Directed by Danny Boyle Yesterday is remarkably delightful. It's a film with a simple premise that doesn't necessarily deliver on all the narrative promises of that premise, and yet it is just so likable because the performers themselves are so likable. Jack Malick (Himesh Patel) is a struggling musician with a loyal manager, Ellie (Lily … Continue reading Yesterday (2019)
supernatural
The Party (2017)
Directed by Sally Potter The Party is one of those dinner party movies in which everyone starts off chic, civilized and egocentric, and by the end they will be humbled, humiliated and return in some sense to a more primal state of being. As the havoc of The Party plays out, characters will question their own … Continue reading The Party (2017)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
Directed by Luis Bunuel I'm not sure when I first noticed that something was up in The Exterminating Angel, but it's clear something is afoot long before the dinner party guests realize they are unable to leave the confines of the drawing room where they have gathered to bring the night to a close. For the wealthy … Continue reading The Exterminating Angel (1962)
Phenomenon (1996)
Directed by Jon Turtletaub There's a little It's a Wonderful Life in the small-town melodrama Phenomenon, starring a guy (John Travolta) who surely wouldn't have been offered the role were it not for the success of 1994's Pulp Fiction. Travolta plays an affable and affectionately dull mechanic named George Malley. He's very, very much an everyman, purposefully so in … Continue reading Phenomenon (1996)
