|
Searchers 2023 ★★★★
When Alter does the atmosphere thing well, they do it really well.
The interview with the mother, the shot of the crow near the end,... it all feels like part of an episode of some supernatural investigation drama, like Millennium, The X-Files,...
And like a good concert, it leaves you wanting more.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw 2021 ★★
Chris Rock the comedian is great at what he does. Funny, incisive,... you name it. However...
His physique, his body language, his way of speaking,... they all feature a mix of brashness and cheekiness that work better for comedy (or voice acting) than they do for more serious drama. That's an extra hurdle he has to take, because it's so easy and tempting for the viewer to see the character and go “oh, that's just Chris Rock”. So as funny as the Gump bit is, it does not help you buy into his character Zeke.
The movie itself then.
It's about what you can expect from a SAW-sequel by now. Gory torture porn and speeches about why not-billy the puppet picks out this particular victim. The fact that this copycat – with an annoying voice nowhere near Billy's grunt – goes after cops might come across as criticism in an era of topics like defund the police. But I doubt that the Saw-sequels are capable of this level of subtlety.
This one does however continue the tradition of having mostly rather unlikable characters. The only two who do, well... one dies horribly, and the other... guess what? And the twist? I was expecting something else, but that did not make it less predictable.
Some people find this terrible, but I'm closer to meh. Second star for Samuel L Jackson and Marisol Nichols. And for the gore of course.
Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits 2011 ★★★˝
The second episode of Black Mirrors does not grab you the same way as the first one did. Where the first one immediately grabs you by the neck, this one takes its time to set up the atmosphere and characters.
A Wall-E like dystopian world, except that, in this one, they stop people from getting fat. Also, apples are wrapped in plastic, because of course they are.
There's a lot to like about this story.
Wether it's the subdued performance by Daniel Kaluya (blimey, he's British?) or the obvious social commentary on things like peer pressure, social conformity or, on the other hand, the desire to stand out and succeed in places like the Got talent-ish contest . Desperately hoping to please a Simon Cowell-like snob, who in fact had more of a porn stache than the actual porn guy. Or the subplot with the “love intrest” being turned on its head. Making you wonder who is the hero and who is the jerk in this piece.
Not the most uplifting, but in retrospect great storytelling.
__________________
|