Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of November 9, 2020
Freaky
Rated R for sexual content, language throughout, strong bloody horror violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79% at time of writing
In Theaters
Blumhouse loves to experiment with genre-crossing and in this newest fright fest, writer/director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) fools around with the classic Freaky Friday switcheroo. In this case, a high schooler named Millie (Kathryn Newton) changes places with a serial killer (Vince Vaughn) when he attempts to murder her. Waking up the next day in the others’ bodies, they each have to find a way to cross back over without getting themselves killed in the process. With quite a lively sense of humor throughout, the extreme violence, while at first unsettling, quickly turns to fun as you get into the meat of the story. And while it is a fairly predictable tale, with Vaughn pretending to be a high school girl for much of the film, you become much more interested in the comedy than the direction of the plot. Vaughn is a riot here, and I can’t imagine more perfect casting. B
Fatman
Rated R for bloody violence/language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38% at time of writing
In Theaters and On Demand
In this newly imagined Christmas film, Mel Gibson plays Santa Claus and things are getting bad for him in the North Pole. Kids are losing their belief in him and the military is stepping in to change his business and to take advantage of his hard-working elves. And when he puts a lump of coal in a nasty rich kid’s stocking on Christmas, the kid hires a Santa-hating hitman (Walton Goggins) to take him out. If this sounds dark, that’s because it is. Don’t get any thoughts in your head that this might turn out to be a heart-warming tale that will leave you feeling fuzzy in the end. While it does have dark comedy undertones, you probably won’t be spending much time laughing here. That being said, there is humor in the characters’ nastiness, which is on full display here. And its edginess makes it interesting enough to keep you engaged and satisfied. It probably won’t go down as a holiday classic, but it ends up being entertaining enough to be worth a watch during the upcoming Christmas season. B-
Spontaneous
Rated R for Bloody Images Throughout, Teen Drug and Alcohol Use, Language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
In this very timely high school horror/comedy, a young couple in love try to treat every moment like it could be their last, especially since many of the kids in their graduating class keep inexplicably blowing up. With equal amounts of funny and gory, the film is original and thought-provoking in a perverse yet sweet way. For the first half of the film, I thought this might end up as one of my favorites of the year. But unfortunately the premise wears thin and the story loses direction in the third act as it just doesn’t know where to go. But its a great attempt for what it is and the first hour is worth getting invested in the movie, in spite of its late flaws. B+
Schitt’s Creek: The Complete Series
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
Available on Netflix and DVD
One of the most watchable television series in recent years is this lovable comedy about a formerly wealthy family who lose everything except a deed for the town of Schitt’s Creek, which was bought as a joke. But they begrudgingly move to their new home in the hope of starting over and doing it better than they did before. What begins as a frivolous little one-note comedy evolves over six seasons into a masterpiece of love and laughter. My friend who got me into the show originally described it as her “happy place”, and I can’t agree more. With all of the drama and darkness in the world right now, these short little episodes serve as a bright light to remind you of all the good that is still out there. After you’re all done with the final season, or if you want to better understand what all the buzz is about and why the show took home so many Emmys this last year, check out the documentary “A Schitt’s Creek Farewell” which goes into great detail about all of the brilliant little details that you might have overlooked. A+