I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.
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| Bone Tomahawk - Grisly, understated, engrossing. |
Watch Bone Tomahawk
Written by: S. Craig Zahler
Directed by: S. Craig Zahler
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins
Rated: Not Rated
Plot:
In the wild west, four men attempt to save a group abducted by cannibals.
Review:
I heard a review of this on a podcast that piqued my curiosity. It sounded like a film I would like, and I'm a Kurt Russell fan. My main concern was a genre shift like Sunshine. I like that film, but the tone definitely changes. This movie doesn't have a genre shift, it's solid, engaging, and different from typical Hollywood films, the ending a culmination of everything that came before.
The very first image is a shock, a sleeping man getting his throat cut in a robbery. It's a great first scene to set the stage, letting us know this movie will contain gore.
The robbers take off after their deed and stumble across a burial site, something akin to Pet Sematary. One of the robbers is killed with an arrow and the other flees. It's a great opening.
I'm surprised this wasn't released in theaters. It's very well made. The productions values are excellent, with the buildings and interiors look rustic and legitimate.
I read numerous complaints that the movie is slow, but I like the pacing. The story moves forward and is never boring. Russell really has presence, while Jenkins feels a little too scatter brained and forgetful, though that gets better as the story progresses. Matthew Fox plays to his strengths in this as cold, detached, and anti-social. Patrick Wilson isn't bad, though he is outshined. The acting is bolstered by the strong dialog. Half the lines are quotable, Matthew Fox quipping he's the smartest as he's the only one not married and repartees between various characters.
The search party is mounted when the troglodytes kill a stable boy and kidnap three people. The movie implies the cave dwellers came to the town following the one robber, but how did it take them so long to get him? The movie tells us eleven days passed. The troglodytes are brutally efficient towards the end. The robber shouldn't have made it far at all.
The search party is the sheriff played by Russell, the deputy played by Jenkins, the distraught husband with a broken leg Wilson, and Fox who is tangentially involved.
The violence ramps up when they get to the caves. A hand and later fingers are detached, a man is scalped and then cut in half. The violence is brutal and graphic, the camera doesn't shy from it. It's relentless but doesn't feel out of place. The movie has been ramping up to this for one and a half hours. It is intense, which is escalated as the prisoners count down how many are left juxtaposed with Wilson mowing down three of the cannibals, which have horns and teeth embedded in their flesh. The torture scene is nearly unbearable, due to implication more so than visuals.
The characters that don't make it, each get a good send off. It's implied this branch of underdeveloped creatures are eradicated. The characters determine three are left, and one, who realizes he won't live stays behind with a rifle. As the remaining characters escape, three gun shots echo across the valley marking the end of the journey.
I wonder how the survivors will make it back, but no answers are implied.
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| Bone Tomahawk |
Verdict:
The movie is well made and refreshing, from the genre to the story. The story is simple and effective with developed characters and strong dialog. I really enjoyed the pacing. The movie may be difficult for some as it is gory, the camera rarely turning away. It puts you in the situation and provides a bevy of characters forcing you to reflect on how you might react in such a situation.
Watch it.
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| Hannah and Her Sisters - Tangled and mangled relationships all work out in the end. |
Watch Hannah and Her Sisters
Written by: Woody Allen
Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Carrie Fisher, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Woody Allen
Rated: PG-13
Plot:
Bookmarked by Thanksgiving two years apart, Hannah's husband Elliot falls for her sister Lee, and her ex-husband Mickey starts a relationship with her other sister Holly.
Review:
Allen has a knack for relationship movies. Many of his characters have neurotic tendencies, which combined with the dialog makes it easy to identify with them. The dialog is as sharp as ever and Allen of course plays his typical character. Per the usual, there is a lot of New York in this film, including an architect's tour around the city.
The movie feels authentic due to character's dialog and internal thoughts. We see the minutia of everyday life which lends a grounded quality. We see Michael Caine as Elliot running across town to fabricate a run in with his crush. Caine is excellent, misspeaking and stuttering when nervous. We know how he's feeling not because he tells us, but because he acts. We know how it feels to have a crush. In the typical awkward fashion, Caine goes for it, realizing he shouldn't while the object of his affection recoils in horror. The fact that Caine is married and his crush it his sister in law makes for a scandalous story.
The movie examines a lack of confidence not only in Caine but in Dianne Wiest who longs to be an actress. Even in her love life, she is second guessing herself. Allen's character is afraid of mortality. All of them are afraid and excel at making mistakes, but like life mistakes lead to wisdom.
The movie has a happy ending with Caine remaining with his wife played by Farrow, realizing his foolishness. His crush, played by Hershey is not married to a professor. Allen and Wiest's characters get married despite a horrendous first date.
Verdict:
All of Allen's movies focus on relationships and provide sharp dialog. This is no exception and ranks as one of his best movies. The characters are foolish and make mistakes, but realize their fallacies. Allen excels at writing neurotic characters, which serves to endear them to the viewer.
It depends.
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| The Believer - Watch Gosling as a racist. |
Watch The Believer
Written by: Henry Bean (screenplay, Henry Bean & Mark Jacobson (story)
Directed by: Henry Bean
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Garret Dillahunt, Billy Zane
Rated: R
Plot:
Ryan Gosling plays a character dealing with the conflict between his anti-Semitic beliefs and Jewish background.
Review:
The opening scene felt very eighties due to the music, credits, film grain, and subway setting. The first scene has Gosling harassing a Jewish kid. We get his ideology right off, but will the movie endeavor to make Gosling a sympathetic character? Will it explain the reason for his hate?
Unfortunately it doesn't.
The movie is based on a true story, but only loosely. Gosling is a Jewish kid who becomes filled with hate. The movie flashes back to instances of him questioning God, but doesn't provide an explanation into his hate. Is he mad that he was taught a religion in which he doesn't believe? This was the question that remained throughout the movie.
The sensitivity training Gosling and his friends experience due to an arrest where they hear holocaust survivors speak was terrifying. The stories they hear are terrible, but these kids are so deluded they can't generate compassion or empathy. I want Gosling to realize how wrong he is. He spouts this information, presenting his terrifying opinion as some kind of fact or catalyst, but to what end? The movie explores his conflict, how he hasn't fully abandoned his religion. He still respects it despite his heinous misdeeds.
Gosling delivers a speech towards the end to love instead of hate, offending the supremacists. He claims he's making a point but it's running both ways. It's an end to the hate and harassment his committed throughout the movie, veiled as a key to victory for the supremacists. Of course they reject the idea, which proves to underscore the point. Their hate has no basis.
A film on this subject generates comparisons to American History X, that was an exploration of the origins of such hate. This explores the turmoil and question the underlying reason. Is Gosling on a search for truth? Does he hate because no explanation for religion ever satisfied?
I like American History X, just because it provides a reason as to why someone would adopt such a harsh ideology. The questions generated by The Believer focus more on Gosling's turmoil and only briefly touch upon the unsubstantiated basis for the belief.
The ending was surreal, which seemed out of place. The movie went too far to try to provide an answer that didn't seem related to the main question.
Verdict:
It's an interesting juxtaposition but doesn't deliver on the questions it wants us to ask. I'm left wondering more about the character than the issues raised. Gosling's character seems to realize his flawed thinking, but that idea isn't explored enough, and it's more I wanted him to change than the movie proving he really did.
Skip it.
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| Samsara - A stunning audio and video showcase. |
Watch Samsara
Written by: Concept and treatment written by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson
Directed by: Ron Fricke
Starring: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi
Rated: PG-13
Plot:
Samsara is a series of images from around the world that capture life and death, the natural Earth and mans encroach. It's beautiful and evocative, though not a traditional movie in the sense that there is no story or plot or any spoken dialog. It's images set to melodious music and it's stunning.
Review:
Samsara redefines what a movie is or can be. Without a single line of dialog it's an audio and video exploration. What this movie is about depends on the viewer and how much one reads into the images. It's not random, certain images tie together revealing a larger implication. It's about life & death, building & destruction, and so much more.
Amazing images against fitting music evokes moods and feelings. It's a showcase of the amazing planet on which we live, the good and the bad. It's a technical achievement to just have acquired the video segments. You see still images contributed by dozens of people, but these are moving images across dozens of countries. captured by ostensibly a single group of people.There are a few creepy scenes, one where I guy puts clay on his face, forming some kind of mask. He removes and reshapes the clay, and it's not far from something in a horror movie, but even then it's mesmerizing.
Verdict:
The visuals are striking, but know this isn't a typical movie. It's a beautiful experience. If an alien species came to Earth and asked us what we can offer to the universe, give them this movie and an HD television. This is an experience everyone needs (granted you are adventurous), and I can't stress how amazing the music is.
It depends.
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