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Reviews
Red Sparrow (2018)
Not An Easy Movie To Watch
Anyone who saw Jennifer Lawrence in Darren Aronofsky's mind-trip horror spectacle, mother! which was a two-hour psychological rollercoaster ride, would agree that it may have been Lawrence's riskiest and bravest performance... until now. In the new thriller, Red Sparrow, Lawrence stars as Dominika Egorova, a Russian girl whose entire life revolves around being a prima ballerina for the Bolshoi Ballet and taking care of her very ill mother (Joely Richardson). When Dominika suffers a career-ending injury (an injury that will make you flinch and cringe into your seat), it quickly becomes apparent that it is also the end of the ballet-sponsored housing and medical care that her mother desperately needs. In steps her slimy, but dashingly handsome, uncle Vanya (an excellent Matthias Schoenaerts), who pulls her into a world of sex, seduction, murder and espionage. But not before enduring a grueling and brutal military-like training at Sparrow School, a sadistic program for new, young recruits being molded to become Russian spies. Charlotte Rampling who plays Matron, the head mistress, is a veteran spy who teaches the new recruits how to lose their inhibitions and to pry the weakness out of their enemies, all for the sake of their country. She trains them to be as cold and conniving as she is with the power of seduction and manipulation. This is where Lawrence shows her vulnerability, in a career-high performance.
In no time does Dominika starts using sex as a weapon. Whether it's with a colleague, an enemy, or a repugnant boss. She does what's needed to get the job done. No one said it was going to be glamorous. This has got to be Lawrence's most challenging role yet. Already, having earned four Academy Award nominations with one win (for Silver Linings Playbook), Lawrence is one of our best actresses working today. Not bad for someone who dropped out of school after eighth grade, which she recently revealed on 60 Minutes. Red Sparrow isn't an easy movie to watch. As a matter of fact, it's quite disturbing. There are torture scenes which are cringe inducing, rape scenes that look way too real and a fight scene between Dominika and two men which is one of the most brutal and gruesome fight scenes I've ever had the displeasure of seeing. Lawrence does bare all, but that seems tame considering the subject matter. Joel Edgerton plays the American CIA agent who falls in love with her. He's good, even with an American accent. Lawrence is fun to watch, too, Russian accent and all, especially when she utters lines like, "You sent me to whore school" to her uncle. But man, is Red Sparrow violent and graphic, and yet, offers no apologies for it. Many will find the film too much to handle. And rightfully so. Still, it's a great thriller that will leave you breathless till the very end.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
A Near Masterpiece
What a difference thirty years makes. When we last saw Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) in Ridley Scott's film noir 1982 classic, Blade Runner, he was "retiring" replicants - synthetic and genetically engineered androids that look like human beings – in Los Angeles 2019, before running off with Rachel, a replicant herself, implanted with childhood memories, believing she's human. In Blade Runner 2049, Los Angeles is still a dark, depressing and an urban decay of a congested dystopia. A young new blade runner on the LAPD payroll named Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is now hunting these new, sophisticated replicants created by a new company led by Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) after the Tyrell Corporation went bankrupt. But during this lawful retiring of replicants, Officer K stumbles onto a long-buried secret that could literally change the way society functions, thereby throwing the blade runner program into turmoil.
French-Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve has created a near masterpiece with Blade Runner 2049. He has continued Ridley Scott's vision of a dark and depressing Los Angeles, however visually spectacular. Gosling is the perfect blade runner for this world
somber, emotionless and does what he's told by his superiors (Robin Wright). Ford, coming into the second half of the film, is as good as ever. What were most impressive in Blade Runner 2049 were its impeccable production design and its stunning cinematography. While L.A. is a crowded, black and rainy metropolis, the entire city of San Diego in 2049 has become a junkyard wasteland made up of ship parts and building debris. And Las Vegas is now a dissolute, sand covered megacity. The visual effects, as expected, are amazing. Blade Runner 2049 is definitely one of the finest science-fiction films I've ever seen and most definitely, one of the best movies of the year. At nearly three hours, it is a little long. But it is that rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor.
Mother! (2017)
Mind BLOWN!
Darren Aronofsky's new film, mother!, is like going through one of those Halloween haunted houses not knowing what lurks in the next room or around the corner. At the same time, messing with your mind with cult-like images and grand disastrous set pieces. To put it bluntly, mother! will psychological blow your mind. Directed by the brilliant Darren Aronosfky, mother! stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a nameless couple living in an early 19th century Victorian home somewhere away from of society. A couple strangers (Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer) enter the picture and are unwilling to leave. Then all hell breaks loose when more unwanted guests arrive.
There's no way to go into plot details without spoiling the film for those who dare, yes DARE, go see it. Let's just say, mother! takes you on an unexpected ride. You'll be wondering if Lawrence's character (again, she has no name) is going through psychotic episodes like: is she really seeing a beating, burned human heart coming up from the toilet and could that be a bloody vagina melting through the floorboards? Whatever these images mean to her (and us), will certainly be answered in the third act. Is this a horror film like Rosemary's Baby? Could be. Is this a very elaborate Twilight Zone episode? Perhaps. Whatever it is, mother! is the darkest, most twisted and definitely most original movie I've seen all year long.