Reviews

The Vast of Night is a mesmerizing example of classic storytelling. It feels like sitting around a campfire listening to urban legends, but also like driving in your car listening a podcast. The suspense builds extremely slowly, but surely, and the upside of the slow build up is there are no let down moments - you're going uphill until the very last moments. The two young actors are fantastic at keeping attention through long takes - I found I couldn't peel my eyes off either one of them. The story itself doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's both satisfying and leaves you wanting more. I personally would love to see a podcast sequel to this. This is a love it or hate it movie. There are plenty who don't understand why you would sit for 90 minutes just to listen to 4 people talking. That's understandable. As a culture, we don't have much time to devote our sole attention to listening anymore, so it's not a skill or an interest that everyone has, nor is it something that will always appeal. There are some days you want to watch some big budget aliens get blown to smithereens, and that's fine! We have plenty of movies that do exactly that! But if there's a night where you feel like curling up in front of a fire and listening to someone tell you about the night a small town heard a strange noise on the radio waves, this is the only movie that can fill that need.

So let's discuss the ventriloquist dummies in the room first - they are extremely creepy. They don't actually do anything more than chase after our protagonists, but the way they move is unsettling and there are a couple jump scares. If I had seen this at 6 or 7 years old, I would have been buried in my mom's lap in tears. We had one little girl in the audience loudly proclaim she was REALLY ready to go home several times. Another little girl the same age was all smiles and declared it was her new favorite movie. So parents, you know your kids best. That being said, I do think this movie is best appreciated as a childless adult who grew up watching Toy Story. I was absolutely in the camp that Toy Story 3 had the perfect ending, but having seen this one, it felt like it fit. The characters continue to mature organically, and I'm a HUGE fan of our revamped Bo Peep. She's a fun character to watch, and she adds a new, fresh perspective to the ways a toy can have a fulfilling life. Plus, Toy Story 4 FINALLY relieves us millennials of some of the guilt we all felt losing toys. It's okay! They're out there exploring the world! Also, Toy Story 4 is hilarious, easily the funniest out of all the movies. Forky had me in tears- I was extremely skeptical about a toy having an existential crisis, but between Tony Hale's voice work and Randy Newman's score, it's the best animated dark comedy version of Frankenstein you'll see on screen. The aforementioned dummies are also extremely funny if you have a certain kind of sick mind (do you enjoy watching people scream in terror when the shark pops up in Jaws? Go with a group of people who are terrified of dummies and you'll have a blast). The animation, it should be noted, is spectacular. Of course we've come to expect nothing less from Pixar, but there were still several scenes that were just SO beautiful. Even the rainstorm at the beginning had me awestruck at how great their animation has become.

I was so excited when I found a little indie theater 40 minutes away was airing Belle. I already knew I wanted to see this film by virtue of it being a historical drama/romance that put a biracial woman front and center. I love period films, but as a genre they are sorely lacking representation of POC characters. I walked out of the theater stunned at this passionate story of love, justice, acceptance, and society. It's slow-burning, to be sure. I was getting worried the first half hour. It seemed like this would be a black and white (no pun intended) morality play of good, open-hearted people pitted against evil racists. It's true that some characters fall plainly on one side or another, but as the movie goes on, the roles start to become blurred. It becomes a story of people who are caught between the clear-cut lines society has placed. If you can find a theater playing Belle, go see it as soon as possible. Films like this deserve all the attention they can get.