April 12, 2024

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 4/12

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you want a quality drama

one life

Vincent Georgie: If you are looking for a well-written, entertaining and beautifully acted drama, look no further. It never hurts to have Anthony Hopkins leading the charge. A World Premiere at TIFF 2023.

Synopsis: London broker Nicholas “Nicky” Winton helps rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in a race against time before the Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, he’s still haunted by the fate of those he wasn’t able to bring to safety.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Watch for free on Plex.

if you want something provocative

how to have sex

Vincent Georgie: One of the most striking film debuts of the past year, young British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker was well-accoladed for her stirring, convincing and frequently insightful drama. The film also announces the arrival of a young new star in Mia McKenna-Bruce. A hidden gem at WIFF 2023.

Synopsis: Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday – drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives.

Available on MUBI.

if you want some hearty laughs

WHAt about bob?

Vincent Georgie: This very popular early 90s comedy still earns its uproarious laughs thanks to the ace casting choices of opposites Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. They are both absolutely perfect. The film has not aged perfectly, but there is solid comedy here to be enjoyed again or for the first time.

Synopsis: Before going on vacation, self-involved psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) has the misfortune of taking on a new patient: Bob Wiley (Bill Murray). An exemplar of neediness and a compendium of phobias, Bob follows Marvin to his family’s country house. Dr. Marvin tries to get him to leave; the trouble is, everyone love Bob. As his oblivious patient makes himself at home, Dr. Marvin loses his professional composure and, before long, may be ready for the loony bin himself.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

DOUBLE FEATURE

novelist Patricia Highsmith

Vincent Georgie: Highsmith, a revered British mystery author, made her most indelible impression on the literary world with her Tom Ripley mystery novels. Cinematically, the troubled anti-hero has been gold in absolutely outstanding film adaptations in France (the first film) and the USA (the second film). In celebration of the new Netflix 8-part series “Ripley”, let’s take a look back at the sexy, stylish film adaptations of years past.

purple noon

Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) travels to Italy to visit his playboy friend Phillippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) and Phillippe’s new fiancée, Marge Duval (Marie Laforêt). What Phillippe doesn’t know is that his father has paid Tom to convince his son to abandon Europe and return to his family responsibilities in San Francisco. But when Phillippe’s family cuts off their funding of Tom’s extravagant lifestyle during his covert mission, he discovers another way to maintain his newfound standard of living.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

the talented Mr. ripley

To be young and carefree amid the blue waters and idyllic landscape of sun-drenched Italy in the late 1950s; that’s la dolce vita Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) craves- and Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) leads. When Dickie’s father asks Tom to bring his errant playboy son back home to America, Dickie and his beautiful expatriate girlfriend, Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), never suspect the dangerous extremes to which Ripley will go to make their lifestyle his own.