Crisp Criticism - "Collateral Beauty", "Neon Bull", "Creative Control"

by

Julien Faddoul

Collateral Beauty

Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of collateral beauty.

One of the most heinous concoctions for a film ever made, in which characters are rewarded when they should be punished at every juncture. From premise to plot to message to execution, it is self-indulgent rubbish designed for an audience whose lives are so boring that judicious thought no longer assumes any part of their personality. It insults the intelligence of any group imaginable: Men, women, parents, blacks, whites, believers, atheists… It is a crumbling ruin of a movie.

d – David Frankel

w – Allan Loeb

ph – Maryse Alberti

pd – Beth Mickle

m – Theodore Shapiro

ed – Andrew Marcus

cos – Leah Katznelson

p – Anthony Bregman, Brad Dorros, Kevin Scott Frakes, Allan Loeb, Michael Sugar

Cast: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Michael Peña, Naomie Harris, Jacob Latimore

Neon Bull *

In a traditional rodeo in the north east of Brazil where two men on horseback try and bring down a bull by grabbing its tail, a natural ‘Vaqueiro’ spends time feeding, prepping and taking care of the bulls.

Surreal and startling drama filled with general weirdness, including horse masturbation, a pregnancy sex scene and the mysterious title figure. But its writer/director runs out of ideas well before the end.

wd – Gabriel Mascaro

ph – Diego Garcia

ad – Maira Mesquita

m – Carlos Montenegro, Otavio Santos

ed – Fernando Epstein, Eduardo Serrano

p – Rachel Ellis

Cast: Maeve Jinkings, Juliano Cazarré, Aline Santana, Carlos Pessoa, Vinícius de Oliveira, Josinaldo Alves, Samyade Lavor

Creative Control

In near future Brooklyn, an ad executive uses a new Augmented Reality technology to conduct an affair with his best friend's girlfriend.

Obnoxious, agitated New York indie on the fears of growing technology that relies on all its energy with clichéd tics of its ilk, such as monochrome photography and a soundtrack of classical music.

d – Benjamin Dickinson

w – Benjamin Dickinson, Micah Bloomberg

ph – Adam Newport-Berra

pd – John Furgason

m – Drazen Bosnjak

ed – Megan Brooks, Andrew Hasse

cos – Gina Correll Aglietti

p – Mark De Pace, Zachary Mortensen, Melody C. Roscher, Craig Shilowich

Cast: Benjamin Dickinson, Nora Zehetner, Dan Gill, Alexia Rasmussen, Gavin McInnes, Reggie Watts