Ah the joys and perils of a three movie day at a festival. It has legitimately been years now since I’ve had the challenge of watching more than one film per day, let alone for a festival but we were back in those waters thanks to AFI Fest. In lieu of reviewing these fully, I like to do capsule reviews for the movies I’ve had the chance to see.
Paris, 13th District – Some really smart performances end up making this Jacques Audiard a winning effort. It’s weird that I feel like Audiard is this super serious director cause of A Prophet but he really has a gift for just showcasing humanity in interesting ways. The script has some really interesting viewpoints on love and relationships, as well as cultural differences.
To What Remains – Sometimes a movie just doesn’t click for you. I think the subject matter of this film is rather fascinating; the movie chronicles the efforts of Project Recover is an organization with a mission to bring home missing-in-action World War II veterans. Despite the stories and the interesting topic, I couldn’t quite get into the movie. I feel like the filmmaking choices weren’t quite up to the material they were showcasing.
Red Rocket – If I had known at all what I was in for with this film prior to seeing it, I’m not sure I would have made the trek. There is some extraordinary acting in this film and Bthe setting is fascinating, but there’s something off about it as a whole. Probably mostly to do with the central relationship being between a 30 year old man and a minor and the movie not shying away from sex scenes, which repulse. It’s a movie that’s trying to get to a seedy awfulness of some truly foolish people but the way events unfold, particularly towards the end left a sour taste in my mouth.