Movies
When Rian Johnson released Brick, he was still a young and spirited director eager to prove himself to the world. He was quickly gobbled up by Hollywood, but his first film was at least something to be treasured. It's not quite as good the second time around, even so it's definitely worth a shot if you haven't seen it yet. Brendan is looking for Emily, his ex-girlfriend. She disappeared a couple of days ago and Brendan is trying to retrace her steps. With the film of some kids at school he tries to piece together Emily's final days, but when Brendan gets mixed up with some local druggies, his quest suddenly becomes extremely dangerous. Brick is a simple whodunit, executed with a lot of flair. The camera work is deliberate, the soundtrack is very moody, performances are solid and Johnson manages to keep the mystery alive until the very end. Brick's a good film for sure, it just didn't feel as special anymore. It's probably because I watched a lot of other films since then, but the core quality is hard to miss. Very good.Read all
Rather plain and stuffy whodunnit. The story isn't all that interesting, neither are the characters/actors and Johnson's direction isn't much to get excited about either. It's just a rather plain genre film that goes through the motions without adding anything original or noteworthy. Unworthy of all the hype.
Rian Johnson just isn't a very good director. This film replicates the structure of the first Knives Out film, only in a more contemporary setting. It suffers the exact same problems as the first one. What you get is 60 minutes of plot and 90 minutes of dry explanation, which drains out all the entertainment value. Blanc is invited to a wealthy tech giant's little murder mystery weekend. He is quick to decipher the plot, but then a real murder happens on the premises, and Blanc is stumped. All the invitees have a reason to kill their host, it's up to Blanc to figure out who is behind this elaborate setup. Craig's character is still painful to watch (that accent is terrible), and the rest of the cast isn't all that great either. The plot is pretty dull (or rather, I just don't care for these types of whodunit films), the direction is bland and the finale is just a snoozefest. The setup of the film was somewhat decent, it all goes downhill after that.Read all
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
