An alcoholic teacher in a run-down former mining community is concerned a student is being abused. Stately wendigo horror with allegorical intent: doesn’t quite link between first peoples’ famine, monsters, and opioid-depressed communities, but there’s a quiet professionalism at work, even if Cooper’s tendency to ponderousness dulls the piece at times.
Here’s another view.
And here’s the trailer.
Left-field ancestral monster horror, with some nice photography, good performances and icky moments. Let down by a poor script and a pace that doesn’t move quickly or scarily enough when it needs to. Worth watching for the weirdness of it all.
A scientist-adventurer and an irascible tugboat captain journey up the Amazon in search of a fabled tree. Labourious action-fantasy cribbing from allsorts: The African Queen, Aguirre: Wrath of God, various Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, the Brendan Fraser iteration of The Mummy. Not great, and a disappointment from the usually sure Collet-Serra.
Here’s the trailer.
A competitive couple’s regular game night goes awry. Well-sustained comedy of murder-mystery-meets-real-life errors with a smart cast and generally solid script, plus some pizazz in the execution. Undemanding fun if you go with it.
Want another review? Here y’go.
A now-aged mob hitman reflects. A stunning revisiting of themes preoccupying Scorsese throughout his career; gang life, organised crime, Catholic guilt. Sombre and melancholy, and Ellroy-like in its alt-history approach to the American 20th century. A technical, dramatic and stylistic marvel, with fine performances all around, none less than from Pesci, who’s revelatory here. Hugely recommended.
An embittered US Army veteran is given the task of repatriating a dying Cheyenne chief. Handsome, sombre and occasionally po-faced Western with a straightforward message. Good performances, though not quite the epic it wants to be.
The story of Barry Seal, who smuggled for the CIA and the cartels in the 80s. Swaggering rise and fall biopic in the GoodFellas mould; hugely impressive and entertaining, while offering a reminder of another of the US’s recent murky pasts.
Another perspective? Here’s Lemonsquirtle’s take.
![The Irishman [AKA I Heard You Paint Houses] (2019, dir. Martin Scorsese)](https://255review.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/ti.jpg?w=620)
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