Lights, camera, action! It’s about time to watch your absolute favorite films. And there are so many options, just like in a casino with live dealers. From creepy horror films and superhero movies to sweet coming-of-age stories, you’re in for a memorable viewing party. Are you ready to see your next favorite film?
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Although Quentin Tarantino may not be the only director who produces films about cinema, his work is among the few that seem like a genuine love poem to Old Hollywood. Tarantino’s films examine, comment on, and surpass the work he emulates, thanks to distinctive language, vintage color palettes, and weirdly different character stereotypes. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a cheerful film from 2019. This feature film takes place in the 1960s and celebrates not just the pop culture of the day, but also the desire to reconstruct and rewrite history.
Leonardo Dicaprio portrays Rick Dalton, a declining Western TV star seeking meaningful employment in Hollywood. He spends the majority of his time sulking and clowning around with Cliff Booth. The latter is his chauffeur and stuntman, played by Brad Pitt. Rick, coincidentally, happens to live close to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. The couple are a director and aspiring actress whose fates are pivotal in Hollywood’s Golden Age.
The Disaster Artist
If you’ve seen Tommy Wiseau’s cult classic The Room, you’ve probably got a lot of questions. The strange language, photos of spoons on the wall, and Wiseau’s proclivity for destroying things are all clearly suspect. However, we assume you left that viewing party with a far more perplexing set of questions. From what mind and spirit did this fully serious feature picture emerge? Why and how does such an aesthetic statement exist?
The 2017 film The Disaster Artist depicts the extraordinary true tale of ambitious filmmaker and Hollywood outcast Tommy Wiseau, played by James Franco. Franco co-stars with his brother Dave Franco, who plays Greg Sestero, the mysterious director/writer/producer/hesitant star’s partner in crime. The couple stubbornly pursues their Hollywood goals, going on the hilariously perplexing journey of creating the now-famous cult film.
The summer film is based on the same-titled novel. Throughout pre-production, there was also consideration of shooting a scene in which Wiseau and Sestero take a spontaneous drive at the James Dean crash site.
m Springs
Who doesn’t like escaping into a fictitious world where friends discover they’ve been in love all along, adversaries discover sparks fly, and two travelers fall in love when stuck together in a snowed-in cabin? When you want your couch to become a comfy front-row seat to an endearing love tale, choose Palm Springs and you’ll get precisely what you want and more.
The setup is quite standard. At a wedding, two unrelated guests build a growing romance. Sarah is the bride’s sister and a judgmental MoH. And Niles is a wanderer who is so bored with the traditional wedding celebrations that he creates a scene simply to spice things up. Towards the end of the night, they’re swaying awkwardly and kissing under the moonlight when Niles is slain. What ensues is a Groundhog Day-style journey in which every day begins the same and finishes with the pair’s shenanigans. Although the title of this 2020 movie refers to the sun-soaked resort of Palm Springs, you’ll be startled to learn that not a single scene was shot there.
Sorry to Bother You
Boots Riley, a teenage rapper, and his band, The Coup, released the record Sorry To Bother You in 2012. The album’s songs are thought-provoking, the lyrics are innovative, and the backdrop is nearly worthy of its own film. The record, in fact, was inspired by Riley’s script of the same name. Isn’t that meta? The rapper-director had created this wonderful social commentary and wanted a means to generate discussion about it in order to have it produced into a full film. And he did so just eight years later.
“Stick to the script,” is the first rule at the telemarketing agency where Cassius Green works. As sales professionals are expected to begin calls with the mandatory Sorry to Bother You, the film provides insight into the mundane reality of the workplace today. This monotony, though, is fleeting. What follows is an exhilarating roller coaster of triumph, failure, and odd sideways antics. The Coup exudes confidence, particularly in the film’s jaw-dropping moments.