The Report, The White Crow, Fast Color Weekly Roundup Episode 2
Source: IMDB
Well Happy New Year and a Happy New Decade starting in 2020! Worst films of 2019 list already up on Strictly Films Twitter and FaceBook account, Best Films of 2019 List will be posted sometime mid January, still have a few more acclaimed titles to get to. Other than that: Welcome to another edition of Weekly RoundUp!
The Report Grade:B
I watched this limited theatrical release/straight to Amazon Prime political drama awhile back as with time I felt this is a bit better version of this years Official Secrets. A much more engaging story of the corrupt harmful tactics the CIA was doing in their interrogation program, which honestly did more harm than creating solutions to the challenges they were facing, during a difficult time during the aftermath of 9/11. You can consider Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) to be a hero, as his effortless effort in seeking justice to end the corrupt crimes the CIA was doing to innocent people. A solid written script, followed by solid performances and likable characters. This may not be Adam Driver’s best performance of the year, like his brilliant work in Marriage Story, but perhaps you can call it another solid performance from Mr. Driver. I’m quite shocked Annette Bening got nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in this film, I felt she was good but nothing worth being acknowledged in Award season. The Report is a solid film and I do recommend checking this one out on Amazon Prime if you haven’t done so.
The White Crow Grade:B
When I think of Ballet in film, I atomically think of Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar nominated Best Picture Black Swan, a gripping dark film. I remember watching the trailer for The White Crow as I was intrigued to seek out to it. It may not be Black Swan level good, but I found it to be quite enjoyable. I found the Cinematography quite great in this film, followed by lovely set pieces. I also enjoyed the Score of this film, quite lovely music indeed. It’s also a nice character study of our main character Rudolf (Oleg Ivenko), which we go through his struggles through the past and present, as to why his attitude is mainly aggressive, as how much dancing means to this troubled artist. I believe some pacing issues come to mind, as this film is quite slow as sometimes the flashback sequences don’t always flow smoothly. The White Crow is yet another solid film and I do recommend checking this one out.
Fast Color Grade: C+
I’ve heard a lot of buzz surrounding Fast Color, as being one of the best films of the entire year. In a way I can understand why people really enjoyed this film. As far as originality: Fast Color is it’s own film and doesn’t feel inspired by other Sci-Fi films. So I can appreciate a film like this for being it’s own thing and not being a reboot, remake, or simply copied from other ideas. I do like Sci-Fi films time to time, however this one just didn’t quite connect with me. I found some of the story elements to be quite silly for my taste and some supporting characters were kind of annoying, including the antagonist in this film. As far as the story it kept me engaged for the most part, however I either couldn’t get behind it or had trouble enjoying what I was being offered here. Like I said I respect this film for being what it is an a unique original idea, but it just wasn’t for me. I found Fast Color just average and if you’re looking for something different in the Sci-Fi genre, check this one out it may work better for you than I. -Mitch Smietana