When is a gangster movie not a gangster movie? When is a horror movie not a horror movie? When is a deep character exploration not feeling like dealing with its character? The answer to all of those is Clayface, a movie without a real identity much like its main character.
Directed by James Watkins; written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini; starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, and Eddie Marsan
directed by Monte Hellman; written by Rudy Wurlitzer, Will Corry, Floyd Mutrux; starring James Taylor, Warren Oates, Dennis Wilson, Laurie Bird
Last night I had such a pure cinema experience I have to lay it out in a narrative while I sideways the movie some. SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) has been doing an "Open Road" series the last few months featuring movies where people drive around. You can check out my Hitcher (1986) word salad from another in the series.
A family from "the city" moves to the suburbs and has to contend with their neighbors who are really into Christmas. And murder. And crypto.
Directed by Kevin Lewis; written by Zach Imbrogno; starring Ron Livingston, Rachel Bilson, Rob Riggle, Arden Myrin, Thomas Lennon
A fisherwoman asks the local basketmaker to make her a husband. He does, they have wicker sex, and everybody is mad about it, especially the tailor's wife. Directed and written by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer; starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgard, Peter Dinklage, and Elizabeth Debecki
After a successful mission destabilizing Chile in 1973, two CIA agents visit Easter Island to relax, shoot some guys, and see some big heads. While seeing the sites, they deal with drugs, existential thoughts, and their murderous boss.
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh; starring John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, and Mariana di Girolamo
When a mysterious island rises from the sea between Ank-Morpork and Klatch, both nations rise up to claim what's theirs… If anyone knew what was theirs and what all the murders in Ank-Morpork were about. The City Watch investigation moves from the city cobbles to the desert sands.
A young man driving cross country picks up a hitchhiker who then fucks that dude's life up real bad as the two battle through the desert and many people are killed. directed by Robert Harmon; written by Eric Red; starring Rutgar Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
A stream of consciousness documentary about a writer trying to figure out how to tell the story of concrete and his many divergences from the topic.
credit: simonandschuster.com
It's hard being a teenager. As this week's book says, you are stuck in between being a child and an adult. As my Granny Wendy would say, "you know just enough to get kicked out of Eden." Trying new things, discovering what you like and what you don't, getting forced into confrontations exterior and exterior. Making and losing friends. Lovers. Ari and Dante find themselves at this point in their lives, and we follow Ari as a narrator struggling against… everything when like quicksand its sometimes better to just let go and live.
Mommy and Daddo are having trouble, so Bella retreats to having fun with Other Mommy, a normal entity that wants Bella to open her heart. Rather than a sad coming of age story where Bella learns about loss and grows, well, it's still that but while battling a demonic creature with teleportation powers who murders douchebags.
The evil M. Bison plans to suck the power from one of the most powerful fighters in the world, Ryu, so he holds a sequel to a tournament Ryu won years before. Ryu is reluctant to rejoin because he won the previous tournament by tapping into dark powers while his estranged friend Ken wishes to prove his worth by winning the tournament. Chun-Li, an undercover operator in Bison's organization, has her own plans to take down Bison. All this nonsense plus hundreds of cameos and video game references make this a crazy pants watching experience. Oh, and the flashbacks are animated.
A lonely author is hired by the husband of Verity, an acclaimed author who sits around all day, to finish Verity's acclaimed book series. The kind of movie that's better alone and stoned or drunk with a crowd. Real "we have Gillian Flynn at home" energy.
credit: Delacorte Press
Mr. Leonard had a phrase he used a lot, "if it seems like writing, I rewrite it." My personal theory is he came up with that while writing this book, Unknown Man #89. The man began to play low jazz here, shifting into a steady gear and focusing on his characters and language unlike he has before while the plot becomes more "what are they going to do" rather than "What's going to happen next?"
Once again, Fleet Week is at the library! Get ready to get your nautical on as we have events and programs ready to test your knowledge and excitement about guys that live on boats.
credit: Focus Features
I loved this movie in a very simple way. It's delightful and charming. My brain wants to say "quirky" but fuck that this movie is weird. The people are strange and for some reason I want to reference Egger's The Lighthouse. If there had been more booze with Isla and Sandy, they might have had that problem. They might have eaten Daniel.
credit Doubleday, first edition
The book hits pretty hard today. Sure there's regular school shootings now and bullying has changed to a more passive global spectacle rather than the targeted abuse of one kid on one kid, but the feelings of isolation and public ridicule remain. While the shy introverted religious kid has a youtube or twitch following now, they still remain quiet and uniformed about basic sanitary habits. The themes of Carrie resonate still because, shit, growing up sucks.
Never trusted hot air balloons myself. Too simple of an idea. Nothing between me and a Looney Tune death but some wicker and a propane filled parachute feels like madness. Yet people love them, and I'll admit they do look pretty floating there against a serene landscape.
credit: Dreamworks
Memories and friendship are universal. Forgotten Island, the new Dreamworks animated classic, straddles the worlds of adult and childhood and of fantasy and reality. And it has a badass soundtrack. The adult nature of the film (it's essentially The Hangover with some Eternal Sunshine thrown in) may cause it to miss with the younger crowd, but for those who find this it will be in their hearts forever.
Credit: Cardinal Films, Wild Atlantic Pictures, Mongrel Media
You never know when your life will end. Few think of it, really digest what it means to no longer be. Even fewer run toward it, chased by the dream of living on by doing one great thing that will cement them forever in history. It's a pretty damn small number more interested in legacy than safety that drives toward death as a stunt driver in a rocket car.
Cryptids come and go in the library. The Book Wyrm. Purple Paper Eater. Magazine Guy. But none is more mysterious than THE MOTHMAN. All this week we celebrate the Mothman with programming to bring you closer to the Sacred Flame.
