jkikianis Reviews

Bloodline (2015–2017)

One of the Great Shows of Our Time

[16 June 2016]

I saw in one of the ads for the second season of the show that this was being called a Beach- Noir. While I sort of love that description it doesn't totally translate what this show is in terms of genre or tone. When I try to get friends and family to watch I simply tell them it is a family drama but that is such a huge understatement. This show is simultaneously a family drama, a police procedural, a character study, and a psychological thriller.

The best thing for any viewer to do is to go into this show with very little understanding on the plot and characters because of how subtly and thoughtfully the show reveals these things to the audience. The writing, direction, acting, and cinematography of this show are all exceptional and miles ahead of most of the content available on television. The two standouts in the cast of this show were Ben Mendelsohn and Sam Shepard who both give subtle yet haunting performances as the troubled members of the Rayburn family.

Without revealing any more unneeded information I urge everyone to watch this show. There is nothing else like it. I can't contain my excitement for season 2.

The Lobster (2015)

Quirky, Dark Comedy; not for everyone

[9/10 · 19 December 2015]

This film tackles a variety of interesting themes through the lenses of this strange and fairly ridiculous dystopian future. The basic premise for the film is that in a dystopian future any single person in society is brought to a hotel where they have 45 days to find a partner or be transformed into the animal of their choosing and be released into the wild. Of course, with that premise the film must have a humor about itself to work and it does. This film from beginning to end has a well balanced sprinkle of dark and depressing moments with this outlook on a future dystopia.

While being a rather dark story the film has an understanding of it's own ridiculousness and uses that as the inspiration of the dark humor in almost every scene. While being a very odd film, it says very intelligent things about human behavior and the nature of relationships. Much of the film is an analysis of romance, love, and what a genuine relationship really is. The actors in the film have a lot required of them and they totally deliver. Colin Farrell gives a great performance in the lead role. Due to the nature of their situation and society the characters often have to have a simple complexity to them. We never for a second are questioning the thoughts our motivations of a single character. Every character in the movie is for moments of the film playing a role for the surrounding characters in order to get something they want. For that reason, I saw that it was important that I knew what the characters were thinking. With that said, I found that the frequent voice over by Rachel Weisz to be somewhat tedious and annoying. I wanted to get a feel for these characters and this world and I found my immersion being interrupted by a pointless segment of voice over.

This film has very complex storytelling it needs to accomplish and it does so with intricate detail and a clever narrative arch that goes in unexpected directions. There are dozens of moments in the film in which a random out of place animal will drift in the background for a single shot. The style of this film both technically and structurally often reminded me of films like The Master (2012). This film could have easily become hollywoodized and become a movie about a societal revolution but the film keeps the quirkiness and humor and maintains the focus on the situations surrounding Colin Farrell's character of David. This film is so strange in its presentation, in the performances, and in the very dark humor but it still somehow manages to be emotionally and intellectually captivating. Many viewers won't be able to engage with this film which is neither a flaw of the viewer or the film. This movie has a very unique sensibility and style that many people will find off-putting. I, personally, fully bought into this world and these characters and I will be excited to revisit this film again.

Out of the Past (1947)

Unique Film of the Classic Noir Genre

[8/10 · 18 December 2015]

The beginning of this film is a wonderful introduction into this world created within the noir genre. Robert Mitchum as Jeff Malcolm, the traditional private-eye of the classic genre and this character is amongst my favorite in all the noir films I've seen along with Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep and William Holden in Sunset Blvd.

Mitchum in this role seems to have added a rhythm and cadence to his tone of speaking that at times is totally hypnotic. Mitchum's mysterious narration is complemented with clever writing with a sense of great lyricism to the dialogue. The film somehow manages to convince you to trust the perspective of a man who we know is at least somewhat dishonest. We trust him and believe the romance, the path of crime. and the claim that he innocently was involved in a dark past that he is barely responsible for.

Kirk Douglas is a commanding performer, here, in only the second role of his career. Jane Greer is in the role of Kathie, the classic femme fatale with a slightly manipulative yet simultaneously charming persona that is at times reminiscent of Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity. This plot is captivating and is in many ways a blend between The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity in several stylistic and narrative aspects. While it isn't quite on the same level as either of those two films I still very much enjoyed the film and and will definitely watch again.

Locke (2013)

Successful Experiment in Limited Storytelling

[8/10 · 18 December 2015]

This movie continues to hold up as a great experiment in story within a controlled environment. The entire film occurs inside of a car with the various phone calls and monologues made by our lead character Ivan Locke acting as the drama of the narrative arc. This film is dependent on the strength of the leading performer and Tom Hardy carries this film with a powerful performance. The movie acts as a character study of this man as he is within transit of one of the hugest transformations of his life. Hardy gives this character a depth and complexity through the wide range of emotions that he can subtly express through his voice and face. The odd accent that Hardy is sporting for the duration of the film is sometimes distracting and odd but still takes very little away from the ambitious career move made by Hardy.

In many ways this is a story of a man fighting against the wrong doings of his own and his family's past. This film would fail without not only the strong lead performance but also a wonderful screenplay that at times is very natural and authentic but at other times suffers from being very clichéd and cheesy. The showcase of this film is not in the sum of it's technical accomplishments but in the complexity of the story and characters within the limited style of filmmaking. Director, Steven Knight, does a great job with keeping the visual style of the film as interesting as possible through capturing a wide array of different shots within this controlled environment.

The voice performances from all the secondary characters are also amazing with a specific personality and voice recognition given to each specific character. By the end of the film I felt that I knew Ivan Locke, I understood his perspective and had grown respect for his decision making throughout the film. This film shows a great character study in a way that no other movie ever has and for that reason alone I would definitely recommend this movie.

Danny Collins (2015)

Al Pacino in his Best Movie of Recent Years

[7/10 · 18 December 2015]

This is an extremely predictable movie yet it offers some variations to the typical story structure and does so with clever humor and heartwarming drama. This is not only Al Pacino's best performance in the last 10 years but probably his best film in the past 10 years, which is not as much a reflection of how good this film is than it is a reflection of how poor Pacino's recent filmography has been.

This film is an uplifting and inspiring tale of a tired rock star that is trying to make up for the mistakes of his life after receiving a long lost letter from John Lennon. Al Pacino is extremely charming and believable in this role of Danny Collins. He delivers his performance very subtly and with a sense of realism beyond what the rest of the cast is able to accomplish. This movie is in many ways an analysis of the character of Danny Collins. Al Pacino adds a good deal of depth and complexity to this character and at moments had me laughing and seriously caring for his character and at other points had me repelled.

The rest of the cast including Annette Bening, Bobby Cannavale, and Christopher Plummer all give strong performances with believably deep relationships. Of every in the film I found Jennifer Garner as a stand out of the film with an unnatural performance and a very odd delivery of her lines. Despite the narrative are being extremely predictable, slight twists in the story and very interesting characters make this film a very enjoyable watch for the entire runtime.

The Martian (2015)

Emotional Human Stories with a Thrilling Backdrop of the Cosmos

[8/10 · 17 December 2015]

Ridley Scott has time and time again proved his ability to produce many of the greatest films of the Science-Fiction genre. In many ways this film particularly feels like a Science- Non Fiction. From the first shot of the film to the very last, this movie sucks the audience into a two and a half hour journey of quickly adjusting emotional experiences.

The Martian is funny, inspirational, thrilling, heartbreaking, and heartfelt. This movie often acts as a celebration of the ingenuity and perseverance of mankind. All of the visual splendor of space travel and the endless hills of this martian world are extremely convincing and captivating in their beauty. Despite the movie often celebrating the advancements of science and the exploratory endeavors of man, all of the space and science take a back seat to the core drama of the story which is entirely led by Matt Damon.

This film shows Matt Damon at his best with a subtle but wonderfully complex performance. Damon doesn't give the showy Oscar-bait performance but a very sincere and naturalistic portrayal of an intelligent and determined man, a guy that an entire audience can relate to and feel like they know by the end of the film. Ridley Scott's directing is amongst his best in this film, with a seamless introduction of a large ensemble of characters. Scott managed to keep me interest both on Mars with Watney, with the rescue crew, and with NASA on earth. The movie captures a wide range of emotions and despite the fact that I could tell what the ending was going to be from 15 minutes into the film, it's predictability didn't bother me. It wasn't as much about any sort of ending but more about the journey.

The film suffers from having several common clichés that are very repetitive of films like Apollo 13. It also seems to suffer from having a few too many secondary characters. Ridley made the decision to introduce each individual character with a tagline and job position which become somewhat irritating after awhile. Despite these flaws this film was successful in keeping me riveted for the entire runtime and it will undoubtedly be a contender for my top 10 of the year.

True Romance (1993)

Good Film with Homage to 70s Cinema

[8/10 · 9 December 2015]

Just saw this film for the first time after having heard it about it repeatedly for years. I really enjoyed more than anything the great performances from a really amazing ensemble cast. The fast and clever language often found in Tarantino movies is heard all throughout this film. The plot and story often feel predictable and the unfolding of events lead to a conclusion that is relatively obvious from halfway into the film. I didn't find myself captivated by the story but I was invested in the smart directing and writing in several of the individual scenes. Multiple scenes in the film stand out with the Tarantino dialogue and interesting direction from Tony Scott including the showdown at Drexel's and the interrogation scene between Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper. The closer the ending came the less the film seemed to engage me. Despite the story not entirely working for me, I really enjoyed many of the individual scenes. It is clear from the story and style of the film that there is an influence of 70s cinema with films like Terrence Malick's Badlands, referenced throughout the movie. If Howard Hawks was right and all you need to have a good film is "three great scenes and no bad scenes" than this film is definitely worth checking out.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Not Amongst Scorsese's Best, but still a Good Movie

[7/10 · 9 December 2015]

This is a well crafted film and displays the many frequent qualities seen in the Scorsese style. The structure of this film is very clever and intricate despite the basic story following the same structure and characters arcs found in both Casino and Goodfellas. The leading men of all three films seems to following the same exact arc with slight variations in each. The film, while well constructed, is often tough to watch. The only line of dialogue I can endorse by anyone in the film is when Rob Reiner's character says "This is obscene" in response to seeing how Jordan Belfort and his hooligans live. I don't usually find issue with the qualities that give films like this an R rating but I found that this film was celebration of these people that are simply despicable. The film glorifies the excess of drugs, sex, and criminal stupidity. Of course the performances are good all over the board and all the actors do great work with the horribly unlikeable characters they represent. The film has extreme tonal inconsistency and seems unfocused on what the film is trying to accomplish. I found myself taken out of the story due to the many tangents and subplots that the film explores entirely for the reason of making the audience laugh. The movie is funny but became extremely distracting due to the unfocused layout of events. The movie is 3 hours long in a film that feels like at least 2 and a half hours of sex and drugs along. While the film is well crafted for what it is I would recommend it only to a very particular audience that is comfortable for the very adult and graphic nature of the imagery and the dialogue.

Brick (2005)

Great Modern Noir

[8/10 · 9 December 2015]

This film is a fascinating exercise of bringing the archetypes and structure of a 1940s noir to a modern high school setting. Noir is a genre that many people of my generation don't even know as a genre and it is always interesting when a new film is a released and fits within the noir genre. The most amazing thing about this film is how precisely focused the tone of the film and the complexity of the characters are due to writer/director Rian Johnson's efforts. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does an amazing job in this lead role of Brendan, who in many ways, is a modern version of Humphrey Bogart's private investigator characters in films like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. This film is extremely captivating despite the reality being that this film is entirely focused on the drama between teenagers. I have huge respect for Rian Johnson for being able to keep the consistency in tone of this neo-noir and make sure that the story is expressed as seriously as his characters view the situation. If there was any tonal consistency in the film there is a potential to have many scenes in the film ruin the film such as the scene between Brendan and the Principal. We, as the audience, rely on that consistency of tone as a way of remaining in that universe and not be taken out by the fact that these are high school students and not the hard-boiled characters of the 1940s. I would definitely recommend this film.

E.T. (1982)

Calling it Perfect is Appropriate

[10/10 · 18 October 2015]

This science-fiction film is rare in it's presentation of the sci-fi genre as heartfelt family film with a story on a universal level while still keeping it grounded by having it occur within the confines of a suburban neighborhood. While it has since become something that is commonplace in the science-fiction genre, having children act as the goodhearted ambassadors to the alien forces is something that was extremely original. Elliot, a young boy dealing with the issues of his parents divorce acts as the innocent representative of the human race and introduces this extra-terrestrial creature to the wonders and horrors of mankind. We as an audience grow to love E.T. just as Elliot does and cherish the relationship between E.T. and this American family on a deep emotional level. So many elements in this film are so iconic due to the work by Steven Spielberg and John Williams who achieve great emotional expression through their visual and audible combinations. This is a film that can inspire and demonstrate to children the true beauty that a film can create. This movie is a classic of cinema history and is as enjoyable to watch the first time as it is the hundredth time.

Foxcatcher (2014)

Good Silent and Gritty Drama

[8/10 · 18 October 2015]

I have been a fan of Bennett Miller since first seeing Moneyball. The trailers and cast list for Foxcatcher gave me an interest in seeing it and learning that it was a passion project for Bennett Miller gave me high hopes for the film. This film is truly a great showcase of brilliant cinematography, production design, and acting. Every performance in the film is fantastic and although the media and academy awards have shined the spotlight on Steve Carrell and Mark Ruffalo I found this film to be the breakthrough for Channing Tatum's dramatic career. Tatum gives this career defining performance as a darkly troubled and tormented Olympic Athlete who aspires for greatness. The narrative arc of the film seems a bit messy due to the large gaps of time in between major scenes of character or plot development. There are several scenes in the film that seem irrelevant, the pressure that has built up throughout several major scenes has somewhat dissipated the emotional engagement of the audience by the time the climax has arrived. Many average movie-goers will not be able to sit through the entire duration of the film due to the extremely slow burn to the climax and scenes that drag in the middle of the film. Overall it is still a good film with a great creation of visual atmosphere with interesting sound design to create an eerie environment that is unique in modern cinema.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

Birdman is revolutionary and Awful Fun

[8/10 · 18 October 2015]

Birdman is revolutionary in every aspect of its filmmaking. Even looking past the technical achievements, I found the film to mostly focus on bringing out multiple themes revolving around life, self dilution, modern media, human relationships, and entertainment as a whole. The use of long monologues and stretched scene duration meant to imitate a performance of a stage production are like nothing seen in cinema in recent years. Although the film seems to become preachy and pretentious at moments, it didn't take away from the cinematic experience. This film in moments acts as a showcase of Michael Keaton's acting talent in this performance of Riggan Thomson, a washed up actor trying to reclaim some of his former glory. The plot and strong characters of this film are extremely engaging and sit in your mind for hours after first watching the film. There are so many different ways to approach the actual interpretation of the movie's themes and symbolism in representing modern life. The manifestation of confusion that takes over in your first viewing is taken over by a thrilling joy in every viewing that follows because of the brilliant directing, writing, acting, cinematography, and score. The score, made up almost entirely of a percussive track at points makes the dialogue of the characters appear to be expressed as though it is powerfully written poetry, strongly coordinated with the rhythm of the drums. This is my favorite film of 2014 and I strongly recommend it to anyone who would appreciate a more experimental film about the entertainment industry and the human ego.

The Walk (II) (2015)

Captivating but Offers Nothing New

[7/10 · 17 October 2015]

I was able to see The Walk in IMAX 3D last weekend. In the past I have been a fan of a lot of the works of Robert Zemeckis including Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, and Flight. Without a doubt my favorite of his films is Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Going into this film I had a good idea about what movie I was about to see. I was familiar with the 2008 documentary, Man on Wire, so unless Zemeckis took some huge creative liberties with the story, I knew what I was getting into with film. I was not expecting any surprises due to my familiarity to both the original story and the stylistic sensibilities of Robert Zemeckis.

Although this film is, at moments, extremely captivating and thrilling it fails to capture the imagination in the same way that the documentary does. Although some believe that The Walk shouldn't be compared to Man on Wire, I believe it should because they both tell the same story with almost identical beats throughout each film and attempt to accomplish the same thing. Man on Wire seems to imprint the thought of stepping on that wire and the actual insanity in it all with more enthusiasm and greater weight. While The Wire didn't astonish me, the film still had some great qualities. The performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt down the line were powerful and captivating and displayed characters with a blend of realism with a fantasy-like quality. The cinematography throughout the film is all around amazing and make the true spectacle of all of the events that occur throughout the story realized with some astonishing visual elements. While the film will have you leaning forward in anticipation at times it also drags in the middle and has a climax that feel somewhat unfulfilled

The film has its pros and cons but I would recommend this film to any person who has no interest in watching a documentary but is still interested in seeing the visualization of an amazing true story. Not to take away from the accomplishments of this film, but this story overall is better expressed and displayed in the documentary Man on Wire.