Ooo-wee, 17 films seen in total during September, most I've seen in a month so far.
Here's the last batch:
- First Reformed: I liked it, it was a drama, and yet I could never tell/predict where it was headed with every follow-up scene, so that was good and extremely engaging. Another thing that was captivating and very well done all the way through was Ethan Hawke's thoughts during the narration parts. A little too much religious stuff thrown in there, but that's just how the story goes. Also a couple of scenes were TOTALLY unexpected and that was a nice surprise. It's a film I recommend seeing going in blind as much as you can. The director made Taxi Driver, and he said he was surprised to see how there were many parallels between the two films when he was editing it.
- The Crescent: BRUH, I had been waiting to see this film for like 2 years, and yet it never premiered anywhere. I got fed up with it, looked it up online and found a version. Sadly, it wasn't the best quality, but I finally got to see it. It's one of those moody, strange horror flicks that a lot of people will just say "it was like watching paint dry" or something, but I liked it. I enjoyed it, and the very small child who's also a main character does a tremendous job, and that's a big + especially when we're talking about horror films. Here's the mindbending trailer:
- The Wounded Angel: another film I'd been waiting to see for years, after the director's first film(?) Harmony Lessons, which I highly, highly recommend. Just like the previous film I mentioned above, I had to look it up online and watch a very crappy version, but it was alright. This film follows an anthology-like format, and while there are instances where the director's touch can be seen and felt, ultimately this plays out almost like "short story after short story", and in the end I didn't really get if there was supposed to be a message or something bigger like that, so I was left somehow unsatisfied. The reason I finally decided to watch it is because I'll be seeing the director's 3rd film, "Ozen", at a film festival a couple of months from now and I wanted to have seen his 2nd film beforehand.
- I Think We're Alone Now: it was an alright watch, but I feel like the first half of the film was a lot better. In fact, I think the film would've been much better overall if it had stuck with just a couple of characters. Afterwards - as I had seen many people complaining about - it just goes through a lot of the typical post-apocalyptic cliché tropes, which was a damn, damn shame. An alright watch like I said, but I feel like there was a ton of wasted potential in there.
- Dogman: really liked it. Subtitles were horseshit but I managed to understand everything nonetheless. The main actor who's relatively unknown was superb, really amazing. Very well shot, too. Somewhat predictable in a sense, I guess, but the directing and acting is what would set this film apart from similar ones. It's the first film I've seen by Matteo Garrone, who also made Gomorrah.
- Hold The Dark: I really liked Blue Ruin and Green Room - and I highly recommend those films to those that haven't seen them yet - but I was somewhat cautious to not get overly optimistic about this film, considering it was an adaptation (all his other films were written by him) therefore not an original idea, and also some earlier critics that said that the ending just wasn't satisfying. It was an alright watch, but unfortunately they were right, in the end it's just not satisfying at all even if you do get all the pieces and info you need to piece everything together. A lot of wasted potential here too, but I guess it was bound to happen considering the director is known for coming up with his own stories and directing the shit out of them... with a story and script that wasn't his own it's no wonder that some things just fell through.
An alright watch, but if you go into this film expecting a full resolution and explanation, you might want to skip it. Some scenes really surprised me and made me go "what the shit what the flying fuck is going on?!", but if there's no real meaning or reason to them it just leaves you thinking "so what was all that for?" when the movie is over.
Like, I get it that there MIGHT be an explanation for everything, but the film could've done a lot better job in conveying them.
I don't regret watching it, either, but it's a shame that this was a step down after his previous films... The silver lining here is that I have his True Detective (Season 3) episodes to look forward to.
