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The Gray Man (2022)
Excellent cast and lush locations elevates spy caper
I'm grateful I viewed this on a big screen at the local Cinemark. The acting is professional, the story moves fairly consistently, and the action scenes are meant to inspire awe, and they do. If the viewer is looking for new innovation in the spy caper genre, he or she is likely to leave disappointed. It means to entertain with lavish action set pieces. There is raw physicality in every scene: every punch feels the crunch. The film does an outstanding job of letting the main character with his motivations and inner conflict be left in a conflicted and interpretive state. One hopes this can be exported in future installments. Special consideration is given to performances by Chris Evans and Alfre Woodard. Evans portrays the primary antagonist: Lloyd Hansen. The performance walks the thin line of despicable and alluring. Evans as an actor brings such an assured physicality to his performance. A true joy. And finally, Alfre Woodard as the mentor makes the most of limited screen time. With every glance you sense her history with the agency, the country, and her protégée. Remarkable stuff, hope she can return in some capacity in future installments. Yes, all the plot points will ring familiar, but I encourage viewers to just relax and enjoy the massive spectacle and aim to entertain. It's got a game cast, stunts, and great locations; most notably Prague.
Copshop (2021)
Exemplary filmmaking and fun
It's got it all, style, wit, inspired acting, and a plot that keeps you guessing. Clinton Shorter supplies a funky inventive soundtrack that stands on its own. Every frame delivers. Bullets fly with abandon, and if that's your thing, don't miss this new masterpiece of the genre. Standout performers were Alexis Louder and Toby Huss. Honorable mention to Gerard Butler: cinema's most valuable sleeze.
Man in the Arena (2021)
A legend in the making.
You can't deny Tom Brady has an extraordinary legacy in a uniquely violent sport. This personal account skews away from a hard dissection of his persona and character complexities, but it is tremendous fun to relive this history. Love or hate him, he won't be forgotten.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Well, goodness.
This film is about many things, primarily it is about how a great artist like James Gunn made films for the great empire and destroyer of worlds the Walt Disney company, this is his catharsis. My only quibble is Viola Davis is given nothing interesting to do.
King of the Hill: Keeping Up with Our Joneses (1997)
The best episode of the series.
If you only see one episode of this television program, make it this one. A character forward brilliant satire full of hilarious lines. Luann steals the show.
The Night House (2020)
So much style and genuine bumps in the night.
Endeavors to do more with the haunted house story than your average down on the cheap horror film. I was often deeply unsettled and disturbed when the tension ratcheted up, which was done at the right intervals and with craft, flair. The flaw of the film is the flat characterization and that unsettles what should feel like enormous stakes. Rebecca Hall is giving a performance that is better than the movie. Seems like a not fully fleshed out but very intriguing exploration of why people stay married for no good reason.
True Detective: Other Lives (2015)
Vince Vaughn
I'm still engrossed, but it is very compelling how miscast Vince Vaughn is in this. He is so dry and flat. There is nothing going on behind his eyes. He doesn't convey menace nor brooding, just a dullard reading off pretentious lies. And the scripting has really taken a turn this year. Lazy and snobby: the worst.
BoJack Horseman: The Telescope (2014)
Transcendent television
Welcome to a half hour that will challenge and make you keel over laughing. Look for sharp character and cutting industry satire. Also guest star Angelica Huston steals the show as the most dastardly Hollywood exec.
Yellowstone: Freight Trains and Monsters (2020)
Season three going well
I can't believe, after the tonally inconsistent and clunky structure of earlier seasons, how good this episode was. The characters are well sketched comprehensively for the first time ever. Josh Holloway is an inspired addition to the cast, and his chemistry with the show's most ferocious character is so much fun. Just so many fun plus tender moments in this. And a shocking twist.
Yellowstone: You're the Indian Now (2020)
Nothing is happening, everything is happening.
This is Kevin Costner's vanity project. Thus, now over two seasons and change: every character is on a journey to become just like John Dutton. They are land grabbing empty souls. There is a new big bad for the season. Dutton's piece of Montana is under threat from development. It's clear the show is just going to stay on one loop. Nice to see josh Holloway.
Yellowstone: Blood the Boy (2019)
Inconsistent and treading water
Suffice to say, I'll give the show credit: I'm still watching late into season two and find genuine entertainment. However, this show is frustrating and bewildering. Why are the Beck brothers now the main antagonist? Because the plot demands Jenkins and rainwater become patsies overnight in spite of their enormous resources. The show veers awkwardly between a cowboy romp (antics with ranch hands are the shows best part) and the family drama which is written bafflingly and changes on a dime. It's so frustrating because the actors are fantastic and the Shakespearean potential is right there waiting to be plumbed. I don't care what happens to their ranch, these characters are flat and with the exception of John Dutton, deeply stupid. The show's best character is Jimmy, and the actor who plays him brings great humanity to the part and managed to evoke some soul. Also, the soundtrack is incredible and opening theme hints at what a great piece of literature this show could be. God bless all the attractive cowboys.
Logan Lucky (2017)
These boys are lucky if only the situation would help them enjoy it.
I like Steven Soderbergh. He understands good characters make the best kinds of film. Logan Lucky is full of interesting characters. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver make oddball, yet endearing brothers. Daniel Craig is a hoot in spite of some questionable accent slips. But the film gives them a not entirely realized burglary scheme. It is all too convenient and complex at the same time. I also didn't much care for the daughter being in a beauty pageant. Soderbergh seems to treat her interest in this as healthy thing, and just from how unseeingly these things really are as depicted on TLC and the like, it felt wrong in a film that is irreverent. I don't think you need to drop eight bucks for this, wait for streaming & a rainy afternoon.
The Beguiled (2017)
Sofia's deeply felt chamber piece
I see this film as an addendum to Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. It contains the same themes and emotional content. Coppola is endlessly intrigued by the way the patriarchal system house women in contained areas. This micro universe, a southern female boarding academy, makes for an intriguing world for Coppola to unpack her bag in. I'm not entirely confident this is the best scenario for the director to best elucidate her audiences's emotions, but it is an intriguing choice. And a beautiful one at that. The film was shot on 35mm and looks breathtaking on screen. The terminally under-lit plantation house makes tremendous use of negative space. Coppola resists exploitation by consistently pulling away from the crisis to check in on the students. They move like a hive through the house eavesdropping on the adults. We feel like them; disoriented, unable to fully comprehend what is going on. This film is so worth seeing because it is told completely from a female point of view. The entire cast is splendid; and Colin Farrell has never looked so becoming.
Secret in Their Eyes (2015)
Flop In Their Eyes
Secret In Their Eyes is a movie that will break your heart for what it could have been. The best part is the cast. Julia Roberts, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Nicole Kidman have garnered attention for their presence, but we also have doing supporting duties Dean Norris, and Michael Kelly. The film opens with the brutal death of Jess's daughter. The moment Jess finds her daughter and the inexplicable grief that follows is a shattering and powerful moment. The prosecution and how justice will be parceled out to a police officer, a country, and ultimately a parent is the crux of Billy Ray's third directorial effort. This case which transcends from 2002 to 2015 fails to find its center through a milquetoast romance between the characters of Ray and Claire. The unrequited love and smoldering passion these two are supposed to feel is not there, and the film falls through the center. Kidman never settles fully into her role. Kidman, who excels in more offbeat work, becomes a stoic non-entity in the film. Ray does not adequately structure the transitions between time periods, nor do the actors convey any change in demeanor and attitude to assist the audience. This lack of emotional tension restricts the audience into a state of indifference the film does not have the quality or tension to transcend.
Strangerland (2015)
striking concept led astray by amateurish direction
A psychological thriller set in the outback, Nicole Kidman in her native tongue, you don't say? Strangerland was a project to watch as soon as above and Joseph Fiennes came aboard under a first time female director. Sadly, Strangerland is a film that has a lot going for it, but the separate pieces never quite coalesce. The film kicks off in a sweaty dreamy fashion. the camera lingers over a quiet but simmering household. Husband and wife barely acknowledge one another, and poof the children are gone, and all hell breaks loose. This is a film about falling apart. Kidman and Fiennes give their all. Fiennes is an unpredictable rage machine, a product of repression. Kidman in absence of her little ones fights a soul breaking loneliness. she becomes ravenous for male attention, it's as if she has never in her life felt tenderness, and if she doesn't get some soon, she will die. Both actors are completely committed to their roles they keep you going even when the script and editing fail them. Kim Farrant wants to tell of story of family, but also crime procedural as well. Hugo Weaving is in the mix too; he is a cop. He has some history with every character in the story and seems to have the magic power of people melting down in front of him for no reason. He supposedly somehow connects to the family, but it is ultimately pointless, as no mysteries are ever solved by the end. The film just can't get enough of Kidman and Fiennes, they are sublime talents. If only Farrant had realized that they were all she needed.