Dear friend,
this week I travelled quite a bit and, as a consequence, I had less time and also a reduced internet bandwidth to watch films.
So, this will be a short post.
Happiness, written and directed by Todd Solondz, US, 1998 - ⭐⭐⭐½
How to describe this film? A very dark comedy where horrible things happen. No wonder why it’s unavailable on any platform. On the other hand, it’s technically excellent, Philip Seymour Hoffman is compelling no matter what his character does, as is Jane Adams (whom I’m ‘discovering’ here, although she also plays one of the best characters in Twin Peaks: The Return, which I am rewatching).
A Cure for Wellness, directed by Gore Verbinski, co-written with Justin Haythe, US, 2016 - ⭐⭐
A ‘modern’ gothic tale reminiscent of many classics, with a compelling start, an awful ending that almost makes Happiness feel more palatable, and a plot that’s essentially many iterations of Dane DeHaan playing hide and seek with Jason Isaacs, while a very-young-looking 22-year-old Mia Goth walks in and out barefoot, and lots of eels. I postponed watching this film for so long because of its duration and my recollection of poor reviews, and now I know I wouldn’t have missed much if I had postponed indefinitely. Still, when are we going to have a new film by Verbinski?
I would like to know more about the driver’s backstory: he has an Italian name and is played by an Italian actor; why does he swear in Spanish then?
Late Night with the Devil, written and directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Australia/US, 2023 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another case of a comfort film looking at me late at night while browsing Netflix’ catalogue. Even having rewatched it just two and a half months earlier, I couldn’t resist it. Since I remembered all the story beats, I may admit that it may be losing a bit of its magic, for the first time risking a slightly lower rating (but I finally kept the four stars).