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Reviews
Nate and Margaret (2012)
Slightly overrated
I watched Nate & Margaret because Tyler Ross was in it. I knew about Tyler from watching two excellent movies by Stephen Cone, The Wise Kids and Henry Gamble's Birthday Party. Tyler has a small role in Henry Gamble, a leading role in The Wise Kids. After watching Nate & Margaret, my opinion that Tyler Ross is a wonderful actor has not changed. But as for the movie itself, well, director Nathan Adloff should have a long talk with Stephen Cone about how to make a movie worth watching. Both of Cone's films have interesting, well-developed characters, interwoven stories, and excellent timing. Unfortunately, the excellent acting by the three leads, Natalie West (Margaret), Tyler Ross (Nate), and Conor McCahill (James) could not make up for the poor script and directing.
Jongens (2014)
Very enjoyable movie, but someone please help me understand
I really did enjoy this movie (though the English subtitle translations were somewhat goofy, as they kept referring to the dirt bike as a "moped"). Here's my confusion. The older brother quits his job, spends all his time riding dirt bikes and hanging out with his friends, and finally gets caught joyriding in a stolen car. The younger brother is a straight-shooter, no problem at home, a dedicated athlete. So the Dad gives the younger son a pair of shoelaces (or was it socks), while he gives the ne'er-do-well son a new dirt bike the day after bailing him out of jail for a felony theft. Really? Am I missing something?
Sicario (2015)
Stupidest opening scene ever.
The opening scene shows a swat team invading a house. Two guys sit calmly watching TV in the living room when the armored vehicle crashes thru the wall. Eventually the swat team opens up newly dry-walled walls, the screw holes having been spackled. Inside the walls are dozens of dead bodies, wrapped in plastic, standing upright. What is wrong with this? The guys watching TV have no problem with the smell of decaying corpses. The swatters don't smell anything until they start opening the walls. The corpses stand upright without any visible support (rigor mortis is very temporary). The walls are being prepared for painting. Did they think no one would notice how thick the walls would have to be to enclose dead bodies?