10s Movie Review - Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Director: Joe Berlinger
Genre: Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelaria, Haley Joel Osment, John Malkovich, James Hetfield, Jim Parsons, Jeffrey Donovan, Dylan Baker

Description: A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) from the perspective of Liz (Lily Collins), his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 30: A BIOPIC

Review: Ted Bundy has gone down in history as one of the most charming serial killers ever. He easily managed to wrap the ladies around his fingers, before he kidnapped, raped and killed them. His trial was broadcast live on TV and earned him many female admirers. When news got out that Zac Efron would play Bundy, there was a lot of protest. But Efron proves that he can handle it.
Efron finally gets a role he can really embrace. He draws attention to himself in all the scenes by underlining Bundy’s skill with his charm. In doing so, he makes exactly as much use of his strengths as the real serial killer did to control the media circus around his trials. Is Efron the perfect actor to play this role? No, I can think of a hand full of actors that go do it as well. But Efron is really good as Ted Bundy and especially at the beginning of the film, he even looks very much like Bundy.
It seems like Joe Berlinger had no idea what he exactly wanted to tell in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”. Berlinger is experienced as a documentary filmmaker and made the docu-series “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes”. So he can very well create a story from historical facts, but his fiction debut is a more enumeration of events than a conclusive story with a tension curve and a climax.
At the start of the film , Bundy’s girlfriend (well portrayed by Lily Collins) seems to be central. The question seems to be: what is it like to find out you’ve fallen for a monster? However, he characters disappears completely into the background in the second half of the film, when the authorities try to bring Bundy to justice. Bundy is looking for loopholes, both legal and literal. But the most remarkable thing is that it’s hard to determine whether he’s guilty or not. We never see anything about the actual murders.
What Berlinger does show talent for in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” is directing actors and building stand-alone scenes.
“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” is a bit of a disappointment, but does have some strong performances. I expected something different from a Ted Bundy biopic.

Rating: 2,5 / 5

Movie Reviews - Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Director: Stefano Sollima
Genre: Action/ Crime
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Catherine Keener, Jeffrey Donovan

Description: The drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border has escalated as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) re-teams with the mercurial Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).

Review: “Sicario” was a great success, but it’s not the type of movie you expect a sequel for. The story didn’t leave a lot left to even suggest a sequel.
But like most sequels, “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” can’t live up to the first film. The sequel has to work without genius directo Denis Villeneuve, cinematographer Roger Deakins and leading lady Emily Blunt. Those were three elements that made the first film so strong. That Blunt wasn’t asked back is actually logical, due to the storyline. Hers was done at the end of “Sicario”. But she is missed as the moral compass of the film and the person you can identity with.
Main character in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” are Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro, this time in a leading role). Both characters are antiheroes and do things you would probably not agree with. In a moral sense that is. There is no nuance and they don’t blink while abducting a young girl.
The screenplay is really good and the dialogues too. It is never repetitive and different from the first film. It’s a really pleasant film and a solid sequel. But I think they needed Villeneuve to get it to the same level as his film.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

TV Review: "Fargo" Season 2

Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime

Year: 2015

Number of episodes: 10

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Bookime Woodbine, Zahn McClare, Cristin Milioti, Jean Smart, Rachel Keller, Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Donovan, Kieran Culkin, Adam Arkin, Nick Offerman

Description: Various chronicles of deception, intrigue and murder in and around frozen Minnesota. Yet all of these tales mysteriously lead back one way or another to Fargo, North Dakota

Review: After a great first season of“Fargo”, a second season had to happen. There is a new storyline, new characters, but you can still see the Coen Brother’s touch.

This season is set in the late ‘70s, where cop Lou Solverson (Molly’s - from season 1 - dad in his younger years) tracks down a family who is involved in a very complex conspiracy. The married couple Ed and Peggy Blumquist, get themselves into a series of crimes and blunders. Like season one, it’s about the everyday man who accidentally walks the criminal path.

The perspective changes during the series. There is not one leading character and we get to know something about every character of importance.

Patrick Wilson plays Lou Solverson, the younger version of the character Keith Carradine played in season one. Besides dealing with a difficult case, he is also worrying over his wife who has cancer. Staying professional in his job and also preparing for the possibility he might be a single dad soon. Wilson is very strong is his role. Ted Danson plays his father in law and also the sheriff. His character is calm and soothing, yet a very believable sheriff. Kirsten Dunst is probably the strongest performer in this season. We see her as Peggy Blumquist, a role we’ve never seen her in before. She really shines.

Season 2 was good, but it never lives up to season 1. The storylines are less interesting and there aren’t any characters that are as memorable as for example Lorne Malvo, Lester Nygaard and Molly Solverson from season 1. Dunst character comes close and so do Mike Milligan and Indian Hanzee, but season 1 of “Fargo” was way better.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 130: Sicario

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Action/ Thriller

Runtime: 121 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Jeffrey Donovan, Raoul Trujillo, Julie Cedillo, Hank Rogerson, Bernardo P. Saracino, Maximiliano Hernández, Kevin Wiggins, Edgar Arreola, Kim Larrichio

Description: An idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Review: Ever since he was nominated for an Oscar for his film “Incendies”, the French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is a much sought-after director. His later movies, “Prisoners” and “Enemy”, were both praised. His work can be characterized as sober, grim and uncomfortable. For his new crime thriller “Sicario” that’s no different. It’s a dark film about the dirty drug wars near the border between the US and Mexico. An unnerving thriller with a complex plot.

We see the story through the eyes of Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an ambitious FBI agent. While solving a kidnapping case, she finds the bodies of 42 people. They are the victims of relentless drug lords and she is asked to join a special task force to eliminate the Sonora drug cartel. The team is led by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), a laconic macho. Kate goes with him to El Paso, but instead she ends up in the dangerous Ciudad Juarez. They manage to eliminate an important pawn in the drug cartel. But when the mysterious hitman (‘sicario’) Alejandro (Benicio Del Toto) joins them, everything is even more complex then Kate thought.

Emily Blunt is a surprising choice for the lead role in this grim crime drama, but Blunt is sublime. Like the viewer, she doesn’t know much about the mission she is on. Although she is not naïve at all, she feels uncomfortable in this violent and intimidating world. And the fact that she is missing out on the crucial info drives her made. Not only Blunt is fantastic, also Benicio Del Toro as Alejandro.

Besides the good acting, “Sicario” is nerve-racking. The brutal violence is everywhere, which might not be to every film fan’s liking. The grim atmosphere helps there as well as the excellent camera work and montage. All those aspects make “Sicario” into a nail biting movie experience. The tension between the good and bad guys, who is who? “Sicario” manages to lead you in the wrong direction and it’s only until the end you really know what’s going on.

Although it didn’t take my breath away like “Prisoners” and “Enemy”, “Sicario” is one of the best films of 2015.

Rating: 4,5/ 5