2024
indepthcine.com
Tag: Jesse Plemons
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 : I’m Thinking Of Ending Things
You’ll do yourself a favor turning this movie off before the actual Ending; one of the worst I’ve ever seen. The plot, which starts normal enough with a girl on her way to meet her boyfriend’s parents for the first time, is coated in pretentious ambiguity from the start, but it gets worse the longer it goes. The final several minutes are jarringly off-putting; random and nonsensical; as if director Charlie Kaufman just abandoned the script and said “Fuck it.”
my rating : 1 of 5
2020
video review : Antlers
This is a horror flick based not on killer deer but the wendigo; a mythological creature that “devours mankind”. It’s a decent concept, but the plot, which reminds me of Stephen King’s Gray Matter, is riddled with cinematic clichés and implausibilities. It seems even the most horrendous villains have a weakness for protagonists.
The boy the man turned wendigo fathers is fine. It’s his nosey school teacher; the wendigo is less creepy; I was hoping he’d use as beast feed. Instead, while her cop brother, attacked and injured, lies conveniently out of commission, she ends up playing a heroine of sorts. The movie is about as silly as the folklore it encompasses.
my rating : 2 of 5
2021
video review : The Irishman
The Irishman is Frank Sheeran; a steak deliverer turned Mafia hitman. This is the story of that latter part of his life, which begins with him befriending crime boss Russell Bufalino. Russ eventually introduces him to Jimmy Hoffa, whose mysterious disappearance is explained in great detail.
The liberties director Martin Scorsese takes in regard to what really happened is part of what makes the plot thoroughly interesting for all of its three and a half hours. It’s his longest movie and one of his best; vintage Scorsese mob canon along with The Departed, Casino and Goodfellas.
my rating : 4 of 5
2019
promo : Antlers
video review : Black Mass
Use your hand to cover the “M” on the opening title shot. It’ll be the most entertaining part of the movie. Not that this Boston crime story will necessarily put you to sleep. It’s just that director Scott Cooper is a poor man’s Martin Scorsese.
It’s a case of style over substance as Johnny Depp, looking like an actor in costume, plays the role of Winter Hill Gang leader James Whitey Bulger. The plot preludes his life as a fugitive, but it’s barely interesting enough to make you care.
my rating : 3 of 5
2015
video review : Bridge Of Spies
Bridge Of Spies, based on the real-life incident of a US spy plane being shot down by Soviet Armed Forces during The Cold War in 1960, is a case of style over substance. It’s an elegant and polished production; expect no less from Steven Spielberg; plagued by tedious storytelling. There is tension at parts, but it’s mostly a middling affair as those of us who slept in Political History class wonder, but don’t care much one way or the other, if protagonist Rudolf Abel will be set free.
my rating : 3 of 5
2015