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I was spewing so much hype while seeing The Raid, it was unbelievable. Afterwards, I walked back outside into the lobby and after days of anticipation finally quenched by the cinematic orgy of nihlistic violence, I just started a full fledged choreographed brutal fight scene with everyone in the lobby.

Six are dead.
Four will never walk again.



Nah in all seriousness, I absolutely adored the film and need some actual time to work out my feelings about the film and it's impact.
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I got some serious Metal Gear Solid vibes every time JCVD was on screen. Don't know why. Would take forever to properly explain myself. Told my friend's mom who went with us that it was pronounced "The Expand-Ables". She believed me. Don't know what that signifies either.


So Lawless. I liked it a lot better when it's working title was "The Wettest County", but I can let it go I suppose. As expected Hillcoat channels a lot of his tremendous scope and vision that propelled The Proposition into the annals of greatness and confines it in the miserable Southern Gothic counties of Great Depression America. Tom Hardy steals every scene he is in, and I have no doubt that had another actor possessed the lead, I'm thinking Michael Pitt in this instance, or Casey Affleck, the journey would've been that much sweeter. Hillcoat's usage of violence has once more become demonstrative of his noble endeavor to emulate McCarthy as much as he can on screen, and Nick Cave's witty penmanship seems to have been tuned down significantly. The propellant dialogue that carried The Proposition, or noticeably absent portions were both lacking in Lawless, it seems that every time someone appeared they had to say something. Something generic. Something that failed to communicate the motives or sheer sociopathy of the characters. I loathed with all of my being the narrator. It was fruitless and removed me from the experience. The Nick Cave sound track never hurt the film, yet failed to embolden it like his work on The Proposition. And perhaps, maybe that's what's missing is the sense of belonging in this script. The sense of kinship is there, but here again is a uniquely American film driven and cast by Europeans and Australians. I don't know what that says about the state of American cinema today.

A good film, but far from great. Guy Pearce turns in a delightfully weary and deranged villain performance though. Almost, almost worth the price of admission.
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I wish Parker lived near me so we could go see Killing Them Softly together. I've heard some fairly good things from Dracko, anyone have any spoiler free thoughts about the film? (gonna see it tonight)
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So "You're Next" is the horror film I've always wanted, and "Upstream Color" may be one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. As to why it's emotional impact was so severe, I cannot state. But it's Malick influence is undeniable.
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