Movies
A pretty basic thriller that hinges almost entirely on its lead actor. This is 100% a Denzel Washington film, the rest is just filler and fluff. The good thing is that Washington is pretty solid, the bad thing is that he isn't the kind of actor who can singlehandedly carry a film, certainly not when the director isn't helping him out. Out of Time is a film that goes through the motions. The plot isn't too exciting, the characters are a little dim and the twists aren't incredibly surprising, but the pacing is solid, and while there's never any doubt about the outcome, there is a nice build-up of tension. Not great, but not all that bad either.Read all
A revisit of the noir genre that doesn't add much, apart from some racial intrigue. For a 90s film it isn't particularly well-made either, it felt like a low-budget, low-effort, low-on-atmosphere TV film that only made the minimum effort to catch that 40s/noir mood many cinephiles love so much. Washington isn't bad, Cheadle is solid too, but the plot is a downright bore, the cinematography is dead poor and the pacing is sluggish. Big noir fans will probably find more to like here, but this is really just a retake is the basic genre fair that was released five decades prior. Not good.Read all
Carl Franklin. It's the second film I see from the man, it's the second time the broader appeal of his film puzzles me. One False Move is an incredibly generic 90s crime/thriller, the kind that has lost almost all of its appeal since its release. It's bland, tasteless narrative cinema that leaves me completely cold. The performances aren't too bad, and that's about it for One False Move. The plot is plain and basic, the cinematography is offensively uninteresting, and the score is not even a thing. It might have been passable genre filler back when it was first released, but I have no clue why or where it got its praise from. Bleh.Read all