Silver Bullets

Kate Lyn Sheil is a good actress.

Finally a furry mumblecore movie

Balances along the usual wire of annoying hipster white dude bullshit quite well. Swanberg is obviously a man of immense talent and it shows in movies like this. Great understanding of the complexities it takes to create art. The dynamics of the realities created via cinema. Or maybe he's just making a million movies a year and seeing what sticks. Worked for people like Fassbinder

First Prefab Sprout, and now David Foster Wallace (also not to mention his fawning interview with Hal Hartley)? I get the feeling Swanberg and i might have some Favorite Things Ever in common. Also this is my favorite of his movies, in part because in his own clumsy way it feels like Swanberg sort of trying to do a Godard film (it's his Contempt, at the very least), and also in a way like a summary of the best aspects of his other work. Seriously how did he make so many movies in 2011 though?

The way Art History is about guys making an indie porno and the surrounding romantic intrigue, here it's guys making an indie horror movie and behind-the scenes romantic intrigue again. I have to say these films are not the height of Swanberg's oeuvre. Silver Bullets seems more amateurish than ever and rather dull.

I'm getting closer to liking Swanberg, but I'm not sure I'll ever love him. There's definitely something personal and vital here, but I can't shake the feeling he's constantly trying to remind us of this "intimate" approach. The ugliness isn't even a problem anymore (some parts are like a Tsai film!) but the characters are so devoid of charm. The film meditates on the relationship between reality and performance, yet it feels devoid of life. Dry might be a good route for Swanberg, though.