Triangle of Sadness vs The Menu

Triangle of Sadness has been gaining some social plaudits this fall, not least being the buzz at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) last month. But I'd wager that half those who were buzzing probably had buyers' regret after seeing it. I know many people walked out. There are several problems and "meh" aspects of the film. The movie is in three chapters and the third - set on the island where the "Gilligan's Island" ship wreckers land - goes on way, way too long. The second chapter - aboard the ill-fated luxury liner - is the best. The cinematography is great as Swedish director Ruben Östlund (who otherwise had sound films in Force Majeure (2014) and The Square (2017)) and crew catch the chaos and absurd personal dramas of a sea bound voyage disrupted by a storm. The first chapter - seemingly unrelated to the two others except for the main characters - has a humorous sketch about dating and masculine and feminine roles. I’m sure lots of people could relate. But what does it all add up to? First of all the movie is derivative by half, of films such as those by the great Spanish director Luis Buñuel like The Exterminating Angel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie (1972) and The Phantom of Liberty (1974). Or, more recently South Korea's Bong Joon-Ho's 2019 forgettable, to my mind, Parasite. They’re surreal or black comedies with the theme "Eat the Rich." One has to ask why Östlund would go through the trouble of creating the elaborate boat scene, special effects and all, with myriad scenes of people barfing and a toilet exploding, to make yet another cliched point. Now if you really want to do an Eat the Rich commentary right, check out Mark Mylod's The Menu (photo), currently in cinemas. This is a taut beginning to end thriller, of the culinary kind, of course. Again, the theme is the Privileged Get Their Comeuppance, but the direction and cinematography are done so much better, with close ups and great acting by the main characters Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult. From one course to the next in this most exclusive of restaurants we don’t know whether the diners are being treated to the ultimate in gourmet food or something more malevolent, with an ending I'm glad I never suspected. So while both these films are derivative and have Eat the Rich themes, at least one is up to full movie making snuff. Of course, all this Eat the Rich stuff is ultimately boring. I'm waiting for a film with the theme Eat the Well-Paid Bureaucrats but that's something we'll probably never see. ..... Walking out of the Imagine Lakeshore Cinemas last week an old cardboard movie display caught my eye. It was for the James Bond No Time to Die release, somehow still in storage off the theatre's corridor, with the ominous wording "Opens April 2020." Now that is a real horror flashback.