Enemy (B)
Denis Villeneuve does the doppelgänger justice where Ayodae’s missed the boat. Enemy was picked up by A24 out of the festival so it will be coming to you soon, but I expect most of you will have to catch it on DVD and Blu-ray because I can’t see this one attracting a large theatrical audience. It’s just too weird.
Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy is a confounding piece of cinema that will capture your imagination and challenge you to be more than just an observer.
12 Years a Slave (A+)
In terms of filmmaking, 12 Years a Slave was the best of the festival. It is absolutely gutting with some of the best performances and scenes that simply rip at your heart.
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is some of the best filmmaking you’ll see all year, but at the same time it will subject you to a story filled with shame, guilt, hatred, anger, rage, torture, anguish and tears. You’ll be leaving the theater in a stupor.
Labor Day (D)
Another big disappointment was Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day as he took advantage of strong performances, production design and cinematography to make something no more impressive than a second-rate Nicholas Sparks-esque adaptation. I just don’t get it.
Labor Day is a half-baked melodrama worthy of Nicholas Sparks, not Jason Reitman.
Felony (D)
I chose to go see Felony over the Unforgiven remake and about 30 minutes in I was regretting my decision and it never got any better.
Felony lacks any measure of intrigue as one cop commits a crime, another attempts to cover it up and another attempts to expose it. Problem is, without any evidence it’s all a matter of sideways glances and suspicion, leaving little else to be explored.
Fading Gigolo (B)
I got exactly what I expected with Fading Gigolo, a sweet, small story with LQTM laughs and some even bigger laughs. It’s a feel good movie with performers I enjoy watching on the big screen.
To no real surprise, Fading Gigolo is an enjoyable, unassuming little film that feels like something of a bizzaro world Woody Allen film by way of John Turturro.
Joe (B-)
Joe feels like a film that should have premiered at Sundance. You know, one of those films focused on red necks doing red neck things in the woods and acting like red necks. It’s sort of the white trash version of the torture porn genre and the Mud meets Winter’s Bone comparison is apt, which is to also say it falls on the more impressive side of the genre, largely due to the performances of Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan.
David Gordon Green’s Joe is another white trash weeper with similar narrative notes akin to Mud and the tonal darkness of Winter’s Bone that ultimately finds success in the performances of Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan.
Under the Skin (C+)
If you really wanted to challenge yourself you’d watch Under the Skin as part of a double feature with Enemy and who knows, maybe that’s what A24 will do as they picked both up for distribution, proving what kind of films tickle their fancy.
Under the Skin is an existential experiment of a film in which an alien teaches us a little something about ourselves over the course of her travels in Scotland as she harvest humans and finds compassion for her victims, which will eventually serve as her downfall.
