Call Me By Your I, Tonya

We are in the start of Oscar season, so I took advantage of the holiday and day off from work to head to the Angelika in Plano to cross some potentials off my list. Yes, I decided to see two movies to make the drive to Plano worth it.

First up was Call Me By Your Name, a luscious, sensual tale of two people finding love. Because the story takes place between two men, it has been compared to Brokeback Mountain. It's not a bad comparison, as both deal with "forbidden" love not ready for the time. The story is beautifully told, and I especially loved the conversation at the end between dad and son. It felt just a tad long, but that's an easy issue to overlook.

Next up was I, Tonya, the dark, funny, incredible story of figure skater Tonya Harding, her relationship with her mother (played by always-excellent Allison Janney) and (eventual ex) husband. It's funny and irreverent and dark and fantastic. Instead of being a tradition biopic (which would have been boring), the film takes the crazy, almost-comical characters and uses that to tell the story in a fresh way. I recommend it because it's just so much fun.

The movies were wildly different in tone, content and aesthetics. But both demonstrated a master knowledge of the subject and approach to the film.