187 7/10
Saw this years ago on VHS at my grandmas place and was surprised at how low the ratings were (30% on RT)??? Samuel L Jackson plays a substitute teacher who relocated to LA after getting stabbed by a student he failed. It’s shot beautifully with pans of the highway, the sun over the city, and the run down parts of the city. The soundtrack as well struck me as odd going with a bit more of a trip hop than rap aesthetic. And for once Samuel L doesn’t overly shout like he’s stereotyped in other films, and similar to movies like Falling Down/Taxi driver showcases a man who kind of loses it. It’s an underrated film about a teacher who takes back the classroom, and in the end loses it all. Bleak but very underrated
The Nightingale (10/10)
Chris Stuckmann raves about the brutality of this film in a review some months back. If I had seen this last year it would’ve been my film of the year, as it’s a grueling, heartbreaking, but poignant film about two different people who suffer atrocities but ultimately bond. Starring a female Irish convict and an Aboriginal man who was raised by racist English soldiers, the two embark on a trek through the bush to track down the soldiers who raped her and killed her child. While not a Western , it reminded me of Slow West and Hostiles in showing the brutality of life in the uncivilized wilderness. It’s a stark tale of racism, the evils men can do, and how people rely on each other in horrible situations. A masterpiece
American History X (9/10)
Not much to say shout this film like 187 a film I saw when I was a kid in the 90’s and have loved. Some of the scenes haven’t aged well like Cameron carrying that obvious prop sandwich 😂. Another thing I wanted to remark on was how manipulative Sweeney was, and his constant trying to help Derek take down the Nazi gangs ultimately cost him his brother. Though that can also be attributed to the negative effect Dereks influence had over his brother and the logical price he pays. The movie still holds up after all these years and the themes in it are still relevant today
Polytechnique (10/10)
Master Filmmaker Dennis Villeneuve takes the viewer on a trek into the depraved mind of a mass shooter in the factual event of the Montreal Polytechnique shooting. It’s a brief film and it doesn’t shy away from showing the shooter rampaging in the school, and surprisingly goes into the aftermath and trauma that it causes the victims. For its run time its beautifully shot and shows the shooter’s emotion, the toll it takes on survivors, and how people pick up the pieces.