Jeff Nichols' feature debut is a beautifully shot film about the consequences and cycle of violence, with memorable performances, judicious editing and great use of music. Looking back now, one of the greatest pleasures is seeing the potential Nichols has promised here being fully realised in later works like Take Shelter and Midnight Special, as well as the influence the film has had on works such as Blue Ruin.
Erm... I liked the music? And the colour scheme was very interesting. But, I found Dennis Quaid's character endlessly irritating and the male posturing wearying. The central relationship is unconvincing at best, rapey at worst, and the story just doesn't grip in the way it should. The film garners momentum when John Goodman's character shows up, but it's largely too little too late.
A flawless, precision-tooled masterpiece, where every frame works perfectly. Unsentimental but profound and moving, it is suspenseful as any classsic Hitchcock, gripping from start to finish. I can see why it is sometimes sighted as one of the greatest films of all time.
Beautifully photographed anti-hero drama/western, with teriffic performances (peak-sexy Paul Newman and fantastically complex Patricia Neal) and some really memorable moments. It feels somehow wonderfully subversive yet also very 1960s.
Deftly bettering a thousand typical Hollywood disaster flicks, The Wave offers up genuinely good characterisation and intelligent writing AND delivers on spectacle. Gorgeous photography, impressive CGI and what at least sounds like coherent science combine to make a really excellent film. The central performances are more than solid and the story beats work well. Finally, and it's a minor point, but it is the only film I can think of seeing (at least in immediate memory) where a very specific human behaviour occurs when someone panics and is convinced they may drown. Just one of the small moments that really impressed me. Bravo.
Three hours of shit, piss, pleghm, blood and semen. It was an experience.
If this sounds redactive, it's only because I was expecting something more from the intriguing premise. Alas I found the narrative incoherent and the characters are all so vile that I was never gripped (though I was never bored either). On a technical, physical and atmospheric level, the film is undoubtedly a huge success.
Realistic - to an extent - and improvy sounding practically real time comedy drama, propelled by two excellent lead performances. It's not a "Before" film (though it aspires to be), but it's always watchable and occasionally very interesting.
Toy Story minus the layered storytelling animated in the style of Bolt. Some cute visual gags and funny bits, but nothing groundbreaking. It's pleasant enough.
I reckon this probably reads better as a script than how it plays as a film, but after a rough 15 opening minutes, this meta post-ironic horror slasher hits its stride with its deliberately woeful dialogue, stock characters and familiar horror conventions. It's also oddly touching. Plus Alia Shawkat is always fantastic. Sequel?
**BONUS POINTS FOR BANANARAMA**
A 20 minute idea stretched to interminable length. Despite the copious use of fowl language and sex scenes, it's also not nearly as subversive as it thinks it is. Meh.
Pieces of April but with actual characters and humanity, Other People is a film written with a variety of humour and insight and has two truly fantastic central performances.
Equal parts brilliance and boredom - Affleck is clearly a talented director but large stretches of this film go nowhere interesting. The bank heists and shootouts are as well shot as anything from Heat, and there are some terrific performances to compensate for the unfocused storytelling.
"I thought you were shy."
"I am. I'm gay and I'm shy."
The film is almost worth watching for the sensitively handled scene where the above exchange comes from. It's also surprisingly nicely shot, and had a couple if decent enough performances. Otherwise.... it's pleasant enough, but whilst it does invert some stereotypes it also wallows in many others. And it's another example of a film that portrays (generally) a coming out/bro-flick that bears no resemblance to any kind of reality I know of.
A documentary about miscarriages of justice in an undeniable culture of rape, that will infuriate and move in equal measure. It's the kind of film that should be shown in schools as part of social studies. It's also an angry cry, a call to action, a work of solidarity. It demands to be seen.
A mesmerisingly good performance from Tim Roth is chief among the reasons for watching this humane, oddly tense, and simply shot film with echoes of Michael Haneke. The supporting cast are also superb and characters and script feel naturalistic.
I was expecting a controversial ending and actually got the exact one I thought was going to happen. It didn't anger me like it has other reviewers, but it does feel like it was just a way for the film to end. It doesn't feel tacked on, or nihilistic, it just *is*, which is not to say it's not disappointing. Some sort of more rational or, heck, even more cathartic resolution would likely have worked better.
