Movies reviewed this week: The Visit: An Alien Encounter, Shrew’s Nest, Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen, The Interior, Catch Me Daddy, Robbery, Cub, and Cop Car.
7/27/2015: The Visit: An Alien Encounter (2015): ***1/2
Conceptually interesting, not as deep as it thought it was. Yes, people who’ve spent most of their lives in study tend to want more information.
7/27/2015: Shrew’s Nest (2014): ****
Elegant and nasty Spanish bottle gothic. Beautifully shot.
7/27/2015: Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen (2015): ***1/2
Even light Kitano is Kitano. Not very violent, sort of heartwarming, very wry.
7/27/2015: The Interior (2015): ****1/2
Taut indie backwoods… I’m reluctant to say horror, since it’s not playing in the horror genre, but it’s chilling as hell. It’s a movie that will freak you out, there you go.
7/28/2015: Catch Me Daddy (2014): ***
Atmospheric exercise in minimalist British crime drama. The stakes are never clear. It bugged me a little that the plot hinged on Pakistani immigrants and a somewhat brutal father given that it was made by mostly white guys.
7/28/2015: Robbery (2015): ***1/2
Super-stylistic comedy from Hong Kong. I want to keep an eye out for Fire Lee’s movies. Awfully nihilistic; the tonal shift in the middle is sort of explained by the ending.
7/28/2015: Cub (2014): ***1/2
I felt like the connective tissue was weak and the movie suffered after one bad guy’s reveal, but everything else was pretty solid. Possibly I should give it more credit for being mythic on purpose rather than criticizing the transitions.
7/28/2015: Cop Car (2015): ****
You should know going in that it’s more Fargo than Joy Ride. Really fun, grim in places, genuinely thrilling.
Be First to Comment