AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's the time of year when critics pick their Top 10 lists and audiences hear about the same movies over and over. Well, one of our critics piped up and wants a word. And here he is, Glen Weldon, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Hi, Glen.
GLEN WELDON, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So Glen, are you telling us that you don't want to regale us with your take on this year's Oscar faves, like, "Conclave" and "Wicked" and "The Brutalist"?
WELDON: Well, no, look, they're all great, but you already know about them, right? I mean, they're soaking up all the attention right now. Their Oscar campaigns are in full swing, especially "Wicked's." You can't get away from that press tour. I think I just saw Ariana on the cover of Alfalfa Farmers Monthly, right?
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WELDON: I mean she's getting out there. But the films I brought today - they're smaller. They don't have big-name stars. Many of them are from first-time directors, and they had very short theatrical runs if they had them at all. And the magical thing, the reason I'm talking to you about them, is that they're all available to stream right now because we live in the future, Ayesha. And they're all worth your time, just as much as the films everyone's talking about.
RASCOE: I got your list here. The first one is "National Anthem." Now, I have not heard of this movie.
WELDON: Well, then that's why I'm here. Now, this is often called a modern Western. It's kind of that. It's more modern than Western, frankly. It stars a kid named Charlie Plummer as a young man in New Mexico who gets a job on a homestead for queer rodeo performers. Here's a clip.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NATIONAL ANTHEM")
MASON ALEXANDER PARK: (As Carrie) I'm Carrie.
CHARLIE PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Oh, I'm Dylan. Sorry.
PARK: (As Carrie) How long have you been here?
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Just a couple days now.
PARK: (As Carrie) You liking it?
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Aw, it's beautiful.
PARK: (As Carrie) It's kind of unique in...
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Yeah.
PARK: (As Carrie) ...In the best of ways.
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) In the best of ways, yeah.
WELDON: Now, this is a coming-of-age movie, so you know he's going to discover certain things about himself. And what I love most about this film, though, is that it lets questions about finding yourself and about sexuality - it lets those questions be complicated and stay complicated. It doesn't reach for neat answers. It reaches for the heart, is what it reaches for. There's joy in this movie. There's heartache. There's ambiguity. There's regret. It's the whole package. And it's directed by a photographer named Luke Gilford, and he brings that photographer's eye to what is his first feature film.
RASCOE: OK, very nice. And the next one up is "Good One." What's this one all about?
WELDON: Well, this is another coming-of-age story, and this one's also complicated in a chewy, really satisfying way. It's also from a first-time director named India Donaldson, and it's about a teenage girl who goes on a camping trip with her father and his best friend.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOOD ONE")
DANNY MCCARTHY: (As Matt) I think I could have been a philosopher in another life. I think I would have been happy with that life.
JAMES LE GROS: (As Chris) Well, it's not really a job, is it?
MCCARTHY: (As Matt) I'm talking about fantasy.
LE GROS: (As Chris) You could be a philosophy professor who wrote on the side.
MCCARTHY: (As Matt) Yeah, a philosopher. What about you?
LE GROS: (As Chris) What do you mean?
MCCARTHY: (As Matt) In another life.
LE GROS: (As Chris) Oh, I'm happy with the one I've made now.
MCCARTHY: (As Matt) If you had to choose.
LE GROS: (As Chris) Bookshop owner.
MCCARTHY: (As Matt) What about you, Sam?
LILY COLLIAS: (As Sam) Feel like I still get to choose this life.
WELDON: So like "National Anthem," this film is quiet. It's moody. And it spotlights a really terrific performance by Lily Collias, as the girl who's forced to kind of constantly navigate these two men's not-so-friendly rivalry. And then something happens on this trip, something that's small on the surface but has really deep repercussions. And before your eyes, this film becomes about what happens the first time adults disappoint you - right? - about crossing a kind of threshold and entering the adult world for good. Man, this film stays with you.
RASCOE: Now, I know that you know who you're talking to here because I gather your next pick is a horror movie, and that's my type of movie right there - not necessarily the coming of age but the coming of horror (laughter).
WELDON: Yep. Absolutely. I knew that. And this film is called "Starve Acre," and actually, I mentioned it when we spoke earlier this fall about a genre called folk horror, which doesn't have a lot of big scares in it. Folk horror tends to be a slow burn. And this is about a couple that inherits a remote cottage in the north of England, and strange things start happening, as you could probably guess. They're dealing with grief, right? And in that grief, they're drawn to the dark pagan history of the land. And they both spiral down into a very dark place. Now, this film really takes its time. It's more about growing sense of dread and despair than it is about jump scares, but man, it delivers some seriously creepy vibes and some gorgeously desolate landscapes.
RASCOE: Yes to creepy movies and creepy vibes. But what about something that's just, like, fun? - because, you know, it is the holidays.
WELDON: All right, let's do it. So you know this movie. It's called "Last Stop In Yuma County." And, Ayesha, you interviewed the director Francis Galluppi back in May, so back me up. This film - it's a perfect little indie gem, right?
RASCOE: It is. It's one of those movies where tensions are high.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY")
FAIZON LOVE: (As Vernon) Morning.
JIM CUMMINGS: (As knife salesman) Morning.
LOVE: (As Vernon) Guess you want to fill up, huh?
CUMMINGS: (As knife salesman) Yeah, I was hoping to.
LOVE: (As Vernon) Sorry, but our gas pumps are dry. Waiting on the fuel trucks to show up.
CUMMINGS: (As knife salesman) I'm almost empty. Is there another gas station right here?
LOVE: (As Vernon) Not for another 100 miles.
WELDON: And just to set listeners up, it's the '70s. A guy pulls up to a gas station on a deserted highway. He learns that the station is out of gas, and he has to wait in the diner next door until the fuel truck arrives. So he goes to the diner. It starts to fill up with people in his same predicament, including a couple of guys who just robbed a bank and are desperate to get away, which is, like - can we talk about a perfect setup for a movie? And it just keeps ratcheting up the tension. Things get worse and worse and funnier and funnier, darker and darker. And this thing was made for about a million bucks in 20 days. But, man, it delivers.
RASCOE: It definitely delivers, and it even had some stuff in there about a crossword puzzle. You got to keep your eyes on those crosswords.
WELDON: It's a lot of fun.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WELDON: Yep.
RASCOE: It looks like we have time for one more pick, so that means you got to make it a good one.
WELDON: All right, so I figure I'll close out with a movie that's almost impossible to describe. So "Hundreds Of Beavers" is an ultra-low-budget comedy. I'm talking, this thing was made for about $150,000. It is a silent, black-and-white slapstick comedy about a 19th-century fur trapper trying to survive the winter and the beavers who stand in his way. And this film looks like nothing else you're gonna see this year. It combines animation with puppets and live-action. And all the wildlife in it, including those beavers, are just dudes in mascot costumes.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
WELDON: So it's so inventive and hilarious. It is very silly, but it's as close to a live-action "Looney Tune" cartoon as it's possible to get. And, you know, you'll see - if you're looking for them, you'll see some influences here. You'll see a little Buster Keaton in there. You'll see - if you're a film nerd like me, you'll see some Guy Maddin and some early Sam Raimi. But yeah, to your point, Ayesha, if you're not looking for moody introspection like "National Anthem," and you just want to pop something on that the entire family will all agree is deeply, deeply funny, can't go wrong with "Hundreds Of Beavers."
RASCOE: A one-of-a-kind list of underrated films from 2024 brought to you by NPR's Glen Weldon, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Thank you, Glen.
WELDON: Thank you so much. Always a pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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