It was both surprising and unsurprising to find out director François Girard was attached to The Song of Names. By going into the movie blind, so much of Girard’s film reminded me of the Oscar winning drama The Red Violin. This discovery that both films were directed by the same person made sense, but I didn’t expect The Song of Names to pale so much in comparison.
The Con Is On is a screwball crime comedy starring actors who have no problems playing up the absurd angles of an unconventional heist. The intention of the film is to bust the audience into fits of laughter but, instead, the only thing that’s busted is the film itself.
You pick up on a lot of hints when you watch enough movies. In a screening of The Blind Side, I grasped my armrest and held my breath when two characters were happily singing while driving. I know when that happens, an accident is right around the corner and, sure enough, there was.
Some frenetic films have been described as live-action video games, but Ilya Naishuller’s Hardcore Henry takes that criticism up a notch by actually strapping viewers into a live-action video game. We act out all of the disorienting, brutal action sequences. It’s the gimmick behind Man Bites Dog injected with Crank’s epinephrine.
The Hateful Eight is, fittingly, Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film, and by far his weakest.
