Reviews

The Killing of a Scared Deer stars Collin Farrell as a fated cardiologist in a moving reframing of the Greek myth Iphigenia in Taurus. Directed by Greek artist Yorgos Lanthimos who has grown in popularity for his last two films The Lobster and The Favorite, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a meaningful, slow-burn epic that has you questioning the powers of the fates in your own life.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer follows Doctor Steven Murphey (Farrell) and his family (Nicole Kidman, Raffey Cassidy, and Sunny Suljic) as Murphey's children mysteriously lose their ability to walk and their appetite to eat. The curse on Murphey's children stems from Martin (Barry Keghan), a young boy whose father dies under Doctor Murphey's care while he operated under the influence of alcohol. Martin seeks revenge and ultimately announces that the curse will be lifted should Doctor Murphey kill one of his own children in an "eye for an eye" scenario.

In a departure from most modern films that value highwire action and comedy to draw a crowd, Lanthimos and his crew of wildly talented actors deliver deadpan performances that raise the hair on the back of your neck. Notably, Barry Keoghan's portrayal of the sinister yet unassuming Martin is frightening to the extreme with his ability to contrast innocence with near demonic intentions.

If I had to highlight the single variable that drives The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the one thread that pulls the audience along throughout the two-hour A24 saga, it would be its wonderfully frightening use of soundtrack and leitmotif. The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The pairing of emotionally draining and epic choruses at the hand of Franz Schubert with Latin and German operatic movements engenders a frightening sense of dread, one that brilliantly capitalizes on the juxtaposition of murder and revenge against the backdrop of a seemingly perfect American family.

Ava follows its titular protagonist (Jessica Chastain), a dangerous ex-addict who struggles internally as she works as the world's finest assassin. Ava wonders whether the men she is killing for money need to die. After a botched job, a member of her black ops organization (Colin Farrell) wishes to have her killed to protect the company. Yet, Ava's keen wit, skill as a martial artist, and help from her trainer (John Malkovich) keep her alive long enough to find closure and face all who want her dead.

In as few words as I can describe Tate Taylor's latest spy film, Ava is an exercise in character creation only. It is baseless, without story, absent of strong acting, and wholly incomplete. While still better than the vast majority of today's straight to streaming movies, I judge Ava harder because I know the skill of the director, who previously directed The Help (2011), and the cast, known for such works as Interstellar (2014), Being John Malkovich (1999), Selma (2014), and The Lobster (2015).

After the first 30 minutes of mostly coherent character introduction and world building, the movies slips into an odd commentary on family life and relationships that have been affected by Ava'sbehavior in a previous life. And for all the emotion and raw exposition, the audience does not feel a single bit of sadness or remorse on Ava's behalf. Instead, the audience is left questioning why it is so seemingly easy for Collin Farrell's character to undermine a full world of assassins and name himself leader. The audience is bored by long, winding takes of one-on-one dialogue that features a grand total of three tripod-based camera shots.

Perhaps Ava was an attempt at creating a female John Wick. Had it succeeded through the use of clever writing and dynamic locations and color palette, Ava may have been the action film of the year. Instead, Ava leaves much to the imagination and asks the viewer if the film industry is really worth saving if this is what a star-studded cast of house favorites gets you.

Episode 2 of Season 2 (The Passenger) feels like a slight departure from what we have grown to expect from The Mandalorian. Rather than bringing the titular character closer to achieving his task of protecting the child and finding more of his kind, this episode felt closer to a filler. Still, The Passenger was undeniably exciting, featuring Alien-esque snow spiders that hatch out of eggs and a perfectly executed X-Wing chase in the middle of a snowy canyon.

Even if you discount the excitement and adventure of snow spiders, fighter pilots, and the frigid night on a desolate planet trying to kill you, you can easily find entertainment in the comparison drawn between The Mandalorian and the Frog Lady toting a jar filled with the last of her species. There is a note of character development and purpose in The Mandalorian's fight to protect her alone. He has transformed from a bounty hunter that subsided off bringing other to their ends to a self-driven protector who creates his own quests. This is an important note to exclaim early in season two. There is a necessity to redefining The Mandalorian so that his character choices make sense later on.

If there is any complaint I have for this episode, it is the writer's convenience found on the wonderous rescue that the two X-Wing pilots provide when it appears Mando and the Child will perish. Their rescue did not flow well and felt ingenuine, almost as if writer Jon Favreau had written himself into a hole and needed a metaphorical ladder. Perhaps some earlier foreshadowing would have made this transition more fluid.

Tim Burton's 1994 film Ed Wood is the perfect dramady. It balances a mostly true biographic feature on 1950's director Ed Wood' life with some comedic reshapings. The result, a fun Burtonesque piece that tickles your heart as you begin to understand and empathize with old Mr. Wood.

Ed Wood stars Johnny Depp in the titular role and features several other names well recognized today: Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Vincent D'Onofrio. The story arc covers several years of Wood's life. It begins with the events just preceding his directorial debut (Glen or Glenda) and ends soon after the completing of Wood's most infamous film, Plan 9 From Outer Space. Over the film's course, Wood realizes and answers his personal passion of telling stories through film. Sadly for Wood, he has not talent and refuses to take advice from anyone in the industry. In the end, just as in real life, Wood's films are lackluster and the target of endless mockery.

Burton's choice to shoot the film in black and white, mirroring the world Ed Wood created, was an interesting stylistic choice, but ultimately a successful one. The audience is deeply absorbed into the source material not only due to the visual elements. The old-timey movie cadence in which all the characters speak is immersive too! Every character is perfectly cast. Depp, for once, does not appear as a character created around his real-life persona. Instead, he feels authentic, as though he were Ed Wood in the flesh.

I am almost certain that The Disaster Artist, another more recent film which comedically dramatized a failed director, took several cues from Ed Wood. Gladly so, both films are triumphed and can stand more than one viewing. Kudos to Burton and crew for turning a poorly received director into a relatable and likeable figurehead that represents every artist's internal fears.

Robert Altman's 1992 film The Player is a black comedy satire of the time's modern Hollywood. The work is based on screenwriter Michael Tolkin's novel of the same name and centers on the life of self-centered Hollywood studio executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) who has been receiving death threats from an unnerved writer for the past several months. After going to confront David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), the man he believes is the death note writer, Mill accidently kills him and flees the scene. The rest of the film follows Mill as he attempts to maintain his innocence all while falling in love with Kahane's former lover.

Rather than presenting itself as a "standard" film, The Player prefers to poke fun at then established Hollywood norms and tropes. In particular, The Player satirizes Hollywood's inability to make a movie with anything other than a happy ending and extremely well-known actors. The Player even features scores of Hollywood's greats including Bruce Willis, John Cusack, Cher, and Jeff Goldblum in cameos as themselves. This serves to create a feeling of authenticity within The Player's universe all while allowing Hollywood to take the joke in stride. Several of the tropes The Player satirizes get used as plot points in the film. Mill is let off after a stroke of luck has the only witness to the murder incorrectly identify the killer she saw. Mill has sex with Kahane's former lover even though the act adds nothing to the story. The Player even uses extensive long cuts and interweaving dialogue because it can, not because it should. In total, these subliminal pokes leave the audience dissecting The Player long after it has ended.

The Player is a success. It set out on a mission to entertainingly dismantle the established Hollywood order and it accomplished that with ease. If anything, I feel the ending was rushed and the middle was too long. Perhaps a few more plot movers would have better fleshed out the story. Still, I was very pleased with the film and would recommend it to most.

Gotham is the imaginative recasting of DC's Batman Universe. However, the show cleverly tells the story from a side characters point of view: that of Commissioner James Gordon as he works up the ranks of the Gotham Police Department. The show blends traditional buddy-cop vibes with aspects from thrillers to create an end product that is genuinely engaging. James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is a well though out and likeable characters who stands by his convictions as he fights to restore hope in Gotham. His partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is chaotic-good. He is a functioning alcoholic who bends the rules when he feels it necessary to win the war. The actors do a good job giving life to their subject material. There presence on screen rarely feels forced and we can therefore logically follow their steps. Additionally, the show's editing does not distract from the show and goes unnoticed, a mark of fluid work. The only qualm I have with the show is its tendency to drift into melodrama. In instances like when Gordon tries to connect with young Bruce Wayne after his parents are murdered, the writer tends to rely on emotional monologues to convey character's feelings rather than show how the character would realistically try to connect with someone else. This is a sign of lazy writing that, frankly, feels insulting to the viewer. The show has plenty of material to work with. It has set up a world of corruption wit which Gordon can duel. It has introduced minor villains the audience can silently root for because they know who they are in the whole Batman Universe. Gotham has written a recipe for success and will profit from its interesting and dynamic ideas.

Prodigal Son follows recently fired FBI criminal profiler Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) as he attempts to solve murders throughout New York. Malcolm is exceptionally talented because he carries the perspective and killer instincts of a serial killer. In the pilot episode, Malcolm faces a new threat as a new serial killer plagues New York following the same modus operandi as another famous serial killer, Malcolm's father Dr. Martin Whitley.

The show plays out like a typical crime-drama. The intelligent protagonist fights his inner demons, questions his place in the world, and miraculously solves a crime. Despite impressive acting chops from Michael Sheen who plays the imprisoned serial killer, Prodigal Son falls flat as another rip-off of Silence of the Lambs, Dexter, and Hannibal. On a positive note, the show is well paced, featuring quick cuts that do not seem lazy. Additionally, the production value is rather high. Everything from the ensemble cast to the set pieces are of a higher caliber than expected of television shows. But this dead horse needs not be beaten anymore.

Prodigal Son has potential though. Should it find some new element to distract from the tortured detective cliché, it could rise to the top of streaming media in 2020. The base is there. The characters demonstrate the ability to grow in a multitude of directions. It is now time to make the leap and create something new.