If given the opportunity to talk to your younger self, what advice would you give? I wasn’t expecting much from this comedy about a teenager meeting her future self while high on mushrooms. Variations of this premise have been done before, but rarely, if ever, as well. Under the fantastical premise, there’s something quite real about growing up and making realizations about yourself, your life, and understanding what you are leaving behind.
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Francis Ford Coppola‘s Megalopolis is an unusual experience. As cinema, or as art, it certainly holds value. As coherent storytelling, however, it leaves something to be desired. Conceived by Coppola in the 70s, and obviously spurred on by recent political events, the director has been toying with the idea for decades trying to make the film a reality. Maybe he should have waited just a bit longer.
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Aubrey Plaza is Having a Blast Read More »
“You’re a very bad influence.”
Aubrey Plaza stars as Emily, a former artist with a chip on her shoulder, a mountain of debt, and a felony conviction limiting her job opportunities. And then walks in the charming Youcef (Theo Rossi) and the chance to earn a little easy money buying items with fake credit cards. And after a little success that one-time opportunity becomes two, and then three, and then more as Emily falls deeper down the rabbit hole seeing a way out of her old life and ignoring the dangers her new life will bring as she begins taking larger and larger chances.
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Emily the Criminal Read More »
Happiest Season puts a twist on your typical meet the parents film as Harper (Mackenzie Davis) invites her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart) home with her for the holidays. However, on the road, Harper reveals her conservative parents (Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen) don’t know that she is gay or that Abby is her girlfriend. This leads Abby to play the role of roommate in need of a place to stay over the holidays. It doesn’t take long for the role to weigh heavy on Abby as the film’s romcom shenanigans also give Harper’s parents the wrong impression of her.
The set-up of a strong conservative patriarch with a family too scared to tell him the truth reminded me of Merry Happy Whatever with Stewart playing a combination of the Brent Morin and Ashley Tisdale characters. Although the film is primarily centered on Harper, her sisters (Alison Brie and Mary Holland) also have their own secrets and resentments. The cast is further filled out by Dan Levy as Harper’s support line, Aubrey Plaza as Harper’s secret high school girlfriend, and Jake McDorman as Harper’s high school boyfriend who Harper’s parents are cluelessly trying to set-up with Harper over the holidays.
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