"Hush. The Devil Will Hear You."

DEADFALL (2012)

Keep up your everything, good sir.

The more I get into film--and I mean, really into film, dissecting films, writing films, reviewing films--the harder it gets to sit back and just enjoy a movie. It's Einstein's Law of Lovability, you take apart the things you love too much, and eventually you leave every theatre going, "It was great! But...[enter itemized minor nit-picky complaints for the next thirty minutes]." So it's rare a movie can draw me in, really draw me in, to the point where I stop critiquing and remember why I love movies so much in the first place.

Because they're just a hell of a lot of fun. 

Deadfall is just that. It's not a particularly perfect movie by any means. You're not going to finish it with a great philosophical weight lifted off your chest. But it's a fun, shameless movie about two quasi-incestual (aw, who are we kidding, they got all up in the incest) felons (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) who are on the fun from the cops. It's also about a cop (Kate Mara) with feminine issues (and it has nothing to do with her tampon) and a recently-released prisoner (Charlie Hunnam) who's dead set on avoiding his father for Thanksgiving. Basically, everyone's got a chip on their shoulder and, spoiler alert, everyone will have to very directly confront their shit in the third act. So maybe it gets a little heavy-handed by the end, and maybe some characters were redeemed that shouldn't have been, and maybe the CGI snow fell a little too awkwardly...

Whoops, there I go, critiquing again. The point is, while watching this movie, it's very easy to get sucked into the internal drama and--let's say it like it is--general fucked-upness of all the characters. Really, the main draw of the film is one Eric Bana, who plays the wild-card brother who will kill, threaten, and generally do what he has to in order to protect him and his sister (y'know, as long as no little kids are involved). He's a great, well-written character who keeps you engaged in his own internal demons throughout the entire movie; plus, I just really enjoy watching Eric Bana be a resourceful and mildly-sadistic fuck. The movie's honestly not that long (a clean 95 minutes) and it's on Netflix, so there's really no good reason not to watch it. Just sit back, turn off your brain, and enjoy a little good, solid, murderous fun. 

P.S.: This should also be known as the one time Olivia Wilde's face did not annoy me. And by "face," I mean "legs."

"I'm A Killer...Like You."

DAHMER (2002)

So I finally got around to seeing The Avengers (2012). Which left me, like everyone else, teeming with Avenger fever. So I did the next logical step: I set out to hunt down the Avengers cast on Netflix and see if I could find anything to take the edge off. So I popped in Dahmer. Let's just say I couldn't get further from Hawkeye if I tried. Dahmer is a retelling of the life of Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer who murdered 17 men. And occasionally raped them and ate their flesh. Sounds horrifying? It is. Though now have a good theory about where Joss Whedon's Reavers came from.

Dahmer is one of those high-profile stories that demands an audience. However, it's clear that this was the only thing the writers banked on when doing the script. The movie has two timelines running simultaneously alongside each other. Moving forward, we have Jeffrey Dahmer grooming his latest victim--a flashy, flamboyant black man, Rodney. Told in reverse, we have the story of how Jeffrey Dahmer became the psychopath he is. In theory, this kind of storytelling should work, but the transitions are a little too sloppy. We've got flashbacks in flashbacks. Yeah. That.

However, Dahmer has a couple saving graces. The story is twisted and intense. Jeffrey Dahmer is neither demonized or forgiven. But the real reason to see this movie? The acting. After watching Jeremy Renner pull off the calm, rational Hawkeye, you really get the full extent of his acting abilities when you see him as the socially inept, mentally damaged Dahmer. Matching him frame-for-frame is Artel Great, who plays Rodney. Artel Great is full of energy and vibrance and he adds a layer of much-needed humanity to the film. In short, if drawn out scenes of mutilation and psychological torment don't make you run for cover, I'd recommend this one solely for the exceptional acting. 

"We Thought You Was A Toad."

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000)

Ah, the Coen Brothers. That name is really all you need to say and I'm running to the theaters with my ticket in hand. The Coen Brothers have yet to make a movie that's really bored me to tears. Sure, some are better than others. Some are cleaner than others. But no matter what, they have a knack of making movies that really stick with you. O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a translated version of The Odyssey, featuring three convicts who break out of prison in the 1930s and run away to find an alleged treasure. They meet various folks along their journey, including a man who sold his soul for the guitar, a one-eyed con-man, and Baby Face Nelson himself.

I'll start off with the actors and just say they're all fantastic. George Clooney plays the articulate ring-leader, Everett, and he nails the role. I mean, he's George Clooney. He's always a pleasure to watch. Then we've got the extremely underrated John Turturro, who just looks like he belongs in the wrong end of a jail cell. And Tim Blake Nelson, also underrated, is something of a comic relief as the convict with a heart of gold. It helps that they have a great script to work with, delivering brilliant lines of dialogue one right after the other. Is O Brother, Where Art Thou? problematic as a movie? Sure, the acts don't quite jive, the narrative jumps around a little too much, some solutions are just too "convenient." But have I seen it so many times I can quote it? Yes, yes, I have. If that's not the true testament to a good movie, I don't know what is. 

"The Profile Doesn't Fit The Profile."

MURDER BY NUMBERS (2002)

I just rewatched this movie after having put it down since...well...probably sometime around 2002. And, damn. I forgot what a good movie it was. It's a good, solid movie. Period. It's not just the good actors. Or the insane characters. Or the wild plot. It's the ambiance of the film. The little details. It's the docked boat our heroine sleeps in, the decrepit house the two students work out of, the battle scars under a turtleneck. It has the plot of a Law & Order episode with the undercurrent of an old murder mystery novel. In short, it's everything I enjoy. The main plot runs as such: two bored and morbid students kill a woman just because they can. A detective with a dark and violent past becomes invested in the case when the details start to feel a little too personal. So far so good, right? 

The interesting thing about this movie is it doesn't take the easy way out. It's not a standard whodunit. We know right off the bat who the murderers are. Case closed. The real meat of the movie is in watching the various characters battle with their own demons. The guilty conscience, the paranoid reflex, the itch of things buried right under the skin. And maybe I'm giving Murder By Numbers a little more credit than its due for pure nostalgia reasons. Sure, the ending's a little over the top, it has its campy moments. But there's very little I love more in the world that dissecting the psyche of truly fucked-in-the-head people. Kids who murder because they can...now that's an uncomfortable subject. It's something that makes you squirm the entire movie. Murder without rhyme or reason is just something that doesn't sit well with anyone, and this movie doesn't ever let you off that hook.

As for the actors, this is a throwback. All your favorites of the 2010s before they really hit the jackpot. Ryan Gosling, looking like a baby. All you Notebook fans, check this one out. You will sleep with one eye open. Then we have Michael Pitt, who has always been around by somehow just recently seems to have come into the public eye with Boardwalk Empire. Also looking like a baby. Finally, we've got Sandra Bullock. I know what you're thinking--gag reflex. But I'm one of those people who was actually rooting for her in her earlier years. Let's face it, she had that tomboy with an attitude and a quick tongue down pat. So long as she was playing the rough and tumble characters, I was there with her. Lately, yes. I've avoided her like the plague. But Cassie Mayweather is a hardass on a mission, and there is little I want more in a female detective role. Plus, watching her tumble around with her partner in crime because she has some inner demons to burn is brilliant. She's just a straight up fully fleshed character, and Sandra Bullock pulls her off brilliantly. Lastly, I have to give a shout out to Chris Penn. Because he's in this movie, even if it's only for a couple minutes, and that makes me happy beyond happy. You go, Nice Guy.