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Some Velvet Morning (2013)
It's as dark as it is Impressive.
Lets get this out of the way, its not a very entertaining movie, after all it contains only one location, 2 actors and it draws more from La butte's theater background than film language, this is also an oddity as it is a straight drama(occasional joke aside) unlike Labutte's dark comedies of the past; that said, solid and disturbing dialog, a surprising ending and a powerhouse performance by Stanley Tucci raise this as one of the most interesting films to come out in a while.
As said in the summaries, the movie pits a bitter and unstable character played by Stanley Tucci against a woman played by Alice Eve, who seems to hold secrets in both her own life as well as the shared common past between the both of them, and as their conversation prolongs, secrets, bile and nastiness are spread all over the clinical white townhouse.
Stanley Tucci, as said previously, steals every scene he is in, while Alice eve plays it more subdued, but then again, her character doesn't have as many grand moments, and she does a magnificent job, especially towards the end of the film.
The cinematography and set design fit the movie perfectly, contrasting the neat empty house with the fiery discussion that takes place in it, and while I'm sure it was a deliberate decision, the hand-held camera seems to be operated by someone with Parkinsons disease, there are scenes where it seems to shake and bob all over the place, becoming a bit distracting.
The movie may be off putting to many, first of all because the dialog is an exercise in spitefulness and cruelty, which many people will find hard to stomach, secondly at first glance there appears to be a randomness in the plot, which is to be expected as this is a dialog driven film, however this lack of entertainment may drive away some, finally there's THAT ending, some may feel cheated, some will think its one clever piece of cookie, and to say anything about it here would spoil the film in its entirety, Finally, i guarantee you, that if you make it past all the prejudices that could arise from watching something like this, you will find a very original, brilliant and haunting piece of cinema.
Autoreiji: Biyondo (2012)
Not as cerebral or gritty as the first, but a good gangster drama
Outrage was one of the more conventional Kitano films out there, whereas in previous kitano films the violence was mostly implied, outrage reveled in its graphic tone. However it wasn't all shock value, outrage plot was a political masterpiece, with a yakuza that discarded honor and romantic ideals for cold pragmatism, intelligent, calculating characters looking for their adversaries to take a bait and run with it when up until the end it wasn't clear who was manipulating the events and who would come victorious.
None of the above remains true in the sequel, first of all Beyond Outrage is a tamer film, I'm not sure if it was a stylistic choice, or one that came from budget limitations, but most of the violence is either implied or shown without gore ; that said the film makes up for it with a great use of sound effects, where you will hear and feel every act of violence thanks to it, it is especially true with gun fire which is loud and powerful as it should be.
Now as for the plot, the manipulations and the winner of the struggle are made quite clear from the get-go, this is in part because the script is not as complex as the first one, whereas the original outrage had several layers of deception, here the machinations are simplified and more obvious, characters whose story had run its course in the first one are brought back with a quick dialogue explanation and one relationship in particular is redesigned, but its not very convincing, Even having watched the original, the comeuppance of several characters seems formulaic and not as gratifying as it should have been, lacking the operatic quality previous kitano's entries; the end also comes too soon, leaving the overall endgame hinted at, but not entirely resolved, perhaps in order to make room for a sequel.
So in the end Beyond outrage is a much tamer and straightforward film than its predecessor, it could be viewed as a standalone film since the movie recaps the previous plot in several occasions,the film seems commercially motivated and riding on the success of its predecessor, This now takes the crown as Kitano's most accessible film to date, but that doesn't seem to be an achievement to be proud of.
God Bless America (2011)
Natural born killers : the South Park version.
This is not a bad film, by any means, its not boring, its competently shot and can be funny/touching at times, having said that, there is one big problem with this latest dark comedy: Originality.
the film follows the exploits of loner Frank(played by Joel Murray) and his precocious sidekick Roxy (a very cute and energetic Tara Lynne Bar) while they shoot their way trough the United States, leaving a trail of dead celebrities, politicians and rude people in general.
While this was an opportunity to delve into satire territory, the film instead plays with south park like parodies of reality shows and often turns into a kind of fantasy about violently dealing with the things the writer doesn't like about America, and as i mentioned, it has been done before and better.
Last year's Super starring Rainn Wilson provided an incredibly similar feel, in fact comparisons between the 2 films and specially between Ellen Page character in that one and Tara Lynn bar in this one cant be avoided; however that film had something this film doesn't; the notion that the vigilantes were disturbed, misguided people, and that both sides of the coin were equally sick.
Director Bobcat Goldhwait, has repeatedly shown a talent for mixing mature drama, with incredibly childish and dark humor, as shown in his 2 previous efforts 2009's "world greatest dad" and 2006"stay"; and in this entry the trend continues, however the tender relationship between the 2 characters, and the serious way it treats it, detract from the satiric notion of the film and turns it into a romantic liberal fantasy.
in short, if you liked super, south park or hate American Idol and any Kardashian show, this will give you 2 fun hours, however don't expect this film to be discussed that much in the future.