God’s Pocket – Way Too Indie http://waytooindie.com Independent film and music reviews Fri, 02 Dec 2016 17:34:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Way Too Indiecast is the official podcast of WayTooIndie.com. Our film critics grip and gush about the latest indie movies and sometimes even mainstream ones. Find all of our reviews, podcasts, news, at www.waytooindie.com God’s Pocket – Way Too Indie yes God’s Pocket – Way Too Indie dustin@waytooindie.com dustin@waytooindie.com (God’s Pocket – Way Too Indie) The Official Podcast of Way Too Indie God’s Pocket – Way Too Indie http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/waytooindie/podcast-album-art.jpg http://waytooindie.com Movies and TV to Stream This Weekend – April 8 http://waytooindie.com/news/movies-streaming-this-weekend-april-8/ http://waytooindie.com/news/movies-streaming-this-weekend-april-8/#respond Fri, 08 Apr 2016 13:08:41 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=44754 A strong dose of home invasion films are available to stream this weekend!]]>

Years ago, Netflix bolstered their movie library with premium network Starz, which brought many binge-able movies and the excellent series Party Down, among others, to the ever-growing streaming service. Since the partnership between Netlfix and Starz—often considered the afterthought to HBO and Showtime—has ended, Starz has really carved out a niche for itself with original programming with Ash vs. Evil Dead, Outlander, Black Sails, and the upcoming Soderbergh produced The Girlfriend Experience. With this catalog (plus all the mainstream movies that come through), Starz has now launched their own on-demand streaming service.

For $8.99/month you can have access to their programming through an Android or iOS app or on the web. This is another a la carte platform that has increased the palatability of cutting the cable cord and picking out the specific entertainment you want. For all the movies and television new to streaming this week, check out the recommendations from the best streaming services below:

Netflix

Hush (Mike Flanagan, 2016)

Hush Mike Flanagan

A deaf-mute author (Kate Siegel) works away on her new novel in her secluded home when an uninvited guest with a crossbow shows up looking to make her his next victim. That’s all the set-up you’ll need to watch Mike Flanagan’s Hush, the latest film by the director of the underrated Absentia and Oculus (check out our interview with Flanagan and Seigel). Because of the protagonist’s inability to speak or hear, Hush keeps dialogue to an absolute minimum, meaning the majority of its slim, 82-minute runtime is dedicated to keeping the blood pumping as Siegel’s character tries to survive the night. Fans of home invasion thrillers like The Strangers will find plenty to like in Hush, and it should serve as a perfect viewing option on Netflix for anyone wanting to get a good scare this weekend. [C.J.]

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
American Odyssey (Series, Season 1)
The Beauty Inside (Baek Jong-Yeol, 2015)
God’s Pocket (John Slattery, 2014)
The Hallow (Corin Hardy, 2015)
Of Men and War (Laurent Bécue-Renard, 2014)

Fandor

Jules and Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)

Jules and Jim 1962

In this week’s “Criterion Picks,” Fandor once again takes a look at doomed love with some great classic and international films. Among them is Truffaut’s brilliant dramatic screwball comedy Jules and Jim, featuring a love triangle of sorts. The film stars the effervescent Jeanne Moreau as Catherine, an unobtainable, impulsive woman and her long relationship with the title pair. For Truffaut, this is perhaps his most signature film in the French New Wave—a wild and unpredictable film, delightful all the way. The other Criterion Picks in the series include Black Orpheus, Senso, Children of Paradise, Summer Interlude, and more—all are available until April 17. Also included on Fandor this week is a new Spotlight, full of classic Italian cult films like Killer Cop, Zombie, Black Sunday, and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
The Animal Project (Ingrid Veninger, 2013)
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (Chris Sullivan, 1994)
Modra (Ingrid Veninger, 2010)
mother mortar, father pestle (Gibbs Chapman, 2013)
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)

MUBI

Mr. X, a Vision of Leos Carax (Tessa Louise-Salomé, 2014)

Mr. X, a Vision of Leos Carax film

MUBI is offering a Leos Carax double-feature this week with his international breakout Mauvais Sang coupled with artistic profile doc Mr. X. With interviews with the filmmaker and unseen footage from his life and films from his debut through Holy Motors, the documentary is a nice retrospective on an important world auteur whose run definitely doesn’t seem over—it is unusual to see a retrospective like this before a filmmaker has passed or hung it up, but this feels more than complete enough. A fantastic look into the mind of an enigmatic filmmaker with plenty of footage from his films, Mr. X is a nice primer on Carax with enough unique insight for his fanatics. You can check out this vision of Leos Carax on MUBI until May 3.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
Ballad of the Little Soldier (Werner Herzog & Denis Reichle, 1984)
Help Me Eros (Lee Kang-Sheng, 2007)
Mauvais Sang (Leos Carax, 1986)
White Nights on the Pier (Paul Vecchiali, 2014)
A Young Poet (Damien Manivel, 2014)

iTunes & Video On-Demand

The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015)

The Invitation film

Available for rent at the same time as its limited theatrical release, The Invitation is a horror-thriller from the director of Girlfight and Jennifer’s Body. The film has received strong reviews on the festival circuit and premiere at South by Southwest 2015 for its slow-burn tension and clever plot. Slowly unfolding over the course of a dinner party, The Invitation involves a man reconnecting with his ex-wife and her new life after she went missing following a tragic event. While this may be a pretty standard mystery or thriller plot set-up, The Invitation is an intense and visceral film from start to finish. One of our favorite horror films we saw in 2015, you should check out The Invitation in theaters or on-demand this weekend.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
Boost (Nathan Gabaeff, 2015)
Ip Man 3 (Wilson Yip, 2015)
Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)
The Masked Saint (Warren P. Sonoda, 2016)
Mr. Right (Paco Cabezas, 2015)
Silicon Valley Season 2

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God’s Pocket http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/gods-pocket/ http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/gods-pocket/#comments Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=20311 Following the recent loss of one of the best (if not the best) performers of our generation, it feels like a gift to be able to watch Philip Seymour Hoffman grace a movie screen in any capacity. It’s something to be savored, but in God’s Pocket, one of his last ever roles, his talents, along with […]]]>

Following the recent loss of one of the best (if not the best) performers of our generation, it feels like a gift to be able to watch Philip Seymour Hoffman grace a movie screen in any capacity. It’s something to be savored, but in God’s Pocket, one of his last ever roles, his talents, along with the talents of the rest of the uniformly brilliant cast, are done little justice. Everyone struggles here, including first time director John Slattery (Mad Men), who grasps and grasps but can’t manage to find a singular vision for the jumbled, lifeless tiny-town crime flick.

Hoffman plays Mickey Scarpato, an exhausted-looking fellow who lives in the titular South Philly neighborhood with his bored wife Jeanie (Christina Hendricks) and rotten stepson Leon (Caleb Landry Jones, who maximizes the few minutes he’s given). Leon is a terror of a shit-talker, infuriating his co-workers at his factory job to no end. Or rather, to his end: After pushing one of the boys to the brink with awful racist insults, he’s clobbered on the head and…well…so begins Mickey’s landslide of problems. He must bury the boy to appease the unappeasable Jeanie, which leads to him racking up major debt and getting mixed up with dirty mafia types.

The tone, writing, and performances in God’s Pocket are all incredibly awkward, which is a surprise considering the artists at work. Hoffman just can’t get his hands on the character of Mickey, with a fluctuating accent and emotionally ambiguous reactions to just about every situation. He clicks best with John Turturro, who plays his Sopranos-esque best friend and confidant Arthur, but even their chemistry doesn’t feel completely natural.

God's Pocket

The characters are written too loosely, oscillating between working class clichés and unreadable moralism. Jeanie begins to take a liking to Philly celebrity journalist Richard Shellburn (Richard Jenkins), an old scumbag who makes a pass at her while sitting on Leon’s twin bed. The infidelity seems to be born out of her resentment toward Mickey, but her inner struggle is conveyed with the depth and subtlety of a pea-brained bimbo by Hendricks, who is capable of so much more.

There’s something off about the script (written by Slattery and Alex Metcalf), which tries very hard to mix quirky small-town humor with flashes of shocking violence. Both the comedic and dramatic elements are woefully uncalibrated and unbalanced, canceling each other out at every turn. When Arthur’s elderly mother shoots a goon in the chest at the family store, the man bleeding out on the floor, it’s hard to figure out the scene’s intended effect. The tired “old lady turns out to be a badass” gag is clearly comedic, but as Turturro kicks the dying man in the stomach screaming “This is my family!”, it all just feels very, very uncomfortable.

The neighborhood of God’s Pocket is well-crafted by Slattery and his crew, and well shot by cinematographer Lance Acord. The costumes and sets are rightly gritty, conveying the perpetual hard-drinking slump of similar salt-of-the-earth communities. The visual presentation is convincing–it’s just too bad that it’s the only thing convincing about this mediocre production. The stakes are unclear, the story is aimless, the performances are half-hearted, and those thirsting for another shining showcase of Hoffman’s gift will be sorely disappointed.

God’s Pocket trailer

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