Monday, July 16, 2012

Second Time Around: 'Alps' and 'Red Lights'

This weekend's selections were both follow-ups by directors to critically acclaimed breakout films. The other thing they have in common is that they both were disappointing.

I was a big fan of Giorgos Lanthimos's perverse and outrageous "Dogtooth," so much so that it landed in my top 20 of 2010. But "Alps," which is technically his third feature, but his first since his breakthrough film, did not live up to my expectations. It's certainly as strange as "Dogtooth," but less effective.

I also caught up with "Red Lights," the second film from Rodrigo Cortes, whose debut "Buried" left me with mixed feelings. His subject matter this time around is slightly more compelling and the performances in his sophomore feature are solid. The film culminates with one of those pull-the-rug-from-under-your-feet type of twists. In this case, it's an interesting one, but still a twist that causes the picture to sort-of fall apart under scrutiny.

Neither film was bad, but neither was exactly recommendable either. Here are my reviews.

This coming weekend, I'll obviously see "The Dark Knight Rises" as well as something else that has yet to be decided. Some potentials: "The Imposter," "Union Square" or "Easy Money."

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