Valley of the Gods (2019), Josh Hartnett, Well Go USA Entertainment
Starring Josh Hartnett, John Malkovich and Bérénice Marlohe; Valley of the Gods is a new drama that contrasts abundance and poverty through three separate storylines.
Written/directed by Lech Majewski, additional key cast includes John Rhys-Davies, Keir Dullea and Tokala Black Elk.
Hopefully this will be a good one, story-wise, but another key reason I’m interested is the visuals, set design and locations. I think I definitely spotted Rome’s magnificent Trevi Fountain.
I’m also happy to see one of my favourite Bond girls, Bérénice Marlohe (Skyfall (2012)) in this trailer. Fingers crossed it’s a great story.
Saginaw Grant, Joseph Runningfox, Steven Skyler, John A. Lorenz, and Marek Probosz also star.
In new crime/thriller Arkansas, Liam Hemsworth and Clark Duke play two criminals who work for Frog (Vince Vaughn), a drug kingpin they’ve never met. When a deal goes horribly wrong, deadly consequences and a meeting with Frog himself suddenly seem far more likely.
Co-written/directed by Clark Duke; additional key cast includes John Malkovich, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Kenneth Williams and Brad William Henke.
The main reason for my interest is John Malkovitch. The second is because this looks like a ‘reckless fools doing crime‘ type of movie that could also be fun. The kind of fun that’s reminiscent of Lock Stock And Two Smocking Barrels (1998). We’ll see what happens next month.
Patrick Muldoon, Eden Brolin, Jacob Zachar, Jeff Chase, Barry Primus, Juston Street, Jared Bankens and Adina Galupa also star.
Arkansas Release Dates: May 5th, 2020 (US) on Apple, Amazon, On Demand Platforms, Blu-ray and DVD.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019), Lily Collins, Zac Efron
Ted Bundy, one of America’s most infamous serial killers, is very much at the centre of director Joe Berlinger’s film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Yet the story is really told from the perspective of Bundy’s longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer. As such, like Kloepfer, we don’t get to be there with Bundy as he commits his shockingly evil crimes (thank goodness!) We also don’t get to know any real shocking details about the crimes until the trial, towards the end. What we do get is a front row seat to watch Bundy sometime after he commits a crime and pretends to be as normal and decent as the next guy. It’s sad, but like a true psychopath, he succeeded at it. A lot.
Starring Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Jim Parsons and John Malkovich, I watched Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile because of the very interesting subject matter and the new perspective. Another reason is to see Efron succeed in a more serious role than he’s taken on in recent years. I’m happy to say that he does well. I was particularly impressed during the moments he gave the audience a glimpse into the true darkness within his character’s soul. His time at the dog’s home is one such example.
I don’t believe there was a single dull moment during this movie and contrary to what the trailer made many feel, I don’t consider Berlinger’s film to be one that glorifies or celebrates Bundy. It’s instead a movie that portrays Bundy as he was known to be and part of that is that he was sadly almost as charming as he was wicked, evil and vile.
I say watch Berlinger’s movie. Just don’t watch it expecting explanations and/or deep dives into Bundy’s past that highlight what could have led him to such darkness. For this is a film about Bundy, but the focus is on Kloepfer’s experience.
Parsons and Malkovich’s characters are memorable. Overall though, it’s really Collins by whom I was most impressed. She may be an actor with a forever youthful face, but the lady has great instincts. Her telling of Kloepfer’s story will have you mad at Kloepfer, sad for Kloepfer and by the very end, a little surprised, but definitely extremely relieved for Kloepfer.
I had a good time watching writer/director Dan Gilroy’s latest movie, Velvet Buzzsaw. The fact that it’s set in sunny Miami Beach, Florida, only has a little something to do with my enjoyment.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, John Malkovich, Zawe Ashton, Toni Collette, and Billy Magnussen, Velvet Buzzsaw is a comedy/crime/fantasy movie about a group of art lovers who become targets of a supernatural force. The catalyst for the vengeance being, the art lovers helped themselves to pieces of art they really shouldn’t have.
I immediately liked the early scenes where the different characters, along with all their various motivations, are established. Yet, I did watch these scenes while somewhat impatiently waiting for the vengeance to begin. The true extent of my impatience didn’t reveal itself until after the very first bit of rather thrilling revenge was enacted. The reason being, some of the scenes after that point weren’t always especially engaging.
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019), Zawe Ashton
Thanks to my favourite characters in the movie, the ones played by Gyllenhaal, Ashton and Natalia Dyer, I feel as though Velvet Buzzsaw had enough to make the nearly two hours I spent watching the movie worthwhile. I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s quite as good as Nightcrawler (2014) – my favourite Gyllenhaal and Gilroy collaboration, but it does have some standout moments that I won’t soon forget. Especially where the creative ways revenge is enacted upon the greedy art lovers is concerned. There are also moments of gorgeous cinematography featuring rich, vibrant colours.
Another good movie that came to mind as I watched Velvet Buzzsaw is Final Destination (2000), a horror/thriller that did a very memorable job of thrilling and shocking its audience because of the well-executed death sequences, something Velvet Buzzsaw doesn’t do too badly at either.
Watch it if you’re so curious. Other reasons include the ‘funny’ replacement personal assistant, the chance to see Gyllenhaal really having fun in this role.
Last but not least, watch it and be surprised by how much you actually enjoy the very last ‘piece of art’ shown in this movie. I know I did. I really could have looked at it for quite a while.
Dan Gilroy, the director of my favourite Jake Gyllenhaal movie Nightcrawler (2014), is back with new crime/fantasy film, Velvet Buzzsaw.
Starring Gyllenhaal, John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Billy Magnussen and set in Miami Beach, Florida, it all begins after a number of art lovers help themselves to a series of paintings by an unknown artist. Soon enough, a supernatural force begins to enact revenge to punish all those involved for their greed.
I’m in for Gyllenhaal’s performance, and who knows, maybe I’ll love what he does in this movie as much as I appreciate his great work in Nightcrawler.
At the time of writing, Velvet Buzzsaw isn’t categorised as horror. As such, my fingers are crossed that the whole experience isn’t nightmare-inducing.
Zawe Ashton, Natalia Dyer, Rene Russo, Daveed Diggs, Peter Gadiot and Tom Sturridge also star.
The Movie My Life 