Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, we have a ton of strong offerings hitting shelves. Yes, today brings the release of Kinds of Kindness, Late Night with the Devil, MaXXXine, A Quiet Place: Day One, Robot Dreams, Thelma, and more. Plus, a new Criterion entry drops today as well. Read on for more…
Joey’s Top Pick
Robot Dreams
I fell hard for this animated film, becoming utterly enchanted by its story of friendship between an anthropomorphic dog and the robot he buys as a companion. It grows into something deeply moving, to say the least. I spoke to filmmaker Pablo Berger here about Robot Dreams, but my rave review gets into it as well. Here is how it began:
You’re almost certainly not prepared for Robot Dreams. Even after it getting the Best Animated Feature nomination at the Academy Awards, most of you who see the film are going to be walking in cold. That’s good, too, as it will be similar to how I approached the movie. Do it that we and this beautiful bit of emotional animation will wash over you in a very special way. Robot Dreams is one of my favorite works of late, easily representing some of 2024’s best cinematic bits (yes, I’m mostly counting it for this year).
Robot Dreams takes a very simple premise and executes it magnificently. Heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure, it’s a tribute to the power of emotions, the need to be close to others, and how a true connection is not impacted by time. The movie is timeless and universal in its themes, while also being hyper specific in its style, as well as choice of characters. For me, it basically all worked.
Recommended Viewing
Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos was on one with this anthology tale. Going back to the stark nature of his earlier Greek works with the A-list (including Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone) cast of one of his newer films makes for a distinct viewing experience. Not everyone was able to get on this movie’s wavelength, but I was, so Kinds of Kindness was a riot. My review here on the site includes the following praise:
Yorgos Lanthimos thinks like no other person in the industry. That has led to not just several productions that showcase his cast in a very unique manner, but also films that defy all manner of cinematic conventions. With Kinds of Kindness, Lanthimos is both trying something new and going back to his roots. It may sound like an iffy proposition, but it’s a wild movie with a ton to offer an adventurous audience.
Kinds of Kindness is pure unfiltered Lanthimos. For a few folks, that might test their patience, but for anyone who has previously gone along for rides with him, this is actually a wild amount of fun. Dark, disturbing, yet also ridiculously enjoyable, he has no fucks to give and is all the better for it. If you go along with it and have a dark sense of humor, his coldness yet silliness becomes a virtue and rewards your time. So much of the picture is left up to you to interpret, which ends up being part of the fun.
Late Night with the Devil
A surprise horror gem, Late Night with the Devil finds emotion with its scares. Featuring a terrific David Dastmalchian turn at its core, this is impressive stuff, as well as a calling card for the filmmakers. My review here on the site says as much, as you can see:
By and large, found footage horror has seen its moment pass. Aside from some of the recent V/H/S installments that have been a bit on the clever side, we mostly haven’t seen anything new in a while. So, when along comes something like Late Night with the Devil, it’s truly exciting. Not only does it tinker with the format to have it serve its own devilish purposes, there’s also a riveting performance at its core to go along with creative filmmaking. The result is one of the bigger genre surprises of the year.
Late Night with the Devil managed to surprise the hell out of me. I went in curious enough, since even though found footage rarely blows me away anymore, I still tend to like it more often than not. So, to see that it’s a more playful and darker take on that, combined with a demonic story that actually invests you in what’s happening, actually leaves you shaken. Considering how much the filmmakers do with modest means, it’s a truly impressive work.
MaXXXine
Ti West has a hell of a trilogy on his hands, capped off by MaXXXine. Notable not just for the shifting sub-genres of horror, but for the performances by Mia Goth, I think it’s among the more interesting trios of films the genre has put out in a bit. My review on the site here features the following beginning:
How can you not love a gory little indie horror franchise? Both X (reviewed here) and Pearl (reviewed here) showcased some of the best work from filmmaker Ti West to date, so I went into MaXXXine with decently high expectations. After all, when you see a trilogy organically coming together within the genre, especially when the installments have all been really good, you get excited. Lucky for us, West and his muse Mia Goth have outdone themselves here. MaXXXine is the best in the franchise, a top tier 2024 horror flick, and a terrifically entertaining film. It’s a bloody good time at the movies!
MaXXXine again shows West mixing gory horror with a vivid period setting. He’s become a master of the homage, with here the influences being not just Hollywood in the 1980s, but the video nasties of that era as well. It’s grimy in all the right ways. There’s dark fun to be had, as long as you don’t have a problem with blood and guts. This is both the most plot heavy and also the most violent of the trilogy, which is no easy task.
Thelma
Making June Squibb an action hero is a stroke of genius in my book, so it’s not shocking that I dug Thelma. Squibb and Richard Roundtree are excellent in this comedic take on a revenge flick. There’s lots of fun to be had here, without a doubt. My review here on the site began like so, restating my thesis:
An unlikely action hero can be a lot of fun. There might not be a more unlikely one in 2024 than June Squibb, but that’s just what she is in Thelma, a tale of a grandmother taking back what’s hers. An action-comedy hybrid that gives a senior citizen her very own revenge tale? Yep, it’s as good as it sounds, too. The film is a low level blast.
Thelma shows not just that a bit of cleverness can go a long way, but also that we should never put performers into a box due to their age. You wouldn’t expect a star vehicle for Squibb in her 90s to begin with, but a mix of action and comedy that explicitly references the Mission: Impossible franchise? It sounds like a dream, but once you see it, you’ll know that this movie is just a dream come true.
Also Available This Week
Arcane: Season One (TV)
Exhuma
Friday Night Lights (4K)
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Interview with the Vampire: Season Two (TV)
Subservience
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II
Criterion Corner
I Walked with a Zombie / The Seventh Victim: Produced by Val Lewton
From The Criterion Collection: “Terror lives in the shadows in a pair of mesmerizingly moody horror milestones conjured from the imagination of Val Lewton, the visionary producer-auteur who turned our fears of the unseen and the unknown into haunting excursions into existential dread. As head of RKO’s B-horror-movie unit during the 1940s, Lewton, working with directors such as Jacques Tourneur and Mark Robson, brought a new sophistication to the genre by wringing chills not from conventional movie monsters but from brooding atmosphere, suggestion, and psychosexual unease. Suffused with ritual, mysticism, and the occult, the poetically hypnotic I Walked with a Zombie and the shockingly subversive The Seventh Victim are still-tantalizing dreams of death that dare to embrace the darkness.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
Robot Dreams is incredible! I have been meaning to revisit it . I knew nothing about it either but it’s stayed with more than most films animated or not.
Thelma was a delight . More heartfelt than I expected.
Truly!