Tag: thriller

400 Words on: Primate (2026)

or, “Johannes and the Terrible, No Good,
Very Bad House Monkey Horror”:
A spoiler-free mini movie review.

1 out of 5

‘Pacing’ is certainly a thing: attributed to no one, it’s an essential part of any entertainment. Audiences won’t notice the spacetime something occupies in their lives unless they’re bored, or they totally disagree with what they’re experiencing.

As an example, halfway through Michael Haneke’s 1997 art-horror “Funny Games”, there’s a long, unbroken take assumed as decompression for its characters. That part is so slow that the first time I watched, I fast-forwarded through it.

But skipping “FG’s” depiction of grief also meant reinforcing its themes of desensitization. Once it clicked, it’s a rare movie scene where something simple blossoms within a spacial indiscipline.

On the other hand, skipping scenes in Johannes Roberts’ “Primate” won’t reveal the dark side of its audience, but it will get you to the credits faster.

[cont’d]

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400 Words on: Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)

or, “You Made Me Promises, Promises”:
A spoiler-free mini movie review.

5 out of 5

Filmmaker & author S. Craig Zahler’s “Brawl in Cell Block 99” is a prison-fighting thriller, with an audacious literary-esque understatement. I’ll demonstrate using Lindsay Lohan…

In 2013, at her then-nadir, Lohan & disgraced porn performer James Deen headlined Paul Schrader’s social drama “The Canyons”. Schrader is the legendary screenwriter of Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” – but a type-A director, exemplified by Stephen Rodrick’s New York Times article on Canyons’ production.

One provocative point in Rodrick’s piece was distributors’ worries over Canyons’ slow, unmarketable first act. Directorial colleague & editing precisionist Steven Soderbergh offered to cut an alternate version himself, to what Schrader responded, “You know what [he’d] do if another director offered to cut his film?” And flipped the bird. “That’s what Soderbergh would do.”

[cont’d]

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Dub’s Take: Mother’s Day (2010)

or, “Bullshit-Free: 400 Words on
Patrick John Flueger”:
A spoiler-free mini movie conversation.

In my previous post, I wrote that certain scenes of movie violence only register viscerally with audiences, opposed to emotionally, were it not for the “mettle” of the participating actors.

As Devyn LaBella’s “Horizon 2” lawsuit illustrates, professionally-minded directors – not including the “Costner Factor” – won’t force challenging material on the unprepared: potentials read a script; sign an agreement; and, afterward, may require healthy decompression.

But what about actors in the television industry? How do serial players on today’s gritty cop shows compartmentalize 15-hour workdays filled with repeat coverage of the world’s worst? Other than with a good cry?

Deadline recently disclosed that TV alumnus Patrick John Flueger (Shawn on the original “4400”; Ruzek on “Chicago PD”) would be taking a leave of absence from PD, possibly due to “an instance of alcohol… on set.” With PD’s frequently off-putting subject matter, I joked with my spouse that the guy must have finally broke.

[cont’d]

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400 Words on: Dead of Winter (2025)

or, “The Five Stages of Grieving Wasted Time”:
A spoiler-free mini movie review.

1 out of 5

“Dead of Winter” (or DOW) is the antithesis to ‘Golden Topping Land:’ a movie you are actively conscious of while watching; an unremarkable composition that will pass from your brain as quickly as consumed, like cinematic Benefiber.

1. DENIAL

Actress Emma Thompson has had a robust & trustworthy career, and here, she plays the unlikely heroine of a kidnapping thriller. An Executive Producer credit ensured her creative autonomy, lest we forget she also won a screenwriting Oscar.

2. ANGER

With control comes accountability – ergo, no one else is responsible for today’s wretched protagonist, except for Thompson.

[cont’d]

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400 Words on: Until Dawn (2025)

or, “Buying-In to the Confusion”:
A spoiler-free mini movie review.

3 out of 5

While my wife would call me a “gamer”, I don’t clock nearly as many hours as when I was a kid: life gets in the way. So when I do play, it’s almost exclusively ‘arcade-style’ games that I can disconnect from quickly – physically & mentally – and there must be a Pause button.

Though I can’t attest, “Until Dawn” seems regarded as one of the premier, Western-made, story-driven video games of the previous console generation: a group of disposable teens trying to survive a throng of wendigos, with a branching narrative based on player interaction. “Until Dawn: The Movie” swaps out the choose-your-own-adventure input for a “Groundhog Day” esque time-loop, with some other surprises meant to mimic the discovery a player would get from the game.

My surprise was palpable. Though lacking the original’s star-power (which featured Rami Malek & Hayden Panettiere), the movie’s twenty-something players do a convincing job and, tonically, all five are spotlighted equally throughout the script. The savagery is effective, including a show-stopping water tower sequence & a close-up of a crushed face that gave me “Irréversible” flashbacks. The dialogue isn’t bad either, often breaking the fourth-wall to cheekily address the core plot’s uninspiredness, or the suicidal inclinations of its protagonists to reset the loop & try again.

[cont’d]

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