Film, Box Office, and Stuff

Excellent cops-and robbers-action film. Full to the brim of machismo. Tattoos, muscles, macho standoffs, guns, leather jackets...it's all there. The final hour (the heist and the ensuing chase) is absolutely enthralling and doesn't let up. Great action. The film shares a structure (and even some scenes) with Heat , but it's a totally different beast in its own regard. Actually, it feels very much like it shares a universe with Triple 9 and Sabotage . It is not as sophisticated and neat and cool as Heat . It's more rough around the edges. The dynamic here is turned on its head because for me I'm rooting for McCauley in Heat but Nick in Thieves , which makes it interesting to see [essentially] the same story but from the other side. And Butler is great as the wildcard sheriff cop. No uniform, no rules. It's great. The setup for a sequel is a little glib, and Nick's divorce/not seeing the kids plot thread loses steam about half-way through the film, but I

Downsizing has an interesting what-if gimmick, but it is a bland exploration of the concept, and I grew tired of it and these characters over the course of its whopping 130 minute run-time. Its marketing gives it a different vibe than its pretentious intentions. The beautiful and talented Hong Chau adds some required levity, but the film gets lodged between themes and genres, instead of landing on them as it hops from chapter to chapter, place to place, and so on. It is just quite uneven, and quite a tedious watch outside of a few scenes. It also has the guise of a parable but it's so washy and bloated by morality and uncertainty that I gave up trying to decipher the meaning or if there even was one. This is a disappointing film by Payne, a filmmaker who has such a rich filmography in The Descendants, About Schmidt, Sideways , and last year's most underrated film, Wilson . He should definitely stick to straight up comedy-dramas in the future, and leave the science-fiction in

It is such a shame that the accusations toward Louis C.K. happened on the eve of I Love You, Daddy 's release, because it is a brilliant film and a real achievement. It is extremely topical, not just with regards to C.K's recent tabloid life but with the whole movement regarding feminism, consent, positions of power etc., and it not coincidentally (I hope), in terms of dialogue and framing and locales, is a retro imitation of a Woody Allen comedy under the technical guise of a 50s drama. How gorgeous does that sound? It has all of the typical Allen elements. New York, Paris, relationship dilemmas, inadequacies, and even a direct real-life reference of an auteur filmmaker (played deceitfully predatory by John Malkovich) dating a minor. The film connections and conventions of yesteryear, editing, cinematography score...all brilliant. There is something magical that takes place when a film is shot in black-and-white. The lighting changes, and it instantaneously becomes art. Eac