Alexander Skarsgard has quietly carved out a niche as one of the top sinister bad guys of his generation. Whether it be the homicidal Viking in The Northman, the psychopathic tech CEO in HBO’s transcending drama Succession, the abusive antagonist in HBO’s beloved Big Little Lies, the lead sexual assaulter/terrorizer in the underrated remake of Straw Dogs, or the charming and soft-spoken, yet sadistic and narcissistic sergeant in Dan Krauss’s The Kill Team, a fictionalized version of the killings of unarmed Afghan civilians carried out by US soldiers in the Maywand District in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in 2010.
Category Archives: 2019
Who You Think I Am (2019)
Obsessive catfishing 101. This could be the easiest way to describe the Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Chocolat) character-driven vehicle Who You Think I Am. Adapted from the novel of the same name, Safy Nebbou (Mark of an Angel) crafts a taught romantic drama with just enough suspense and twists to keep us actively engaged as we follow Claire (Binoche) navigate her way through the very real world of catfishing.
Bad Education (2019)
Bad Teacher. An Education. Bad Education. Bad Santa. Like with a human being, one might say there is nothing more personable to a person than their name. However, it can become lost in the weeds when a movie doesn’t have a title that can quickly be associated with it. Furthermore, if the film isn’t memorable and has no recognizable title, it’s likely to get even further caught in the weeds. Such could have been, and likely was to many, Cory Finley’s (Thoroughbreds) Bad Education.
Our Friend (2019)
I went into my viewing of Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s (Megan Leavey, Blackfish) Our Friend, knowing almost nothing. I hadn’t seen a single trailer or read even a sentence of a single review. All I knew was that the movie starred Casey Affleck, a drama based on a true story, and had both an audience and critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes that exceeded 85%. It was enough for me to give an unknown movie a chance. I was rewarded with a film that, while incredibly uneven, delivered in a deeply affecting way for which I was ill-prepared. This incredibly poignant movie is not for everyone. Bring your tissues. If you are a cancer survivor or were with someone during their successful or unsuccessful battle with cancer, be forewarned that Our Friend could bring on some incredibly intense emotions, some of which you have been consciously or unconsciously suppressing. Its final act strikes you at your core while also humbling you at the same time.
Sound of Metal (2019)
The most original movie of the year is also one of its best. Darius Marder’s (Loot) subtle and subdued Sound of Metal features a breakout and Oscar-worthy performance from British actor and rapper Riz Ahmed (Mogul Mowgli, The Sisters Brothers). Ahmed stars as Ruben, a drummer for a two-person heavy metal rock band Blackgammon. Along with singer/guitarist/girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke – Ready Player One, Life Itself), he lives in an RV. He travels throughout middle America as the duo goes from one venue to the next. If that sounds like such a simple premise, I assure you that this movie is far more poignant than you could ever expect.