by ·Comments Off on Train Dreams (2025, Clint Bentley)

Joel Edgerton (very good in those two Jeff Nichols movies a decade ago) hits new heights here as a capable logger, quiet and gentle, who finds love (Felicity Jones of Taymor’s Tempest) and loses his family to a wildfire. This is an ambitious movie that tries to poetically represent our country, society, and history by following one man with hardly any friends, and somehow it succeeds. Met an old friend of the director’s at the screening, didn’t yell at him but was thinking “your buddy made this movie AND cowrote its theme song with Nick Cave?!” I must read more Denis Johnson. However, people who know the book are very upset about this movie online – some writers I respect think it’s a bad adaptation, and some are defending the changes it makes. Brian Tallerico for Roger Ebert.

by ·Comments Off on Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010, Eli Craig)

Not the most excellently made movie, but it gets pretty far on a great concept, good writing and charming leads. Due to a misunderstanding, eight vacationing college kids believe two yokels are killers, while our guys (Alan Tudyk and Escape Room‘s Tyler Labine, both of whom need to be in more movies) think the incompetent kids are a suicide cult since they accidentally kill themselves whenever they encounter something pointy. Cerie from 30 Rock is the only one who understands them, while the alpha “Chad” (murderous goth of Final Destination 3) is their biggest threat.

Our heroes:

Okay the policeman’s death was a little bit their fault:

Cerie attempts peace talks:

The goth ain’t having it: