#seth henrikson

[cappedinamber]

Pottersville (2017)

Directed by Seth Henrikson

Cinematography by Damian Horan

[lifejustgotawkward]

Pottersville (2017, dir. Seth Henrikson).

[cindavis]

Am I the Only One Here That Does Not Want to Hump Bigfoot? Ian McShane, Michael Shannon, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Plus Furries Equal #Pottersville

[lifejustgotawkward]

Dunkirk can move over, Pottersville is the real poetic cinema of 2017

[lifejustgotawkward]

Pottersville is a gift to us all

[lifejustgotawkward]

Pottersville (2017, dir. Seth Henrikson).

[jerichopalms]

#160: Pottersville (2017, dir. by Seth Henrikson)

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2017) - #388: Pottersville (2017) - dir. Seth Henrikson

When I watched the neo-noir romance Frank & Lola this past summer, I made a few observations regarding its leading man in my review: “The casting of Michael Shannon would indeed seem surprising and unexpected if it weren’t for Frank’s tendencies toward violence. Hasn’t Shannon made a career out of playing various shades of psychologically unstable? ... When Michael Shannon is cast as the romantic lead in a comedy where he gets to be gentle and quirky and maybe a little bit goofy, then we’ll actually have something to discuss.” Friends, my prayers have been answered.

Netflix has delivered a true holiday miracle with Pottersville. I have no idea why anyone involved in the making of the movie thought that any of it was a good idea, but I suspect that Netflix pounced on the streaming rights because some benevolent soul at the company realized that there would be a lot of weirdos (myself included) who would celebrate its utter absurdity. With Michael Shannon playing a small-town general store owner who is mistaken for Bigfoot during a drunken late-night rampage through streets, plus Judy Greer as his sweet coworker; Christina Hendricks as his wife, Ron Perlman as the town sheriff (who also happens to be a member of the local furry organization, along with Hendricks... don’t ask), Tom Lennon as the obnoxious host of a Sasquatch-hunting TV show that pounces on the news of a “Squatch” sighting and Ian McShane as a cantankerous loner who helps Lennon and Perlman search for the beast, what more could you honestly ask for?

Sure, the humor is inexplicably exaggerated, verging on surreal; it’s kind of like A Very Special Episode of Twin Peaks at Christmas. The dialogue is objectively awful and, again, the importance of the word “furry” in the plot cannot be overlooked. (Just so you know, in case you plan on watching Pottersville with your family.) But I’m going to continue to treasure this stupid Hallmark Channel-esque comedy starring Michael Shannon, dammit. Isn’t that what the spirit of the holiday season is all about?

P.S. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Pottersville, NY in the Adirondack Mountain region, go to the Stone Bridge Ice Cream roadside stand on Route 9. I am not kidding when I say that they have my favorite chocolate soft serve in the entire world.