"Good Time"(2017) directed by 'Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie'
This movie came out a few years ago now, so I am a bit late to the party. But just as a notice to anyone paying any kind of attention I think focusing on more adult/slightly less current fare is going to be a trend on this blog. After the impracticality of trying to review the last Star Wars, it was just obvious that there is a disconnect between me and the movies(Product) I am seeing, and since movies come and go from theaters to streaming so fast. Even pros lose track of these films. I need to focus or refocus on the indie side, not just the crapola I am a sucker enough to feel compelled to pay to see in the theater. I enjoy writing these, but food critics don't often review McDonald's. Apparently, that slipped my mind. So, where to find the independent film content to talk about? I downloaded the IFC channel app, and there weren't any movies available, just lame improv comedy and mockumentaries from self-congratulatory ex-SNL alumni. Maybe it's fantastic TV content for some people but I wasn't feeling it and deleted the app immediately. I have been really enjoying the TCM channel app. Now, I don't have a problem writing reviews for classic movies. I love them, especially movies from the 70s, there is a ton of great stuff on youtube, but I want to write to explore the new stuff too. I found an app called Kanopy that links with your library card. Its free and lets you stream 10 movies a month. The selection is decent and it has lots of recent indie films. I want to talk about movies and I know it couldn't just be me who is broke, especially after the holidays. Library cards are free. This way we can share opinions on the same movie even if it's no longer in theaters, or at peak public attention.
I fell in love with the opening scene of this movie. The first act brings it with amazing acting not only from Robert Pattinson but also from co-director Benny Safdie. Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie play brothers in an 'Of Mice and Men' dynamic. But its played in an original way, It is exciting, its got balls out scenes that develop the characters, who feel real and fucked up and knowable. Jennifer Jason Leigh pops up and you really believe the scenes and characters. Its a totally enjoyable start and its fun to watch these miscreants to their thing.
Then it starts to take some turns, which is where things start to get random. We get random plot turns and more amazing characters are introduced notably Taliah Webster as random gangsta teenager Crystal, and Buddy Duress, as Ray, a New York thug criminal who randomly gets sucked into the mess created in the first act. Ray brings a lot to the movie but the character dynamic that was building from the first act goes right out the window.
We get a rather gimmicky change of location, a showdown with a security guard played by Barkhad Abdi, the Somali Pirate in Captain Philips (I'm the captain now). It's a good performance but the plot is off the rails at this point.
Then we have some more random gangster stuff at an apartment with a mean pitbull and a drug dealer, We do get a resolution for the characters that makes sense and feels right. But the movie itself is a narrative wreck. I have been thinking about it and going back and forth in my mind and you know I think I like it more because of that.
I find Robert Pattinson just alright. I never thought he was exceptionally bad or good in what I've seen of him which was essentially Twilight and a few bits and pieces in films here and there. But he brings it here in a way that I definitely appreciated. I guess after being overexposed as a sparkly vampire in Twilight he has been quietly putting together an impressive Indy film resume. That's what worked for Drew Barrymore, Johnny Depp, and many others, and really that's the right way to do it.
Now he's set to play Batman with Matt Reeves directing and the rumor is they are doing the long Halloween. Should that even be considered interesting anymore? Do I care? Does anyone? I don't know. But this indy film crime mess is worth watching,
It's shot on film its lit amazingly, but in places, it is so dark! Cinematographer Sean Price Williams brings black to the screen with a chip on his shoulder in a puzzling way. The Safdies did the new Adam Sandler movie Uncut Gems, which I have yet to see and might wait til its on streaming. There is no question about it this brother act team of directors the Safdie brothers have huge balls. The question is, does the movie pull it off? I think yes, I quite enjoyed it but it's not a definitive yes. And maybe that's the best place a character-based crime movie can land. Check it out. What do you think?
I fell in love with the opening scene of this movie. The first act brings it with amazing acting not only from Robert Pattinson but also from co-director Benny Safdie. Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie play brothers in an 'Of Mice and Men' dynamic. But its played in an original way, It is exciting, its got balls out scenes that develop the characters, who feel real and fucked up and knowable. Jennifer Jason Leigh pops up and you really believe the scenes and characters. Its a totally enjoyable start and its fun to watch these miscreants to their thing.
Then it starts to take some turns, which is where things start to get random. We get random plot turns and more amazing characters are introduced notably Taliah Webster as random gangsta teenager Crystal, and Buddy Duress, as Ray, a New York thug criminal who randomly gets sucked into the mess created in the first act. Ray brings a lot to the movie but the character dynamic that was building from the first act goes right out the window.
We get a rather gimmicky change of location, a showdown with a security guard played by Barkhad Abdi, the Somali Pirate in Captain Philips (I'm the captain now). It's a good performance but the plot is off the rails at this point.
Then we have some more random gangster stuff at an apartment with a mean pitbull and a drug dealer, We do get a resolution for the characters that makes sense and feels right. But the movie itself is a narrative wreck. I have been thinking about it and going back and forth in my mind and you know I think I like it more because of that.
I find Robert Pattinson just alright. I never thought he was exceptionally bad or good in what I've seen of him which was essentially Twilight and a few bits and pieces in films here and there. But he brings it here in a way that I definitely appreciated. I guess after being overexposed as a sparkly vampire in Twilight he has been quietly putting together an impressive Indy film resume. That's what worked for Drew Barrymore, Johnny Depp, and many others, and really that's the right way to do it.
Now he's set to play Batman with Matt Reeves directing and the rumor is they are doing the long Halloween. Should that even be considered interesting anymore? Do I care? Does anyone? I don't know. But this indy film crime mess is worth watching,
It's shot on film its lit amazingly, but in places, it is so dark! Cinematographer Sean Price Williams brings black to the screen with a chip on his shoulder in a puzzling way. The Safdies did the new Adam Sandler movie Uncut Gems, which I have yet to see and might wait til its on streaming. There is no question about it this brother act team of directors the Safdie brothers have huge balls. The question is, does the movie pull it off? I think yes, I quite enjoyed it but it's not a definitive yes. And maybe that's the best place a character-based crime movie can land. Check it out. What do you think?
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