FRIDAY FRIDAY GONNA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY.
Years later, and it still gets stuck in my head on an almost weekly basis. I’m so sorry.
I’m definitely seeing Lucky.
The other movies I’m interested in this weekend are Geostorm and Breathe. I’m also interested in Tragedy Girls, but it doesn’t look as though it’s playing anywhere I can actually get to, in my car-less-ness.
For those of you looking to stay in, this weekend, here are some streaming recommendations.
Byzantium, based on a stage play, is a vampire story that isn’t really a horror story, I’d say. Which is not to say that there’s no bloody vampire death or awful situations – there are. But the movie doesn’t spin around them. It is instead a drama touching on themes of motherhood, family, death and sexism through the ages. It stars the lovely and talented Gemma Arterton, who I have adored ever since I saw her head-butt a guy in the first ten minutes of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and Saiorse Ronan whose credits include Atonement and The Lovely Bones.
It’s a heavy film, but beautiful and beautifully acted. Byzantium is streaming on both Netflix and Hulu.
For a more subtle spooky film, consider Berberian Sound Studio. It stars Toby Jones (AKA Doctor Zola, from the Captain America movies) as a foley artist for a trashy horror film in Italy, far away from his home in England. His character is also a war veteran and the work affects him more profoundly than he had anticipated. The film takes many a surreal turn as it explores the disturbing nature of the work he’s doing and what he’s putting himself through to do it. As I recall, you never see one minute of gore. Instead all awful, bloody moments in the film he’s working on are played on Jones’ face or on the equipment he’s using to add realism to the gore-fest he’s working on.
Berberian Sound Studio is streaming on Hulu.
If you’re looking for something more kid-friendly, consider Kubo and the Two Strings. An epic, beautifully animated fairy tale of a film. It’s streaming on Netflix.
Once Halloween is done, I will probably stop recommending so many spooky films. But I promise nothing.
ALSO for local film mavens (or anyone who enjoyed Netflix’s Glow) Channel Zero is hosting a showing of a documentary: G.L.O.W. – The story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in the Somerville Theater. Tickets are $7.50 – cash only and the show starts at 8. I probably won’t make it, myself, but I thought folks might like to know!