Out to own:
Boyhood
| “I really like making poor life decisions,” Olivia (Patricia Arquette) to Mason (Ellar Coltrane) Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ to Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’, the biggest music hits of the noughties to last summer, are self-consciously used to locate us in time. No need for dates to be blatantly plastered across the screen, writer-director Richard Linklater has opted for subtle transitioning of the years. Haircuts are the clearest signposts. What a monumental achievement BOYHOOD is! Filmed every year for a week or so, for a dozen years, we witness a 6-year-old, Mason Evans Jr., grow to manhood (potential sequel title!). From the beginning of childhood to just starting university, an intimate epic has been birthed. [To read more, click here.] |
A Walk Among the Tombstones
| “I know you’re a genetic f***-up,” Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) In the aftermath of the excellent TRUE DETECTIVE, this neo-noir falls disappointingly short. There is extreme sadism without a wider analysis, such as existential crisis, or a look to society's failings, or dissection of individual psychology. A double let-down is that director Scott Frank's debut THE LOOKOUT was so promising, and he crafted the screenplays to MINORITY REPORT and OUT OF SIGHT. There was potential in A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES for something interesting: A private eye has drug dealer clients tackling a mystery that might involve the authorities. Unfortunately, that set-up was not explored at all. [To read more, click here.] |
RSS Feed