Steve Stebbing

Ant-Man and The Wasp – After the brutal consequences we endured with Avengers: Infinity War, it’s really nice to go back to something fun and light in this Marvel Cinematic Universe that appears to incredibly bleak at the moment. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly return to the titular roles in a sequel that picks up right where we left off but also ups the ante with the freedom of not having to give the origin exposition. As great as Rudd and Lilly are, for me, again, it’s all about Scott Lang’s trio of friends Luis, Dave and Kurt, played by Michael Pena, T.I. and David Dastmalchian respectively who again steal the show. Luis’s storytelling is a highlight that gets better and better. Don’t think I will glaze over the new additions of Michelle Pfeiffer and Laurence Fishburne who will hopefully now be main pieces in the MCU going forward. My remaining question is how are you feeling about the de-aging CGI in the Marvel films? I think some work and some do not.

Leave No Trace – Someone please tell me why Ben Foster hasn’t won an Academy Award or Golden Globe yet? I’m not sure if he’s had a tough life or hard upbringing but the amount of hidden pain behind his eyes is palpable every time he’s onscreen and this new film is no exception. Coming from Winter’s Bone writer and director Debra Granik, this film is another deep character drama about two people living on the fringes of society. Ben Foster plays Will, a man dealing with some serious PTSD who lives deep in the public forests of Portland, Oregon with his teenage daughter Tom. When discovered by some hikers, they are put into a government-owned home which causes Will to feel trapped and the two flee from the home, against Tom’s budding feelings of wanting a true home. The film is a tragic story of the love between a father and daughter as well as the indoctrination we can inadvertently put on our children. This is definitely one of the most soulful films I’ve seen this year.

A Quiet Place – For a horror film that pushes the boundaries of arthouse as well as being a straight up monster film, this film goes above and beyond in its ability to chill you to the bone and evoke emotion from you. Director and star John Krasinski really comes into his own, solidifying himself as one of the top filmmakers working today. To leave this story fresh for those who haven’t seen it I will tell you that to fully enjoy yourself in this you must turn the lights low and go into the most soundless area of your house and prepare yourself for one of the most unique horror films of the modern era, up there with It Follows, The Babadook and It Comes At Night. Don’t sleep on this one.

Buffalo 66 – It was twenty years ago this week that Vincent Gallo released his crowning career achievement, a dark dramedy about a never do well just freshly released from prison. Best of all, to continue his winning ways he kidnaps a young woman, played by Christina Ricci, to act as his wife to impress his Buffalo Bills fanatic mother (Angelica Huston). This was one of my most prized films in my VHS collection, a video store discovery that was another step in my growing love of independent film. There are chances that Gallo takes in this movie that blew my young mind including a frozen Matrix style moment deep within a sort of dream sequence in the story. It’s a fact that Gallo made no friends making this movie but he made me believe wholeheartedly in his directing style. Well, until The Brown Bunny at least.

Pi – It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Darren Aronofsky and while I’d love to say it was from the moment I got my eyes on this now twenty-year-old film, it wasn’t. That honor belongs to Requiem For A Dream but Pi is just as mind blowing in its own massively complex way. A film that only cost sixty grand to make, the real draw in this film is its complexity from deep within the mind of Aronofsky, Eric Watson and star Sean Gullette. Again to protect you from spoilers I will avoid giving any of the plot away but it’s notable that Aronofsky was collaborating with his staple composer Clint Mansell since this film as well as having a featured role for long time character actor Mark Margolis. Seriously, this whole list this week is filled with total gems but this might be the center point of it all.

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado – It’s probably no secret but I absolutely loved Sicario. Helmed by my favorite Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and shot by the now Academy Award winner Roger Deakins, the film was a bleak and dark look at the battle over the border between the DEA and the cartels of Juarez, Mexico, a movie that felt very stand alone. When it was announced that there would be a follow-up movie I was hugely skeptical, not wanting this story to be milked into mediocrity. Day Of The Soldado was an unexpected shot in the arm as it had the same exact tone but furthered the arc of Benicio del Toro’s sort of titular character, this time focusing a bit on the cartel’s involvement in illegal immigration trafficking, something very relevant in these times. Benicio brings that quiet and subdued fire that lingered in the background of the first movie and absolutely drives this one with Josh Brolin adding that government bureaucracy that worked so well in the first film. This isn’t quite the caliber of the Villeneuve/Deakins collaboration but it’s a really nice following piece that deserves some attention.

American Animals – Sometimes, for suggestable individual, too much immersion in a fantasy world leaves you with an unhealthy limit in your disconnect. This is coming from a guy who watches so many movies that somethings start to blur together. In the case of this film, one of our characters watches way too many heist films and it ultimately influences an idea of ripping off a priceless art book from a university library. This brilliant film led by a great young cast including The Killing Of A Sacred Deer’s Barry Keoghan and American Horror Story’s Evan Peters which writer and director Bart Layton leads with an ingenious script that has the real four would be robbers giving their versions of the story to make up this mosaic of film. Easily, this one is one of my favorite films this year.

GLOW: Season 2 – It’s like a combination of some of my favorite things: great television and wrestling! The Jenji Kohan produced series returned with its second season Friday and is already again one of my favorite things that Netflix has ever produced. Season one was all about character development along with the progression of this ambitious women’s wrestling show from idea to finished product and now that the ground work has been laid, we can now go deeper. Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin take the top honors among an amazing women cast, all award worthy and definitely one of the best ensembles I’ve seen and it’s about time for Marc Maron to be recognized by the Emmys because his portrayal of director Sam Sylvia is such a highlight. Also, I can’t forget my boy Bash, played by Chris Lowell, a coked up joy whenever he’s onscreen.

Swiss Army Man – Back when I got to see the press screening of this film from the duo known as Daniels, I sat in the theaters with a dumbfounded look of joy on my face. What madness is this that the cinematic world had gifted me? For those out of the loop, the film follows Paul Dano, a man seemingly shipwrecked on a beach, who discovers a dead body on the beach played by Daniel Radcliffe. Upon discovering that this body is capable of everything he needs to survive, our main must also teach his new dead friend everything he knows about life, love and existence when he experiences a rebirth of sorts. This movie totally astounded me, making me want to watch it again immediately afterwards to absorb all of its sunshiny goodness as well as that Manchester Orchestra score. Well now you can over and over again because it’s on Netflix!

Another Wolfcop – Near the end of last year I had the privilege of interviewing Lowell Dean, the creator of the fun madness that is Wolfcop about his latest B-movie masterpiece and, well, the point is I had to gush to him how much I love both films and thanked him for making them. If you love grindhouse cinema like Hobo With A Shotgun or Troma films like, well, any of them, you owe it to yourself to pick up this Blu-Ray, which also comes in a two pack so you can experience them correctly. What’s it about? A hard-drinking cop who is also a werewolf. Simple enough? The movie is also Canadian through and through, filmed in Saskatchewan and featuring cameos from Lawrence Gown, honorary Canadian Kevin Smith and more. If you want blood, gore, Liquor Donuts and werewolf genitalia, you’ve come to the right place.

Trading Places – The formulation of my comedy side definitely came from all the John Landis films I watched far before I really should have been able to, which I accredit to my aunt’s massive VHS collection and the lack of supervision over what I was picking. This Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy classic is one of the leading films in that childhood crash course of funny and it celebrates thirty-five years of existence this week. The product of a very mean-spirited bet between two vicious old rich men, the fish out of water aspect on both ends of our character’s spectrum is still so much fun to watch and Aykroyd in a Santa suit is still my go to Christmas profile picture. And yes, I fell in love with Jamie Lee Curtis and you can watch it over and over again like me with the anniversary Blu-ray!

Jurassic Park – Steven Spielberg birthed the blockbuster film with Jaws and continued to re-up that with franchise film after franchise film and twenty-five years ago this adaptation of the popular Michael Crichton book stomped its way onto the screen. This movie was everything to me and, at the time, it was the movie I had seen the most times in theaters by the end of its theatrical run. Running down the surface level of great things in this film I have some serious points. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) was and is the epitome of brainy cool, Sam Neill made everyone want to study dinosaurs, Ellie Sadler was a woman that was tough as nails and, I have to side with Tim here, no raptors in the kitchen. I know people are screaming “Genero eaten off the toilet! C’mon!” This is just a short list of awesomeness, there’s too much to include in a short write up!

The Last Days Of Disco – Twenty years ago today we saw the re-emergence of writer and director Whit Stillman almost five years after his well-reviewed film Barcelona with a movie that would seriously put him on the map. Interestingly enough, he would then disappear again for another hiatus, this time a thirteen year one. A film about two fresh out of college Manhattan book editors looking for love in all the wrong clubs, this film introduced me to the lovely Kate Beckinsale and opened my eyes to the range of Chloe Sevigny, who I knew from Larry Clark’s Kids. It’s interesting to note that Stillman was pressured by the studio to put top name actresses in this film like Winona Ryder but he stuck to his guns and made the film he wanted to. Take that as a lesson.

This Is The End – Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg made their directorial debut five years ago with this totally meta film about the end of the world. Basically, during a party at James Franco’s house, the rapture happens and holes to hell open up all over the world, killing a lot of the party’s guests, some in spectacular fashion. The remaining ones, including Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, Rogen and Franco, have to band together to survive in this hilarious film full of in-jokes and self-deprecation. This movie is pure fun, nothing more, nothing less. I can understand people having slight issues with it but you all knew what you were getting into, right?