Reel Entropy

Late-summer catch-up: ‘Logan Lucky’

Posted on August 25, 2017 by reelentropy

Look at that face! That is the face of a man having a blast. Images courtesy Bleecker Street.

8/10 Director Steven Soderbergh returns from his brief retirement entirely on his terms, making a film he had complete control over, for better or worse. Logan Lucky drags at times, but is far more often a side-splitting redneck romp that sees Daniel Craig having fun in a role for the first time in years.

Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum, who also produces) works construction on a repair site on the Charlotte Motor Speedway. After he’s let go for liability reasons involving insurance, he recruits his one-armed brother, Clyde (Adam Driver), in a plan to rob the place. The plan hinges on demolition expert Joe Bang (Craig), who is incarcerated.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #adam driver, #channing tatum, #daniel craig, #Magic Mike, #seth macfarlane, #steven soderbergh, bring back the mid-budget movie, complete creative control, Hillary Swank, Logan Lucky, Rebecca Blunt is a lie, Side Effects, southern hijinks, The Hitman's Bodyguard | 1 Comment

Late-summer catch-up: ‘The Glass Castle’

Posted on August 25, 2017 by reelentropy

Image courtesy Lionsgate.

3/10 I have a pretty violent reaction when I see children in predicaments, so The Glass Castle was a bit of a difficult watch.

The movie follows the real-life upbringing of Jeanette Walls (Chandler Head, Ella Anderson and Brie Larson), who wrote the memoir on which the movie is based. Walls is raised by her alcoholic, abusive, quick-tempered, narcissistic, cultish father, Rex (Woody Harrelson), who can’t hold a job and uproots the family every few months to avoid debt collectors until Jeanette is 10. She and her three siblings eventually hatch a plan to leave Rex and their mother, Rose Mary (Naomi Watts).

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #brie larson, #naomi watts, #short term 12, children in predicaments, Destin Daniel Crettin, Jeanette Walls, msnbc.com, The Glass Castle, unapologetically romanticizing child abuse, woody harrelson | 1 Comment

Late-summer catch-up: ‘Detroit’

Posted on August 23, 2017 by reelentropy

Image courtesy Annapurna Pictures.

This article contains coarse language and distressing content.

***

6/10 Both delving into the past and ripped from the headlines, Detroit explores America’s explosive racial divide. But like so much mass media that addresses these issues, it shies away at some troubling moments.

The film dramatizes the Algiers Motel incident during Motor City’s 1967 race riot, in which 10 black men and two white women were found together in the hotel and severely beaten and humiliated by police, three of them killed. While guarding the Great Lakes Mutual Life Insurance building from looters, police officers and national guardsmen said they heard shooting coming from the hotel annex building one block to the south. Storming the building, they found the guests and demanded to know who was shooting at them.

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Posted in Entropy, White Noise | Tagged #anthony mackie, #birdman, #john boyega, #john krasinski, #the hurt locker, Ben O'Toole, Detroit, handheld shots, Jack Reynor, Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, The Bourne Identity, the tripod-free look, Will Poulter, Zero Dark Thirty | Leave a comment

Late-summer catch up — ‘A Ghost Story’

Posted on August 22, 2017 by reelentropy

A Ghost Story manages to make its central costume thick and romantic and not silly. Image courtesy A24.

5/10 A Ghost Story is 92 minutes long, and about 20 of those minutes are spent on one shot of Rooney Mara stress-eat pie.

M (Mara) and her husband, C (Casey Affleck), are preparing to move out of their suburban home into the city when C is killed in a car accident just outside their driveway. After his cadaver is confirmed, C rises up and begins to stalk the morgue covered in his death shroud. Knowing his wife likes to leave notes in places she’s lived, the ghost returns home to watch her grieve, then recover her written message to their home.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #A24, #casey affleck, #rooney mara, A Ghost Story, baby's first encounter with nihilism, creatively barren, Dave Lowery, philosophically juvenile | Leave a comment

‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ sloppy but fun

Posted on August 18, 2017 by reelentropy

Images courtesy Lionsgate Films.

7/10 The Hitman’s Bodyguard isn’t much of a film, but it’s a riot of a movie.

As vicious Belarusian dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) stands trial in the World Court for countless atrocities, prosecutors can’t get witnesses to the stand alive. Interpol’s last hope is Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), a notorious hitman who once turned Dukhovich down and has hard evidence linking him to a war crime. After the prison transport is betrayed from the inside, the only hope for international justice is that private protection specialist Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) can get Kincaid to The Hague before the case is thrown out.

The only problem? Bryce and Kincaid hate each other.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #deadpool, #pulp fiction, #ryan reynolds, #samuel l jackson, Gary Oldman, Selma Hayak, The Hitman's Bodyguard, The seat belt rule, This wold does not deserve Samuel L Jackson, You do not take the name of Kurosawa in vain | Leave a comment

Reel Entropy

Late-summer catch-up: ‘Logan Lucky’

Late-summer catch-up: ‘The Glass Castle’

Late-summer catch-up: ‘Detroit’

Late-summer catch up — ‘A Ghost Story’

‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ sloppy but fun

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