We are fully in the 11th month now, and before we get into my ramblings of what I saw this week, I wanted to briefly go over something that will more than likely show its face again in a couple weeks. I want take you back to 2021 when Dune was released. People in the know knew that Part 2 (and probably Part 3) was in the works, so the story would just hit the pause button. I am under no illusion that the majority knew about that or even cared to know before hand. What they were left with after 2 and half hours was a story half done and the credits beginning. That was when “Dune: Part One” was made a reality to all. Some were not happy about that, and if it was promoted as part one, the shock would have been less. Fast forward to now, we are possibly about to see the same scenario play out before our eyes. For reason I’m almost sure of (that I will get to in a moment), Universal refuses to say that Wicked is a Part One. A glance at the 2025 schedule will show you Part 2 is being released November 21st. I’m sure this is due to the studio believing that if they say it is Part One, people will just wait until Part Two. That really is a lack in the public that also shows a lack in faith in their product too perhaps. Anyways, on to the reviews!
The trailer of this film gives a lot of the story away. Florence Pugh’s Almut hits Andrew Garfield’s Tobias with a car. They meet in the hospital and fall in love. When Almut gets horrible medical news, she has to balance her life with Tobias and her daughter, with her career as a chef. All of that is in the trailer basically. While I usually find that maddening, that isn’t what makes this film so wonderful. It is such because of the chemistry of Pugh and Garfield. They both make this film both uplifting and heartbreaking. While Garfield is his usual charming self, it is Pugh that is given so much to do in the film. She has top portray a mother who knows that she has limited time left and desperately wants to leave for her daughter memories so she won’t just be remembered as a “Dead Mom”. I have very few negatives to say about this film, but if I had to come up with one, I would have preferred the story be told in a more linear way. Jumping back and forth through time works for the most part, but when we learn there are two phases to Almut’s medical issues, It’s is slightly hard to distinguish which phase we are in. I use “difficult” in the loosest of terms. I’m nitpicking here. This was just a nice evening that made me think of my own life and what I personally am dealing with. I find myself doing that with a lot of films recently though.
For a Netflix film, this was ok. Kelsey Asbille plays our main character, Iris. She recently lost her Son in a tragic accident. While visiting his memorial deep in what appear to be a national park, she meets Richard. She and him have a pleasant, but short conversation on the walk back to the parking lot. As they get to their cars, Richard’s true motives are revealed. He is a serial killer and has injected Iris with the a paralyzing agent that will take effect in 20 minutes. Hence the title of the film. The rest of the film is Iris trying to outsmart Richard, and survive their encounter. The tension really works at a couple points, but the plot kind of goes where you think it will. The cast is super small. There are only 4 characters that have speaking roles, and the only other person we see is Iris’s husband still asleep as she heads out that morning. This was a fine watch, but I don’t think I will revisit it. It is certainly better than a lot of other Netflix films though.
I’m puzzled. This film is currently at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes and sitting in the second spot on Gold Derby for Best Picture. So I’m left with wondering what I’m missing after watching it. I agree that Zoe Saldana is fantastic in this, but that’s about all I liked about it. as classified as a musical crime comedy, it only succeeds kind of in one of those three. Out title character is really the head of the Mexican Cartel, but that is about as far as the crime part goes, and if there was a joke in the film, I missed it. That leaves us with Musical. The big problem I had wasn’t the language barrier most, if not all, the songs have. It is just they aren’t memorable at all, and some of them (including both of Selina Gomez’s ones) were not good. Gomez was also an issue for me. She just didn’t seem to fit in at all. The story obviously wants to shine a light on Cartel violence and the hundreds missing because of it. That is important to speak up about, but this really wasn’t a good venue to do so for me. However, based on what I’m seeing elsewhere, I’m in the minority on this. If this wins Best Picture, it will be Nomadland all over again for me.
Of the majority of the film I have seen this year, Heretic has probably the simplest plot line. Hugh Grant terrorizes two Mormon missionaries attempting to convert him on a visit (he requested) to his home. What isn’t said in there is what makes this a sold film. The thing moving this along is the dialogue. Grant has long lectures that are interesting to watch and to see how he is making his guests more uncomfortable. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are very good as our two unfortunate missionaries, and each get their own focus as the film moves on. There was a point when the Mormon Elder showed up I wondered, “Is that Topher Grace?” It was. If you are going into this film expecting some spectacular reveal, you are going to have a bad time. It is kind of the point of the film it’s trying to get across. So go in ready for a lot of discussion on religion and you should be fine.
We are so close to the major part of the month as the big hitters start to show up a week from now. This week, it is really just the release of Red One. Early reviews have been somewhat ok for it, so it should do some decent business. Especially with how soft the box office is currently.
- Red One
- Heretic
- The Wild Robot
- Venom: The Last Dance
- Conclave
This next week is another 4 films as of now. One is from a couple days ago, one if from Chicago, one is a mystery, and the 4th is one I still don’t know if or where I am seeing it. What fun. Also, because I am an uber planner, I have the week after that up in the air right now for different reasons. I guess you will see whatever makes it here. Planning only goes so far.
Mitten Film Nerd 
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