Saturday, January 19, 2019

Crisp Criticism - "Cold War", "Destroyer", "Holmes & Watson", "Sadie", "Replicas", "The Endless"

by
Julien Faddoul





Cold War ***

A man and a woman meet in the ruins of post-war Poland. With vastly different backgrounds and temperaments, they are fatally mismatched and yet condemned to each other.
Fast, formally exquisite (with compositions reminiscent of early František Vláčil) Polish drama that uses its central tumultuous romance to invoke the semblance and specifications of its titular time period. The aesthetic is the same one that Pawlikowski explored in his last film Ida (2014), shooting in academy ratio, with a dialectic use of cutting.

d – Pawel Pawlikowski
w – Pawel Pawlikowski, Janusz Glowacki
ph – Lukasz Zal
pd – Marcel Slawinski, Katarzyna Sobanska-Strzalkowska
ed – Jaroslaw Kaminski
cos – Ola Staszko

p – Tanya Seghatchian, Ewa Puszczynska

Cast: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Agata Kulesza, Cédric Kahn, Jeanne Balibar, Adam Woronowicz, Adam Ferency, Adam Szyszkowski






Destroyer *

A police detective reconnects with people from an undercover assignment in her distant past in order to make peace.
Intermittently engaging but overlong, fairly routine police-noir staged as portentously as possible, with needlessly conspicuous handheld camerawork, and an over the top performance from its star.

d – Karyn Kusama
w – Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay
ph – Julie Kirkwood
pd – Kay Lee
m – Theodore Shapiro
ed – Plummy Tucker
cos – Audrey Fisher

p – Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay, Fred Berger

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Tatiana Maslany, Bradley Whitford, Toby Kebbell, Scoot McNairy, Toby Huss, James Jordan, Beau Knapp, Jade Pettyjohn





Holmes and Watson

Detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson investigate a murder at Buckingham Palace.
Deadly, star-studded, disconcertingly inept period comedy that relies on anachronistic jokes and zany voices for (non-)laughs. At least it’s short.

wd – Etan Cohen   (Based on the Characters by Arthur Conan Doyle)
ph – Oliver Wood
pd – James Hambidge
m – Christophe Beck, Mark Mothersbaugh
ed – Erik Jessen, Dean Zimmerman
cos – Beatrix Aruna Pasztor

p – Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Jimmy Miller, Clayton Townsend

Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Rebecca Hall, Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Laurie, Kelly Macdonald, Steve Coogan, Pam Ferris, Rob Brydon, Lauren Lapkus, Lilly Aspell, Noah Jupe





Sadie **

While her father is away serving in the military, Sadie battles to preserve his place on the home front when her mother takes an interest in the newest resident at their trailer park complex in Everett, WA.
Low-budget domestic drama centering on a 13-year-old’s abrasive acumen of the world around her. Very well acted, particularly by the young Schloss. It is also notable with Griffiths being a Seattle native for being the most accurate depiction of Snohomish County’s working class I have seen to date.

wd – Megan Griffiths
ph – TJ Williams Jr
pd – Ben Blankenship
m – Mike McCready
ed – Celia Beasley
cos – Rebecca Luke

p – Lacey Leavitt, Jennessa West

Cast: Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher Jr, Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale, Tee Dennard, Keith L. Williams





Replicas

A scientist becomes obsessed with bringing back his family members who died in a traffic accident.
Incredibly stupid sci-fi nonsense underlined by a zen-constipated performance from Reeves.

d – Jeffrey Nachmanoff
w – Chad St. John, Stephen Hamel
ph – Checco Varese
pd – Johnny Breedt
m – Mark Kilian, Jose Ojeda
ed – Jason Hellmann, Pedro Javier Muñiz
cos – Julia Michelle Santiago

p – Keanu Reeves, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Stephen Hamel

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve, Thomas Middleditch, Emjay Anthony, Emily Alyn Lind, Nyasha Hatendi, Amber Rivera, Jeffrey Holsman, John Ortiz





The Endless **

Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group’s beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.
The most technically accomplished but least interesting of Moorhead & Benson’s heady low-budget Lovecraftian horror films. Perhaps a little too heady this time? The premise (and explanation) is a little unfocused and certain plot threads feel underdeveloped, especially the film’s circuitous connection to their debut feature Resolution (2012). But they still remain the kings of spinning great yarn out of the bare minimums of finance and resources. Although, I’d certainly love for them to excise the dependence of camera-drone shots.

d – Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
w – Justin Benson
ph – Aaron Moorhead
pd – Ariel Vida
m – Jimmy Lavalle
ed – Michael Felker, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

p – Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, David Lawson Jr

Cast: Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington, Shane Brady, Lew Temple, Kira Powell, David Lawson Jr, James Jordan, Emily Montague, Peter Cilella, Vinny Curran, Ric Sarabia, Glen Roberts, Josh Higgins


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