A Trio of Movie Stars (CREDIT: Shout! Studios/Screenshot; Matt Infante/A24; Lionsgate)

Frankie Freako

Starring: Conor Sweeney, Kristy Wordsworth, Matthew Kennedy, Meredith Sweeney, Adam Brooks, Rich Evans

Director: Steven Kostanski

Running Time: 85 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: October 7, 2024 (Theaters)

A Different Man

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson

Director: Aaron Schimberg

Running Time: 112 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 20, 2024 (Theaters)

Megalopolis

Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, Talia Shire, Grace VanDerWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D.B. Sweeney

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Running Time: 138 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 27, 2024 (Theaters)

Hey dudes! I saw a few movies this week that I’m catching up on my thoughts about. Did they have any themes or intellectual concerns in common? Let’s take a closer look and find out.

First up was the proudly B-grade comedy-horror flick Frankie Freako, which is a wonderfully dumb and cleverly knowing spin on the string of diminutive cinematic creatures of the 80s and 90s, like Gremlins, Ghoulies, Critters, Munchies, and Munchie. It’s about the ultimate square named Conor (Conor Sweeney), who’s scandalized by beverages containing caffeine and can’t bear to do anything steamier with his smokin’ hot wife (Kristy Wordsworth) other than just holding one hand together. So along comes Frankie (Matthew Kennedy) and his associates, party dudes from the planet Freako who will turn his world upside-down. It’s pretty clear right from the jump that he’s going to benefit from this shot of adrenaline.

Soon thereafter, I checked in with A Different Man, which is pretty dang different narratively and tonally, though it still managed to hit me in some of the same demented pleasure centers. This one’s about Edward (Sebastian Stan), a timid, struggling actor living with a severely deformed face caused by neurofibromatosis. When his condition fades away after a successful experimental procedure, he uses the opportunity to reinvent himself as a completely new person. But then he encounters Oswald (Adam Pearson), who also has neurofibromatosis and is basically the most confident person in the world. Edward is then imprisoned by his deep-seated insecurity, which never really went away. So basically Frankie Freako and A Different Man are both about confidence – it’s there for the taking!

Keeping that theme of self-assuredness going for Megalopolis: it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a movie be this confident in this particular way. Occasionally it tested my patience, but mostly I appreciated the novelty. I recommend altering your state of mind with your preferred substance of choice and then just letting it watch over you so as not to be too demanding about quotidian matters like narrative and structure.

Grades:
Frankie Freako: 99 Fart Sodas out of 110 Gallons of Glue
A Different Man: 4 Personas out of 5 Shells
Megalopolis: New Rome, Same Old Problems