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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| The Nice Guys - Great chemistry, good writing. |
Buy The Nice Guys
Written by: Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi
Directed by: Shane Black
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger
Rated: R
Plot:
In '70s L.A., a mismatched pair of private investigators track a missing girl related to a dubious suicide case.
Verdict:
This movie is a lot of fun, from the quirky characters to the slick dialog. Gosling and Crowe make a great pair. It can be contrived and over the top, but it's the kind of movie that you'll watch with a wry smile on your face because it's so smart.
Watch it.
Review:
Written by Shane Black who ascended to fame when he wrote Lethal Weapon (read my review), this is another buddy cop movie. Russell Crowe is tough guy Jackson Healy and Ryan Gosling is hard drinking, accident prone Holland March.
Surprisingly smog is at the center of this caper. Healy and March begin working together to find a missing girl. This same girl had paid Healy to 'talk' March into suspending his investigation of her. Now she's gone. Crowe and Gosling do a great job in their roles, and their odd couple relationship is one of the main reasons this movie is so much fun. While their investigative success is doubtful at best, it adds to the charm. These guys aren't skilled, they're lucky. That luck takes them all the way to the finale.
To Healy's dismay, March is quirky and perennially out of his depth. His humor often skews to slapstick, like an early attempt to break a window that goes quite wrong. That's when I knew I was going to like the humor in this movie. There are so many funny parts that balance action and dialog. It even subverts the boiling coffee defense trope.
They succeed by, and despite, tripping over their own feet. It's contrived, but easy to ignore with a movie that has fun like this. That's the point. They're nice, rather than good. The plot loops back over itself with everything entangled. The missing girl, the suicide, the smog protest group, and even auto manufacturers are all linked to the subject of smog. The boy from the protest group that helps them is Jack Kilmer, Val's son.
While it connects with such a neat bow, it's quite deft with how smooth this works out. You get to piece together how everything is related, as this doesn't spoon feed you answers.
The references, while period accurate, skew older with The Waltons and an Omar Shariff joke. A lot of people aren't going to catch them.
March's daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) is an invaluable asset that helps them crack the case. She's a great character in part because she's a child that functions as an adult. It's a trope that often works well in movies as it does here.
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| Hardcore Henry - A first person shooter amplified to the maximum. |
Buy Hardcore History
Written by: Ilya Naishuller (screenwriter), Will Stewart (additional writing by)
Directed by: Ilya Naishuller
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Tim Roth, Haley Bennett
Rated: R
Plot:
Shot entirely in first person, Henry is resurrected and takes revenge on everyone.
Verdict:
This looks and feels like a video game due to the perspective. It's a gimmick that while entertaining, should never be used again. Shot traditionally would probably make this a boring B movie. With that in mind, it's worth watching once because they got it right. This is an adrenaline pumping, kinetic movie that makes Crank (2006) look low key. It relishes in blood, gore, and violence.
Watch it.
Review:
The entire movie is shot in first person point of view, utilizing GoPro Hero cameras almost entirely. It's part part video game, part movie, and the opening credits are close ups of guns and knives as they tear through flesh. We know what we're getting almost instantly.
Henry wakes up with no memory and missing part of his arm and leg. He's then fitted with prosthetics, in what feels exactly like a video game tutorial. A telepathic bad guy shows up and the adrenaline thrill ride begins. This cranks action movies up to eleven. Just like a video game, Henry gets messages that tell him, in essence, "Go here."
Henry is aided by Jimmy, who despite dying keeps coming back. You'll see the reason coming from a mile away, even if you don't know why.
This is a technical achievement to be sure. Some of the parkour stuff is just insane. It may be a gimmick, but it's engrossing. With the number of injuries Henry sustains, I began to wonder what he looks like. While we do finally see him towards the end, his face does not bear the numerous injuries sustained throughout the movie.
There's a neat shot where each half of the screen has a different perspective, before you realize his eye popped out of the socket. It was such a great concept they used it twice, though the second time wasn't nearly as neat.
The movie just keeps going big; bigger guns, bigger scenarios. It relishes in blood, gore, and violence. The perspective makes this one of the most viscerally violent movies I've ever seen. Any movie that copies this style will feel like a knock off. Unless you get motion sickness, see this novelty. The ending is insane and the body count reaches 211. This isn't necessarily good, but it does the one thing it set out to do very well.
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| The Neon Demon - Striking imagery in a veil-less metaphor. |
Buy The Neon Demon
Written by: Nicolas Winding Refn (story by), Nicolas Winding Refn and Mary Laws & Polly Stenham (screenplay)
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Jena Malone
Rated: R
Plot:
An aspiring model moves to Los Angeles where the youth and beauty obsessed culture devour her.
Verdict:
This is a visually driven, and visually provocative movie. It's because of these images the movie will remain in your thoughts. The dialog is sparse, but the characters are incredibly well acted. The last quarter is a series of images designed to provoke reaction while also removing any hint of subtlety from the allegory. This movie explores the modeling industry, rebuking society's fixation on beauty. It defies expectations to make a point, a point that's impossible to miss.
It depends.
Review:
The imagery is amazing, but that should be no surprise in a Winding Refn film. His films eschew dialog to focus on the visuals. I would have to watch this again, but you can tell colors have thematic purpose, red especially.
This feels like a typical Winding Refn film. Drive (2011), a heist movie, is still my favorite of his films, and it's the most mainstream. The Neon Demon falls somewhere between that and the ultra violent Only God Forgives (2013) concerning accessibility.
Jessie (Elle Fanning) is a new transplant to Los Angeles, wanting to start a modeling career. Fanning does a great job portraying feelings of uneasiness as she walks the high wire of wanting to fit in but being completely out of her depth. She's different and that intrigues the veteran models. Jessie isn't jaded and while her rise from amateur to desired talent is completely too quick, this movie isn't a realistic portrayal of the industry. It's a commentary that deliberately defies expectations and realism.
Jessie's very first scene exemplifies the dark tone of this film. She poses for a photo shoot covered in fake blood, wanting us to ask the question, 'what do you sacrifice to make it in the industry?'
Keanu Reeves has a small role as the manager at Jessie's motel. I'm impressed he took such a small role. While there isn't much for him to do, he's competent. One of the first scenes at her motel is a thinly veiled metaphor that this town will eat her alive.
Her first professional photo shoot goes to great lengths to make the set and photographer creepy. I worried about what was going to happen to her. She's a prime target of which to take advantage.
While everyone is drawn to Jessie, I don't get the appeal. I just don't see it, but that's a part of it. These character see something in her that we can't. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This industry wants new life, new blood, and it doesn't make sense but they still want it. Maybe it's just the deer in the headlights look that Ruby (Jena Malone) suggested.
Everyone that sees her is instantly infatuated. This new girl makes the other models jealous because she instantly gets what they've been working for their entire career. Careers are short in this industry, your career is over by twenty one, according to the movie at least.
Jessie quickly rises to prominence. After landing a runway job, we get a preview of what's to come when Jessie cuts her hand and Sarah reacts. I won't spoil it, but it's bonkers. It's the first step as the movie jumps off the deep end.
Jessie's first runway job is certainly an indulgent sequence with the camera focusing on Jessie for a long time. The fashion designer later espouses about how beauty is currency, and the only way to get what you want is to take it. Jessie isn't above reproach. Her rise is at least partially calculated.
This movie is dark, but the last quarter makes the rest look bright and sunny. It's beyond blood and gore. I wouldn't recommend watching this while eating spaghetti. The images' intention is to provoke a response, and there is no way you won't react. The other models want what Jessie has, they want her life. This is an interesting look and repudiation of the modeling industry and how we view beauty. It can be a cut throat That idea can easily get lost. The action is what will stick in your mind, not the message.
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