Tag: THRILLER

SANCTUARY (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Zachary Wigon 
Written By: Micah Bloomberg
Cinematography: Ludovica Isidori
Editor: Kate Brokaw and Lance Edmonds

Cast: Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley 

Follows a dominatrix and Hal, her wealthy client, and the disaster that ensues when Hal tries to end their relationship.

The film seems simple at first and will be pretty cut and dry storywise and sticks to it but you get involved and ultimately lost in the film, game, and characters 

The film reminds one of Christopher Abbott’s previous film and performance in the movie PIERCING only less life and death or violence, just darkly comedic with hints of violence. 

The films have the similarity of involving a sec worker and power plays as well seeming to be mostly bound to a hotel room only the previous film left the room 

The director Zachary Wigon adds style so as to not make this seem boring and to liven up the experience.

Truly a psychosexual domination film of games 

The film truly kicks off once Margaret Qualley’s character takes off her wig. Though the film plays more theatrical for the stage rather than a film. It keeps the Audience interested more in Qualley’s character and performance as she truly is the wildcard to Abbott’s more straight man’s performance. 

His threats always keep turning hollow and truly show the weakness of his character, Especially compared to her. 

This is Margaret Qualley’s best performance so far though probably not her most memorable which for most might still be ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD.

She is smarter than him because she has had to work her way up. whereas Abbott’s character has done what he has been told but resented that work while coasting along it and its features.

Also can be seen as a comparison and power play from a director/writer and actress who might have decided to go off script and prove their defiant character and talent 

You can see the characters’ codependency with one another, one reluctantly. the other more willingly and knowingly. You can see it from the many times either could truly walk away but seems willing or fighting to prolong it against their so-called requests. As it easily could end plenty of times. 

A kind of love story when it comes to power, communication, and trust with another person who knows you the most or at least your secrets 

The ending feels like a throwback to a classic comedy and more of a fantasy or dream than reality 

The film gets more intense as it goes along. Like the characters no matter how hard I resisted, continuously felt myself falling for the film even though or against my will

Grade: B 

BUG (2006)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: William Friedkin

Written By: Tracy Letts (Based upon his play)

Cinematography: Michael Grady 

Editor: Darrin Navarro 

Cast: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Brian F. O’Byrne 

Having escaped her abusive ex-husband Goss, recently released from state prison, Agnes, a lonely waitress with a tragic past moves into a sleazy, rundown motel. Her lesbian co-worker R.C. introduces her to Peter, a peculiar, paranoiac drifter and they begin a tentative romance. However, things aren’t always as they appear and Agnes is about to experience a claustrophobic nightmare reality as the bugs begin to arrive.

This is a love story between two damaged individuals. As we can see from the beginning Ashley Judd’s character is not only lonely but also seems to be more willing to put up with abuse and the nature of whoever she is dating. As her ex, she has a court order o. Keeps coming over to beat her up and steal her money. 

So it’s not too shocking that soon after being with this new man that she is introduced to, she starts to suffer from the same psychosis.

The couple could be compared to what happens when two drug addicts get together. Where they seem to live off each other and in their own world. Watching this movie they do come off as meth addicts. Even in scenes later we see that they have been freebasing also. Something g strangely even his psychiatrist takes a turn with. 

though there is a more artistic rather than erotic sex scene. Which director William Friedkin has been doing constantly in his later films. As overly erotic as KILLER JOE was, the seductive or sexy scenes seemed more like going for pretty and meant much more. It could be that both these films come from the theater world. So these are the only moments where he can truly try to make it more cinematic with his own vision. 

It took me some time to watch this film over the years. So the anticipation builds up. So that when finally watching the film it is tamer than expected and feels like it needs to be seen on the big screen to truly feel the film. Unfortunately, I didn’t, but the second half of the film is truly graphic and disturbing. 

The film didn’t live up to certain expectations but it is effective to a certain degree. It definitely helps if you come into the movie blindly 

Which is why I believe the second half is so disturbing is that the first half has a few shocks but stays mundane. So the lunacy of the second half not only wakes up the Audience but disrupts them out of comfort and expectation. 

We also watch the breakdown of Ashley Judd’s Character whom we truly feel sorry for from the beginning though we also see how submissive she is.

The last act comes across as downright artistic when it comes to production design and the acting. 

Though he had been a working actor this Is the movie that truly made Michael Shannon a star or put him More on that path. After so far a career of bit roles and more theatrical work.

Harry Connick Jr. Even plays against type in this film. As Judd’s abusive not quite ex-husband 

Not your typical horror film or thriller. It is more disturbing about damaged people damaging themselves and each other. Involving those who are unlucky enough to cross their paths. 

It ends up not being what you first thought when you sat down to watch it, but luckily something much deeper.

There is some beautiful filmmaking here making the mundane interesting and you can feel its theatrical roots. The director and cast truly make the film feel bigger than the location it seems to be stuck in and make the hotel room seem labyrinthian 

Grade: B- 

A BLUEBIRD IN MY HEART (2018)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Jeremie Guez
Based on the novel “THE DISHWASHER” By: Dannie M. Martin 
Cinematography: Dimitri Karakatsanis 
Editor: Dieter Diependaele 

Cast: Roland Moller, Veerle Baetens, Lola Lelann, Luba Azabel 

Attempting to lead a quiet reformed life, an ex-con finds refuge in a motel run by a single mother and her daughter Clara. The peace and freedom he has found in this safe haven disappears when Clara is assaulted, forcing him to face his old demons

The predictable this film manages to make you care and stay interested throughout. As it maintains an intensity as much as the main character seems to have who we never quite learned about when it comes to his past, but we are given enough to interpret.

It’s simmering mostly, but there are two scenes. The film truly lets loose with action, though low scenes are short and one quite torturous.

This is a movie more about characters and emotions. It’s actually quite plain and simple, It sticks to the point at under 90 minutes and gets started in no time. 

In the beginning, you can feel the uncomfortable nature that eases up as the walls the main character does 

As well, as you can see the symbolic relationships and placeholder that he becomes for the people around him, mostly female.

He has a  rough, dangerous nature, but a gentle side, when it comes to them. That stays very simple and small scale.

The film is a revenge tale in the end as he takes revenge and in doing so sets up a situation where the victim of his revenge has people who need to take revenge for him especially when their first attempt goes awry 

This is a well-acted hidden gem of a movie that while might be predictable in some aspects feels like an introduction, not necessarily to buy the story, but more through characters that you care about 

It stays small scale but packs a lot of heart and you know it’s a French Film because every character seems to smoke. 

Grade: B-

A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh 

Written By: Michael Green 

Based on the Novel “Hallowe’en Story: By Agatha Christie 

Cinematography: Haris Zambarloukos 

Editor: Lucy Donaldson 

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Kelly Reilly, Jamie Dornan, Camille Cottin, Ali Khan, Jude Hill, Emma Laird, Kyle Allen, Riccardo Scarmarcio

In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

Kenneth Branagh finally has gotten the formula right. Maybe it was getting all the studio movie cliches out of his system to go back to more artistic filmmaking choices. This film finally shows the proper depth of the story & character.

There are Not so Many celebrities or stars in the film so the suspicions aren’t so high not your attention centered on them. 

This was the attraction for MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS  and the next film partially DEATH ON THE NILE which was a little more dialed down but still enough for a little spectacle. 

While primarily those films were aided by CGI when it came to locations especially. This film has less basis on CGI and truly explores the exoticness of the classical space and uses the cavernous location to its strength. As everything looks lush & plush.

While the film has its central mysteries every character seems to be hiding their own secrets. While it still Magyars to have the melodrama throughout. This film feels a bit more dry and dramatic. It has a darker outlook. It even Manages some surprises 

In the middle, it might be a little confusing. Once the third act comes into play surprisingly and with no lead-up the mystery is solved. There is more to go after that. 

What works is that it can be seen as a stand-alone but works in the trilogy. As if you have seen the previous films. You can understand the mindset of the main character at the beginning. As you have seen he has come to it. After suffering losses in the previous films. 

At first, it seems like the film is trying to rely on or try to jump onto the horror trend, but it ends up working for the story and distinguishing itself. Not seem like a Cash and is actually being adapted from an existing Agatha Christie story 

Even as we realize how lonely the main character is as he has fans and admirers but never truly anyone close to him they all want something from him and the friends and acquaintances from the past have either moved on or that is the basis of their relationship work-related. Knowing and seeing the evils of the world has made him scared to engage or trust in the end. He realizes he can’t let the nature of the world scare him Off and that he needs to try to help as much as he can to try to make it brighter 

He believes by separating himself from the world he’s not contributing to evil, and he’ll just keep to himself, and be safe by the end I think he realizes that the world at large needs him and he wants to be there to try and make it a better place combat that evil he’s found his faith so to speak. Kenneth Branagh plays it brilliantly reminding you of not the fine actor he can be and seeming to bypass the more comedic detours and also tightening up his directing skills. To come across as more artistic and personal and less sensationalistic. Still managed to have style in fact even more of it 

This film offers a bit more depth for the character and is a lot drier than the previous films it feels more intimate. Thought offers fewer distractions. 

This one seems less a seat filler or weekend attraction and more a film made with ideas and interest than a paint-by-numbers affair 

Grade: B

THE FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (1970)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed & Edited By: Luciano Ercoli
Written By: Ernesto Gastaldi and Mahnahen Velasco
Cinematography: Alejandro Ulloa 

Cast: Dagmar Lassander, Pier Paolo Capponi, Susan Scott, Simon Andreu, Osvaldo Genazzani, Salvador Bugbeo

The wife of a struggling businessman is blackmailed by a mysterious man into having a sadistic affair with him, or he will leak evidence implicating her husband of murder.

This might not be a good film but stay for the look, style, and fashions. Which are especially memorable. Like a Vogue magazine pictorial only with a theme.

The film is so erotically lurid that it feels like a Joe Eztherhaus-type film script. As it involves blackmail and sex. Though more talked about and hinted at than shown. So not quite exploitive.

Most of the film plays into the main characters’ suspicions and sacrifices. It then finds itself focused on infidelity and her paranoia over it 

Which would place it more in the drama category. Yet plays like a thriller. Thought could easily be a foreign soft-core erotic movie. As the film seems to be more about the beauty of the female characters. 

It’s not really the mystery behind everything. It’s the whole experience. What I took away was taking it all in. Rather than trying to figure out a murder or mystery. It felt more like watching a drama 

As for a film that is filled with eroticism it isn’t as exploitive as one might expect. It does present a quite open sexuality, manner, and behavior.

Watching it feels like walking through a museum in a foreign land. It seems like everything is exquisite yet you are soaking through the past that is so close to the modern day. That you can still see some of these fashions in play maybe in more high society.

The character of Dominique wears a dress that practically has no sides to it. So you get to see her Frame and shape. Which makes her outfit an all-time classic. As she is the most interesting character in the whole film. You might find yourself wishing she had a spin-off. 

The film ends up more as a psychological drama than a giallo, which is what one might have expected. The film’s characters just offer a lot of threats.

Only in the last 20 minutes after 70 minutes of set up does the film truly become a thriller. Even after an opening scene that makes it seem Like one. 

What is impressive is that it feels epic yet really only has six cast members but plenty of locations 

The film lays it on a lot towards the end to offer a twist that should have been somewhat obvious. As it has a Colombo type of ending.

Close but no cigar 

Grade: B-

UNSEEN (2023)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Yoko Okumura
Written By: Salvatore Cardoni and Brian Rawlins 
Cinematography: Federico Verardi
Editor: Michael Block

Cast: Midori Francis, Jolene Purdy, Michael Patrick Lane, Missi Pyle, Brett Baker, Nicholas X. Parsons 

Sam receives a call from Emily, a nearly blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. She must survive the ordeal with Sam being her eyes using video call.

At first, this might seem like a gimmick film. A sit is based upon a video call between strangers that ends up becoming a theoretical life for both of them eventually. 

However, it doesn’t stick to the perspective of that being all we see and that being how the story is told. It is not a minor part of the film. This Isn’t a film like SEARCHING or MISSING where the film is told strictly through video devices. 

The film is fun as it goes along. Though it is serious and presents its own challenges for its Characters. It feels loose and experimental but also has style to a certain extent. 

The film gets crazier as it goes along, but it somehow works. As we get to know and like the lead characters. Who are American Asian characters who mainly get bullied and stalked by white characters. Who expects them to be meek and take the abuse. Making it a bit political but more subtle. 

It also serves as an obvious plot point of the film but the title can also be interpreted as how the characters feel in society in A certain way and also unseen as almost invisible

The film feels like a teen movie. Even though the language might be a little too much for a PG-13 rating they are most likely the ones who will enjoy the film the most.

This is mainly a thriller with some dark comedic elements thrown in. It goes by fast and its Running time is under 90 Minutes. So that it makes solid entertainment.

Each story keeps you captivated in different ways that gel together well and each lead character in the tales keeps you caring and wanting to see them survive and succeed. 

You might not take it seriously but you will undoubtedly have fun with it.

Grade: B- 

SHIMMER LAKE (2017)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Oren Uziel
Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke
Editor: Blake Maniquis 

Cast: Benjamin Walker, Rainn Wilson, Stephanie Sigman, John Michael Higgins, Wyatt Russell, Adam Pally, Rob Corddry, Ron Livingston, Mark Randall

An inventive crime thriller told backward, reversing day by day through a week following a local sheriff’s quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.

This could have easily been a story for a season-long show BIG SKY.  Even though it takes place over and not a few days.

Written and directed by noted screenwriter Oren Uziel. The film has the originality of his usual screenplays. Only here in a little more serious thriller vein. You can see why it was on the black list of 2009 (The Blacklist is a yearly list of the best-unproduced screenplays voted on by script development executives) 

The story is told backward over a week. As we start with Friday and go back to Monday to see how a bank robbery affects a small town and its citizens.

The film is better than expected especially as a Netflix original film. Before they got distracted by having big stars and budgets and seemed to still care about storytelling.

As the film is an ensemble film. It’s also a thriller with double-crosses, twists, and backstabbings that once you think you have it figured out. It surprises you again but at least as it goes along it gives you more information to see why certain characters act the way they do or why they make the decisions they do. 

It allows for plenty of quirky characters and situations. Though it does rein it in for the seriousness of everything at hand. As well as the overall dramatic implications all over.

We even get to know most of the characters involved in some way. As each day or part of the film that focuses on that day also tends to focus on the character we begin the day with and brings us into the grander puzzle of it all. Half the joy is discovering and witnessing how it all fits together. As well as the reasoning of various characters. 

The cast all rise to the occasion to keep the audience riveted and invested. If you pay attention what happens or will happen is spoken of and told in a certain way before it happens. Even though the ending is a little hard to believe. It still works as long as you believe how cold-hearted the characters can be. Even if they show warmth, humanity, and humor before. 

Stephanie Sigman as a run-down wife in mourning who can be plain one minute, aggressive the next, and sexy out of nowhere and not really having to really try. She is a versatile actress who needs to work more, especially after her dynamic debut in the movie MISS BALA.

While the film has a lived-in quality. It still lacks a certain depth it needs a little more grit.

Can admit to watching it a second time just to make sure I understood everything. It’s not a long movie but it does pack a jab and enough intrigue to keep you guessing.

Grade: C+

KILLING ZOE (1993)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Roger Avary 
Cinematography: Tom Richmond 
Editor: Kathryn Himoff 

Cast: Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Jean-Hughes Angalade, Gary Kemp, Salvator Xuereb, Bruce Ramsey, Tai Thai, Kario Salem, Cecilia Peak, Ron Jeremy

Zed has only just arrived in beautiful Paris and already he’s up to no good. Having just slept with a call girl, he spends a night on the town with his dangerous friends. They all decide to rob a bank the following day. There’s only one problem: Zed’s call girl, Zoe, just happens to work at the bank which is to be robbed!

This film had all the makings of a good movie. While it has a typical bank robber film premise, only set in France. It is noteworthy for being the feature writing and directing debut of Roger Avary. Co-writer of PULP FICTION with Quentin Tarantino (Who executive produced this film) 

Here the film is about Zed, an American safecracker. How many are there anymore or have they all become hackers? He comes to France to help his friend rob a bank. He is a heroin user and is waiting for a job. He hires a hooker who the next day we actually find out is a bank teller at the bank.

This is a very strange film. The bank robbers are a multi-ethnic crew but all look grungy and dress like fabulous 1980s & 90’s archetypes. They all come off as euro trash.

The film is more dialogue-based, but when there is action. It is swift, grotesque, and merciless. 

There are scenes of just sitting around while different revelry goes on around them And the conversation feels more rambling.

The first half of the film is subdued with weird women wanting to go home with the men. So they can abuse them. Then there is a revelation from his friend that takes hold to maybe the nihilistic attitude he takes throughout. 

Then there is the drunken distorted sex scene in a bathroom. Where we can’t tell if it’s male on male. 

It starts to get a bit more exciting in the second half of the film with the bank robbery. Where just going in is a massacre. Then when they are stuck in a stand-off situation. It gets a lot worse with Zed, down in the basement not knowing what is going on upstairs and his friend going further and further off the deep end. Trying to plan an escape and each idea continuously fails. Zed has his own drama with a guard burned alive and half dead, begging for him to end his suffering. 

The ending is remarkable as everything comes to a head with Zed finding out what is really going on. His confrontation with his friend Eric. The discovery of Zoe in the bank and the cops coming in to end the standoff.

Other than having some cliches in the film. It also offered things that movies rarely Depict or bother giving any Credence or screen time to. It was also one of the few films that showed a female character could be more than one thing. One didn’t necessarily define the other. Female Characters could be complex and multifaceted. Keep in mind I was 15 When i first saw the film 

While the ending is a little curious. The film as a whole is just strange and while it can easily be lumped in with the 90’s crime movie genre or even a Tarantino knockoff. It is original in many aspects and might be disappointing for audience members looking for a more typical cops and robbers heist film. 

I remember being very excited to see this film in Theaters. As I was a huge Tarantino. Fan and knew of the controversy surrounding Tarantino and Roger Avery. It seems like Tarantino is producing. This was a favor for pulp fiction, so Avery having to manage things on his own in this film could be seen as daunting for a first-time filmmaker as I watched this in the theater. I could see some influences, and how he maybe wanted the film to be different from the cliché 

In doing so the film now seems really cliché as most bank robbery films do the same and try to seem like they have an original voice and really don’t as they try to humanize more of the side characters, who would normally never be the center of attention. Even though this at the time was one of the first. 

While this film has some sharp dialogue after watching this even though one was thrown off balance, and scratching my head,  like what just happened it will definitely keep you on your toes and I will say it’s an interesting rental, but don’t hold your breath for greatness. Even though it does have its fans, Roger Avery made a sequel to the film unofficially.

Grade: B-

DECISION TO LEAVE (2022)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Park Chan-Wook

Written By: Park Chan-Wook & Chung Seo-Kyung

Cinematography: Kim Jo-Yong

Editor: Kim Sang-Beom

Cast: Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-Hyun, Go Kyung-Pyo 

From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon arrives on the scene, he begins to suspect the dead man’s wife Seo-rae. But as he digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself trapped in a web of deception and desire.

One of the most romantic movies ever or at least in quite a while.  It is more of a romance where the lead characters absolutely can’t be with one another yet works as a romance.  where they try to deny their feelings while falling even harder maybe because of the lack of total communication but constantly watching each other.

It’s almost like dating with a constant mind game and never a full revelation of feelings, but there is something there. They keep not only bringing themselves together, but circumstances at times force them to and to kind of chase each other. 

Though here not trying to fall in love and that is usually when it finds you or you find that one that makes you feel it. 

So that like early in love any moment or chance you get seems mystical, magical, and has meaning. 

There is plenty of lust there but it seems to be more about longing.

Now put all of that and surround it in a detective story a film noir with stylish touches and a little violence but no sex, eroticism, or even any real action. Like the characters the film and story are so restrained it almost feels like a period piece. Though the camerawork and direction are top notch. 

It feels like a thriller but one with more emotions. You wonder if she is only trying to seduce him to get away with her crimes and that for the detective she is not only an escape but a mystery herself that he can’t figure out which is a challenge and slowly makes him lose it. 

But you feel destroyed by the end as you want the two characters to be together. So that it stays fully captivating. Though like a good story and a good book it moves at its own pace. Sometimes faster than you expect but also slower. Never quite a constant.

The film is like poetry, you recognize the beauty but it’s hard to explain. As hopefully you just feel it.

Grade: A-

THE YOUNG SAVAGES (1961)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: John Frankenheimer 
Written By: J.P. Miller and Edward Anhalt 
Based on the Novel “A MATTER OF CONVICTION” By: Evan Hunter
Cinematography: Lionel Lindon
Editor: Eda Warren

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Shelly Winters, Telly Savalas, Dina Merrill, Edward Andrews, Vivian Nathan, Larry Gates, Pilar Seurat, Jody Fair, Stanley Kristien

A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy. He begins to discover that the facts in the case aren’t exactly as they seem to be.

This takes you back to an era where movies could still be police procedural episodes basically. Only with more star power and elongated with a more personal connection. To the central character. Here is Burt Lancaster. Not to mention directed by the legendary John Frankenheimer in his prime. 

At least the film is based on a novel, an adaptation. So it’s not some run-of-the-mill story. That failed at being an episode of a court show that week. 

Once upon a time they could build a whole film’s narrative around a crime story that seems pretty simple but gets complicated as it goes along. As the deeper Lancaster dives the more that is revealed that has quite a few twists and turns.

Showcasing the supposed dog-eat-dog nature of the slums and the racial unrest. Here between Italians, Irish, and Hispanics. While also managing to be a youth In Jeopardy movie.

The case in the film showcases the political implications that the case causes.

The film is an uneasy watch as it tries to be liberal in its politics. It still feels a bit racist and definitely stereotypical. At times it tries to throw back at both sides and show that no one is perfect and we all have our flaws. Does someone deserve to lose their life over it? 

It also tries to save one of the Caucasian characters as an innocent. A good kid in bad surroundings. Most of the characters could be, they all just learned to adapt to survive.  While the innocent victim gets trashed in court almost like he deserved it. It also doesn’t exactly answer all the questions the case presents.

Every character here is corrupt or criminal. It’s disturbing that the ones of color are the ones shown more thoroughly in that manner. Though get more screen time. 

The subject matter is tawdry but handled in a clean way. As the film goes with what was expected at the time. So an audience can blame the times for the way this movie comes across. As a kind of historical artifact.

There was also the way the film felt. As one is watching it seems like the camera or film was speeding up. To make things happen or appear to happen faster.

Grade: C+