One of the best, and most difficult things to do as a movie lover is to come to a movie clean, with no preconceived notions. To be able to watch a movie knowing nothing coming in is kind of marvelous. It is also a very rare occurrence. There is simply too much promotion for movies (at least the kind of movies that get shown around here) to go completely unnoticed. I subscribe to way too many entertainment sites and podcasts for me to not know anything going into a movie. Or I should say in order for me to watch a movie I need to know something about it. Which is the conundrum, in order to watch a film I need to know it exists and that it might be interesting, and once I learn that information at least some aspect of the film has been spoiled for me.
This week comes a movie that I’m really interesting but have had very little spoiled for me. It Comes at Night is a horror film in which some kind of plague or something has killed lots of people. It involves a group of people who have holed themselves inside a house in order to survive. Presumably, lots of bad stuff ensues. It stars Joel Edgerton and Riley Keough. That’s all I know. That’s all I want to know. To know more would spoil it.
Even if it’s terrible I love coming to a movie knowing so little and allowing it to take me wherever it wants me to go.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie: Based on the popular kids books series, this animated adventure stars Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, and Jordan Peele. My daughter has yet to discover the books (and I’m not yet sure how much it appeals to little girls, or at least my little girl) so I won’t need to watch this one quite yet.
Silicon Valley: The Complete Fourth Season: One of many series that everyone says I should watch but I have not yet found time for.
Festival: Documentary on the Newport Folks Festival featuring Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Bob Dyla, Pete Seeger, and many more.
Seven Beauties/Swept Away: When I was in college, one of the cable channels used to show Nina Wertmüller movies on the weekend. Me and my roommate used to sit up late and watch as many as we could. She was an incredibly unique and strange voice in Italian cinema in the 1970s. Kino Lober is putting out these two films (sold separately) in really nice looking editions.
The Ghoul: Arrow Video is putting out their usual amazing looking release of this psychological thriller about a murder detective who goes undercover and undertakes psychotherapy sessions with a man he thinks may be a killer. As the lines between fantasy and reality blur, he loses touch with whats real.
Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon: Best Buy is selling really cool looking Steelbooks of a bunch of the classic Universal Monster movies.
The Mummy: Universal is trying to kick off a whole shared universe with their classic monster. It was supposed to have began with Dracula Untold back in 2010, but when that one bombed they took some time to retool. If you ask me, they need to go back to the drawing board once again because this Tom Cruise remake of The Mummy was a snooze. (And what if you ask Luigi?)
