It was a bit of a disappointing week at the movies. It's not that I was expecting Joseph Kosinski's "Oblivion" or Rob Zombie's "The Lords of Salem" to be among the year's best or any such thing.
But I thought both films were - on occasion - visually striking, but somewhat lacking.
Kosinski's film, at least, proved that Tom Cruise has still got it. His presence adds a little bit of a human presence to a film that is primarily concerned with its gadgetry and artificial intelligence. "Oblivion" is often great to look at, but it's story is a bit messy. And it owes a great deal to a number of much-better movies.
Zombie's latest horror opus provides further provide that the heavy metal singer-turned-filmmaker has talent behind the camera. He knows his horror movie history and makes interesting use of music. And his visual style is all his own.
Yet, there's something missing from "Salem" as there was something missing from his previous pictures. I'm convinced that Zombie will, at some point, deliver a truly solid genre film. I just haven't witnessed it yet.
Here are my Patch reviews.
This coming weekend, I'll catch Jeff Nichols's "Mud," Ramin Bahrani's "At Any Price" and, most likely, Michael Bay's "Pain and Gain."
This year's Cannes lineup is pretty impressive. I'm especially looking forward to Nicolas Winding Refn's "Only God Forgives," the Coen Brothers's "Inside Llewyn Davis," Alexander Payne's "Nebraska," Claire Denis's "The Bastards" (or whatever it's being called now), Roman Polanski's "Venus in Fur," Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" and Asghar Farhadi's "The Past."
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