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Reviews
Forty Winks (2022)
A new promising voice has arrived in Willlam Atticus Parker
Willlam Atticus Parker's directorial debut 'Forty Winks' is one of the best debuts of last year. It follows Fabio Berker, a struggling hypnotist in New York City, who is blackmailed into being the world's first hypnotist hit man after a mysterious woman finds out his degree is fake. It's incredible that Parker wrote/directed this film when he was only 17 because this is such a matured and original film with incredible dialogue that is gripping and thought provoking. I'm so impressed by how skillfully balanced the comedic, crime and mystery tones. Parker keeps you on the edge of your seat as the film goes many unexpected different directions, and you'll also get some good laughs along the way. Many filmmakers use black and white simply because it's beautiful photography but doesn't serve a purpose or fit their film. In the case of 'Forty Winks', it enhances the film giving it an edge that fits the story perfectly.
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As a fan of 'Power Book 2:Ghost', I'm a bit familiar with Justin Marcel McManus, who gives an INCREDIBLE performance. He displays a plethora of emotions being charismatic, endearing and most of all distressing. Susan Sarandon has three scenes and steals every one of them. She plays the woman blackmailing Fabio, and while being understanding, she also shows she can be deadly and means business, so don't mess with her. John Turtorro is in this for a quick scene, and he gives exactly what you want from him, almost feeling like he walked out of a Coen set. I love The Dan Band, so it was great seeing Dan Finnerty in a film like this, and in his very brief appearance he had me in tears of laughter. Indie cinema truly has a great new voice in William Atticus Parker, and 2 films in, I can proudly say I'm a fan and will champion all his future projects. The film is currently streaming on Tubi and I would highly recommend it as it's a breezy 74 minutes that is jam packed with so much.
Atrabilious
No sophomore slump for William Atticus Parker
'Atrabilious' is a dark comedic psychological thriller that is the sophomore feature of writer/director William Atticus Parker, who at 19 years old has shown more talent than filmmakers with more films under their belt. It follows Steven Joyner as he tries to solve the mystery behind his son's sudden, tragic and potentially fabricated death. Parker does an incredible job building suspense/intrigued as to where the story would be going thanks to some fascinating twist and turns. For its budget, this was a visually arresting film with Parker using neon so well, that some shots felt straight out of a Nicolas Winding Refn film. Besides serving as writer/director, he also acts in it, serves as the editor and cinematographer, and I have nothing but respect for a filmmaker who wears that many hats on one film. His editing was strong as the film runs 103 minutes but passes by smoothly as I was fully engaged during the entire run time. I haven't seen his first film 'Forty Winks', but based on his work here, I will most definitely try getting around to it sooner rather than later. He is the son of Billy Crudup & Mary Louis Parker, and it's safe to say he inherited their incredible talent & love for the craft. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.
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Leon Addison Brown, who I mostly remember from 'The Knick' is excellent in the lead role. He's very subdued but he holds the film together with a commanding yet rather heartbreaking performance. The film has a stacked supporting cast of legends and well respected character actors and everybody does what's needed. Jeffrey Wright had two scenes and leaves his mark on the film as his scenes are important and he makes the most out of limited screentime. Mark Boone Junior is devilishly good in a role that is tailor made for him and his strengths. However, my favorite of the supporting performances was Evan Jonigkeit, who similar to his work in 'The Empty Man' and 'Archive 81' just knows how to get under your skin with his chilling performances. The minor issues I may have with the films aren't knocks as he's a young filmmaker finding his voice and doing a great job at it, so there will clearly be some growing pains.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
BEST DCEU FILM AND ITS NOT EVEN CLOSE
James Gunn has done it again, he has delivered not only the funniest DCEU film but the best one as well. This is 100% a James Gunn film no doubt about it, and we won't have to worry about hearing anything about the film being taken away from him. This has his signature all over it from the humor, look and violence. I've never been afraid to admit that I'm a fan of the first film but this is better in every single way. I loved the mission/military film vibe of the film. The team lives up to their name this time around as many characters die and in gruesome ways. That was an issue I had with the first film, that despite the title I don't feel many died. Gunn being a better writer than David Ayer also helped with character development, as he actually made me care for majority of the cast, I felt a connection to also all. This is definitely a reboot, as besides Rick and Harley knowing each other, there's not much mention of the first. The soundtrack was fantastic and rivals the music in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy".
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Many people were skeptical to the R rating, and let me just say it's warranted. The freedom Gunn got with dialogue and the dialogue and rating was fantastic. Seeing King Shark rip people to shreds just makes me wish we would get a Rated R "Venom" film. Margot once again delivers as Harley, and I feel this her best performance in the character. She gets some great highlight moments. Idris Elba has finally gotten a comic book character that is worthy of his talents. He was fantastic as Bloodsport, and better than Will Smith, so I'm glad he replaced him. He has a great competitive rivalry with John Cena's Peacemaker than provided the film with some of its funniest scenes. Speaking about Cena, I love him in these type of roles. He is perfect in them as he has great comedic timing and plays a dick really well. I'm really excited for his HBO MAX series. I'm surprised by how fleshed out and how much I loved David Dastmalchian's Polka Dot Man and Daniela Melchior's Ratcatcher 2. I didn't expect much from them and thought they would be corny but they ended up being my two favorite characters.
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Starro lives up to the hype. Coming from his Troma background, James Gunn was the perfect Director to bring him to the big screen. I'm also amazed at how great he looked, as the CGI on the character was flawless. The one issue I had with the film is that the secondary military villain, who was almost essentially the main villain for the first two acts sucked. He was a generic mission/war film villain. Overall, one of the best films of the year, don't see it on HBO Max, try seeing it in Dolby or IMAX as it deserves the big screen treatment.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED!!!!
It's time for me to eat some crow because justice has truly been served. I've stated many times how I was happy that Snyder was getting a chance to fully realize his vision but that while I expected it to be better than Josstice League, I didn't expect anything special. But boy was I wrong, and I can admit when I am. This was a fantastic and epic film, while not on the level of "Infinity War" or "Endgame", it is as good as the first "Avengers" film and better than "Age of Ultron".
While I'm not a die hard, I do enjoy majority of his work and this is truly a Snyder film no doubt about it. I love Marvel, but I've always been a DC fanboy first and foremost and I finally have the "Justice League" film I've wanted my whole life. This delivered everything we wanted and more.
This is truly a different film as even the scenes that were in the theatrical cut are re-constructed differently, appearing at different times in the film and working better. The pacing of the film is better this time around and since he was given free reign he doesn't rush scenes. He gives even the smallest of scenes breathing room which I loved. While you do feel the run time I didn't mind it, there is nothing I would take out. Everything serves a purpose. Snyder makes sure he uses his 4 hour run time percectly. While his films are usually known more for their visuals, this is his most fleshed out film in terms of character development. Each character gets time to shine and make an impact.
Snyder's signature visual style is fully on display and it is enhanced by Junkie XL's incredible score. His score gives the scenes the epic feel they deserve and it's such an upgrade from Danny Elfman's mediocre score from the theatrical cut. Snyder also does a great job at making the team feel more like a unit this time around. Their cohesiveness is put on film display in a plethora of fantastic action set pieces. They work very well together and executed some really good tag team moves. So many of his fans fought so hard for this cut and he delivered for them in so many ways. Despite being a fan of his, I didn't think he a film like this in him. It truly feels like he worked his whole career towards this film.
The design on Darkseid is great & seeing him in action had me marking out so much, but don't go in expecting much of him as he's in the film 5-7 minutes tops. However, the scene where we see his backstory was a one of the many highlights. It's shorter than I would of wanted but it served its purpose. The scene includes a homage to "300", which we saw glimpses of it in the final trailer, but seeing it in action hits different. The Knightmare sequence was good but not what I expected to see. But seeing this version of Batman and Joker was something I'm glad that Snyder gave us. It definitely does a great job at changing our view of Leto's take of the clown prince of crime. This 4 minute scene was better than all his material in "Suicide Squad". Makes me wish we could see a scene of him killing Jason Todd.
Cyborg was the weakest link in the theatrical cut but here he is the best part. He is truly the heart of the film and Ray Fisher delivers an incredible performance. While I don't agree with how he went about things, it's understandable why he was so mad. I've seen him in "True Detective", so I know he had it in him to deliver a strong performance. His arc is very sad and it calls upon him to display a lot of emotions which he does with ease. We get a lot of back story on him, which understandably helps us understand and care more for the character since the theatrical cut made him almost pointless. He is definitely the one who benefited the most from the run time. While I loved his performance, Cyborg's design is still very meh. I don't think the look will ever fully work in live action form.
Gal Gadot is simply money as Diana/Wonder Woman. She was born to play the role and casting her is one of the greatest things that Snyder has ever done. While I still think Patty Jenkins directs her better, he captures her so good here. She gets many scenes that highlight her skill set.
Ezra Miller was my favorite part of the theatrical cut and he is even better this time around. This cut even makes him run better because in the theatrical cut it was so laughable. It's interesting that taking away the Whedon stuff he is funnier here than before. As a matter of fact the film in general is funnier this time around. His scene of saving Iris that we saw in the trailer worked so well in the film. It does a great job showing how dope his skill set is, while highlighting Ezra's comedic timing. His chemistry with Affleck is fantastic, and I can't wait to see them reunite for "The Flash" film next year.
We get a lot more of Affleck as Bruce in this and he does a great job. My issue with Affleck in the theatrical cut was that it looked like he didn't really want to be there and was over the part. Here he comes off more motivated and gives a really strong performance. It's probably his best work in the DCEU. I love Batfleck and once again he was such a bad ass. Superman's return works a lot better this time around, the creative choices such as him smiling at Barry aren't here and he comes off like really good. While the black suit looks great, it really doesn't serve a purpose as a casual viewer who doesn't read comics wouldn't know its significance.
Jeremy Irons is a great actor, and I'm glad we finally see how good he could be as Alfred, his two previous outings didn't do him much justice. Here he is given so much more screen time and allowed to really impress. I feel he is more hands on than Michael Gough and Michael Caine were.
While he isn't better than them he does a great job at leaving his mark on the character and feeling very different than them, which is a great thing.
Now on to the few negatives I do have. Despite an improvement on design and more emphasis on his motivations, Steppenwolf remains a mediocre, typical CGI comic book villain. The Atlantis scenes didn't work for me much. Since we've seen how great James Wan brought Atlantis to life, this ultimately felt like a downgrade here. Had this version came out in 2017 I would of felt different.
I also feel that Amy Adams and Diane Lane were once again sidelined too much for their talents, just basically being sad till Superman is resurrected about halfway through the film. Similar to "Wandavision", the "big cameo" doesn't deliver and I personally didn't like the look.
I will say thank god things happened the way they did because no way would this have worked in theaters. HBO Max is the only way we would of gotten this beautiful 4 hour definitive Snyder Cut. Since this will most likely be his last DCEU film ever, he made sure he went out with a bang. So thank you Mr. Snyder for giving us your all, this is his best film ever hands down and one of the greatest directors cuts of all time. If I loved it, I know the people that really fought hard for this cut are going to be ecstatic and so happy with the final results.
Capone (2020)
WORST MOB MOVIE EVER!!!!!
Well I hate to say it but "Capone" might just be the worst mob film I have ever seen, it poops the bed figuratively and literally in the film. This film was originally envision for theaters and probably as an awards vehicle for Tom Hardy , and while he'll probably get an award it won't be an Oscar but maybe a Razzie. I've always felt Hardy was great or good in pretty much everything but this is easily his worst performance ever. He mumbled his way through his entire dialogue. I had a hard time understanding what he was saying for most of the run time. I know he loves to try out accents and I usually like most but I didn't like anything about the approach he took here. As shocking as it is for me to say it I'd rather see Travolta's "Gotti" before I see this ever again. I definitely have to watch "The Untouchables" and "The St. Valentines Day Massacre" now to wash the stench of it off.
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The film took a different approach, centering on Capone's last days when he's suffering from syphilis/dementia. The approach was an interesting one, but the execution just sucked.I feel bad for Josh Trank, he hit it out the ballpark with "Chronicle", but has followed that with two terrible films in "Fant4stic" and this. He is a modern day Richard Kelly ( director of "Donnie Darko"), a one hit wonder in every sense of the word. Josh also wrote/edited the film so all the films flaws lie on him, he can't use the studio interference line like he did for "Fant4stic". Although credit to Josh for getting his freedom back and making the film he wanted. A lot of the film plays in Capone's head and it's hard to differentiate what's real and what isn't. In the hands of a better filmmaker , this could of been compelling story about the sad final days of one of the most ruthless men ever.