February 23, 2024

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 2/23

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you roll you want a powerful true story

the iron claw

Vincent Georgie: Anchored by an outstanding ensemble cast, this is an excellent drama about faith, challenge, tragedy and, ultimately, brotherhood. Why it was snubbed by the Oscars is a head-scratcher.

Synopsis: The true story of the Von Erich brothers, who make history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

Available on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

if you are discovering jonathan glazer

birth

Vincent Georgie: UK filmmaker Glazer has come to worldwide critical and audience attention with his buzzworthy new film The Zone of Interest. If you have been intrigued by his unusual cinematic sensibilities, take a look at his divisive but interesting collaboration with Nicole Kidman. It’s a strange one, but one worth exploring.

Synopsis: It took Anna (Nicole Kidman) 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she’s on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph (Danny Huston), and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean (Cameron Bright) turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first, she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband’s life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.

Available on iTunes, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

if you want to be entertained

rumble: the indians who rocked the world

Vincent Georgie: Come for the fantastic soundtrack, stay for the unbelievable true story. The film was a real fan fave at WIFF 2018.

Synopsis: Filmmaker Catherine Bainbridge examines the role of Native Americans in contemporary music history. She exposes a critical missing chapter, revealing how indigenous musicians helped influence popular culture.

Available on Netflix and iTunes.

DOUBLE FEATURE

all hail, cillian murphy

Fans of the British TV Series “Peaky Blinders” have known for ages what a star Murphy is, but its lead Oscar-nominated performance in OPPENHEIMER that has elevated him to new heights. Take a look at two completely different lead roles from years earlier that already told us that we had a versalite leading man right in front of us all along.

red eye

In the wake of her grandmother’s funeral, hotel manager Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is waiting to fly back home when she meets charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) at check-in. She thinks it luck that they’re seated together on the plane, but soon learns otherwise. Jackson hopes to assassinate the head of Homeland Security, but to do so, he needs Lisa to reassign the official’s room number at her hotel. As insurance, Jackson has kidnapped Lisa’s father (Brian Cox).

Available on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

the wind that shakes the barley

Set during the Irish War of Independence in the early 1920s. Damien, an Irish medical student, is about to leave Ireland to complete his training in London, but before doing so witnesses atrocious brutalities carried out by the Black and Tans which leads him to join his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army. Soon, however, the peace treaty is signed, and the brothers are pitted against each other.