As I was watching this 'mockumentary' about four housemate vampires, I was thinking 'this is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen' and by the time it had finished I think it had cemented it's place as THE strangest movie I've ever seen.
It was made in New Zealand by Jermaine Clement, who many will know and love from TV show 'Flight of the Conchords', and Taika Waititi. It's strange but bloody (pardon the pun!... They're vampires! Get it? Oh, nevermind...) funny!
There's something quite mundane and 'human' about much of the way they live, arguing over doing the dishes and the like. Their interactions with humans are all pretty funny and for me, it's even funnier simply because of their New Zealand accents - the funniest accent of them all. The absurdity of it all is the joy of it.
There's a scene where they encounter a 'werewolf' pack, whose head honcho is played by NZ actor & comic Rhys Darby, and I laughed so hard I thought I might choke. Happily the rest of the cinema was cacking themselves too so it went unnoticed.
If you can escape and enjoy this madness for what it is, there's a lot to love. I laughed and laughed and that's a big tick from me. Oh, and bonus points for a mention of a Bedazzler.
Read about it in The Hollywood Reporter, who reviewed it following it's appearance at Sundance.
Trailer here.
" An exceptional one-man show for Tom Hardy, this ingeniously executed study in cinematic minimalism has depth, beauty and poise." - Variety Magazine
"Part of the brilliance of this utterly brilliant film by Steven Knight ... is the way it turns mundanity in modernity." - Sydney Morning Herald.
You know that feeling you get sometimes, where you feel like you're swimming against the tide of public opinion? (For me it's always when people rave about the ABC TV show 'The Time Of Our Lives'... Really?! Everyone loves that terrible show?!...)
Well I feel a bit like that about this film 'Locke'. The reviews are almost universally positive. Really positive. And yet I didn't really enjoy it. If I'm honest, I looked at my watch numerous times and the film only runs for a tiny 84 minutes! I was a bit bored.
The entire film is set in a car with Tom Hardy, the sole occupant, driving and making many phone calls. He's taking a long car journey to be with a woman he barely knows who is having his baby, the product of a one night stand. En route, he not only has to call his wife and confess but also has to continue to organise a large scale, high profile building project.
I have a handful of friends who enjoy more highbrow movies and they might like this but to be blunt, I think if I recommended it to people who don't get to the movies very often, they'd be wishing they hadn't bothered paying for a babysitter.
Trailer here.
This film is quite lovely. Touching enough to make my dear friend cry five times*. I'm a pretty light touch when it comes to crying (think, Kleenex commercials, montages of athletes excelling at the Olympics set to Eva Cassidy's Fields of Gold** etc) but I confess this one didn't get to me in that way. It is lovely but ultimately a bit cheesy and predictable.
It's about an Indian family who head to Europe for a better life and wind up opening a restaurant in a quiet village in the south of France. Their lively restaurant is opposite an uptight French restaurant ran by an uptight French lady, played by Helen Mirren. Things of course get off to a rocky start but lead to a very happy conclusion.
So if you like a happy crowd-pleaser (certainly skews female but perhaps not entirely a chick flick) you could definitely give this a go but if you like your stories surprising or challenging, this probably won't satisfy you.
This review from Variety gives a great outline of the story and echoes my feelings about the film, if you're keen to know more.
Trailer here.
* She is emotionally unstable on account of usually running on about 2 hours sleep
** If you think that's a strangely specific example, well... umm... yep...
