I Saw the TV Glow: A hypnotic, surreal meditation on identity, growing up feeling isolated in the suburbs, the power that loving a piece of entertainment can have over someone's life and probably at least a dozen or so other things that I didn't pick up on, I Saw the TV Glow is one of the most singular works of art I've seen in quite some time. Jane Schoenbrun's life experience and immense gifts as a visual storyteller help create this really rich, terrifying world where two friends (Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine) bonded by being outsiders from broken homes in a small town and their shared love of a teen horror television show called The Pink Opaque and the radically different directions their lives head in after the show is suddenly cancelled. Schoenbrun came out as a trans woman as an adult and the two characters here seem to represent who they became (Lundy-Paine) and who they would've been if they had continued to deny their identity (Smith). One of these people overcomes their fears and eventually finds happiness once they leave behind the horrors of the early chapters of their life for good while the other remains trapped living a suffocating, miserable existence with no relief in sight. Addressing such a heavy topic through a horror-y movie (personally, I think it's more of a psychological drama with some horror imagery/feelings mixed in) is a genius move that is made even smarter by just how powerfully the evil and beautiful imagery conveys each character's journey. As a cis individual, there's definitely things that went over my head that prevented the entire narrative from clicking with me and there were a few cameos that shall remain nameless here that completely took me out of the movie at points. Regardless, this film is beautifully made and illuminating as to what it feels like to live in fear of living as your true self as well as the liberation that comes with having the courage to finally embrace who you really are.
Grade: B+
The Strangers: Chapter 1: Maybe it's because I hadn't seen a Strangers film in 16 years or maybe it's just a case of Breaking In lowering the bar for the home invasion genre to the point where just about any other movie is good by comparison, but I found The Strangers: Chapter 1 to be a totally fine watch. Veteran journeyman director Renny Harlin took advantage of his unexpected call-up from the minor leagues of VOD action/horror movies that he was banished to about 15 years ago and shows off the sturdy craftsmanship that kept him steadily employed by studios from the late 80's through the late 00's with his solid no frills construction of the slowly escalating series of creepy encounters a young couple (Madelaine Petsch, Froy Gutierrez) face when they're forced to stay the night in a desolate Oregon town after their car breaks down on the way to Portland that culminates in them being terrorized in their AirBnb by a trio of masked intruders. The big cat-and-mouse setpieces are pretty suspenseful, the eerie voyeuristic cinematography and crunchy sound design helps heighten the level of threat the protagonists are facing by these masked assailants that take pleasure in toying with their prey, and the movie makes good use of its 91-minute runtime by moving with a consistent urgency and not putting anything on the screen that doesn't need to be there. I'll be honest, I have no fucking clue how they're going to stretch this story out for two more movies following the ending of this installment but given how Harlin fared here and the strong likelihood that the abundance of similarities to the 2008 original will start to rapidly dissipate as it progresses, I'm curious to see how the sequels pan out.
Grade: B-
Babes: 2024's first great comedy has arrived. Star/co-writer Ilana Glazer is back in her Broad City sweet spot as a 30-something yoga instructor who gets pregnant after having a one-night stand with a struggling actor (Stephan James) and after she decides to keep the child, turns to her best friend (Michelle Buteau)-who just gave birth to her 2nd child-to help her through this scary journey of being a first time parent with no other support system. Babes is a really honest exploration on the harsh duality of parenting (loving/hating your kids, wanting to get away from them when your with them/wanting to go home and see them when your away, etc) and how becoming a parent evolves the dynamic of a friendship that also happens to feature some of the funniest, raunchiest scenes to appear in any recent R-rated comedy. Pamela Adlon-making her feature directorial debut here-knows exactly when the movie needs to be funny, serious or sweet without ever making it feel completely removed from how real people would react in these situations, Glazer and Buteau make for an incredible, natural pairing as the longtime best friends who eventually grow to accept and embrace how their relationship has changed as adults and its usage of underrated character actors John Carroll Lynch and Oliver Platt in key supporting roles is elite. Try and seek this one out if it's playing in your area (it's only playing in 575 or theaters right now, but Neon may expand in the coming weeks), especially if you're a parent who wants to see a comedy made by people who clearly understands the grind of having young kids.
Grade: B+
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