Category Archives: drama,

8,0-8,9, crime, drama,, male director, romance,

“Notes On A Scandal” (Richard Eyre, USA 2006)

notes-on-a-scandal

excellent dialogues + music
weakest: message + humor

Cleverly orchestrated four-generational love relationship, in which a woman in her sixties who is still looking for her true (lesbian) love falls for a young married mother of two who has an affair with a teenage boy. The emotional stability of the two male characters (the 15-year old boy and the older husband) contrasts with the vulnerability of the two female leads.

Director: Richard Eyre
Writers: Patrick Marber, Zoe Heller (novel)
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Andrew Simpson, Bill Nighy
Music: Philip Glass
Cinematography: Chris Menges
Editing: John Bloom, Antonia Van Drimmelen

6,0-6,9, crime, drama,, male director, romance,

“Nocturnal Animals” (Tom Ford, USA 2016)

nocturnal-animals

strongest: montage
weakest: message, humor

A story set inside a story and related to it, to which flashbacks are added

Cast: Amy Adams, Armie Hammer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ellie Bamber, Isla Fisher, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Karl Glusman
Director: Tom Ford
Writer: Tom Ford, Austin Wright (novel)
Cinematographer: Seamus McGarvey
Composer: Abel Korzeniowski
Editor: Joan Sobel

3,0-5,9, action, crime, drama,, male director

“The Accountant” (Gavin O’Connor, USA 2016)

the-accountant

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

3,0-5,9, crime, drama,, male director

“The Girl On The Train” (Tate Taylor, USA 2016)

 

the-girl-on-the-train

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

3,0-5,9, comedy, crime, drama,, male director, romance,

“Frank & Lola” (Matthew Ross, USA 2016)

frank-lola

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