371 posts categorized "Drama"

January 04, 2025

JUROR #2

Jo JoWelcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Punk heart still beating.

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Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

Cheers!

ColeSmithey.com

 

ColeSmithey.comClint Eastwood's promising courtroom drama loses to a last scene misstep that costs the picture everything.

Nicholas Hoult presents a winning terse performance undermined by his character Justin Kemp's faulty moral code.

It would be telling tales out of school to reveal plot points, but suffice it to say that Justin Kemp is a young family man who shows up at the wrong place at the wrong time.

ColeSmithey.com

The plot thickens when Justin is called upon to be a juror on a case that he is personally connected to.

In session our jurors reveal personal biases while falling in line to which ever way the tide turns.

ColeSmithey.com

Neat sub-plot energy comes from the always great J.K. Simmons, here playing an ex-sheriff juror.

"Juror #2" is a suspenseful ride that goes on for one scene too long.

There is a pattern among recent dramas to feature the once maligned "European ending," in which the audience is left with an ambiguous finale.

ColeSmithey.com

"Hard Truths," "Last Summer," and "Small Things Like These" are three other culprits in the currently popular ambiguous ending club.

Rated PG-13. 114 mins.

2 Stars

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

January 01, 2023

THE FABELMANS

COLE SMITHEY

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

Cole Smithey on Patreon





ColeSmithey.comNo one does populist pap like Steven Spielberg.

I say that in a good way.

"The Fabelmans" carries such rich generational, emotionally driven, '50s era touchstones to entertain and touch us.

Damn, this is a good movie.

Tearjerker.

This may well be Steven Spielberg's best film.

You couldn't ask for a finer swan song if that turns out to be the case.

ColeSmithey.com

Michelle Williams is remarkable in her role as Mitzi Fabelman, a complex mother, wife, artist, musician, dancer, and free thinker.

ColeSmithey.com

Seth Rogan has matured nicely, as displayed in his commanding performance in a thankless role that Rogan elevates to something important, inspiring, and real.

Cool man. Nice work.

ColeSmithey.com

Which brings us to Gabriel LaBelle, the hotshot rookie actor showing off his stuff with serious feeling, timing, and physicality.

Impressive.ColeSmithey.com

Gabriel LaBelle is the new Dustin Hoffman.

ColeSmithey.com

Gabriel LaBelle is Spielberg's not-so-secret asset to this very satisfying movie about movie-making toward different motivations and skills.

I would be remiss to leave out the always wonderful Paul Dano, handling a difficult role with perfect mastery.

Beautifully understated and profound is Dano's rendering.

ColeSmithey.com

Steven Spielberg and his ensemble had a lot of fun making this exquisite movie, and it shows in every frame.

"The Fabelmans" is a memoir imagined. It is an important artistic achievement that wears its heart on its cotton sleeve.

ColeSmithey.com

At least someone still knows how to tell a story on film.

Cheers to Steven Spielberg for this full-on masterpiece of the seventh art.

Rated PG-13. 151 mins.

5 Stars“ColeSmithey.com“

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

March 12, 2022

RED ROCKET — CANNES 2021

ColeSmithey.com Welcome!  

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. Punk heart still beating.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

ColeSmithey.com

 

ColeSmithey.com"Red Rocket" is as good as American Independent Cinema gets.

Fantastic.

Sean Baker, don't you dare go Hollywood.

It's worth repeating, Sean Baker is our modern-day John Cassavetes.

But if Baker ever directs a Marvel movie it will be all over. 

Don't make the same mistake that Chloé Zhao ("Nomadland") made. What a sell out.

ColeSmithey.com

"Red Rocket" is an emotionally intense Trump-era satirical drama that lands every punch of betrayal, selfishness, and senseless greed for ego fulfillment.

Simon Rex deals a virtuosic portrayal of an inveterate narcissist porn star taking those near him on a downhill ride to hell.  

Wow.

Screen Shot 2022-03-12 at 2.23.15 PM

American narcissism's days are numbered. 

Hallefuckinglujah. 

ColeSmithey.com

Rated R. 130 mins.

5 Stars“ColeSmithey.com“

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

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