Midsommar š¼
Plus, your guide for getting into folk horror and a breakdown of the race for Best Picture
āļø Happy Monday and Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Hope you had a great weekend.
If youāre new here, welcome! I hope this helps you find your new favorite movie.
If youāve been here for a while, two small changes: First, themes are going to take a backseat so that I can recommend more great movies with fewer limitations. Every recommendation will still be available for streaming! Second, newsletters will be sent on Mondays and Thursdays.
Todayās movie recommendation is for my favorite horror movie of 2019, starring a current Oscar nominee. Plus, a guide for getting into folk horror and a breakdown of the wild race for Best Picture.
But first, congrats to my beloved Parasite for winning Best Cast at the SAG awards last night. Oscars, here we come.
Today's movie //Ā
Streaming on Prime Video
Midsommar
After a tragedy, Dani (Florence Pugh) travels to Sweden with her boyfriend (Jack Reynor) and his friends to attend a summer festival in a remote village. However, as these trips always go, things are not as they seem as the festivalās activities turn from weird to disturbing. [Trailer]
Why you should watch it: Midsommar is not for the faint of heart as anyone who has watched director Ari Asterās film debut Hereditary probably realizes. Aster mines tension, unsettling imagery, and suspense to make Midsommar a terrifying experience. And while I wouldnāt suggest it for a horror novice, thereās more to the story.
Midsommar is about, among many things, toxic relationships, trauma, grief and how we cope. While Daniās coping may not be the most healthy, the experience of watching the movie is as beautiful and cathartic as it is disturbing and horrifying. One of the best movies of last year.
Directed by Ari Aster
Runtime 147 mins
Year 2019
Genre Horror
šŗ Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
Recommended if you like...
Folk horror
Every Monday, Iāll take a genre, director, or actor you want to see more of and give you three movies to get started with that arenāt available for streaming just yet or Iāve recommended in the past. This week is folk horror movies.
What is folk horror? The movies in the genre explore folklore and legends with an emphasis on the rural landscape or the countryside. Many movies, like Midsommar, involve outsiders traveling to isolated areas.
The Wicker Man (1973): No, not the Nicolas Cage remake. The original Wicker Man is one of the three movies credited with starting the genre. With an emphasis on atmosphere and an engrossing but slow-burn plot, it has influenced countless movies ahead of it including Midsommar. [Trailer]
šŗ Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
The Blair Witch Project (1999): Slander for The Blair Witch Project will not be tolerated in this house. The pioneering found-footage horror movie that brought folk horror into the 21st century. Filled with dread, tension, and an ending that still haunts me, it is without qualification my favorite horror movie of the 90s. [Trailer]
šŗ Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
The Witch (2015): Originally recommended here. The Witch is perhaps one of the most immersive period pieces ever made. Director Robert Eggers recreated 1630s New England with so much accuracy in the design and dialogue that that alone is reason enough to watch it. And as a horror, it gets under your skin without jump scares or much gore, just pure tension. [Trailer]
šŗ Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
State of the (Oscar) race
The Wild Race for Best Picture
Two of the biggest precursor awards were handed out this weekend and further complicated this already wild Oscar race.
1917 won the top prize at the Producers Guild of America Awards. Eight of the last ten winners went on to win Best Picture ā 12 Years a Slave and Gravity tied, the former won at the Oscars.
Parasite pulled off a huge upset to win Best Cast as the Screen Actors Guild Awards. While the award isnāt predictive, it shows that thereās support among actors, which was questioned when the movie was snubbed in the acting categories at the Oscars.
This means we still have a four-way race for Best Picture with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Jojo Rabbit rounding out the top four.
The Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America are next up. If Parasite wins both itās the frontrunner at the Oscars. If 1917 does the same, then thatās the frontrunner. If they split, itās going to be a photo finish.
Thanks for reading! Please continue to share the newsletter with your fellow movie lovers. Have a terrific week!
See you Thursday!
Karl (@karl_delo)