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Flash Movie Review: Companion
A RELATIVE OF MINE JUST NEEDED to vent and knows I always have an open ear. She was telling me about her son who desperately wanted to be in a love relationship. The more I heard, the less I thought her son understood what love really meant. She told me all her son wishes for is to be with someone. He uses the dating apps, goes out to bars to meet women, and has no qualms starting up a conversation with a female shopper at the grocery store. However, according to my relative, he does not want to do much of the dating and wooing part to get into a committed relationship. I asked how that was working out for her son, while keeping a perplexed look on my face. She said he scares off a lot of women because he is so quick to tell them he loves them and wants to move in together with them. I knew she knew this, but I had to say his actions were a big red flag to prospective dates and she agreed 100% with me. She said he does not take the time to really learn anything about the women he meets; all he wants is to be part of a couple. In my mind, all he wants is a companion. THE REASON I USE THE WORD companion is because I have already seen couple relationships where the two people seem more like companions or roommates instead of it being a relationship of love. Not that there is any right way, or I am criticizing someone, I am aware that love comes in all shapes and sizes. There was one couple I knew, where the woman was a long-time friend of mine. She started dating a man that I soon learned not to trust. He was a braggard and a liar. After catching him in a couple of lies, I felt compelled to tell my friend. She heard what I had to say but it did not stop her from following her heart. After one year of dating, she discovered he had been stealing tiny amounts of money from her purse. She was devastated and told me she felt foolish. I tried to comfort her, but she stayed upset for some time. Another friend of mine had been dating a woman for six-seven months. I thought everything was fine until we stopped at a store for the girlfriend to get a pair of sunglasses. We all tried on various pairs, but during that time I could overhear my friend directing his girlfriend on what he wanted her to buy. It was odd the way he said it, so I asked if he always tells her what to buy. He said he wanted her to look a certain way that he thought was flattering. It still was odd to me; it looked like he had an idea of how she should look, and he wanted her to become that image. It seemed more like he was dating a doll instead of a live human being. I thought it was strange but not as strange as what I saw in this psychological comedy thriller. A WEEKEND GETAWAY FOR A GROUP of friends turns sinister when one of them is killed by one of the others. With Sophie Thatcher (Heretic, Yellowjackets-TV) as Iris, Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games franchise, Scream) as Josh, Lukas Gage (Road House, Smile 2) as Patrick, Megan Suri (It Lives Inside, Never Have I Ever-TV) as Kat, and Harvey Guillen (The Internship, Werewolves Within) as Eli; this science fiction film was twisted fun. I thought Sophie and Jack were great together and enjoyed all the twists and turns in the script. Part of the success was the tight directing taking place; I felt engaged throughout the movie as I was exposed to scenes of dark humor, satire, tension, and fear. What helped me was not knowing or seeing anything about this picture because it increased my surprise level. I will have to say, when the movie was over, it made me wonder if we could ever get to a similar place in time. There were a few brief scenes with blood and violence. 3 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: Nightbitch
THE WOMEN I KNEW IN THE generation before me did not have jobs outside of the home. Most of my friends’ mothers stayed at home taking care of the house and raising the children. It was not until we were in seventh and eighth grade where some mothers went back to the work force. When I was little, I did not comprehend how much work these mothers did, even more with an increase in children in the family. It was not until we were older and would find ourselves, from time to time, sitting with a friend’s mother for a soft drink or dessert that I would comprehend how much these mothers did for their family. Now the interesting thing I noticed about this generation was most of the women gave little thought about having a career. By career, I mean like a lawyer, event planner or sales. Granted it was a different time and that was the norm back then. Adding to it, I honestly do not remember hearing anything about daycare centers where children could be dropped off while the parents were both working. The usual method was to find a neighbor or relative to babysit while the parent ran out to work or do errands. WITH ONE NEW GENERATION, IT BECAME a whole different story regarding having and raising children. The things I have seen and heard from my peers in my generation, many of the households have both parents working. Those who can afford it, send their child to daycare; others create a unique schedule where they can bypass daycare by parents working different shifts. I know one family who did this and when their schedules conflicted, they had one of their parents watch the children. A few of my friends were lucky that their company gave them twelve weeks of maternity leave; other friends chose to quit work by the time of delivery and stay home with their baby. No matter what the option, from what I have seen it is not an easy thing to do. I admire each and everyone of them because to me it is a big undertaking to choose to have a child. And I know for some, it is a struggle just based on being a witness to the people in my circles. One friend, who was an avid reader, had to spend several years only reading children’s books. By the time she had some free time, she was too tired to read any of her books. Being a parent is certainly not an easy job and if you do not believe me, see what happens in this dark comedy horror film. FROM A THRIVING CAREER IN THE art world to becoming a stay-at-home mom, a woman begins to feel primal urges she has never felt before. With Any Adams (The Fighter, The Woman in the Window) as Mother, Scoot McNairy (Speak No Evil, Luckiest Girl Alive) as Husband, Jessica Harper (Phantom of the Paradise, Shock Treatment) as Norma, Zoe Chao (Downhill, The Afterparty-TV) as Jen, and Mary Holland (Senior Year, Happiest Season) as Miriam; this movie’s lifesaver was Amy Adams. For me, it was pretty much the only thing. I found the script weird, not knowing if it wanted to be a satire, dark comedy, or horror film; it just never committed fully to a genre. I could have gotten into the satire and dark comedy, but the whole feral thing was a dud for me. I did think the directing and pacing were good; however, when one is sitting and wondering if this is going to be a take on a Franz Kafka story or a Saturday Night Live skit, it caused me not to be 100% into the story. If this had been a babysitting job, I would have passed it up.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Death at a Funeral
PRIOR TO GOING TO THE FUNERAL, I always thought everyone in attendance was there to pay their respects. I must tell you, it startled me when I heard the man sitting next to me tell his companion he was glad the man was dead. You do not often hear those words coming out of someone’s mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I tried to get a better look at this man’s face to see if I knew him. I was there because I was an employee of the company, doing customer service work for them. The man looked familiar to me, but I could not recall ever talking to him. He was telling the person next to him that the dead man was an awful human being. I wondered if anyone else around us was hearing what this man was saying about the deceased. It was such a weird juxtaposition with family members sniffling and crying near the casket and this man bad mouthing their relative. It was not easy to hear everything he was saying, but I was increasingly curious to hear why this man so disliked the dearly departed that he would actually verbalize his feelings without a filter. SINCE THAT FUNERAL, I HAVE BEEN a witness to two other funerals where some of the people in attendance had other reasons for being there. This one funeral had so many mourners coming into the funeral home, that several of them had to lean up against the walls because there were no seats left. During the eulogy, something that was said triggered a couple of mourners to stand up and shout at the grieving family members. I was frozen in my seat; it was such a surreal scene playing out in front of me. One of the deceased’s daughters stood up, turned around to face the yelling mourners, and shouted, “You will burn in hell!” I have never forgotten those words and can still picture myself sitting there when they were first uttered. Talk about drama fit for the big screen. The other funeral I attended that was outside the norm was one where family members got into a physical fight that caused them to bump into the casket. There was a huge gasp from the mourners in attendance, fearful that there was a chance the casket would fall off its pedestal. With the help of the funeral home’s employees, the fighting family members were pulled apart and taken out of the room. After having experienced these unusual funeral proceedings, I thought I had seen everything; that is until I watched this film festival winning, dark comedy. WHEN THE PATRIARCH OF THE FAMILY died, a variety of family members and friends thought the funeral service would be the perfect time to address their concerns. With Matthew Macfadyen (The Three Musketeers, Pride & Prejudice) as Daniel, Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty-TV, Upstairs Downstairs-TV) as Jane, Andy Nyman (Judy, The Commuter) as Howard, Ewen Bremner (Wonder Woman, Trainspotting franchise) as Justin and Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent, Game of Thrones-TV) as Peter; this movie took some time before kicking into gear. The humor was fun and there was an abundance of jokes, but I felt the writers could have tightened up the script more. There was an overall flavor to this film that reminded me of those old British comedy films. With such a large cast, one would have thought several actors would have faded into the background; but that was not the case here. Everyone did their part to carry the story forward, with Alan Tudyk and Andy Nyman as the standouts for me. All things considered, this was a fun film to watch and a better experience for me than the previous funerals I had attended.
2 ½ stars
moviejoltz 