Dir - Tom Ford
Overall: GOOD
Fashion designer turned filmmaker Tom Ford's A-list follow-up to his debut A Single Man came a full seven years later in the form of Austin Wright's novel adaptation Tom and Susan, here titled Nocturnal Animals. It is a meticulously crafted film, down to Ford's screenplay, the performances, and the crisp, polished look. Even when its story-within-a-story embarks on a more grimy, Coen Brothers-esque trek into neo-noir Western terrain, Ford still places enormous emphasis on detail and the somewhat romantic quality (which is no doubt narratively intentional), is never lost. Above being a thriller or anything else, the movie's potent core is that of a thoroughly heartbreaking, cautionary love story. Bouncing between two plot-lines where the fictitious one becomes more and more clearly an explicitly addressed metaphor for the real one, the flowing structure blurs the lines in a very emotional, impactful way. The entire cast is exceptional and though it technically breathes as a melodrama, the film has an unmistakably grounded weight to it. Far from a feel good movie which should probably be understood going in, it certainly leaves an impressive, well, impression.
Dir - Gregg Bishop
Overall: MEH
The full-length adaptation of David Bruckner's "Amateur Night" segment from V/H/S, Siren is mostly uneven and disappointing. While the found footage original was effectively creepy, this one goes for bombast in a more tacky way. The director chair handed over to Gregg Bishop, (Dance of the Dead, the "Dante the Great" story in V/H/S: Viral), the film leans enormously heavy on schlock while also dipping its toes into torture porn. This balancing act becomes problematic, but that is only part of the headache. The dialog is mostly crap, the performances mostly hammy, moments of sentimentality are awkward, and the plotting is predicated on logistically flimsy character motivation. The script tries to justify some of this by having people be tripped out on drugs and making a pledge to be hellbent on not saying "no" to anything during a bachelor party weekend, but it ultimately makes everyone we meet seem stupid and unlikable. On the plus side, Hannah Fierman, (reprising her role), is equally unsettling and alluring as the title character and even though it is a tonal mess, Bishop maintains a steady pace navigating through such chaos.
Dir - Colm McCarthy
Overall: MEH
Dystopian zombie movies have been a dime a dozen for years and ever since 28 Days Later popularized the concept of the living dead moving at lightning speed, the sub-genre has boomed to the point of overkill, (nyuck, nyuck). In this respect, Scottish television director Colm McCarthy's The Girl with All the Gifts is inescapably derivative or at the very least, a trendy offering. For a major budgeted adaptation of Mike Carey's novel of the same name, (Carey who also wrote the screenplay here simultaneously with the book), it is at least impressively done. The cast is strong, the music by Cristobal Tapia de Veer is quite haunting, and the production value is adequate enough to stage a few single-take, heavily populated walking dead action sequences. The second and third act spend the most time humanizing both the desperate military personnel and the film's title character, sort of a zombie version of Blade minus the cool sunglasses and wicked kung-fu moves. For the most part the story is engaging as McCarthy is ultimately less interested in indulging in gory set pieces than presenting a hopeless gray area for those infected and those not to be able to co-exist. It takes a respectable stab at eschewing certain formulas, but too many seem unavoidably present to raise it above just being a well made post-apocalypse movie like many others.
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