Change Your Image
JLRishi
Reviews
Ripley (2024)
B&W Cinematography is the star of this movie
After reading some of the reviews here, I'm dismayed by the people comparing this version of The Talented Mr. Ripley to "the original" 1999 movie-many who panned this version incidentally. The true original version is the 1955 novel by Patricia Highsmith, which I have read, re-read, and highly recommend, and the bar against which every subsequent adaptation should be measured. To its credit, the plot of this version tacks truer to the novel than the 1999 movie, although every adaptation, to include the original 1960 movie adaptation, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), takes artistic license in putting their own spin on the story. I have enjoyed all 3 film adaptations for their distinctive takes on the original story. Anthony Minghella's 1999 version in glorious color was a visual feast and well acted by Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and the brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman. That version emphasized the class differences and the envy for the kind of Bon vivant lifestyle personified by Dickie and desired by Tom. But this version, in stark, gorgeous black and white, was more psychological, took its time, and reminded me of one of Antonioni's B&W trilogy (L'Avventura, La Notte, & L'Eclisse). The prolonged scenes of Tom trying to dispose of Dickie's body and the dingy reminded me of Coen Brothers' black humor. But it's not quite as good as it could have been. Andrew Scott, as much as I like his acting, which is brilliant (Sherlock), is quite a bit older than Tom Ripley of the novel. Johnny Flynn was kind of an enigma. On the other hand Dakota Fanning as Marge was more like Marge of the novel and perfect. Eliot Sumner as Freddie Miles was a strange choice to say the least. It's not perfect, but the real star of this miniseries is the cinematography, which conveyed both the beauty and coldness of the original story. I didn't want to see a remake of the 1999 movie but rather a unique vision for the original story, and on that level this version succeeded for me.
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Entertaining Quirky Neo Noir Mystery
Summed up, this movie was like After Hours meets The Big Lebowski meets Rear Window. If you liked the weird characters and boho neighborhood of After Hours, the slacker protagonist and meandering plot of The Big Lebowski, and the voyeurism of Rear Window, then you might like this movie. It is not as good as any of those previously mentioned movies, which were A-list, whereas this is most definitely a B-movie. It takes place in the hipster L. A. neighborhood of Silver Lake, at the apartment complex of Sam's (Andrew Garfield), a chain-smoking slacker who spends his day spying on female neighbors with binoculars, reading underground comics, and chasing down conspiracy theories. One day Sam watches an intriguing new neighbor at the swimming pool, a beautiful young blonde in a big white hat and white swimsuit named Sarah (Riley Keough). She catches him spying on her, they meet, get high together, sparks fly, and they agree to meet the following day. But the next day Sarah and her roommate have suddenly vacated their apartment and seemingly vanished, and so begins this mystery that Sam follows into a surreal world of strange characters and hidden conspiracies. You will likely either enjoy this movie or hate it. It's not for everyone but I enjoyed it and I wish there were more movies like this. I gave it a generous 7 of 10 because it is not a masterpiece like the aforementioned movies but it is an entertaining addition to the neo noir(ish) genre.
Mindhunter (2017)
Canceled My Netflix Subscription When They Canceled Season 3
Loved the series and undoubtedly would have kept my Netflix subscriptionhad they renewed Season 3. But I realized Netflix is not interested in providing quality new content to subscribers but rather charging to watch reruns and cheaply produced junk I am not interested in. They claim low viewership but with 2 solid seasons behind it there is no doubt in my mind it would have eventually caught on by word of mouth. There are very few high quality crime thriller series but Mindhunter is/was one of them. The leads were all complex, compelling characters with interesting backgrounds. The period setting (60s-80s) and the evolution of the FBIs Behavioral Science Unit was a fascinating premise and well executed. Shame on Netflix for scrapping this quality series.
A Murder at the End of the World (2023)
Disappointing
I love mysteries and fresh takes on the genre and I watched Episode 1 with high hopes but ended up more annoyed than entertained. None of the characters act, speak, or seem like real human beings but rather smarmy, self-serious "mysterious" cliches. The screenplay seems like it was written by an older generation (Gen X) to appeal to a Gen Z sensibility by peppering the dialog with modern slang like "doxxed" which gets dropped several times and language straight from a Gen Z thesaurus. The plot seems too familiar, think The Menu and Glass Onion. The music choices were also cliche and clearly from an older generation's playlist like The Doors "The End" to open the show (with apologies to Francis Ford Coppola), Portishead, Annie Lennox, Grimes. I wanted to like this show and I will give the next episode a shot but so far the show has failed to grab me and I am disappointed.
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Positive critical reviews made me want to like this, but...
I on the other hand was disappointed. It is a psychological drama with a deeply unsympathetic lead character in Leda, a literature professor alone on holiday on a Greek island. The "mystery" and suspense in this movie comes from the viewer not knowing and trying to figure out Leda's back story, which is revealed gradually throughout the movie in flashbacks. I put mystery in quotes because this is not a mystery. I think the actress Olivia Coleman is supremely talented but I couldn't help but feel she was miscast. Several times people she meets tell her "We guessed you couldn't be more than 40. You look young for your age"--and it just didn't ring true and therefore didn't make sense. Without giving away spoilers, the more we learn about who Leda is the less I could sympathize with her. By the end I couldn't find any redeemable quality in Leda to the point where I didn't care what happened to her. I did not read the book and I wonder if perhaps this story, which is deeply psychological, simply did not translate well from book to movie.