QUICK FIX Movies To Watch #81-85

QUICK FIX Movies To Watch #81-85 are sinister in all the right ways

Quick Fix Movies To Watch is a weekly column of mixed movie suggestions for both the avid film fan and the casual movie-goer. Dive in, swim around a little bit, and come up with a new movie or two you think is worth watching. They’re all great!

This week’s Quick Fix takes a look at Hard Candy, Daybreakers, Interview with the Vampire, Fallen, and Bronson. Read more about why you should watch them as soon as you can after the jump!

QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #81: HARD CANDY

Release: 2005    Rating: R    Director: David Slade

Stars: Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson, Sandra Oh

Ellen Page had a sprinkled and widely unnoticed early career, but it wasn’t until Hard Candy that people started really taking notice. Her nuanced performance as a young girl with bottled up rage is as gentle as it is sinister, and watching he unravel is intense. She’s on a mission, and rather than spoil the secret all I’ll say is she has some extremely convincing means of making Patrick Wilson’s character talk. The film is taught with raw terror that doesn’t need jump scares, ugly men in masks, or addled-brained teens in the woods, and it manages gets under your skin on a handful of levels.

HIDDEN GEM: There’s one scene in particular that’s so utterly cringe-worthy it’s almost unbearable, but the moment works so well in doing what it does. It’s brutally visceral without going over the top, and it had me squirming for a while afterward.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #82: DAYBREAKERS

Release: 2009    Rating: R    Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Isabel Lucas

A while back, and every few years it would seem, the “it” thing was vampires. Much like zombie films today, vampire movies seem to seep into the cracks, and every year we get one or two movies continuously immortalizing the genre. Daybreakers came along when sparkly, emotionally ambiguous bloodsuckers were front and center and threw a nice little sci-fi-centric hat into the ring. The film plays with mutations and a world where humans are the minority. Harvested for their blood, the last remnants of a race that was once human struggles to find a way to survive.

HIDDEN GEM: Thinking of vampires eating/drinking themselves for sustenance, and seeing it in practice, is an interestingly vile concept. What happens to those who indulge their appetites when no human blood is available is a nice twist to the mythos.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #83: INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

Release: 1994    Rating: R    Director: Neil Jordan

Stars: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, Thandie Newton

Carrying on the vampire torch, Interview with the Vampire showed fans of the creatures what they already knew, and it did so with respect and immaculate detail. Vampires are classy, smooth-talking serial killers, and being in the presence of one would most likely leave you entranced on every level. Adapted from the popular Anne Rice novel of the same name, the film sees Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise donning the teeth and embodying the attitude as two of the most iconic vampires on screen.

HIDDEN GEM: Little Kirsten Dunst puts on quite the performance, and watching her character transform as the film plays out is very satisfying. Imagining the intricacies behind her eyes is the stuff good vampire conversation dies for.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #84: FALLEN

Release: 1998    Rating: R    Director: Gregory Hoblit

Stars: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Elias Koteas, James Gandolfini,

Before Denzel Washington and John Goodman were riding the white pony together (Flight) the pair were buddy cops in a supernatural thriller. Demons, a curious game of cat and mouse, and a catchy tune are what made Fallen stand out in a sea of generic puzzle solving films of the 90’s.  When anyone can be the culprit at any given moment the rules change a little bit. Watching Washington try to understand these strange rules, and thinking he’s got the upper hand on an otherworldly entity, makes for some tasty food for thought.

HIDDEN GEM: Fallen is the kind of film that holds its mystery cards close to the chest until the very last scene. It’s a mystery that doesn’t quite hold up upon repeat viewings, but that initial reveal is pretty great.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #85: BRONSON

Release: 2008    Rating: R    Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Stars: Tom Hardy

Tom Hardy has come a long way since his turn in Bronson, and it’s great to see the guy climb the Hollywood ladder with his talent. Bronson is essentially Tom Hardy’s A Clockwork Orange, and that’s not an exaggeration. This movie is strange and beautiful and disturbing and brilliant all at once, and director Nicolas Winding Refn does with Bronson what Kubrick did with his twisted film by creating a surreal portrait of a mad man. Sentenced to prison for a few years after attempting to rob a post office, Hardy’s character spends more than thirty years locked behind bars due to violent outbursts becomes a celebrity of the prison system in his own mind.

HIDDEN GEM: Director Nicolas Winding Refn and star Tom Hardy are easily the gems of this film. Both went on to bigger and better things after this, but it’s nice to see something a little rough and a little wacky like Bronson from their earlier days.

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