Hold The Dark There's a growing trend of flicks that don't make a lick of sense and yet we're spellbound by each scene just the same. This is one such Netflix original and quite frankly, I dug it big time. Now I'm exaggerating when I say it don't make a lick of sense. It's up to you to piece together sparse dialogue, vague looks exchanged between characters, and violent scenes that explode onto the quiet, stark scenery in utterly dramatic and haunting fashion. This flick makes an impression by giving you an impression of a well hidden, delicately hinted, taut, tension filled plot. You will hold your breath on this one mainly because Jeffrey Wright, Alex Skarsgard and Riley Keough aim to steal it with every scene.
The Outsider This film will capitulate you right smack into the middle of the Yakuza world and immerse you in the language and rules of the modern day Samurai Gangster. Leto is masterful at conveying emotion and intensity through body language absent any dialogue. He is far from alone. His Japanese co-stars, Tandanobu Asano, Kippei Shiina and Shiori Katsuna are no less apt. This flick gets a 10 on any scale for being radically cool.
A Dry White Season This film can be easily categorized as an eye opening experience. Is it possible to live in the middle of affluent and opulent South Africa oblivious to apartheid and yet still be a decent human being? What happens when the veil of blindness and naiveté to such happenings is finally lifted and you see the heinous injustice of your own country and people for what it is? Do you act or ignore? The arc of main character Donald Sutherland is a thing of beauty and the legacy he leaves behind to his son of Africa is the crux of true change.
A Quiet Place If they hear you, they hunt you. Do I really have to add to this? This film is brilliant in its originality. Human survival depends on a family's ability to live every aspect of their lives in absolute silence. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski's performance are thunderous and visceral. Turn off the lights and enjoy this to its full potential. You can be terrified without the blood and gore.
Unsane On the heels of the Me Too Movement, Claire Foy delivers everything we've been dreaming of since the first Neanderthal clubbed a woman and dragged her into his cave. Is she crazy or is her stalker really working at the psychiatric ward she inadvertently committed herself to? Soderbergh shores up this bad ass flick by expertly weaving salient and crucial information about psych wards and stalking throughout. For every hit Foy absorbs she returns two fold. She's quietly replaced Jolie as the girl I wouldn't want to come up against in a tussle.
