We know, you’ve seen The Last Jedi like eight times already. Which was totes worth it, but it’s nearly Christmas and you have to save a little dough for those last-minute gifts. (Movies is expensive guys!) Never fear, we’ve got an alternative…
There’s a lot to love in the latest Star Wars film, but certainly one of its highlights is the incredible cast of both veterans and new blood. (And some veterans who are new blood – heyo, Holdo!) While you’re whiling away the hours wrapping presents or just chillaxing this weekend, here is a Friday Five of some other spectacular things starring the Last Jedi cast that you really ought to check out if you haven’t. (And if you have, well heck, watch them again!):
Attack the Block (2011)
Cast featured: John Boyega
I don’t think I can understate how criminally underrated this British sci-fi-comedy-horror gem is, though those who have seen it will rave about it at you for days. Justifiably so, as first-time director Joe Cornish (of the Adam & Joe comedy duo; he’s also a frequent collaborator of Edgar Wright) knocked it out of the park with this alien invasion tale of a bunch of streetwise South London hoodies who must defeat a vicious extraterrestrial menace. Of course, leading the pack in his film debut is none other than John Boyega; his Moses is a no-gooder who, very quickly, comes to understand the value of putting your own interests aside and stepping up to really protect your turf, and Boyega is clearly a star in the making. Watch this immediately. (It also co-stars brand-new Doctor Who herself, Jodie Whittaker, as a nurse caught up in the action, and a hilarious turn by Nick Frost as the local drug dealer who unwittingly makes himself useful.)
Ex Machina (2015)
Cast featured: Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson
You get a terrific two-fer with this unnervingly brilliant sci-fi thriller in that it stars both Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac, deftly mixing up their character archetypes if you’re primarily familiar with both actors from their, erm, intergalactic work. Gleeson is a soft-hearted programmer with a search engine company who wins an office contest to spend one week at the extravagant vacation home of their reclusive CEO. That’d be Isaac, who turns out to be a smug, insufferable jerk… and also a genius, as he’s constructed a humanoid robot (the superb Alicia Vikander) with artificial intelligence. Gleeson’s character is there to confirm that she is capable of true consciosness… and well, things rapidly go downhill from there. Novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland’s debut is compelling and disturbing as hell, with an eerily poignant ending, and all three actors delivering tremendous work. (Isaac gets extra points for strutting his stuff in that unforgettable and distressing dance sequence.)
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
Cast featured: Laura Dern
Yeah, okay fine, I’ve written a lot about Twin Peaks this year. But here’s the thing: While Kyle MacLachlan’s incredible run as Cooper – three of them! – anchors Twin Peaks: The Return, it’s Laura Dern who steals all of her scenes. Cooper’s FBI secretary Diane is an iconic name that we never had a face to put to in the show’s original run, yet longtime David Lynch fave Dern makes Diane everything we didn’t know we needed her to be and then some, complete with a potty mouth and flawless styling. (I’ve been sporting multi-colored nails for months…) She’s electrifying when she’s just walking down a hallway (see above). Oh, and then that MAJOR twist happens…. duuude. There are many films in Dern’s CV that could be recommended, but the actress had had such an incredible 2017 (Star Wars, this, Big Little Lies for which she won an Emmy) that it only seemed fitting to celebrate another part of this helluva run. All the respect for La Dern. (And all of her amazing wigs, damn!)
The ‘Burbs (1989)
Cast featured: Carrie Fisher
Let’s be real, it’s tempting when coming to Carrie Fisher on this list to just urge you to drop everything and watch her entire filmography. There are two other films I very nearly put here instead: Postcards From the Edge with Meryl Streep, which is based on Fisher’s outstanding semi-autobiographical book; and Bright Lights, the documentary about Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds which was released after both of their tragic deaths. (You need to see the latter, truly, but be warned it’s a devastating though lovely watch.) In an effort to think of something less celebrated that deserves a second look, though, I offer Joe Dante’s truly bananas and yet somehow compulsively watchable bit of 80’s cheese. Fisher has pretty excellent chemistry with co-star Tom Hanks, as a married couple whose sleepy suburb is invaded by new neighbors whose creepy reputation precedes them. It’s a deeply weird though fun film, and Fisher’s innate ability to be the wry sense of reason is aces.
Brigsby Bear (2017)
Cast featured: Mark Hamill
You’ll have to believe me when I say that the less you know about Brigsby Bear before you watch it, the better. I can give you this much: Kyle Mooney (who also co-wrote) plays an adult man who lives in an underground bunker with his parents; Mark Hamill is his father, Mom is Jane Adams. He’s obsessed with a children’s educational program called “Brigsby Bear.” And that’s about where I need to draw the line, because what follows is one of the most surreal, heartwarming, expectation-defying films of recent years and a real underrated entry in what was a pretty damn good year for movies. A pretty damn good year for Mark Hamill, too; the entire Brigsby Bear cast is tops (Greg Kinnear and Claire Danes also star), but he who would be the Last Jedi delivers just as powerful a turn here as he did there, as a character who does a complete 180 from start to finish and yet still on some bizarre level ends up being the man his son needed him to be.
