Now that the gloves are off, FOX has managed to embrace the comic book universe tropes of “Gotham” and no longer have molded “Gotham” as an abysmal crime thriller. It’s now working as a somewhat new and radical take on the origin of Batman and Bruce Wayne’s molding in to the dark knight. The writers have taken even more liberties with the universe, centering so much more on Commissioner Gordon now and slowly sliding Bruce Wayne in to focus. The third seasons is a much lauded improvement over the former seasons for fans, as “Gotham” goes all out weird and eccentric, re-thinking the Batman universe and his origin in a new and often bold method.
Tag Archives: Crime
Death Note (2017)
I’ve been a casual fan and observer of “Death Note” since the mid-aughts and have always been fascinated with its premise and the moral dilemmas it props up for the audience and its characters. It’s almost like “The Box” but with a hit of adrenaline and more complex ideas and philosophies. Director Adam Wingard adapts “Death Note” for a new audience, taking the material from Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, and adding his own quirks, ideas, and dashes of dark comedy. What we get is a stark, entertaining horror movie that is very much a “Death Note” tale, but one that works in its own rhythm for a broader audience, without alienating the core fan base.
Moon Child (2017) [Oceanside International Film Festival 2017]
A family survives through love and support as they all come from one form of abuse or another. From the grandmother’s childhood physical and sexual abuse, to her kids’ drug abuse, the film demonstrates how people survive and love through the hardest of events.
Justice Served (2017)
In the modern social and political climate, Patrick Rea’s “Justice Served” is going to play well and perhaps stir up some much needed controversy. While director Rea delivers his usual slick special effects and morbid tone, “Justice Served” is a brilliant commentary on society and how far we’ve come. Society is nothing but people exploiting people, exploiting people, we’re devils and devil’s advocates. Director Rea creates a backward world where the society we witness is shockingly not that different than what we’re seeing today.
Overdrive (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A duo of car thief brothers runs into trouble after making a deal with a local crime boss in the South of France.
Written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas and directed by Antonio Negret, Overdrive is a fun car heist film with exhilarating chases, twists, turns, and beautiful vintage cars. It takes a few cues from The Fast and the Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds, the Transporter series, etc and makes them all its own. The use of the car is definitely a plot device, but it works quite well here. The characters are not particularly deep, but as the film is mostly action car porn, it doesn’t really matter in the end. What matters is that they are believable enough to take the viewer through the story and its twists and turns while being entertaining and fun to watch. This film is one of those that is made for the fun of it and not to pass on some kind of grand message, something that is perfectly fine and well done here.
The Bye Bye Man (2017)
It’s “The Bye Bye Man,” or as I call it “Honey, We Ripped Off Slenderman.” In all honesty, “The Bye Bye Man” actually looks like a weak Senator Palpatine cosplayer who died from toxic poisoning from his face make up and became a demon who likes to rip off his shtick from The Babadook, Freddy Krueger, and your every day mime. I’ve experienced scarier stories in young adult sections at public libraries, and could come up with a monster ten times more imposing, and with a name that doesn’t automatically inspire me to chortle under my breath. A movie this bad could only inspire me to gather my thoughts of bewilderment in an itemized list.
Le Serpent aux mille coupures (Thousand Cuts) (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A man on the run hides in a farm house, taking the family living there hostage. As the search for him intensifies, dead bodies start to pile up. Who is he and what has he done, who is killing these other people and why.
Based on the books by DOA and adapted for this film by DOA and director Eric Valette, Le Serpent aux mille coupures is a tense French polar, a sort of Thriller the French way. The film takes its premise, adds extra bad guys, and pushes the limits a bit while still keeping a fairly simple way of going at things. This creates a tension and suspense while the police and others are looking for a killer who tortures horribly his victims before killing them, while the man in hiding may or may not be this killer. All the tension comes from how the story unfolds even after the audience knows who is doing what, something that is a sign of strong writing and directing.