Change Your Image
monsmer
Reviews
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019)
Pretty solid
This was a pretty solid documentary. Nice and stylized production. I think it's very noteworthy that they were able to get the investigators, detectives, attorneys, agents, etc. that they did for the documentary. It's also cool how they put together all the press from across the states and counties about Bundy. On this note it was quite thorough. However, the documentary never hits got into the details of Bundy's murders; it felt like there was some sort of lack of depth in that aspect. It's not that I wanted to relish in the details of the ways he carried what he did and on his life. But for all the times it was repeated what a downright monster he was, the documentary didn't really give the true reasons why. (Perhaps our of respect for the victims? I don't know). Heck, even the Wikipedia page has an immense amount of detail on his life.
Collateral (2018)
Not enjoyable
Not an enjoyable watching experience because it was too on the nose on its social and political commentary (and I'm the farthest thing from being an Alt-Right nut). I prefer commentary to be subtle and not preached at me. I felt like my intelligence as a viewer was being insulted AND assaulted (I was literally yelling at the TV screen).
I thought this would have been a smartly written crime drama with intricate moving pieces. Rather it's got random and unnecessarily convulated connections between characters (the MP and that priest? The witness being a lover to the priest?). Sadly disappointing.
Hostiles (2017)
Disappointedly underwhelming
Came in expecting to love this movie (what with a great cast). The first half-ish was good, compelling. I knew the movie would be about an anti-Native American soldier who'd eventually come to see the futility of such hatred and violence... and I waited for that to develop. Yet nothing ever did develop. The character bonds that we as an audience would have expected from a story like this were never delved into. What made Bale's character make a complete 180?
What about Pike's character (and the plot contrivance of having her continue with the entourage? Was anything achieved by that?
When the prisoner character was introduced I thought that finally the movie would go into the theme of redemption and seeing oneself within the Other. But then he just ends dying quickly after his introduction... His character seemed to have been made to contrast Bale's increasing humanity towards the Cheyenne family he was escorting.
What with all the violence, I felt very little for many of the characters in this film - especially Bale's character. I can buy someone filled with such discriminatory hatred realizing the error in that type of thinking and behaving. But I didn't buy Bale's character's arc.
Other things to consider
- The Black soldier's character left very much to be desired. I think there was a missed opportunity, what with his (at least to me) symbolic presence in the film.
- What was the point of the whole fur trapper-rape sequence? What was learned by that? Sure it's another lesson for Bale's character about life's senseless violence but... it just felt random and gratuitous. The film doesn't bother to linger on how this affected Pike's character and Elk Women.
- Why have Pike's character (seemingly) adopt the remaining Cheyenne boy? It seems a failed attempt at being a symbol of healing wounds of generations of violence in North America.