Triple 9
This was an interesting heist film. The director, John Hillcoat, is probably best known for Lawless and The Proposition, which I liked. Hillcoat also directed The Road, which bored the hell out of me. The cast (Chiwetel Elijofor, Aaron Paul, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, that guy from Walking Dead) was stellar. I thought Kate Winslet was an especially interesting choice for Russian mafia boss. There were a couple of good Heat-esque heist scenes.
I feel like I got my rental’s worth, but it didn’t quite come together well enough for me to give it an unreserved recommendation.
The Witch
Oh hell yes. Now I want an evil goat.
In fairness, opinions are divided on this one for a reason. The pacing is deliberate, but you can get away with that in a 90 minute movie. It’s also more of an atmosphere-y horror than a stuff-jumping-out-at-you horror. If you go in expecting The Craft or a puritan-era Friday the 13th you will walk out disappointed.
Probably not for everyone, but I quite liked it.
The Boy
This was a good 90 minute movie. Unfortunately, as released it ran 110 minutes. It had a nice payoff, but I thought it took too long to get there. Rainn Wilson was good, and David Morse is good in everything. Most of the movie showcased the kid, and he did a fine job as well.
There was a tad too much roadkill for my taste, and I thought it crossed the line from “deliberate and atmospheric” into “get to the point already.”
X-Men Apocalypse
Slight spoilers: I think it was Last Action Hero (or maybe McBain?) where the hero got all vengeful because they’d killed his third cousin. X-Men Apocalypse has a similar scene. There’s only so many times you can go to that particular well, guys.
There was absolutely nothing new or interesting about this movie. Normally I’m a sucker for this stuff, but I’d say skip this one altogether.
The Wind Rises
Even by Studio Ghibli standards, this is an absolutely magnificent film. It’s anime, yes, but not the sort of thing where people fight robots or shoot each other with rays (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
It’s a kinda-sorta biopic about the lead engineer for Japan’s main fighter in WWII, the Zero. That’s less dry than it sounds. There’s a fantasy element and a romance subplot. I don’t want to say too much about the fantasy bits for fear of spoilers, but I thought that part in particular was absolutely brilliant.
I’m not a huge anime fan myself, but I absolutely loved this one.