matthewkilbane

Joel Coen masterfully evokes the utter bleakness and creepiness of Macbeth, with cinematography relying on shadows and a minimalistic production design. However, there's something about the movie that doesn't quite work--each individual acting performance is really good, but they don't really mesh as an ensemble. Perhaps Coen created too much distance between the characters and the audience--the production design does overwhelm the performances at times. While Washington and McDormand feel a bit miscast as the leads. The 2015 Macbeth with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard is a stronger adaptation, however this version is still worth the watch.

The White Ribbon is a film that only Haneke could make. It's bleak, upsetting, perverse, and so true to the human condition that it's hard to watch, yet you won't want to look away. It forces you to think about how a society treats its children, and what those children will do when they've grown up and run the society. The cinematography alone is enough reason to watch this film.

Films with an all-star cast can often fall short--especially when the film's a comedy. That's not the case with Don't Look Up. This is a well-balanced film, with each actor on screen for a reason, not just for star power. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence make a terrific scientific duo trying to navigate through bureaucracy and media to warn the world of an impending comet that will destroy Earth. The screenplay is well-paced, with a natural progression that is simultaneously serious and hilarious. Adam McKay has proven with previous films (Vice, The Big Short, The Other Guys) that he knows what he's doing--the film knows what it is: a satire with a powerful message, not a blunt message with some comedy sprinkled in. The low critics' scores seem more to be about the critics wanting the film to be something it is not, instead of reviewing what the film is. Some critics seem to have wanted Don't Look Up to be closer to a fictionalized version of An Inconvenient Truth, and they fault it for not being as blunt as a documentary. Don't Look Up is a smart, funny film with a great cast, and a hilarious recurring joke with Jennifer Lawrence's character frustrated about a 3-star general charging her and Leo for free snacks at the White House.