Ah, October. Naturally it’s a repository of horror and thrillers, but it also seems to be full of surprises. Movies seem to take on a certain coziness even if a story isn’t cozy per se. The craziness of summer is over, the weather is changing, even in Placer County where we get warmer temperatures right up to Halloween, and school routines are well established. Movies seem to follow the same pattern for the most part. It’s almost comforting. Like a casserole. Kind of.
The thing about casseroles, though, at least the not-as-good ones, is that while the overall dish might be fine, there are some parts we like better than others, and that was definitely true for this month’s movies. There were parts that were really good and other parts that didn’t hold up so well.
That’s not to say the month wasn’t fun, though. Here we go with October’s Top Five…
Eleanor the Great
I like June Squibb. I like Scarlett Johansson, who made her directorial debut with this film. Eleanor the Great is filmed well, it’s well-written, it deals with real issues such as grief in an honest way, and there’s fun to be had.
The problem is that it’s built around a ninety-four year old woman telling her best friend’s Holocaust survival story as if it’s her own. Sure, she gets roped into it, and it would have been really easy for her to say that it was her friend’s story, but that doesn’t happen. It’s not malicious, just super tacky, especially in light of survivors dying off and growing antisemitism in certain circles.
Tron: Ares
It’s messy. It’s got Jared Leto and his god complex. It erroneously credits Kevin Flynn with creating the original Tron program. Greta Lee is wooden as main character Eve although not unlikeable, and the movie has the poor woman running in heels for about twenty minutes for no good reason.
On the plus side, it’s got Jeff Bridges as an approximation of Kevin Flynn giving out with some narration. Where it really works, though, is the soundtrack, which was provided by Nine Inch Nails, who also produced the movie. I know, I know, the Daft Punk soundtrack in Tron: Legacy is amazing and I agree, but Nine Inch Nails isn’t chopped liver.
Shelby Oaks
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been waiting for about five years to see Chris Stuckmann’s feature debut, ever since he started talking about it. There have been delays of all kinds, of course. Funding, COVID, the writer’s strike, finding a distributor, and so on and so forth. For this movie to finally get a wide release with a major distributor like Neon seems like a major victory.
The movie itself, though, could definitely be better. It looks great, it’s got a lot going for it, including some very obvious homage, but there are story issues. Suffice it to say, there are elements that should have a big impact and don’t and plot elements that should pack a big punch and don’t. Still, for a first movie, it’s not too bad. We’ll see if Stuckmann gets a second movie.
Roofman
Based on a true story, Roofman follows Jeffrey Manchester, who made a name for himself breaking through the roofs of McDonald’s restaurants and then locking the unsuspecting staff in the refrigerator while he made off with whatever cash was in the vault. Even though he’s sentenced to years in prison, Manchester manages to break out and head for Charlotte, North Carolina, where he camps out in a Toys ‘R Us.
It’s an interesting movie and keeps the entertainment factor up, but the problem is that it’s about twenty minutes two long. There’s a scene with a used car salesman, for instance, that could easily have gotten deleted or at least shortened. We could have done with fewer montages of Jeffrey bopping around the Toys ‘R Us. Still, the movie is pretty enjoyable and capped off with footage of the real people it portrays.
Good Fortune
This movie made it to the top spot not only because it’s a lot of fun and it’s great seeing Keanu Reeves again, but it’s probably got the fewest false notes of anything I’ve seen this month. It’s about an angel named Gabriel who wants more than to be the angel in the backseat saving drivers who text while driving. He sets his sights on helping Adj, a guy who’s living out of his car, by switching his life with the life of Jeff, a rich techie, hoping that Adj will appreciate what he has.
Yeah, it doesn’t work out that way, and Gabriel is demoted to living as a human being, where he works as a dishwasher and discovers what it’s like to have one’s paycheck whittled away by tax deductions. He also discovers salsa dancing and street tacos. While this movie, which tried to be a modern-day takeoff of It’s A Wonderful Life, could have stood a few tweaks, I liked it. Everyone at my showing walked out smiling.
Which movies did you see last month? Leave a comment below! Thanks for reading, all, and I’ll see you Saturday for another post…
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