While much of the eye this week has been focused on two theatrical releases that seem like awards consideration – one focused on a tense papal power struggle and the opposite on a superb and unique romantic comedy game-changer – a dark stop opens -Motion masterpiece the film The Week deserves your time.
We're reviewing this together with an odd romantic comedy/ghost/horror story and an old-fashioned courtroom drama.
Here is our summary.
“Memories of a Snail”: If your taste in animation leans more toward the edgy than the normal, Adam Elliots A dark but hopeful stop-motion fable is a must-see, a macabre delight that leaves you with a lump in your throat.
The bizarre, fascinating film centers on the miserable and lonely lives of Nineteen Seventies Australian twins Grace (Sarah Snook) and Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who survive separation from rotten foster homes after the death of their alcoholic, paraplegic father. Gilbert's recent “farm parents” are mercilessly judgmental and spiritual, while Grace – who has a relationship with a snail named Sylvia – is assigned to a crazy, unorthodox couple who wish to go on nude cruises.
Even if all of it sounds terribly dark and depressing, “Memories of a Snail” is definitely intelligently funny, especially when Grace befriends Pinky (Jacki Weaver), a living, tall older woman whose past is filled with reckless possibilities and strange realities.
Elliot, who made the unforgettable 2009 film Mary and Max, hits the mark again with a dark but heartfelt animated world that evokes emotion in unexpected ways. It's the most effective movies of 2024 – animated or not. Details: 4 out of 4 stars; opens in Bay Area theaters on October twenty fifth.
“Your Monster”: Would-be musical stage actress Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) survives cancer, is abandoned by her self-centered producer boyfriend (Edmund Donovan), and lives along with her childhood monster (Tommy Dewey), who lives in her house and doesn't want to depart . Caroline Lindy's feature film debut is unpredictable and crumbles from the beginning. The focus is on mostly annoying characters that could be found all around the map, similar to the movement they’re in. The horror element is rarely implemented satisfactorily and the ending, while surprising, doesn't pack the punch it should. There's something good within the making here, but what's on screen needs just a few more rewrites. Details: 2 stars; in theaters on October twenty fifth.
“The Goldman Case”: Director Cédric Kahn's straightforward approach doesn't necessarily weaken the impact of this fact-based courtroom drama concerning the controversial 1975 French trial of activist and reputed robber Pierre Goldman (a passionate Arieh wordman). But it also doesn't necessarily elevate the fabric into anything greater than a sufficiently compelling dramatization with contemporary hints that serves as a wonderful showcase for Worthalter's acting fireworks. Goldman's checkered past and Jewish identity play a job within the trial, as does the legitimacy of some witnesses who say he’s a murderer – an accusation he vehemently denies. “The Goldman Case” is a major example of a courtroom drama, nothing more and nothing less. Details: 2½ stars; is now playing at Vogue in San Francisco and the Rafael Film Center, San Rafael.
Originally published:
image credit : www.mercurynews.com