video review : Killers Of The Flower Moon

video review : Killers Of The Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon is, coming after The Irishman, somewhat of a disappointment. There is suspense, at least for those unfamiliar with David Grann’s book about The Osage Murders, but it comes scantily as is often the case with stories based on real-life events. The acting, led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, is generally superb, along with the cinematography. It’s the convoluted plot that could use a shot in the belly.

Headrights money is an underlining theme here, but if you’re not paying attention, you could easily get lost on the reservation. Plot-turning revelations happen in a flash. It’s hard, for example, to keep count of how many people are Killed with little fanfare. This is, in that sense, another Scorsese gangster flick. Being set in mostly 1920s Oklahoma; a time and place where a homely pie-faced Lily Gladstone could pass as “beautiful”; is what distinguishes it.

my rating : 3 of 5

2023

video review : No Sudden Move

video review : No Sudden Move

What a confusing mess this movie is. It seems the whole thing is shot on a wide-angle, almost fisheye, lens; the cinematographer also has a preference for vignetting and dutch tilts; which, along with a vintage 1954 Detroit setting, is somewhat visually appealing. It’s the convoluted plot that betrays it.

It starts interestingly enough with a man named Curtis; Don Cheadle plays the role way too cool to the point of being unrealistic; making a sketchy “babysitting” deal with a stranger in an alley, but the suspense doesn’t hold up from there. Awkward dialogue and misplaced comedy only make matters worse.

my rating : 2 of 5

2021

video review : Encino Man

Encino Man

I don’t get the title. A caveman, thawed back to life by two high school seniors; Dave and Stoney; awakes in California’s Encino, but there’s no real link between him and the city. It’s just the first place he happens to discover after thousands of years in hibernation. Forget the plot. There’s not much to see there. It’s his adaption to the modern world as the weird new “exchange” student from “Estonia” that, along with hippie Stoney’s quirky persona and lin… go, makes the movie, which is always stupid, at least fun to watch.

my rating : 3 of 5

1992