Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Tenebre (Unsane)
A solid murder mystery that makes good use of the classic giallo movie trope of never seeing the murderer, only his leather-gloved hands. Writer/director Dario Argento does a great job of keeping the audience guessing, and pulls off a cool and unusual twist ending that even I, a jaded film buff, didn’t see coming. As with most Argento films, both the cinematography and the score by the Goblins make for a truly entertaining movie, and while it’s not very gory by today’s standards, horror fans will definitely enjoy the murder scenes.
3.5 out of 5
Knowing
Much to my surprise, this movie wasn’t a total loss. Sure, Nicolas Cage’s performance here has about as much emotional depth as a cabbage, but the script plays with some interesting ideas and the special effects (particularly the crashing plane) are pretty cool to look at. The first half hour or so of this film is actually quite solid, but right around the thirty to forty minute mark the whole thing just nosedives into mediocrity. At least the ending is gutsy and a departure from what we’re used to seeing in end-of-the-world disaster movies. But in spite of this, Knowing is rather bland. You won’t regret seeing it…if you don’t have to pay to do so.
2.5 out of 5
Public Enemies
Half of the elements that make up this film are almost perfect. The costumes and mis-en-scene look great and the cast is amazing (right down to the two-scene cameo from Giovani Ribisi), but as so often happens with biographical films, it’s difficult to get emotionally invested in Depp’s Dilinger because you just know that the film ends with his death. Also, Michael Mann goes a bit overboard with the gritty, digital, handheld look in a lot of scenes, and the film sometimes winds up looking like a dramatic re-enactment from America’s Most Wanted. I agree with many of the reviews I read of Public Enemies: it’s a good film, but not a great one. But then, I’ve never been a huge Michael Mann fan, myself.
3 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!