Summer of 84 (2018)

Summer of 84, directed by the team of François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell, has many of the elements of an ‘80s teen movie: a Tangerine Dream-like score, a clubhouse where the guys hang out, the archetypal group of friends including the troubled friend with the shitty home life, who puts up a tough exterior (Judah Lewis), the idyllic façade of suburban life, even the fantasy blonde girl next door (Tiera Skovbye), who always seems to be changing in front of her bedroom window. This is much darker than films from that era, though. It’s Stand By Me meets Rear Window.

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Replicas (2018)

I wasn’t able to take notes while watching this, so this probably won’t be as detailed as some of my other posts. That’s probably just as well, since I don’t have a lot of positive things to say. In fact, let me get that positive thing out there right now—Tom Middleditch was the best actor of the bunch. And when the guy who does phone commercials is the Brando of the group…well, you’re in trouble.

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The Sisters Brothers (2018)

I knew nothing of this film before sitting down to watch it, but after a stark opening scene, with lighting-like flashes of a nighttime gunfight, followed by a horse, ablaze, galloping through the field like a living nightmare, I was hooked. Jacques Audiard’s film is a quirky tale that takes place in the Old West, USA. Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) and Eli (John C. Reilly) are the Sisters Brothers. That is, two brothers with the last name of Sisters. They are assassins working at the behest of their “benefactor,” a man only known as “The Commodore.” They are both extremely good at their work but couldn’t be more different from one another at this point in their lives.

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