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The Beekeeper
Between Jason Statham’s performance, notably boosted by Phylicia Rashad, you get the rare beat ’em up action movie, packed with explosions and fist fights, with a beating heart.
Which Brings Me To You
The sole romantic comedy on the list, “Which Brings Me To You,” sadly didn’t get much fanfare upon release in January, but it is our favorite romantic comedy of the year and might be one of our favorite romantic comedies, period. Led by Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff, both are a bit down on their luck regarding love. The movie features them together, retracing how they ended up single, in the same place, and whether there is a way forward together.
Which I know could sound rather serious, but the film is a mix of bad relationships, them falling short, their ex causing the breakup, and no one really being damned for how things turned out for all parties are allowed to be human. Making it so, when it comes to Hale and Wolff’s characters, there isn’t just a sense that they deserve love and happiness, but they come equipped for it based on the journeys they have had thus far.
Welcome Home Franklin
The Peanuts franchise is likely part of most people’s childhoods from the Christmas to Thanksgiving special, and “Welcome Home Franklin,” starring the main, if not only, Black character, could also hold a special place in your heart and memories. It’s not necessarily about race, but for any kid who ever moved around a lot, found it hard to make friends, but then met that one kid who you just clicked with, it will make it so you don’t just feel a sense of nostalgia due to Charlie Brown or Snoopy, but also for that person during Elementary School, Middle School, or even High School who was your best friend and maybe isn’t in your life anymore.
Ordinary Angels
Starring Hillary Swank, this pseudo-faith-based film is a tear-jerker based on a real story. A woman who is a known alcoholic and hairdresser in her town decides to invest in a local family she read about in the newspaper. The mother dies, the father is a hard-working single dad raising two girls, and Swank’s character decides just to show up and help out.
This film pushes the power of community and balances men allowing themselves to be vulnerable and accept help while still fitting the ideals of an old-school, hard-working man and two sweet kids who don’t see a woman who is an utter mess but is just a nice person who cares about them. Heck, just thinking about the film has me teary-eyed, if I may be vulnerable for a moment.
Knox Goes Away
Directed and starring Michael Keaton, aka Batman or Betelgeuse, in this action/drama, Keaton presents a hitman starting to develop dementia. He makes a grave accident that could force him into retirement, if not get caught by the cops, and as his estranged son, who knows what he does for a living, asks for a favor. The kind that requires Keaton’s character to use the last bit of his wits to protect his son, cover up what his son, played by James Marsden did, and hope as conniving as Keaton’s partner, played by Al Pacino, was in the past, he’ll stay on the path he has been on for a while and help him to make sure no harm or unwanted attention comes to his son.
What we loved about this film is that, thanks to Liam Neeson, I feel like if we’ve seen an old man in an action movie, we expect to see the same thing with a slightly altered story. Keaton forces you to raise that bar back up with this original story and remember that action movies can have more than fist fights and explosions, but also the type of performances that, in a weak year, could be dark horses for major accolades.
Wicked Little Letters
Starring Jessie Buckley and Oscar winner Olivia Colman, we watch as the two, in the 1920s, have a nasty back and forth. Buckley plays an Irish immigrant woman who moves next to the assumed good Christian woman in Colman. Buckley’s character is extroverted, no-nonsense, and a mom, and she has a man who is likely blowing her back out. Colman? Well, her character is under the thumb of Timothy Spall’s character, who surely may love his daughter, but only due to her being proof of him having vitality at one time.
So, Colman’s character decides to write some rather nasty letters for the time, and pushes the idea that Buckley’s character is the culprit. Between what Colman’s character writes, and the film’s relationship dynamics, the only negative thing about the film might be that the accents aren’t your Victorian or BBC English. They are the kind that may require having subtitles.
Challengers
Despite many wanting to forget “Malcolm & Marie” is Zendaya’s first role playing an adult on film, in terms of theatrical releases, this is considered her coming out as an adult, and while, yes, it is in the way many expect from a Disney alumni, with sex being involved, let’s not pretend like Zendaya’s filmography and choices aren’t pristine at this point. Thus far, she hasn’t starred in anything bad or where she was the silver lining. All of it has been good and, dare I say, re-watchable.
“Challengers” is no different for, between the music which will have you picking up the film’s soundtrack, done by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the homo-eroticism between Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, and then Zendaya in the middle? Add in the intensity of tennis, which could get you interested in the sport? “Challengers” is the good type of messy and, while perfectly fine to watch at home, definitely requires a good sound system, quality screen, and the type of seat you can settle in for since you probably aren’t going to want to move for its two-hour runtime.
We Grown Now
When it comes to urban dramas, there is often the push to create what may feel like poverty porn. They want the hood to seem so terrible, the people there trapped in the ghetto seemingly due to their own decisions, and there is sometimes this feeling that they want the character who makes it out to be special and an exception to their environment. I don’t feel like “We Grown Now” wanted that.
Instead, in this movie starring Jurnee Smollett and the great S. Epatha Merkerson, you get a sense of community that comes from living in what can be seen as the projects. There are people outside, kids playing, elders watching the children, people pooling resources at times, and making do with what they have. There is a reminder that, while many might be financially struggling, they are working hard to get what they have, raise families, and take care of themselves.
But “We Grown Now” isn’t all about the struggle and showing a positive perception of people in the hood. It’s also about the two lead boy’s friendship, how they reaffirm each other and make each other feel seen. It’s about a multi-generational family and seeing a beautiful depiction of a mother/daughter relationship that isn’t fraught with trauma and excuses for maltreatment. Instead, after a hard day, while a drink is always an option, so is an adult woman cuddling up with their mother, getting the same kind of comfort their son seeks from them.
Femme
What list could we have of the top films without there being at least one featuring an LGBTQIA+ story? “Femme” is that movie, and oh, is it a doozy. It’s a revenge story starring Nathan Stewart-Jarrett who is a local, semi-famous drag performer who gets their ass whipped after mouthing off to a hyper-masculine presenting guy played by George MacKay. The trauma of that ass-whipping causes Stewart-Jarret’s character to become a recluse, but when they decide to venture out to a bathhouse, guess who they see?
This leads to the idea that the best revenge would be through revenge porn, and since MacKay’s character doesn’t know what Stewart-Jarrett’s looks like outside of drag, he seduces him. But here comes the complication; while MacKay could easily be a DL guy who is just looking for ass while trying to keep up appearances, he is far more complicated than that. MacKay’s character takes Stewart-Jarrett’s on dates; they meet each other’s friends, and there comes a point when you think they could actually be a cute couple.
All of this pushes you to wonder if Stewart-Jarrett will still go through with his revenge plot? Could MacKay’s character be seen as redeemable? Never mind, deserve some form of understanding. There are layers that surely were not expected, and what is delivered keeps you engaged and leaves you with something to think about and discuss with whoever you watched it with or it may press you to talk to a stranger online.
The Other, Gold
Story and characters are unquestionably important in any movie, but what “The Other, Gold” reminds you is equally, if not more important, is dialog. What I love the most about this movie is there are conversations. Whether it is about dating, friendships, family, racism, or what have you, star, writer, and co-director Sharaé Nikai gives you what feels like real conversations put to film. Add that this film gives you what feels like a communal experience where you want audience members to comment to further something said on screen, because it often leads to or heightens a comedic moment? “The Other, Gold” is golden.
Kill
Something that isn’t considered enough in action movies is sound. This is especially true for movies in which it isn’t a shoot em’ up but requires close-quarters combat with fists flying and weapons your opponent can take. In “Kill,” you get flinch worthy sounds that make you grimace as people get hit, and you get a sense of the impact.
But, even beyond the notable fights that all happen on a train, there is also the sense that the would-be villains aren’t throwaway bodies. They don’t just note they are family to help you understand why these two dozen people are working together. When people get hurt or even die, you’re reminded that these people aren’t robbing a train just for kicks and giggles but for the family’s shared survival.
It allows you to almost imagine the film flipping the tables and making this desperate group the leads, the anti-heroes, and the character we follow as a villain who is the privileged soldier, escalating things far beyond what was ever necessary.
The Wasp
Carla (Natalie Dormer) and Heather (Naomie Harris) | The Wasp
Who doesn’t love a film with a series of twists, a shocking ending, quality performances, and good writing? That’s what “The Wasp” delivers as Natalie Dormer, Naomi Harris, and teen actors playing younger versions of them explore a complicated friendship that contains trauma, bullying, the desire for revenge, and an utter lack of mercy.
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