December 15, 2023

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 12/15

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you want a hot new title

leave the world behind

Vincent Georgie: Anchored by an all-star cast, “Mr Robot” creator Sam Esmail offers up an exciting, ominous film. Will the film change your life? No. Will it engage you and give you a good few hours of entertainment? Yes indeed.

Synopsis: A family vacation on Long Island is interrupted by two strangers bearing news of a blackout. As the threat grows, both families must decide how best to survive the potential crisis, all while grappling with their own place in this collapsing world.

Available on Netflix.

if you love a great cast

the miracle club

Vincent Georgie: Dame Maggie Smith. Laura Linney. Kathy Bates. Need I say more? This film was a runaway hit last Summer during WIFF Presents. Enjoyable, and a more profound and spiritual story than you might be expecting.

Synopsis: There’s just one dream for the women of Ballygar to taste freedom: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes. With a little benevolent interference from their local priest, a group of close friends get their ticket of a lifetime.

Available on iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

if you want a quality film for the whole family

chicken run: dawn of the nugget

Vincent Georgie: Terrific stop-motion animation and a charming wit to it, Oscar-winning filmmaker Nick Park has cornered the market on unique animated films.

Synopsis: Having escaped from the farm, Ginger and Rocky welcome a new little adventurer into their lives. Back on the mainland, the whole of chicken-kind faces a terrible new threat.

Available on Netflix.

DOUBLE FEATURE

Christmas shenanigans

The first film offers us a chaotic (and somewhat forgotten) black comedy with Steve Martin and Rita Wilson. The second offers us all of the awkwardness and raised eyebrows of a workplace Christmas party that goes off the rails. Pour the egg nog generously and enjoy this double feature.

mixed nuts

Philip (Steve Martin) manages a suicide-prevention hotline called Lifesavers, assisted by Mrs. Munchnik (Madeline Kahn) and Catherine (Rita Wilson). On Christmas Eve, Philip learns that their landlord (Garry Shandling) is evicting them from their office. Amid all this unrest, Catherine proclaims her love for Philip. And when a transvestite (Liev Schreiber) and a pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis) enter into the equation, things get even more interesting.

Available on iTunes, YouTube and Amazon Prime.

office Christmas party

When the CEO (Jennifer Aniston) tries to close her hard-partying brother’s (T.J. Miller) branch, he and his chief technical officer (Jason Bateman) must rally their co-workers and host an epic office Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and close a sale that will save their jobs.