Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #194: When We First Met (2018).

Noah Ashby (Adam DeVine) is one of those dudes: the amiable but unlucky-in-love twenty-something you could find out on the town relaxing on any Friday night. Well, now for him it's Halloween night in 2014, and at a Halloween party he meets the stunning Avery Martin (Alexandra Daddario) and immediately falls in love, but three years later she's come to consider him merely a friend. He's now heartbroken at having been unable to win her over, and it doesn't help that she met her fiancee Ethan (Robbie Amell) the very next day. But then at their engagement party he drunkenly uses the same photo booth he and Avery shared on that night in 2014. Only this time, it magically sends him back to the morning before he met her. Confused but then overjoyed, Adam now resolves to change that day's events and make Avery fall for him instead.

So it's rather like Back to the Future (which is even referenced several times) and Big meets any number of rom-coms, but When We First Met is ultimately still a very charming and funny little Netflix original movie. Director Ari Sandel and writer John Whittington show a mutual zest for this concept and its themes and they flesh it out with consistent energy and clarity. DeVine has a ball playing around with the timeline and playing matchmaker while also making Noah very relatable with his failings, and Daddario makes Avery suitably sweet yet feisty; the supporting cast are all natural here, too. Powering it is a fun soundtrack and while there's little to be said about the other technical aspects, the editing is very crisp but not showy. When We First Met is one you'll want to keep putting a coin in the photo booth for.

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #193: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019).

In 1969, young secretary and single mother Elizabeth Kendall (Lily Collins) meets law student Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) and they soon start dating. By 1974, however, numerous local women are reported missing and of course, Ted is a suspect. Three years later, he's convicted and stays in prison until his execution in 1989.

Based on Kendall's memoir of her time with Bundy, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile gives a glimpse into their intimate, tumultuous relationship as well as Bundy's simultaneous relationship with childhood friend Carole Anne Boone (Kaya Scodelario), whom he eventually marries; Liz eventually ties the knot with her colleague Jerry Thompson (Haley Joel Osment). Efron, Scodelario and particularly Collins are all solid, filling their very complex characters with an admirable lack of judgment.

But unfortunately - and maybe I felt this because I watch a lot of true crime documentaries and so I could be desensitised to such content - the aesthetic and narrative approach director Joe Berlinger and writer Michael Werlie take is just boringly tame. Yes, it's meant to be more of a character study of Bundy and the women in his personal life and yes, that's an unusual avenue to take but how they went down it simply didn't sustain my intrigue. There are no scenes of Bundy actually committing his crimes and I know how well-known those are but however this may paint me, I wanted to see a few of them depicted here, interspersed with what it does explore. I hate subtlety in films like this.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile does have its moments, and I give it kudos for seeking to navigate the motivations inside such a disturbed mind, but it withholds too much for me. 6/10.

Should certain films and TV shows be pulled from broadcast now?

First it was HBO announcing their plan to pull the 1939 classic film Gone with the Wind from their streaming services, to have it return later with a disclaimer at the start about its racist depictions of African Americans. Now, Netflix Australia has removed four of comedian Chris Lilley's programs from its service because of his criticised portrayals of Asian and Tongan characters. These media decisions have generated widespread debate, with some saying they were a long time coming and others arguing the texts should be taken as fiction and in the contexts of when they were made.

Now, sincerely, I abhor racism and bigotry of all kinds and any regular readers I may have will know just how very political I am. But truthfully, I've read and heard responses from both sides of this divide and as well as understanding numerous points they've both made I have separately formed the opinion that this all comes down to censorship. Regarding that issue, except in the most extreme of cases (i.e. snuff films, child porn etc.), I am in opposition. Why? Because I believe we, the viewers and consumers, as free- and independently-thinking citizens, should be able to choose for ourselves whether we actually want to see, hear or read the text in question, whether we have a chance to or not.

Make no mistake, I am in no way praising the controversial elements of the texts that have been pulled from streaming here, or condoning real-life actions which may reflect them. I am simply arguing their being pulled from streaming constitutes censorship which to me (in most cases, as I said) violates free will, and I should also like to emphasise that it took a global uprising against institutionalised racism and police brutality to happen for these films and shows to be re-evaluated.

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #192: Uncut Gems (2019).

In 2012, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is a jeweller and major gambling addict in New York City. He's struggling to repay the $100 000 he owes to loan shark Arno (Eric Bogosian). At home he's torn between his estranged wife Dinah (Idina Menzel), with whom he has a young son (alongside two older children) and his girlfriend Julia (Julia Fox). One day Howard's associate Demany (Lakeith Stanfield) demands they bring NBA superstar Kevin Garnett (playing himself) in and once they do, they hatch a plan to try to swindle Garnett out of his lucrative 2008 championship ring with a very rare Ethiopian diamond; Howard reluctantly goes ahead with this. When it naturally goes pear-shaped and Howard and Demany have to travel to Chicago and then back, Arno and his are angrily waiting, their trap set for them.

This Netflix crime thriller by brothers Benny and Josh Safdie has received widely effusive praise, especially for Sandler's performance, but I have to say it never quite did more than intrigue me. The premise is certainly unorthodox for a crime flick - the inner workings of the jewel trade and its social repercussions - and the narrative's trajectory is lucidly and patiently plotted, but I felt the aesthetic approach was quite misjudged. The lighting and framing is simply much too polished for a study of the underworld and corrupt political industries, and the soundtrack could've used a few more pop songs (although look out for the Weeknd in a cameo).

I also didn't quite understand the very high praise for Sandler's work, which won him the National Board of Review and Independent Spirit Awards for Best Actor. He is good, but far from great for me; in the more emotional and intimate scenes I found him slightly too subtle, although the rest of the time his usual awkward comedic mannerisms are well-applied for drama here. I personally found Stanfield more impressive as the committed but increasingly vulnerable and suspicious right-hand man Demany.

For me, Uncut Gems is an adequate and inventive crime drama but one that does as many things wrong as right. 7/10.

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #191: Father of the Year (2018).

College mates Ben (Joey Bragg) and Larry (Matt Shively) are out one night on the sauce when a friendly debate arises. The question? Whose father would win in a fight: Ben's wastrel dad Wayne (David Spade), or Larry's scientist dad Mardy (Nat Faxon). Unable to settle it there, the boys now return home to make a date for the duel but en route, Ben particularly has second thoughts. However, Wayne, who's eager to prove himself to his boy, can't get his mind off the fight once Ben reluctantly tells him about it, so it's still going ahead. Mardy, meanwhile, is a timid pacifist.

The Netflix streamer Father of the Year is from Adam Sandler's company Happy Madison Productions and that should prepare you for what kind of a comedy to expect here. But while this is very far from amazing, I found it a sweet and occasionally hilarious little charmer. Director Tyler Spindel and co-writer Brandon Cournoyer seem to know they're being low-brow in their humour and derivative in their aesthetic here and that's acceptable for a film like this for me, and Bragg and Shively have solid chemistry and clear fun as the gradually maturing heroes. Unfortunately, though, there's little in the way of a soundtrack.

As with the American Pie series et al before it, there's actually a tender coming-of-age theme mixed into the racy humour here, helping it to reflect a certain bittersweetness to young adulthood. As I said, Father of the Year certainly didn't stun me, but I think for a worthwhile coming-of-age sex comedy it makes the grade.

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #190: Pride (2014).

It's 1984. Margaret Thatcher's Britain, and the miners' strike has just started. Gay rights activist Mark Ashton (Ben Schnetzer) realises this is taking the social pressure and focus off the LGBT community and onto the beleaguered miners, whose plight he recognises. After then organising a successful fundraiser for them, he establishes Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, a ragtag activist group whom a large majority of miners are, of course, very reluctant to associate with (and several of the gays reciprocate that reluctance). But they press on regardless, and after Ashton and his crew personally appeal to a group of miners with a presentation emphasising solidarity, their help is accepted and LGSM's mission takes off.

For me, this is half a great film but half a very misjudged one. Director Matthew Warchus and writer Stephen Beresford (no relation to Bruce) bring an authentic touch to recreating the era and its moods, and very patiently and tenderly explore the complex character arcs and dynamics here. Warchus also draws engaging performances from all his cast, particularly American Schnetzer (doing a flawless English accent) and Imelda Staunton (as strike committee member Hefina Headon). But aesthetically, it consistently feels much too conventional and polished for a dramatization of leftist radicals like this, and that approach just saps it of a great deal of zest and sincerity for me. Had Warchus adopted a more anarchistic technical style for it, like a narrative Michael Moore film, I think he would've created something more reflecting and saluting these out-and-proud, real-life heroes.

Nonetheless, its heart is unmistakable right to the uplifting climax, and there's a pumping '80s soundtrack. It just, IMO, required a more assertive and vibrant visualisation.