Cal McMau directs David Jonsson, Tom Blyth and Alex Hassell in this British prison thriller where a long term inmate is about to be released for good behaviour only for a psychotic bad boy (who wants to takeover the wing’s drug trade) to be moved into his cell.
Had me in a chokehold from start to finish. An overpowering crime genre experience. Akin to A Prophet. Jonsson keeps making excellent career choices and flinches nicely against Blyth’s magnetic agent of chaos. Something this grim shouldn’t be this much fun. Also… goes toe to toe with Raimi’s Send Help when it comes to gushes of gross bodily fluids.
Mona Fastvold directs Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman and Thomasin McKenzie in this period musical about the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, who is proclaimed as the female Christ by her followers.
It would hyperbole to say Amanda Seyfried is a revelation in this. She has been knocking it out of the park in serious roles like Chloe, Mank, The Dropout and Lovelace for a decade now. I guess Ann Lee is so removed from her introduction to us as a big eyed, bubble lipped teen in the likes of Mean Girls and Jennifer’s Body. And this is the first time where she completely sheds her cute, pure movie star sexuality and just embodies a Streep role. Would Meryl have these moves though? The Shaker dance orgies are wholly consuming. This is a big movie sharing that Kubrickian DNA of Fastvold and Corbet’s last collaboration The Brutalist. So there is a natural distance to the storytelling here. It isn’t a biopic that flows rather than pummels you. And a lot of time the spikes of historical incident are intimately depressing. Harrowing. Intrusive. So… not a rewatchable. But a challenging achievement none the less.
Sam Raimi directs Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien and Edyll Ismail in this thriller where a put upon employee and a useless CEO engage in a power struggle when they find themselves washed up on a desert island.
The headline… This is Raimi so you WILL have a blast. I obnoxiously laughed out loud at the first two big shocks of extreme gloopy gore. Also, McAdams is in career best mode in this tangy mix of John Locke from Lost and a classic psycho biddy. I had reservations… the CGI is substandard and took me out of the fun. And, avoiding spoilers, it think a better finale would involve exploring the dynamic once they return back to everyday world they used to inhabit. Audiences seem to be seeking this one out so hopefully that means Raimi back regularly making cartoonish nasty for the foreseeable. And that’s all I want. This sits comfortably with Darkman and The Gift as a movie that’ll play better in your memory than actually sitting down to it again.
Jacques Becker directs Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, and Claude Dauphin in this noir-ish romance where two gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque Paris.
Takes the crime milieu and explore love in it. Signoret and Reggiani have instant sexual chemistry together. The underworld only knows how to take. It ends in beautiful tragedy. Almost gothic, almost hardboiled.
Alfred Sole directs Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton and Paula E. Sheppard in this early slasher where everyone suspects a troubled young girl of being the knife wielding killer stalking a community of freaks.
More like a giallo than a Halloween. This shares Black Christmas’ lax mysterious plotting and a seedier atmosphere. Paula E. Sheppard is particularly good as the baby faced prime suspect. There are surprises and it leaves you feeling disturbed. Which is the ultimate grubby intent. Notes: 1. Brooke Shields big screen debut. 2. No single parent family should have to share a stairwell with Mr Alphonso and his feral housecats.
Quinn Shephard directs Zoey Deutch, Mia Isaac and Dylan O’Brien in this comedy where an influencer exploits a terrorist attack for personal gain.
I like Zooey Deutch. She is a spunky and ambitious screen presence. I get the feeling this vehicle was intended to be her Easy A. But it is just a bit too abrasively satirical and self aware to have fun after a strong set up. Is it terrible that I wanted this stay vapidly easy breezy with a side of dark dipping sauce. PTSD exploration? No! Thank! You!
Vincent Gallo directs himself, Christina Ricci and Ben Gazzara in this indie drama about a recently released convict who kidnaps a young woman and forces her to pose as his girlfriend on returning home.
I rented this from Vogue Video back in the day but I never remember finishing it. It is very mannered. Wannabe Scorsese, beginners Cassavetes, homeopathic Lynch. Awkward unreality mundanity. With cinematic flourishes. Some clunky, some bravura. This is the closest to Bukowski anyone has ever gotten without directly adapting Bukowski. Gallo is an unctuous presence. An emperor’s new clothes talent. Allegedly he was a shit to Ricci making this.
Ridley Scott directs Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Eric Bana in this modern war movie recreating the siege fought by U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu in October 1993.
For the first ninety minutes this is some of the most intense and relentless filmmaking of its time. Vibes more like a Tony than a Ridley. The final act is very repetitive and fumbles that tension and energy. It is a story where character or context does need to emerge. Instead we get even more faceless hordes overpowering nice clean cut boys. Wearying.
Simon Stone directs Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce and David Ajala in this mystery where a journalist stumbles upon a gruesome secret while traveling aboard a luxury cruise ship.
Wealth porn The Lady Vanishes with no sense of humour and minimal fealty to logic. Forgettable aside from Keira. The sort of movie that isn’t just made for “Second Screen” viewing but really needs for you to be distracted and half invested to work.
Robert Duvall has passed. He was someone I always scored the highest of highly. Boo Radley. Tom Hagen. Boss Spearman. Often cast as the mentor figure in Hollywood fare (even before he hit middle age) he elevated cinema acting . Days Of Thunder is a trashy treat. But Duvall’s seen-it-all-before expert raises it up beyond its craven summer blockbuster instincts. He sometimes represented corrupt corporate America in lauded hits like Network and The Conversation (Hell, even to a large extent in The Godfathers) but more often than not he was the sage who had tried the tough stuff and now proffered a little sweetness… a measured restraint… as the alternative to bullying violence. Not that he couldn’t mix things up. Even in his later years the highlight of his appearances was never the whispering grandstanding or scenery chewing. It was when the devil came back to him. He’d rub his hands with glee and marvel at the chaos of the young bucks. A twinkling “Oh, here we go again.” Sometimes he would join in, earned wisdom be damned. Plus his take on Richard Stark’s Parker in the underrated The Outfit holds its own with Lee Marvin, Mel and The Stath. Check out that and The Paper for underrated deep cuts.
Colors (1988)
Dennis Hopper directs Robert Duvall, Sean Penn and Maria Conchita Alonso in this buddy cop drama where a police veteran and his rookie partner try to navigate Los Angeles gang violence.
We chose this as our In Memoriam evening viewing. It is a quintessential Duvall role. The Merlin / Obi Wan to a reckless thug we are supposed to see as the hero. While Penn’s preening dickhead wobbles between aggression and all out assault, Duvall preaches and exemplifies community spirit. Engagement. Fairness. So obviously, they clash. The film itself was cutting edge in its day but now feels like a camp relic. The Cripps and the Bloods plus the non racist mixed gang are unlikely caricatures… “Homes!” The movie is wildly uneven delivering action, drama, exploitation and even lighthearted comedy in spunky measures. All quite effectively but never gelling. Ice-T raps the theme song, Herbie Hancock delivers a zany jazz score. Closer in intent to The New Centurions than either Boyz N The Hood or Lethal Weapon. The casting and the unpredictable energy filmed out on those streets now keep this one alive past its sell by date.
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 