Lawless

John Hillcoat, 2012

IMDB

3/5

All you really need to do is take a look at the plot synopsis and cast listing to draw interest in John Hillcoat’s Lawless. A prohibition-era period piece about three bootlegging brothers that are at odds with a local deputy. Starring Shia Labeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane Dehaan, Gary Oldman. Basically a handful of some of the best actors working today. And although some of the casting decisions are a bit questionable (Chastain) for their respective roles, it’s hard for a film with that kind of fuel to go wrong.

The best quality of the film is probably the attention to detail in terms of the production design. The southern atmosphere is completely immersive. You really feel like you are there in the muggy heat with the bugs buzzing around you. You really get a good look at the natural beauty of the South - which is supposed to be Virginia but actually filmed in Georgia.

There isn’t a whole lot to the film other than a focus on the family dynamics between the Bondurant brothers and their battle against the eccentric special deputy Charlie Rakes, played by Guy Pearce (who really nails the role). Rakes provides a couple hints that he suffers from an OCD-type of condition, as he is visibly horrified by his suit being dirtied. But this conflict between the deputy and the brothers is enough for a serviceable period drama, even with a muted Tom Hardy. Because even a muted Tom Hardy is still good. The film succeeds in getting you engaged in the brothers, all while building anger toward Rakes. Probably because the hypocrisy is so evident, the cops turning a blind eye to the moonshining operations because they are getting their palms greased. Rakes does nothing but flex is muscle without having to do any of the dirty work.

But looking back on this film years from now I probably won’t be thinking about the gun battles. I might be thinking about Pearce’s Rakes character. But I will undoubtedly be thinking about that old porch with the various chairs and how I would just want to sit in one of them for a few hours and sip on a mason jar with some moonshine and look out into the woods. So ultimately Lawless succeeds in being alluring without having to break new ground in the genre.

Maps To The Stars

David Cronenberg, 2015

IMDB

4/5

Cronenberg is a man not afraid to go to dark places. With Maps he also shows he's a man not afraid to go to dark places and also not afraid to ruffle some feathers. Maps is an indictment on Hollywood and the celebrity culture that surrounds it. He does this all through a cast of rather dreadful characters. Sociopathic past-her-prime actress Havana Segrand (perfectly cast Julianne Moore in her boldest role since Boogie Nights). Mentally-ill assistant with a shady past Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska). Charlatan health guru Dr. Weiss (John Cusack). Justin Bieber-esque spoiled rich actor kid Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird). Self medicating ghost in the house Christina Weiss (Olivia Williams). Nobody is really spared in the film. They are all figures that have their own ulterior motives, own selfish needs. There is nobody present that has much purity. And yet, with all of the darkness that is emanating through the story, its a completely seductive film. Maybe it's for the pure theater of it all. Maybe it's that you want to see certain people get what's coming to them. Maybe it's because you really want to see how far they will take it. What their personal limits really are. You want to see how low people really can go. How much of their own soul they are willing to sell for a piece of temporary success. Maps makes Los Angeles look like it's a city that belongs on another planet. Because the people in this story aren't really human. They are cold effigies. They are the hollow remnants of creatures that used to be human, but over time lost their souls. Can the L.A. culture really do this to you? Cronenberg would certainly have you believing so.

Only Lovers Left Alive

Jim Jarmusch, 2014

Can I Stream it?

2/5

Two vampires reunite after years apart from each other to complain about their frustrations with the modern world and how uncivilized the human race has become.

Jarmusch creates the kind of movies that people want to say they liked. But Only Lovers is a perfect example of an intellectual filmmaker making an awfully dull movie. Maybe he was in his own head too much. Maybe he was trying to hard to make a carve out a niche in an already exhausted genre. But even the story didn't feel all that fresh, either. Maybe the angst-ridden vampire stories are better left for Anne Rice. Jarmusch did do a couple of things right. Shooting in Detroit to take advantage of the dystopian landscape is a good idea, might as well make use of America's dying city and make a subtle message about the actual state of our American culture at the same time. It's no mistake that they juxtapose dying Detroit and culture-rich Tangier. Casting Swinton and Hiddleston is certainly a good idea. But instead of letting Swinton breathe he follows her on exhaustingly long shots through Middle Eastern alleyways. Instead of letting Hiddleston breathe he turns him into a virtually mute emo-rocker, like a junkie who can't seem to get the right score in his hands. And of course that's the point, two vampires completely dissatisfied with the state of the world. All of the culture, the art, the creativity has died off giving way to a toxic race that they call "zombies". Maybe Lovers needed actual zombies to make it more interesting. Only Lovers feels like work while watching it. You get a feeling that you were bit in the neck in the opening credits and slowly bleed out during the remainder of the film, sort of falling into a lightheaded daze. There should be a disclaimer that you need 3 Venti's before viewing. Don't watch this one after a couple glasses of wine. The Blade franchise is more engaging, as strange as it feels to say that. Only Lovers can be placed somewhere in the middle of the Twilight franchise and the much better Interview with a Vampire.