I love a scrappy B-movie, especially when they're this effortful and cool. Split Second eludes being derivative by having a super weird cobbling of ingredients. Dystopian sci-fi slasher and an industrial metal creature feature? Why the fuck not?
VHS Chronicles
#202
It gets funnier the more you watch it because you get to appreciate the ins and outs of Mark Whitaker's manufactured narrative sooner. His lies and his bad acting become more transparent. Damon spins this into comedy gold. And I love how much Scott Z. Burns' script goes along with his bullshit. The movie believes him, so you get to be continually surprised as the truth of his idiot fiction and criminal enterprise unfurls. Top tier Burns, top tier Soderberg, top tier Damon.
The phrase "you could never make this movie today" does not even begin to encapsulate the enormity of The Train. You could never make this movie in 1964.
Burt Lancaster walks across the train yard from the switch tower to his houseboat. The movie does not demand a flawlessly orchestrated background of shifting artillery vessels, marching soldiers, construction crews, smoke, and sparks. Anyone in their right mind would say, "Hey, can we not? Let's just have him entering the houseboat."…
Tender Mercies feels like an 8 hour movie reduced to its most poetic moments. There are worlds and events and lives surrounding it, but we're living on the fringe of it all. That's not to say there aren't pivotal dramatic events, but there's something about the expanse of sky, whistling wind, and passing cars that gives everything an ethereal feel. It's practically dreamlike. It reminds me of No Country for Old Men in many ways. Not just the land of…
