Mike Goes To Movies

Come to Daddy (2020) Like the dynamics of the father-son relationship at the heart of its story, Come to Daddy has layers waiting to be peeled back and revealed; each one rife with surprises and secrets, drama, and more than a few oddities. Nothing is ever as it seems in Come to Daddy, something that the deft filmmakers here fully understand and play with, turning and twisting the plot on its head and ratcheting up the suspense and action in ways that are equally absurd and surprisingly relatable. As far as unique indie films go, Come to Daddy hits all of its marks. The setup for the film is quite uncomplicated, allowing the creeping tension to begin building right from the get-go. Norval Greenwood (Elijah Wood) receives a letter from his estranged-father who he hasn't seen for over thirty years to come out to visit him at his secluded beach-side house. Immediately upon arriving, Norval takes note of the less-than enthusiastic welcome he receives from his dad (Stephen McHatti...

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020) My expectations going into Birds of Prey was pretty close to ground-zero - something that I am continuing to realize is a good thing. After a string of okay-to-horrendous recent DC films (*cough* Batman v Superman *cough* Justice League *coughcoughcough* Suicide Squad), my excitement for this film was as tepid as the water dripping from my ever-broken kitchen sink tap. It was a joyful surprise then to find myself (for the most part) quite entertained watching Birds of Prey last week.  Like Birds of Prey the movie, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), at the start of this film has smartly broken away from any connection she might have from Suicide Squad and has now broken up with Mr. J (that's the Joker, to all you hopeless non-nerds). And so, Harley tries to strike out on her own not knowing that she very quickly will be running-in with local mobster Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor). Harley soon finds out that ...

Parasite: Ushering In A New Era For The Oscars? Last night's Best Picture win by Parasite was a major milestone for the Academy Awards. It marked the first time in history that a foreign-language film won the Oscars' highest accolade. As many voices are currently discussing, this may be the precursor to a new era of internationalism for the Academy Awards, as well as, for Hollywood and Western cinema.  Firstly, let's just say with certainty that Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite deserved the myriad of awards it received last night: Best International Feature, Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. Notably, making the wins even more special was the fact that it was the first time a South Korean had been nominated for either Best Picture or International Feature. Parasite really is a marvelous film though, and one that should be seen by all. The film is about a 'parasitic' lower-class family who slowly infiltrate an upper-class family through various i...