Recent viewings: ‘Spotlight’ is don’t-miss; ‘Final Girls’ sends up slasher flicks

Some recent independent films I’ve seen:

▪  “Spotlight” – There have been few movies about journalists that portray them authentically. The amazing “Spotlight” does just that.

It chronicles the Boston Globe’s real-life 2001 investigation that exposed child sexual abuse by priests within the Catholic Church, and the church’s attempts to cover it up.

The film is straightforwardly told and smartly directed by Tom McCarthy (who directed the Sundance fave “The Station Agent” and was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing Disney’s “Up”). It’s thoroughly compelling with sharp editing that relays a complex story.

And the acting is stellar by its ensemble cast, led by a solid Michael Keaton as Walter “Robby” Robinson and Mark Ruffalo (in a showier role) as Mike Rezendes. They are sure to get Oscar attention as is the film for best picture. It’s now showing in Wichita. Don’t miss it. (☆☆☆☆)

▪  “The Final Girls” – This send-up of ’80s slasher flicks is sure to appeal to horror fans.

But it’s more than that. It’s also very funny and has a creative concept: A daughter still mourning the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself magically pulled into the world of her mom’s most famous movie, “Camp Bloodbath,” and together they must fight off the film’s maniacal killer.

The film-within-a-film concept (think of it as Woody Allen’s “The Purple Rose of Cairo” meets “Friday the 13th”) is novel for a horror film, but it works, thanks to a crackling script and a game cast, led by Taissa Farmiga (TV’s “American Horror Story”) as the daughter and Malin Akerman (HBO’s “The Comeback”) as the mother.

Adam DeVine (TV’s “Workaholics”) lends hilarious support as an oversexed doofus frat boy, while Alexander Ludwig (“The Hunger Games,” TV’s “The Vikings”) gives the standard hero pretty-boy role a nice kick.

The film was a hit at the SXSW and Los Angeles film festivals. It’s available on VOD outlets, DVD and Blu-ray. It’s a fun stand-out in the genre. (☆☆☆)

▪  “Love” – This drama by acclaimed director Gaspar Noe made waves at its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

It intrigued me because Noe is an adventurous director who first gained acclaim with 2002’s “Irreversible,” which was told backwards. It was brutally violent and hard to watch, but daring.

Noe’s next feature was 2009’s “Into the Void,” which follows a drug dealer in Tokyo who is betrayed by his friend and killed. His soul – and the viewer – then watches all the action that unfolds afterward from overhead. While a bold idea, it became annoying.

Noe’s latest, “Love,” gives us yet another narrative experiment. It follows a couple in Paris who have a torridly destructive love affair with their neighbor.

The novelty here is that the film is shown in 3-D in theaters and is sexually graphic. Yes, sexually graphic 3-D. A first.

Another artsy move is that we never hear what the characters say, we only hear “white noise.” It’s up to us to interpret what is being said. We do follow the story, but it certainly doesn’t invite us into it. We are mere voyeurs.

The film is showing in theaters in large markets and available on VOD outlets, where it’s shown in 2-D. It’s an interesting artistic experiment, but frustrating and hardly engaging cinema. (☆)

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Recent viewings: ‘Spotlight’ is don’t-miss; ‘Final Girls’ sends up slasher flicks."