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Creep 2004 ★★★
I recently came across this one on one of those hidden gem lists that you can find on the Yoewtjoewbz. In this case, hidden gems of the twothousands. Or noughts or noughties, if you will.
Franka Potente plays Kate, a German woman living in London. She is on her way from a party to a club where she is hoping to meet George Clooney (who is supposedly in town). Come to think of it, it would have been funny of they could hire a lookalike for the final scene, with the joke being that she does not recognise him.
Anyway, while waiting for the last train, she falls asleep and... whoopsie Daisy. Now she is stuck in the London tube. Rats.
Does this movie have it's flaws? Yeah. You need a good bit of suspension of disbelief to get by some stuff. Like the drug dealer/rapist somehow getting on the one train passing by after the last one left. Or the whole mad scientist gone awry idea behind the killer. How he set up shop in the tube network and got his lab and his gynaecologist chair down there? Never explained. Not that a possible explanation would be closer to plausible than to silly, but still.
That said, Creep does have its qualities. It has some solid kills (Guy the coke dealer and Jimmy the homeless guy) and a few eerie moments like the rape attempt and the subsequent moment when the killer grabs Guy. Or the death of Jimmy or, earlier on, the bit when Mandy disappears. Also, what is the deal with Jimmy and Mandy having (exadurated) Scottish accents? Is that supposed to be some hamfisted nod to Trainspotting or just taking the piss out of Scots in general?
It is entertaining enough to keep you invested and I can see why people would want to consider it a hidden gem. Four star masterpiece? Nah.
Asteroid City 2023 ★★★★
I just love getting lost in Wes Anderson's universe, filled to the rim with kooks and quirks. And, of course, the typical Wes Anderson mannerisms like the symmetrical shots. First example that comes to mind is when Schwartzman and Hanks are on the phone.
I also love how he always manages to bring together this wonderful ensemble cast with too many people to name here. Suffice it to say that some of them are simply amazing in this: Tom Hanks as the loving grandfather and the (somewhat) hostile father in law. Or Edward Norton as the playwrite.
Maya Hawke is adorable as the school marm trying desperately to maintain some level of authority. The Blum as the alien (because of course he is) in in only one shot and he immediately makes an impression. Scarlett Johansson is excellent as always and is anyone more in his place than Bryan Cranston's narrator?
In short: beautiful scenery, great actors and enough oddities and chuckle moments to keep me going. That's more than good enough for me.
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