When mindset and mantra meet the inevitable realities of things that don't go according to plan, don't equal what you've tricked yourself into believing, David Fincher's The Killer takes flight. When a three nail extended torture plan goes by quicker than expected, when a hit goes wrong, that's when Fincher has something interesting to say in the genre he's operating in here.
When it's just the mundane nature of an unassuming killer's existence, however, The Killer feels like Fincher jogging…
I did not know what to expect going into Richard Linklater's latest film because everything about the idea of him making a film about a hit man felt wrong to me.
Linklater to me is someone profoundly interested in human encounters, philosophical discussions and his films just have a genuine curiosity about human life. A film about a guy killing people seemed incredibly far away from his forte and sensibilities to me, particularly when you go into this film expecting…
Rarely has a happy ending ever felt this sad, I think.
You could look at the character dynamics here with so much judgment and disapproval if you chose to, but everything about James Gray's Two Lovers is asking you to empathize with these characters and with Leonard in particular due to his bipolar affliction.
The subtleties with which Gray frames his manic phases turning to depression and back again is nothing short of astonishing and, as hurtful as some of…
Everything about Reptile feels tailor-made to appeal to me. Gritty cop thriller, a murder, a True Detective season one vibe in Benicio del Toro's investigation. I should have cared more but for long stretches I just didn't.
Nothing really clicks into place here, red herrings are both obvious and useless and the twists come out of nowhere but not necessarily in a good way. You've seen everything here so many times before but it's just not told well enough to…
An Indonesian rape and revenge film that somehow feels less exploitative and more grounded than comparable genre-fare. Also, it's not as visually dark and depressing as one might expect from such material but rather glary.
It's definitely a mood-piece because the film relies heavily on its images along Marlina's journey and is therein definitely akin to the western genre, which also applies to the plot, which is pretty straightforward and without too many twists or turns. Some might take away…
This film shouldn't work.
The title basically tells you exactly what kind of a story you're in for. It brings a plethora of expectations with it and, even if you just heard the trailer during previews you'll have picked up on a couple of spoilery details and of course there's a lot of invisibility lore to draw from under the guise of this title (a lore, which I'll actually plan to catch up on, courtesy of an Invisible Man films…
