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.
Category Archives: Riz Ahmed
The Sisters Brothers (2018)
My first impression of the trailer of Jacques Audiard’s (Dheepan) The Sisters Brothers was that it too quickly and too easily reminded me of a Quentin Tarantino movie. The trailer teetered the line of whether it was a drama or a comedy, a comedy masquerading itself as a drama, a drama trying to go for so much dark humor, or a variety of other techniques made famous by one of our generation’s most recognized and revered directors. But, honestly, to compare Audiard’s film to one of Tarantino’s would be doing a disservice to Audiard because this movie is better than anything Tarantino has directed since Pulp Fiction, except for 2009’s Inglourious Basterds. This Tarantino was one that I liked, but one, like each of his movies, had more than a few scenes that were difficult to watch.
Nightcrawler (2014)
It’s getting closer and closer to awards season, and I have continued to wait for that one movie that will establish itself as the movie to beat before the real crop of contenders comes out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Unfortunately, some of those I thought would show themselves, especially Boyhood, Gone Girl, or Birdman, have failed. So, the movie to beat at this point is still The Drop. But first-time director Dan Gilroy has made his claim with the creepy Jake Gyllenhaal (Brothers, Prisoners) Nightcrawler. I am sure this will be just one of two movies I’ve seen thus far that will wind up in my end-of-year Top 10. Others are there now that, I’m hoping, will fall as we get into the meat and bones of December. But The Drop and Nightcrawler seem to have cemented their spots.
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