Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham, Katy Mixon, Dale Dickey
Director: David Mackenzie
Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Cinematographer: Giles Nuttgens
Editor: Jake Roberts
Composer: Nick Cave
Category Archives: crime
“The Accountant” (Gavin O’Connor, USA 2016)
strongest: minorities (autistic hero + colored woman as investigator)
weakest: script + message
Cast: Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert C. Treveiler, John Lithgow, Anna Kendrick, Jeffrey Tambor, Jon Bernthal
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Writer: Bill Dubuque
Cinematographer: Seamus McGarvey
Editor: Richard Pearson
Composer: Mark Isham
“The Girl On The Train” (Tate Taylor, USA 2016)
strongest: images
weakest: message + montage
Unnecessary flashbacks + a faulty change of POV
Cast: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janey, Lisa Kudrow
Director: Tate Taylor
Writer: Paula Hawkins (novel), Erin Cressida Wilson
Cinematographer: Charlotte Bruus Christensen
Editor: Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker
Composer: Danny Elfman
“Frank & Lola” (Matthew Ross, USA 2016)
strongest: originality + direction + music + minorities
weakest: message
Cast: Imogen Poots, Michael Shannon, Justin Long, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Nyqvist, Emmanuelle Devos
Director: Matthew M. Ross
Writer: Matthew M. Ross
Cinematographer: Eric Koretz
Editor: Jennifer Lilly, Rebecca Rodriguez
Composer: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
“Lantana” (Ray Lawrence, Australia 2001)
strongest: minorities
weakest: humor
Of the four couples whose inner life is exposed, trust is only found in the non-caucasian one.
Cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Rachael Blake, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Vince Colosimo
Directed by Ray Lawrence
Written by Andrew Bovell
“Sicario” (Denis Villeneuve, USA 2015)
strongest: direction + music
weakest: structure
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Actors: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro
“Fingersmith” (Aisling Walsh, UK 2005)
Director: Aisling Walsh
Writers: Peter Ransley (screenplay), Sarah Waters (novel)
Actors: Elaine Cassidy, Sally Hawkins, Imelda Staunton
“The Handmaiden” (Chan-wook Park, South-Korea 2016)
Director: Chan-wook Park
Writers: Sarah Waters (inspired by the novel “Fingersmith” by), Seo-Kyung Chung (screenplay)
Actors: Min-hee Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Jin-woong Jo
“Elle” (Paul Verhoeven, France 2016)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writers: Philippe Djian (based on the novel by), David Birke (screenplay)
Actors: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny
The “ever-mysterious sexual power within a woman”1 exudes not only from the main female character, but even more strongly from the new equilibrium that the end of the movie sets in motion.
1 – ELLE: A Complex & Challenging Exploration Into Lurid Territory by Laura Birnbaum. Film Inquiry, Nov. 9, 2016 http://www.filminquiry.com/elle-2016-review/
“Gone Girl” (David Fincher, USA 2014)
Director: David Fincher
Writers: Gillian Flynn (screenplay), Gillian Flynn (novel)
Actors: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris
“The only time you liked yourself was when you were trying to be someone this cunt might like. I’m not a quitter, I’m that cunt. I killed for you; who else can say that? You think you’d be happy with a nice Midwestern girl? No way, baby! I’m it.”