ratedargh

Excellent in tone, performances, feel, and horror. It doesn't give too much away and leaves a lot up to interpretation. This does not hold the audience's hand. One of the better recent horror films.

60 _30%

Beasts of No Nation (2015) - Rated 20 Sep 2015

Just never grabbed me. It's competently made, looks great, has solid performances and is an important subject. It just stumbles with its pacing. A disappointment for sure, but will definitely hit many people quite powerfully.

50 _21%

Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (2015) - Rated 19 Sep 2015

Holy shit this is insane.

85 _75%

Anomalisa (2015) - Rated 16 Sep 2015

It took a stop motion animation with puppets to create the most realistic, human sex scene I've ever seen.

90 _85%

Cemetery of Splendor (2015) - Rated 14 Sep 2015

Kind of impossible to put it into words. There were moments where the actions (or lack thereof) on screen led me to think of things happening in my own life. It was like a form of meditation. Then Joe said in the Q&A (at TIFF) that this was his intention. That's the power of cinema. When it hits, it's a form of telepathic connection. This one burrowed inside and stirred something introspective inside me.

80 _65%

Youth (2015) - Rated 13 Sep 2015

Works best in the silent glances and movements from place to place. Occasionally the dialog gets too clumsy in how it pontificates life and the inherent meanings therein. There remains an elegance to it where it certainly travels similar themes to Sorrentino's masterpiece The Great Beauty but it's unfair and inaccurate to label this as simply the English version of that movie.

90 _85%

Green Room (2016) - Rated 12 Sep 2015

Really good. Funny, violent, intense, and overall well made. It's a step up from the already impressive Blue Ruin.

80 _65%

Son of Saul (2015) - Rated 12 Sep 2015

The dourness is overwhelming, which it should be considering the subject matter. It's very much about one man's mental disintegration at the hands of the Holocaust. It is draining, and while it doesn't hold the audience's hand, it could use some tightening.

85 _75%

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) - Rated 08 Sep 2015

It's only this low because of the dubious ethics behind Jarecki's withholding of information so he could be the one to confront Durst. That is pretty sleazy. But, prior to the last episode, this is an incredibly engaging and expertly made (editing, shooting, sound) and is a very well told tale of chilling true crime and the potential ills of bottomless wealth from a young age.

25 _6%

Mistress America (2015) - Rated 03 Sep 2015

Non-sequitur the movie. It's so phony throughout. No character feels even remotely real. It's trying to impose these observations about life and relationships but offers absolutely nothing of note or cleverness. It brings nothing to the cultural conversation. Which wouldn't be a bad thing if it wasn't so damned smug.