75
The shock factor of Pain & Gain is certainly an interesting notch in the belt of Michael Bay’s testosterone-fueled, steroid-injected filmography. It’s never one I fully anticipated Bay could accomplish with this amount of success. In short- the dude’s a freak.
I mean this in the most complimentary way possible, this is a man whose bread and butter is dynamite and f-bombs, but now employs dismemberment, blackmail, and the one drug everyone should fear Bay to ever have, cocaine.
Bays latest…
96
Gareth Edwards has been missing. For 7 years the filmmaker who revitalized the Godzilla franchise and confirmed that the Disney Star Wars films were here to stay with the first anthology film, “Rogue One,” has taken the longest break in his career. Some might call that cause for concern, however, all good things take time, and Edwards’s grand return to the cinema is now not only a symbol for what proper sci-fi filmmakers should be doing but also for…
100
Finding it harder and harder to accept any criticism of this film, rare, but the feeling is still there.
Watched the Blu-ray
90
I wanted to marinate on this before putting any words down, and thankfully so.
The film is a behemoth to get through, but never feels long, the pacing is perfect.
DiCaprio and Gladstone are some of the best paired performers of the year, and de Niro is (as expected) fantastic.
It’s a Martin Scorsese movie, and one that is mournfully romantic in epic Scorsese fashion.
98
Update: 9/12/21
TIFF #2
Thank the lord this film is no longer embargoed.
Benediction: (noun) The utterance or bestowing of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24–26
Benedictions are almost always used in Christianity to signify the end of a worship…
77
What a way to kick-off thanksgiving break, a film so desperate to be something that it accidentally ends up working.
Fennell clearly shows actual artistic composition in shots and sequencing, as well as showing a proficient knowledge of *good* needle drops. Overall as a creative it’s a massive improvement over PYM.
Keoghan seems to be doing something similar to Sacred Deer, instead of Colin Farrell, he’s paired with Jacob Elordi, who continues to prove that he has exactly what austin butler thinks he has.
Sandgren also is just absolutely wild with his camera movements, great stuff.
Weird, but in the safest way possible.
