Happy New Year, and Welcome to 2024! I bet you never thought you’d ever see another Weekend Warrior column from me ever, did you? Well, I’ve been pretty busy in 2023, between making a record and taking over editorial duties at Above the Line, the latter being more unexpected than the former. Anyway, my obligations to those other projects made it harder to find time to write this on a weekly basis, so we’ll see how long I can keep this going.
Since I’m mainly reviewing and writing some other stuff about Bryce McGuire’s high concept horror film NIGHT SWIM (Universal) (including my review) over at Above the Line, including my interview with Bryce and star Wyatt Russell, plus my review will come later. And of course, you can read my box office preview over at Gold Derby. I’m not allowed to comment on Night Swim otherwise, except that I think it’s a strong high-concept horror film that could do decently this weekend, if not M3GAN level numbers, since the box office is generally down, but it should be able to get some good word-of-mouth business over the course of a slow month. Look for my review over on Above the Line later today once the embargo breaks.
With that in mind, I will jump right into…
THE BOX OFFICE CHART
1. Night Swim (Universal) - $18.5 million N/A
2. Wonka (Warner Bros.) - $13.5 million -41%
3. Migration (Universal) - $10.5 million -38%
4. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Warner Bros.) - $9 million - 53%
5. The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) - $6.5 million -45%
6. Anyone But You (Sony) - $5.5 million -37%
7. The Boys in the Boat (Amazon MGM) - $5 million -40%
8. The Iron Claw (A24) - $2.8 million -45%
9. Ferrari (NEON) - $2.1 million -48%
10. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Lionsgate) - $1.6 million -45%
Since it’s the beginning of the year, let’s start with our very first “CHOSEN ONE”!
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW (Netflix)
I was pretty excited when I learned that J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) was making a movie based on the tragic story of the Uruguyan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972, forcing them to go to great lengths to survive, including cannibalism.
Sure, there had been other movies about the incident, some great docs, and the drama Alive, which came out 30 years ago, but I knew that Bayona would tackle the subject with a different viewpoint and possibly a bit more sensitivity, knowing how important it might be for younger people to know about this inspirational story of survival. In other words, he has set aside the desire by so many in Hollywood just to make money in order to make movie that just feels more important.
We meet the young Uruguyan rugby team, as they’re on their way to Chile for a fun weekend away, when their small aircraft is hit by turbulence and is brought down in the midst of the cold and snowy Andes Mountains. Over the course of what turned into months, they struggled to survive even after attempts to find them via search party are deserted. Maybe you’ve heard the story and know about how they had to sustain themselves on the bodies of the deceased, but there’s much more to the story than that and Bayona’s film, co-written by Bayona wit Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques, and Nicolás Casariego, baesd on Pablo Vierci’s novel of the same name (actually "La Sociedad de la Nieve" in Spanish), goes quite in-depth into what happened and how things went down.
After we meet the group in the briefest sense, we experience the plane crash, one of the most horrifying things I’ve experienced in a theater last year, and then the plane is on the ground and any hope of being found and rescued slowly vanishes as they realize the dire circumstances they’ve found themselves in.
The ensemble cast Bayona has put together is fantastic, and it never feelslike a movie with one standout lead, just a talented group across the board. As you learn more about each of the survivors of the crash and the bonds grow between them, it gets you even more invested in each on individually but also as a group. Granted, it’s a pretty dark film with only a few lighter moments, but just when you get comfortable along with the guys – there are two young women on the flight but neither of them last very long – things turn and they’re put into an even worse situation than before.
My biggest sadness about how long it took me to watch this movie is that I had a screener for a number of weeks, but I really wanted to see it on the big screen. Since I was out of town for a couple weeks, that only happened last week after I had already written and my posted my Top 15 for the year. Society of the Snow would definitely have been in there, probably in the top 5, just ahead of Wonka, so yeah… This coming year, I’m going to have to make sure to see potentially great movies like this much earlier.
In my opinion, Society of the Snow not only deserves to get nominated in the International Feature category, but it deserves getting nominations for its stirring score by Michael Giacchino, the editing, cinematography and visual FX, as well as the adapted screenplay and Bayona’s direction. In many ways, this is this year’s All Quiet on the Western Front, and for me, it’s a far more powerful film than The Zone of Interest or Anatomy of a Fall, so it will get my Critics Choice vote, that’s for sure.
Society of the Snow is not an easy watch, but it’s a brilliantly-executed real-life drama that makes you feel as if you’re right there on the snowy Andes with the survivors, just a great piece of filmmaking by Bayona and all involved.
Rating: 8.5/10
Society of the Snow is currently available to stream on Netflix.
MAYHEM! (IFC Films)
Here’s some interesting counter-programming to Night Swim in the form of an action-packed French crime drama directed by Xavier Gens (Frontier(s)), which will open in select theaters (including the IFC Center in New York) and on digital this Friday.
It stars Nassim Lyes as Sam, who after being released from jail is plagued by former colleagues wanting him to get back into the business. During a skirmish, Sam accidentally kills one of his assailants, so he flees to Eastern Thailand where he falls in love with a woman with a young daughter, and he tries to create a new life for himself. Unfortunately, a local mob boss has other plans, and after Sam fails to deliver on a job, he finds himself having to get revenge on those that have dragged him back into that world.
If you enjoy gritty, super violent and quite gory action flicks than Mayhem! fulfills all those requirements with a strong lead in Nassim Lyes, who can handle the drama and action equally well. He’s actually been working a lot in France, so I’m not sure I wasn’t familiar with him, but he has such a great screen presence tha when combined with the unique locale/environment gives Mayhem! such a distinct look and feel.
I haven’t really been keeping up with Gens in recent years, but this really plays up to his strengths as a filmmaker with some terrific fight sequences that don’t pull any punches (no pu intended) with the level of violence and gore. There’s even an action scene in an elevator that’s on par with the famous hallway scene in Old Boy, though there are other times when the violence is just too brutal and hard to watch.
The story does start to get quite icky once it gets to Bangkok for reasons you’ll probably be able to figure out, but otherwise, Mayhem! is a decent, if not sometimes obvious and fairly standard revenge flick, but one with enough fast-paced action beats to keep one quite entertained. There’s no question that this is generally better than the VOD action crap out there.
Rating: 7.5/10
RACE FOR GLORY: AUDI VS. LANCIA (Lionsgate)
Opening in select cities, probably for contractual obligations, since this feels like one of Lionsgate’s VOD releases is this sports drama, directed by Stefano Mordini, about the rivalry between the German Audi team and the Italian Lancia team at the 1983 Rally World Championships. Daniel Brühl represents the former, returning to racing after his key role in Ron Howard’s Rush, facing off against Riccardo Scamarcio, who reps the Italians. The movie also stars Haley Bennett, who, like Brühl, also appeared in a “Captain America” movie. I might actually try to go see this over the weekend, because I do love racing movies ala Rush and Ferrari, which is still playing in theaters.
THE BRICKLAYER (Vertical)
Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin returns with this action movie starring Aaron Eckhart as an ex-CIA operative called back into action when the CIA is being threatened by a terrorist. I haven’t seen the movie, and the trailer is just okay, so I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to seeing it, though it probably will be on VOD quite soon if not Friday. (The fact it’s playing at the Kent Theater in Brooklyn is a sign that this one is not going to be seen theatrically by many people, if any.)
YOU CAN’T STAY HERE
Director Todd Verow’s new drama is set in New York during the early ‘90s when the AIDS crisis is plaguing the city and police are targeting gay men in known cruising spots. It stars Guillermo Diaz as Rick, a shy gay man who films strangers with his camera and ends up capturing a murder on film and becomes the target of the killer. This is opening at New York’s IFC Center on Friday with Verow, Diaz and others doing QnAs.
A STORM FORETOLD (Abramorama)
Opening at New York’s Quad Cinema, is this documentary by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen that follows the journey of Roger Stone over two years laying the groundwork for the January 6th assault on the Capitol.
FUGITIVE DREAMS (Freestyle Releasing)
Jason Neulander’s drama premiered all the way back in 2020 at the Fantasia Film Festival, and it’s played a few festivals since, but never got a proper theatrical release. It’s a road movie that deals with homelessness, mental health and America as two people go on a journey across America. April Matthis plays Mary, a homeless drifter who meets Robbie Tann’s John, who keeps her from committing suicide as the two head across the American Midwest. This is probably only getting a nominal theatrical release and will be on digital nextd week.
NYC REPERTORY
I mean, this is partially the reason why I enjoy writing this column, because I can get some idea of what repertory movies are playing around the city every weekend, and so…
As you probably already know, this is my favorite movie theater in town, not just because it’s only a block from where I live, but because their programming is fantastic. This weekend, the Metrograph kicks off a number of terrific series that will run for the next month or more.
One of the month-long (or longer) series that will get much interest is “Under the Skin: The Pleasure of Discomfort,” the title coming from Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin (2013), which will play this weekend, as will Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In (2017) and Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972).
Personally, I’m more interested in the sci-fi series “The Future Looks Bright from Afar,” which will include Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979), George Lucas’ pre-Star Wars sci-fi film THX-1138 (1971), and Robocop: Director’s Cut (1987) this weekend.
The new “Animal Farm: Snakes” series will screen John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) - I was like, “I’ve seen this movie a million times and I don’t remember snakes… Oh, YEAH!”
“Also Starring… James Coco” is Metrograph’s latest spotlight on a character actor, in this case, James Coco, showing The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) and Elaine May’s A New Leaf (1971). In a similar vein, “Jester in the Court: Jean-Pierre Léaud’s Finest Follies” will screen Love and the Run and Stolen Kisses, while another series focused on an actor is “Days of Being Wild: Leslie Cheung,” which will screen Wong Kar Wai’s Days of Being Wild (1990) this weekend.
In connection with showing Todd Verow’s newer film, YOU CAN’T STAY HERE, IFC Center is also showing Verow’s 2000 film, Once and Future Queen (2000). It’s also screening Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974). IFC Center has been showing Casablanca and Alphaville over the holidays but one or both might end their runs on Thursday, and the IFC Center hasn’t announced its new midnight movies yet.
The Tribeca screening room, located inside the Roxy Hotel, will be showing the breakdancing film Wild Style (1982) in 35mm on Thursday night with a QnA, and Claire Donato (should I know who that is?) is presenting David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) in 35mm on Friday and Bonjour Tristesse (1958) on Saturday and Sunday, as well as Paul Schrader’s little-seen The Canyons (2013) starring Lindsay Lohan.
Ahead of the premiere of Christian Caron’s new movie, Driving Madeleine, the Quad is doing “At the Wheel: The Films of Christian Caron,” showing four movies by the French director including both the original and remake of My Son, as well as his Oscar-nominated 2005 film, Joyeux Noël, and 2015’s Come What May. They’re also showing Steven Spielberg’s early film, Duel (1971), a movie picked by Caron for the series.
Continuing through Tuesday, Jan 9 is FilmLinc’s “Desire/Expectations: The Films of Edward Yang,” which I have nothing really to say more aout it since I’m not familiar with his work. Sorry.
MOMA’s Ennio Morricone series has been extended through Jan. 8, and it includes screenings of Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (for which he won an Oscar) and John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) on Thursday, and Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987) on Friday.
Over the weekend, MOMI is showing Martin Scorsese’s Hugo in 3D on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, one screening each day. It’s also showing Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth and About Schmidt as part of its tribute to The Holdovers director.
Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949) continues the weekend in 35mm, as will Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven, and Disney’s 101 Dalmations will screen on Sunday as part of Film Forum Jr.
They’ll be screening Hal Ashby’s fantastic Harold and Maude in 35mm on Monday, January 8.
If you haven’t seen Brad Bird’s 1999 animation debut, The Iron Giant, you’ll have a few opportunities in Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan this weekend and next week.
That’s it for this week, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep this column in some form on a weekly basis, at least until things start getting crazier.