Mike’s movies - 10/23/23
Movies I watched this week.
Wolf Guy
A campy, pulp film about a people who carry feral manifestations of their hate as animal projections. Wolf Guy discovers a woman harbouring a vicious tiger curse, and begins unravelling the mystery surrounding her. He also has to contend with the mafia, the government, a childhood admirer, and a sexy spy lady in a shadowy organization — all inserted randomly as the director has no attention span. Non-stop momentum, lots of laughs and bewilderment, and good fun. There are no boring scenes in this movie.
Parting Glances
Bittersweet film following a love triangle between three men in NYC: our main character, his long-term boyfriend leaving the country, and his artistic ex living with AIDS. Casually realistic in depicting the queer experience and community, many likeable characters. Humanizing AIDS without being tragic. Early-period Steve Buscemi plays the magnetic ex boyfriend in a performance unlike any other in his career. Sadly the first and last film by a director who was taken by AIDS.
Totally Killer
After her mother is killed by the resurfaced “Sweet 16 Killer”, our main character travels back in time to the 1980’s to prevent a murder spree. Self-aware in it’s marriage of classic killer horror and Back to the Future, and very ambitious in doing both. Fun to see characters in present day as well as the past, but I sometimes got lost in who was who or why they were there. I’d call this Riverdale-coded.
Nightmare on elm street II: Freddy’s revenge
Queer-coded resurfacing of Freddy Kruegar as he infiltrates the main characters dreams and use his body as a conduit for his return to the physical realm. Excellent practical effects and makeup, I really enjoyed the climax. The romantic interest is very patient and resilient towards the main character who is losing his damn mind.
Scream
A highschool girl haunted by the gruesome murder of her mother is now the target of a murderer on a teenage killing spree as she tries to uncover the killer’s identity. A horror movie that hits all the tropes and is upfront in acknowledging the meta while being very 90’s. Scream felt unnecessarily long, I also felt that it’s strongest scene was the opening.
Get Out
A racially-charged horror film about a black man spending the weekend with his white girlfriend’s family at their estate, which happens to be an annual gathering of their friends. Throughout his stay he bears witness to strange behavior from the family and their guests, as well as the few black people in the household. With the help of his loveable long-distance friend he frantically works to unravel the mystery of the family before it’s too late. A foreboding and intriguing story unlike any other horror movie I’ve seen.
