Dave Franco and Aubrey Plaza in The Little Hours.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 ####
Vince Vaughn returns to the screen in a somewhat long-winded film that is a gritty, all-too-real look at the current blue-collar unrest in the US. Mixing the brutish nature of life with prison dramatics, this film will leave you impressed to say the least.
The Little Hours ###-1/2
This film is a hilarious, fantastical farce that brings together actors Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Aubrey Plaza and Molly Shannon in an irreverent and modernised look at the Decameron and the Middle Ages. It is so hip and ludicrous and absurd that you can’t help but want to watch it again and again. Incredibly funny and definitely worth the watch.
Phoenix Forgotten ###
Based on actual events, this faux doc/found-footage thriller is based on the disappearance of three teens in 1997, around the time when several mysterious lights filled the Phoenix night sky. It follows the story, 20 years on, when one of the disappeared teenager’s sister decides to investigate what really happened. This is nothing to write home about but it’s a simple film done fairly well.
Caniba ##
The fact that this film won Best Documentary at the Venice Biennale a few weeks ago shocked me. Directed by anthropologists Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, the film follows the story of Japanese uni student Issei Sagawa, arrested for brutally planning, killing and eating fellow student Renee Hartevelt. Set in Paris 1981, French courts declared him insane and therefore unable to be put up for trial. He was subsequently remanded back to Japan, where this doc finds him living out his old age with his equally unsettling brother. Ick!
The Farthest ####
As the documentaries continued, this one appeased my nerdiness perfectly. Paying homage to the human mind’s prowess, this fun, factual and cathartic doc plays to its strengths by recounting the fascinating story behind the Voyager space missions. Once this film starts streaming to VOD, make sure to give it a watch. You’ll feel like a curious pre-teen and love it!