There’s so much about Nickel Boys I love but the format makes it really hard for me personally to get invested as much as I really wanted to. I feel bad for not rating it higher because this is undoubtedly an incredible film but the first person perspective was tough for me.
90% of what makes Bone Tomahawk good is the sound design. Everything sounds so dry and crunchy and the near-total lack of score gives plenty of space for the audio to show just how grim the world of this film is.
The other 10% is the ensemble cast. Everyone does a great job in their roles, with Matthew Fox being a particular favourite for me. Kurt Russell also does an irable job adding a sense of humanity to a story…
Other than a very brief acknowledgement at the end, the real story of this Netflix documentary is the one it isn't trying to tell: The story of the media trying to exploit someone who was clearly mentally unwell.
Many of the talking heads featured in The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker are the reporters, producers and other hangers-on who stumbled across an oddly charismatic and seemingly heroic young man who reached meme status and tried to capitalise on his popularity. They quickly…
The Substance is the bastard child of Showgirls and Society. This is a film with a message and it has no interest in delivering that message with any kind of grace or subtlety. This is a film that just goes and goes and keeps going until you’re physically exhausted by endless repetitions of grimacing and laughing nervously. Watch it with an audience.
(Might revisit this review later and expand on my thoughts when more lucidity returns to me. What a…
