After the paucity of releases last week, we get ten new openings today. And one of them is one of the best pictures I’ve seen this year. Shall we dive in?
Belle: Amma Asante packs a miniseries’ worth of interesting ideas into what’s otherwise a bog-standard costume drama, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson and Sarah Gadon are able to engage with those ideas every now and then. If the subject matter intrigues you, do check it out.
Fed Up: Yes, movie. I know, movie. I get it, movie. SHUT UP, MOVIE.
Ida: Pawel Pawlikowski’s follow-up to The Woman in the Fifth is one of two movies I very badly wanted to see at TIFF, but missed; still haven’t caught up to it, but Susan‘s review is nudging me to see it this weekend.
I Used to Be Darker: Matthew Porterfield’s study of a family choosing sides during a divorce features some awfully intense, awfully true moments, even if it doesn’t quite maintain its tone all the way through. (Jose agrees, more or less.)
Locke: “Tom Hardy in a car with a speakerphone” yields impressive returns in Steven Locke’s sleek, defiantly experimental drama.
Mom’s Night Out: Turns out the answer to “What if we remade The Hangover with ladies and a few Christian values?” is “Um, not much.” Thanks, Rad!
Neighbors: Seth Rogen and Zac Efron are locked in an all-consuming prank war in Nicholas Stoller’s chaotic and very funny comedy.
Stage Fright: The summer-camp slasher movie meets actual camp in Jerome Sable’s self-conscious thriller, which Glenn likes but doesn’t like-like, if you know what I mean.
Teenage: Matt Wolf’s documentary is less a comprehensive analysis of adolescence than “a mixtape of history”, according to Rad. Still sounds kinda rad, daddy-o.
Under the Skin: Jonathan Glazer’s sleek, predatory genre inversion was my other TIFF 2013 must-see — how’s that for synchronicity? — but obviously in this case I did catch up, and it’s brilliant. Read Glenn‘s review if you must, but honestly this is best experienced knowing as little as possible beforehand.
Seriously. Go see Under the Skin. I’ll be here when you get back.