Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, we have one of the best films of 2024 hitting shelves in Conclave (which we’re still giving away a copy of…details here), along with two very different clown movies. There’s the holiday horror treat in Terrifier 3, as well as Joker: Folie à Deux, arguably one of the worst films of the year. Throw in some other titles today, as well as a pair of Criterion Collection releases, and there’s something for everyone if you’re shopping for the holidays. Read on for more…
Joey’s Top Pick
Conclave
Conclave is one of 2024’s very best and most entertaining works. It’s an absolutely crackerjack thriller, one with impeccable acting and craftsmanship at its core. I spoke to director Edward Berger about it here, as well as co-star John Lithgow here, so I’ve been clear about my love for this flick. Back at the Telluride Film Festival, I first raved about the movie here like so:
In a perfect world, elections would be purely about ideas, with the best candidate coming out on top. We all know that this is hardly the case, with all manner of backroom deals and compromises necessary to even get to that point. Conclave is about the election of a new Pope, sure, but it could just as easily be about a brokered convention during a Presidential primary. Regardless, this movie is an absolute banger. Playing at the Telluride Film Festival, it’s a thriller with a sly sense of humor, one capably of wildly entertaining an audience.
Conclave is a spectacularly enjoyable flick. Mainstream in its political thriller machinations, but also full of unexpected humor, as well as a hell of a final twist, it has a toe in the weird. That not only sets it apart but gives the film some added personality. Tremendous acting, impeccable filmmaking, and a sense of momentum that never lets up, it’s a full-on thrill ride.
Recommended Viewing
Terrifier 3
Art the Clown is back for the holidays! Terrifier 3 is one of the better horror sequels in some time, throwing the murderous clown into the Christmas season with bloody fun results. It’s a tremendous romp if you’re cool with gore. In my review here, I had this to say:
When Terrifier 2 came out, it was an unexpectedly epic sequel to the tiny independent horror film Terrifier. Raising the stakes with a higher budget and bigger ambitions, the second installment became notable for inspiring walkouts. Now, with Terrifier 3, lots of the movie’s marketing is focusing on fainting spells and walkouts. How is it as a film, though? Well, it’s pretty good if you love gore with your horror. The flick definitely delivers.
Terrifier 3 is very successful at what it sets out to do. The franchise is very much only for hardcore horror buffs and gore hounds, but it’s undeniable that those into the concept are going to be satisfied. It’s a series that knows who to cater to and does it almost with surgical precision. I had a bloody good time once again.
Absolution
The Holdovers (4K)
Immaculate (4K)
Piece by Piece
Seinfeld: The Complete Series (4K TV)
Severance: Season One (TV)
Transformers One
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – Season 2 (TV)
Criterion Corner
Eastern Condors
From The Criterion Collection: “Legendary actor-director Sammo Hung delivers a bazooka blast of pure adrenaline in this exemplar of Hong Kong action cinema at its most entertaining. Drawing inspiration from Hollywood war films like The Dirty Dozen, Eastern Condors follows a ragtag band of Asian American prisoners dropped into Vietnam on a secret suicide mission to prevent a cache of weapons from falling into the hands of the Viet Cong, who are more than ready for a fight. Propelled by a dynamic ensemble cast that includes the ever-charismatic Yuen Biao as a black-market trader and a superhuman Yuen Wah as a giggling martial-arts monster, this rip-roaring spectacle offers a nonstop barrage of turbocharged set pieces that defy death, logic, and gravity itself.”
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Evil Does Not Exist
From The Criterion Collection: “In a secluded, snowy mountain village, widower and single father Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) leads a modest life gathering water, wood, and wild wasabi for a friend’s udon shop. Yet this peaceful existence is threatened when a pair of corporate reps (Ryuji Kosaka and Ayaka Shibutani) arrive to launch a glamping site, sparking resistance from community members who fear the project’s potentially pernicious impact on the environment. When Takumi—a respected local figure—is offered the conciliatory role of site caretaker, it becomes unclear where his loyalties lie. Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s much-anticipated follow-up to his Academy Award–winning Drive My Car, is a haunting, suspenseful meditation on humankind’s thorny relationship with nature, consumerism, and itself. Inspired by a collaboration with composer Eiko Ishibashi, the director showcases his masterful command of pacing and atmosphere to uncover the destructive forces lurking beneath the thin veneer of civilization.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
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