"Lola Versus" Review

When Lola's fiancee unexpectedly dumps her, her life is turned upside down. Despite the support from her friends and family, Lola's broken heart leads her tumbling towards rock bottom.

Lola Versus
Starring Greta Gerwig, Joel Kinnaman, Zoe Lister Jones
Directed by Daryl Wein
My Opinion: a hidden gem

Lola Versus is an impassioned, witty telling of a female at a critical juncture. The dialogue is quick, sharp and entirely hilarious. The characters are lovable and quirky, but complex. In short, Lola Versus is everything that I was expecting out of Girls. I'm not sure why the film received such negative reviews - I was in love with every moment. Greta Gerwig carries her character with broad, sensitive shoulders. You watch her collapse into a flailing and at times despicable heap. Her struggles are hysterical, pathetic and familiar all at once. The film exposes the downfall of romantic preoccupation and highlights the importance of discovering oneself - a message which speaks to audiences across generations.

The ending might edge a bit to close to corny sentimentality, but it still works. My only true qualm with the film was it's estranged representations of race within the film. Like many indie flicks including Wein's hit 500 Days of Summer, the characters are all very white. There is one black bartender thrown into the mix. While he has a couple moments, he's generally absent until the very end where he awkwardly asserts himself as Lola's "black friend" during a terrible but touching birthday rap. This was either a disclaimer for using rap music or a neglectful, halfhearted attempt at self awareness over a lack of race relations. My inkling is that he is just another token character.

None the less, Lola Versus is an indie treat for my sore eyes. Perhaps it's so short that it doesn't have time to unravel, unlike the three hour snooze fests hogging theaters today. Whatever the reason, I highly recommend this one.

Horrible Horrors: 'Warm Bodies' and 'Mama'

I recently RedBoxed two horror movies that I was anxious to see: The zombie rom-com Warm Bodies and Mama, starring Jessica Chastain. While the opening scenes had me hooked, as the films progressed my eyes were left dazzled but somehow also bored. My expectations weren't very high for either: all I wanted was a few satisfying thrills and a fix for my blood craving. Neither film delivered.

Warm Bodies
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton
Directed by Jonathan Levine
My Opinion: Lame

 It seems as though the horror genre is succumbing to an array of special effects with only a blurry shadow of a story. Underdeveloped scripts are tossed into the hands of directors and producers with dollar signs for eyes and ka-ching sounds for heartbeats. That may be a little harsh, but just look at the paralyzed plot in Warm Bodies. The film opens with a brutal, stomach-turning attack on a Franco brother which was awesome. But soon, the inconsistencies are aplenty and the characters are driving an inexplicably functional abandoned car to nowhere. To be fair, I shut the film off early due to lack of patience, but it was dragging more than the zombies' feet.

I'm not sure why, but Mama kept me from throwing in the towel. Despite my boyfriends groaning protests, I was desperately hopeful for a comeback. Soon, the plot thins to water and the only thing that scared me was the thought that Mama would never end. Then the ending happened. I just don't understand how anything so stupid could drag on for so long. Surely the director is a sadist.

Mama
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau,
Megan Charpentier
Directed by Andres Muschietti
My Opinion: Not worth the $1.20 on RedBox.

I hope the next batch of horror flicks proves me wrong, but it seems as the genre is just as processed and tasteless as American cheese. With the charming wit of Cabin in the Woods and the playful thrills of Evil Dead, you'd think I'm overreacting, but those are exceptions - few and far between. Time will only tell what the future holds for the genre - especially with the upcoming premiere of the Carrie remake, due out October of this year. I don't know about you, but the edge of my seat is absent.