this is unusual from the norm and the movie treats you as if you’re smart enough to understand that, which I really appreciate. There has been this strange movement lately for movies to hold your hand and explain everything: this thing is good, this thing is bad, look how important and different this thing is. That’s really lazy and insulting and a bad way to think about movies and I’m glad THE WOMAN KING doesn’t go out of its way to bask in how RIGHTEOUS it is.
I also really recommend reading this piece by Julian Lucas in The New Yorker that contextualizes the movie with its real, historical context. In true movie fashion, there are some liberties taken with some of the storylines and it’s important to know the history of something as brutal as the transatlantic slave trade.
Movie: PEARL
Where To Watch: In Theaters
I was a pretty big fan of Ti West’s film X from earlier this year and knew that he had basically shot two movies at the same time when he was filming X down in Australia. That other movie was PEARL, the prequel to X that takes place 50 years before the events of that movie on the same farm.
This is a slasher movie that is PEAK camp. It is extremely self-aware and is very much indebted (intentionally so, I would have to believe) to John Waters. It feels just like a John Waters movie and that is high praise. This sort of camp and kitsch is hard to pull off and PEARL does it delicately and beautifully and for one reason: Mia Goth.
If you are unfamiliar with Mia Goth then I encourage you to seek out her work (I personally love her in A CURE FOR WELLNESS, but your mileage may vary on that one. She also plays not one but TWO characters in the aforementioned X). I don’t think this movie works if she’s not in the center of it. I don’t know who else could really pull off what she’s doing in this film. There’s a monologue she gives during the conclusion of this movie that is, and I say this with all sincerity, one of the best things I’ve seen on screen this year. There’s no chance in hell she’s nominated for this performance at the Academy Awards, but she should be. I recommend this movie on her performance alone.
There will be a third movie in this series, making it a trilogy (A24’s first) with Goth set to reprise her character from X in 2023/24. Plenty of time for you to catch up on both beforehand.
Movie: AVATAR (2023 re-release)
Where To Watch: In Theaters
In 2009, I saw this movie on its opening night at midnight in IMAX 3D during Christmas break of my freshman year of college. I remember thinking to myself “Now THAT’S a movie.” I have not watched it one single time since.
It’s so funny to me that this movie was once touted as the pinnacle of cinematic achievement. It made so much money. It was all anybody talked about leading up to the premiere. But, when you think about it, what is its cultural impact? Memes? What do you actually remember about this fucking movie? I remember parts of it. The bonding of the Na’Vi with the bird things they ride. The tail sex stuff. The fact that Sigourney Weaver’s character has a Stanford tank top for her blue avatar body. The fact that the rare mineral that they’re trying to harvest from the planet Pandora is called unobtanium. Fuckin’ UNOBTANIUM!! $250 million movie and you couldn’t give that draft a second pass?? All that stuff adds up to about 12 minutes of the movie. I just looked it up. AVATAR is 2 hours and 45 minutes long! That’s a lot that I don’t remember.
I guess I’m technically cheating because I haven’t actually seen this yet. I’m seeing it on Saturday in IMAX (duh) because I am unfortunately going to be front and center when AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER drops this December and I need to be caught up on all the Na’vi lore one more time. I’ve heard some people have seen previews of the newest film in the series with the 3D technology that James Cameron has made and it’s apparently bonkers. It had better be bonkers. Can you imagine spending 12 YEARS literally creating technology for your movie because it didn’t exist and hadn’t caught up to your imagination and somebody was just like “yeah, not bad I guess.” I’d walk into the ocean with cinderblock shoes. That’s the real way of water.
I’m also seeing DON’T WORRY DARLING tonight after you’ve already read this and my early review is some worries, darling because I hear it’s bad.
As I’ve said before, the whole point of Working Title is to get people to feel the same love and excitement I have about movies so if any of these sound good, go out and buy a ticket and see a dang flick on the silver screen.
I’ll be back next week with another addition to our Good, Actually series. As always, if you enjoy this newsletter please consider subscribing and sharing it on your social channels! I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have a somewhat steady stream of new subscribers and I can’t thank you enough if you’ve spread the word. Let’s keep building this thing together!