The last presents in the form of premieres that the bland 2022 leaves us allow us to end it with optimism
You have to see how lively Christmas is thanks to a Pedro, a Froilán and an Isabel (plus Mario), who, like the Three Wise Men of today, do not stop giving us gifts. On the other hand, the latest presents in the form of premieres that the bland 2022 leaves us allow us to end it with optimism.
One would never think that Tom Hanks could be ‘The Worst Neighbor in the World’, quite the contrary, he is the neighbor, son-in-law, friend or father that we all would like to have. That is why his leading role in this version of a Swedish film, which is also an adaptation of a successful book, is even more praiseworthy, since the entire film is based exclusively on him and on his infinite capacity to play a grumpy butt without however you want it.
To that neighbor with whom you avoid getting into the elevator, the one who is always at odds in community meetings, the one who scolds the cleaner if she puts the doormat in another direction, who is on his way to being eaten his cats (if the cats dared to approach him), a family in the antipodes moves next door to him that will impact his way of being. But do not think that it is a complacent or sentimental film, some things are not as they seem. The story of transformation and redemption? It goes a bit off the rails on which these stories usually take place. It is a kind of ‘Gran Torino’ in a friendly way starring the old curmudgeons from Los Muppets.
Carlos Santos, Julián López, Macarena Gómez and Toni Acosta are some of the actors who appear in the choral mystery comedy ‘Everyone does it’ (in case after ‘Puñales por el espalda 2’ you still feel like it). Four couples are invited to a mountain hotel by an atypical owner, the always nice Pablo Carbonell, who blackmails them and is murdered.
You know that “find out the murderer” movies with touches of humor are one of my weaknesses, I guess childish fixation on Margaret Rutherford’s Miss Marple and the Thin Man black and white movies. Black comedy (black humor is as Spanish as envy) that works if you don’t demand too much of it. Kind laughter to spend the first day of the year.
‘Pray for the Devil’ is a cliché on legs. Obviously it’s about demonic possessions that are fought by a nun with a cursed past (you know that just as aliens always land in the United States, devils are always fought by the Catholic Church, which is very photogenic). The director is a specialist in the genre, which makes him a specialist in copying, no matter how much he puts a school of exorcism as a novelty. You will get a good scare sometimes but, above all, you will get a lot of boredom.
Today’s rarity is one of Spanish animation. We are transferred to Shanghai in 1934, from where a journey begins whose most eminent passenger is a detective seeking retirement. But his plans will be cut short by a crime that he must solve and in which he will see the shadow of an archenemy. The difference with ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is that everything takes place in a world parallel to ours inhabited by anthropomorphic insects (ignoring the human-shaped cockroaches that live among us, of course). And it is that ‘Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow’ is my fun and childish recommendation for these holidays.
Off-camera 2022 ends, and in that year Ben Afleck’s bachelorhood has also ended (unfortunately not his acting career), the open bar of platform productions is over (it had to arrive), it’s over ( voluntarily) Serrat, the Golden Globes are (almost) over, the old law of Spanish cinema is over (and they go…), (they never) finished talking about Will Smith’s slap in the face at the Oscars, and it’s over ( above all) the life of my admired Angela Lansbury. Happy New Year, moviegoers and moviegoers.
May you have a 2023, and a week, of cinema.
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