Freaky: The master of slasher reworkings of classic films Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) is at it again with Freaky-which takes the body swap mechanics of Freaky Friday and applies them to a story involving a high school senior (Kathryn Newton) and masked serial killer known as The Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) that switch places after the Butcher stabs his intended victim with a stolen enchanted dagger. An R-rating and a pair of leads that fully commit to their spiritual switcheroo allow Landon to dig fully into his bag of tricks and create the ultimate goofy, gory slasher comedy that pays homage to the genre classics while carving out its own voice that is reflective of today's society. It's a shame that just about everyone outside of Australia-where the movie is currently enjoying a successful theatrical run- will be deprived of seeing this with a crowd because this is the type of movie that would work even better with an audience to feed off its slick energy, wild kills and amusing body swap shenanigans.
Grade: B+
Run: Writer/director Aneesh Chaganty quickly made a name for himself in the summer of 2018 with the release of Searching, a tightly-made mystery thriller that featured an innovative storytelling style and career-best work from John Cho as a widowed father heading up a search for his missing daughter. His follow-up Run proves that cinephiles were perhaps too quick to crown him the next great genre director. This is the rare "psychological" thriller that is in short supply of everything besides idiocy and unintentional comedy. Chaganty displays no feel for the material as he shifts from 0 to 100 on a whim without ever bothering to build suspense, the script starts piling on boneheaded twists/narrative contrivances around the halfway mark until it arrives at a preposterous conclusion that spawns perhaps the most gut-bustlingly funny scene of 2020 and the acting from both newcomer Kiera Allen and the typically great Sarah Paulson fails to convince. Even with the big time potential stinker Songbird set for release in 10 days, it's going to take some monumental ineptitude for anything released for the rest of the year to top the jaw-dropping stupidity that drives this stunningly hacky film.
Grade: D
Hillbilly Elegy: Full disclosure: I know nothing about J.D Vance or the accuracy of the events depicted in the film or the memoir in which its based on. What I will say is that having acting titans Amy Adams and Glenn Close onboard does wonders for an otherwise pretty vanilla family melodrama that's mostly set in rural Ohio in the late 90's/early 2000's. They bring a sense of passion, gravitas and emotional honesty to the screen that keeps this story compelling as it works its way through the soapy troubled upbringing playbook (abuse, addiction, death, bad behavior, eventual forgiveness/redemption) that audiences have seen a million times. While I'm not confident if that's enough for either of them to win the Oscars that have somehow alluded them throughout their careers, they certainly both deserve nominations for working their magic and significantly elevating this project.
Grade: B
Happiest Season: Happiest Season may be a minor film in the grand scheme of the cinematic artform, but it's going to have a major impact on a number of people. A mainstream Christmas movie has never been led by gay characters before and this subtly groundbreaking moment thankfully occurs in a quality project. Although the film poignantly deals with the underdiscussed issue of members of the LBTQ community who chose to remain in the closet to their family out of the fear that they'll disown them if that revelation comes to light, it remains a very traditional holiday-set romantic comedy at its corps. Its got the effortlessly likable main character (Kristen Stewart-adding yet another notch to her increasing acting range) struggling to get along with the family (Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Alison Brie, Mary Holland-who is the unsung MVP of the entire movie) of her partner (Mackenzie Davis) upon meeting them for the first time, relationship strains caused by the behavioral/environmental changes that stem from one half of the couple returning home, supporting characters (Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza) breezing into add accelerant to the situational comedy and offer some sage advice to Stewart's character and of course, the big, sappy finale where all of the problems that had emerged along the way wash away with an almost supernatural ease and everybody lives happily ever. To put it more succinctly, it hits all of its intended warm, whimsical notes with ease and subsequently solidifies itself as a no-brainer addition to any seasonal viewing rotation.
Grade: B
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