Mike Goes To Movies

The Guest (2014) TLDR: While it doesn't reinvent the genre, The Guest is a great and confidently made thriller centred upon yet another great performance by the talented Dan Stevens. The Guest is one of those movies that easily slides outside the realm of mainstream awareness. Both on the surface and beneath, the film is a fairly straightforward and classic type of thriller, however, what makes it a success is its makers' clear understanding of tentpoles of the genre, Adam Wingard's confident directing, and the strong and consistent cast and their performances. The Guest doesn't break any new boundaries for the genre, but it is an excellent choice for a night when you crave the rushes of a good thriller. The premise is centred on the arrival of an ex-military soldier, David (Dan Stevens), who one day shows up at the door of the Peterson home. The family has never met David before, but David tells them he served with their son, Caleb, and the two had become close...

Parasite (2019) For anyone who knows anything about contemporary film I'm sure you've heard of Parasite. It's that new one by veteran Korean writer/director, Bong Joon Ho, that won a little something called the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes... whatever significance that all holds. Okay, now for real, Parasite really is a near perfect thriller illustrating the masterclass talent, as both writer and director, of Bong. Parasite has the feel of a Hitchcockian thriller - it is grounded in its strong characters, its tension mounts and mounts towards its epic climax, and to give too much away about its plot, which is slowly drawn out, would be to ruin much of the fantastic surprises. I will tell you though that the film's title is very apt in its description and relevance to the plot, as well, that this is a story about family (or two families): the dynamics between them and within its members and their everyday activities in order to get by. The cast are all ...

The Lighthouse (2019) Though his style likely isn't for everyone, I must say that to me writer/director, Robert Eggers, is a pretty fucking cool guy. The Lighthouse is Eggers follow up to his fantastic, family-driven, nightmarish folk tale, The Witch (a must-see for all horror fans). In a similar vein, The Lighthouse is another psychological horror/thriller period piece that is about two lighthouse keepers, or wickies , as they're called, who work on an isolated lighthouse that sits atop a rocky outcrop constantly battered by poor conditions and extreme storms. Like the best psychological horror, The Lighthouse is a downward spiral: it starts off normal enough but, like the psyches of our wickies, things slowly begin to derail as forces both natural and unnatural seep into their lives and haunt them from the inside out. Willem Dafoe plays the veteran keeper; the nature of the job has clearly taken its toll over the years and he may be hiding some insider knowledge of the ...

TIFF: Uncut Gems (2019) Okay, so apologies for the lack of reviews coming out lately. I've been a bit busy running around to TIFF films this past week but I finally now have some time to sit down for a bit and begin writing about these awesome and exciting films I've seen at the festival. First up is Uncut Gems - who's ready for more Safdie Brothers praise from mikegoestomovies??  The Brothers Safdie - Josh and Benny's - newest thriller stars Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a jewelry store owner / dealer who can't help but inject himself into shady deal after deal in order to chase the biggest score possible while simultaneously pulling everyone in his life into his dangerous and chaotic lifestyle. Uncut Gems bears many similarities to the brothers' previous outings. It has a quasi-documentary feel featuring floating cameras and lots of improvisational dialogue. Like Good Time, the plot is like a rolling snowball where the inciting event at the film...

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Today marks the 20th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's final film, the infamous, sexually-charged Eyes Wide Shut. In structure and theme the film centres upon dreams and desire. Dr. Bill and Alice Harford, portrayed by A-listers (and then-married) Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, are a married couple heading a seemingly standard American nuclear family. Below the surface of the couple however lie deep-seated jealousies, desires and lust. Like most of Kubrick's films, Eyes Wide Shut requires multiple viewings - every scene and every shot is constructed to be a masterpiece in its own right with hidden meanings and secrets littered throughout. It is a testament to Kubrick's auteur that this film does not rank among his very best, however, given to most other filmmakers it would certainly be marked as such. Eyes Wide Shut is a voyeuristic experience into the erotic dreams of an upper-class New Yorker - here, Cruise's Dr. Bill. Upon hearing his wife...

Everest (2015) I'm not going to lie, my expectations for Everest sat quite nicely at ground zero (around where I would imagine base camp to be) - I thought this was simply going to be yet another action-packed disaster-esque kind of film. And so, it was that I was pleasantly surprised by the quite-grounded nature of the film that built its action and suspense not through crazy special-effects action set-pieces but through character drama and the realistic threats that one would encounter summiting the highest peak on this planet. It may be that part of my enjoyment of this film stemmed from my own recent experience as a few years ago I hiked up a mountain and got a small taste of the dismantling effect that cold and oxygen deprivation has on a body. No, what I climbed is nowhere close to the feat of Everest, but a lot of what is depicted in this film regarding preparation (both mental and physical) were things that our guides talked to us about on our own climb. As mentioned,...

Burning (2018) Burning is the kind of masterful film that stays with you long after it ends - its deep, contemplative layers slowly seep into your subconsciousness, imparting you with new meaning and emotion that you may not have picked up during the actual viewing. Normally, I am the type of filmgoer who will wait a decent amount of time before watching a film again, regardless of the film. However,  Burning is that rare exception that made me desire to rewatch it very shortly after finishing it so that I could once again observe the beauty of the shots, the compelling story, and try to, once again, uncover the treasures hidden with. The film is somewhat difficult to discuss as its seemingly straightforward plot becomes much less so as the film proceeds, and to talk about it would be to ruin some critical developments and twists. This may not be all that surprising because the film, by famed Korean director, Lee Chang-dong, is loosely adapted from Haruki Murakami's short sto...

Thoroughbreds (2017) This film is very much one of those indie-gems that flies under the radar but is absolutely worth a watch. It is a creatively-made dark comedy about two polar-opposite high schoolers who decide to of one of their horrible step-dads. Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) is highly emotional, put-together and academic, while Amanda (Olivia Cooke) feels, literally, nothing at all, lacks motivation for school and has a dark and troubled past. They are old friends though, and, after a number of years apart, upon Lily beginning to tutor Amanda they reach the decision to send Lily's step-dad to sleeping with the fishes. To do so they decide to bring in help from another older and no-less troubled teen, Tim (Anton Yelchin). First-time director/writer, Cory Finley's, direction and script are both sharp, intelligent and captivating. Finley is a definite talent to keep an eye on and I foresee him having a long and successful career ahead. There is an exhilarating momentum that...

Drive (2011) Recently rewatching Danish director, Nicolas Winding Refn's, Drive was an interesting experience for me. I had not seen it in quite a while (possibly since its release), however, I recalled quite clearly, that I absolutely loved the film when I saw it in theatres. Now, I still very much enjoyed the film upon this rewatch and, in fact, since beginning film school there are aspects of the film that I likely appreciated more now than I did the first time. However, there were a few notable issues I had with the film. Drive centres around the well-used 'Man With No Name' trope a la Clint Eastwood in Leone's 'Dollars Trilogy" or even Stephen King's Gunslinger in the Dark Tower series. As such, the audience is given very little information about Ryan Gosling's character other than he is an exceptionally cool and capable individual, foremost when it comes to driving. We know nothing about Gosling's background or his motivations other than...

Interstellar (2014) To me, Christopher Nolan's ambitious space-epic, Interstellar , is a bit like The Goog - a signature dish from a great ice cream place in my hometown. What the hell is The Goog? Well, it is  a deluge of dessert delicacy - it is a gargantuan upside down blueberry shake, with a hot fudge sundae, and bananas, all topped with whipped cream. Yes... that obviously sounds incredible. And it does taste good for the most part... But in reality, every time I've ordered The Goog I've ended up receiving a horrible stomach ache about halfway through and ultimately unable to finish it. Sadly, the Goog just tries too hard; it's just too much 'good' for one thing. Like The Goog, Interstellar tries its hand at being a little of bit something for everyone. It is a lengthy three hours and yet it still feels like its overflowing with plot points, tones and themes. The film should be commended for its high ambitions, and, most of the time, Nolan has been ab...