Dufrene Building Materials ‘Backs the Blue’ with annual luncheon
November 7, 2018
Quit for Life
November 7, 2018
Now that November is upon us, movie studios are starting to release their award-season hopefuls. Many of the films released during this month and December are the films that did well at earlier test screenings or filled with well-acclaimed actors, who are sure to get the nod from the Academy. Here are the motion pictures to look forward to this November.
The box office this month has already seen two major releases on Nov. 2 with “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Disney’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.” Also released last weekend was “Boy Erased”, the Oscar buzzworthy motion picture starring award-season favorites such as Russel Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Lucas Hedges and Joel Edgerton—who also directed it.
This upcoming weekend, two major action-thrillers are set to release. Netflix’s highly-anticipated Chris Pine-led action drama “Outlaw King” will go live on the platform on Nov. 9. Movie watchers will have to choose between staying in or going see “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”, the Claire Foy-led second installment in the “Millennium” movie series.
The following Friday brings in more star power to the big screen. Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Eddy Redmayne lead the sequel to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” titled “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”. Those talented actors are up against the ensemble cast in “Widows”, the crime drama starring actors such skillful actors as Viola Davis, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall and Liam Neeson.
Two sequels that are sure to draw in huge crowds arrive at the box office the week of Thanksgiving. “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is Disney’s sequel to “Wreck-It Ralph”. Ralph battles against Adonis Creed as Michael B. Jordan leads the highly-anticipated “Creed II”, to close out the major releases in November.
One You Might Have Missed: Mandy
With a limited release, director Panos Cosmatos’ “Mandy” only brought in $1.3 million at the box office, but the movie is being acclaimed by most critics with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%. The motion picture is not for everyone with its extremely hard “R” rating (graphic violence, drug use, nudity, etc.). However, those film enthusiasts interested with seeing a unique way of visual storytelling should watch this movie.
“Mandy” is set in the year 1983 and tells the story of logger Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) and his girlfriend Mandy (Andrea Riseborough). They live a quiet reclusive life in their lakeside cabin, but that life is soon flipped upside down when Mandy gains the attention of a religious hippie cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roach). Jeremiah acquires the help of a demonic biker gang to kidnap Mandy. Red is then forced to take up arms to get her back.
“Mandy” is composed of many different parts: part supernatural, part revenge action-thriller, part arthouse, part love story—while even managing to throw in some animation sequences. The messages are brilliantly displayed in the movie with its symbolism—it’s just a little difficult for the viewer to figure out what those messages actually are.
Cage actually gives a surprisingly decent performance (besides some elaborate unnecessary screaming). Riseborough subtly outshines Cage, however, as she displays her character’s troubled past and layered personality. Roach also gives a noteworthy performance as the deranged obsessive cult leader.
Overall, “Mandy” is worth a view, even though it attempts to cross many genres and quite often finds itself being over the top. The film is visually stunning in its in-depth action and animation sequences, idiosyncratic somewhat-harsh color filters and creative use of props. This movie manages to artistically explore themes of revenge, heroism, loss, psychosis, love and more. •
