In an interview with Inverse to promote his 2021 horror film Antlers, director Scott Cooper said, “I tend never to make the same film in the same genre. The great danger as a filmmaker is in doing safe work. I always like to be in an uncomfortable space.” While admirable, if you can do something really well, there is also the argument to stay within that genre as you continue to perfect your craft. Antlers is the fifth film directed by Cooper and the first one that dips outside the norms of reality. Three of his first four (Out of the Furnace, Crazy Heart, Hostiles) finished in my End of Year Top 3, while his fourth (Black Mass) was a movie I did not enjoy. Antlers was far better than Black Mass, but it is not a candidate to finish in my Top 10 Movies of 2021.
Category Archives: Scott Haze
Thank You For Your Service (2017)
Miles Teller (Whiplash, Bleed for This) is an actor that I find myself liking more and more with each passing role. Since arriving on the scene in 2010 with memorable roles in Rabbit Hole and the well-made remake of Footloose, Teller has starred in the forgettable 21 and Over, Two Night Stand, and That Awkward Moment. Furthermore, his time has been consumed with the Veronica Roth Divergent / Insurgent / Allegiant franchise, a series that fell way short of the fantastic Hunger Games franchise as well as the lesser The Maze Runner series. Now, I’m not going to knock a guy for picking movies that are going to bring him a hefty paycheck, especially if there’s part of me that believes he’s doing it so that he can take lesser money in independent movies that can showcase his skill, evoke emotion, and that I can enjoy. Nonetheless, these three movies probably took the better part of a year and a half to make (just guessing). It’s something I think about when an actor that I really like does reoccurring roles in movies that I really don’t like. Now I’m not saying that Teller is Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Gosling, or Emma Stone, but still. Also, for as much love as The Spectacular Now got both with critics, I was not a fan at all. And mostly, it was because of him. As much as I’m starting to like I’m, I don’t see him as A) a leading man or B) a heartthrob. And I thought his character was a complete douche in The Spectacular Now because he was a douche. They made his character out to be this big player, and it just didn’t work for me. Now with that said, I absolutely would see this movie again. I have a different take on Teller than when The Spectacular Now came out five years ago. Of course, everyone knows about Whiplash and the incredible counter-performance he gave to J.K. Simmons, the eventual Oscar-winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role that year. But, he has also impressed with Bleed for This (a pretty good movie with a pretty good performance that was overshadowed by the breadth of amazing boxing movies that have been made over the years), Only the Brave and, now, Jason Hall’s (screenwriter for American Sniper) directorial debut Thank You For Your Service.
Continue reading Thank You For Your Service (2017)
Child of God (2014)
I want to say that I am a big fan of author Cormac McCarthy. I loved his novel “The Road” and thought the film adaptation of the movie was spectacular. It was one of those movies that I went in not knowing what to expect but came out loving it. I read the book after seeing The Road in the theater, and I thought that the book was just as good as the movie. I liked the movie so much that I created a trailer for it. I enjoyed No Country For Old Men, but I certainly didn’t think it was the best movie of 2007. I have yet to read the novel, but I will at some point. I picked up two more of his novels this past year. The first was a book called “Outer Limits,” of which I enjoyed parts. The second was “Child of God,” parts of which I enjoyed. I thought both movies were random and very different from “The Road” and how I would expect “No Country For Old Men” to read. I had heard James Franco (As I Lie Dying, The Sound and the Fury) was directing an adaptation of a McCarthy novel, but I didn’t know it was Child of God until I had finished the book.
Continue reading Child of God (2014)