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Reviews
Nefarious (2023)
Flannery is amazing
Saw this on Prime a couple of nights ago. Stunning performance from Sean Patrick Flannery who seamlessly alternated between the shattered, tormented, defeated convict and the arrogant, malevolent, but somewhat insecure demon. He should easily win an Academy Award for this role but he won't solely due to the subject matter. The film was almost entirely dialogue in one room between Flannery and the psychiatrist across a table. The scenes between the warden and the psychiatrist seemed stilted at times. This film left an impression like few have. It was one of those I needed to see and I'm glad I saw it, but I don't want to see it again.
Simple Like Silver (2021)
Beautifully shot and intriguing
I became aware of this film when looking at Cristina Marsillach's (Dario Argento's OPERA, 1987) filmography. SIMPLE LIKE SILVER is her first performance since 1994. This film shows the intersection of three characters: a young woman the morning after an online date goes bad, a terminally-ill international traveler making the most of her last days, and a preteen boy aspiring to be a novelist. There is no dialogue. The entire story is told in voice-over of each character's thoughts. SIMPLE is beautifully shot in black and white and is like a visual poem. Many of the scenes could be paintings. This "mystery" brings to mind films such as BLOW UP and particularly PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK where there more questions than answers. It was an enjoyable 70 minutes and certainly worth the rental fee on Prime.
Onirica (2019)
Enjoyable for an Argento fan...
I just watched ONIRICA on Prime. I have been an Argento fan for over 30 years and (as I suspect is true with most Argento fans) have watched many of his films numerous times. The plot of ONIRICA is simply a vehicle to revisit the locations used in DEEP RED, SUSPIRIA, and a few other Argento films and I doubt it was ever intended to be a "stand alone" film. It's obvious the director is passionate about Argento and probably does as well as is possible with the limited budget. Much of this film is beautifully shot with lots of Argento-ish prowling camera work, iconic locations, vivid colors, and near-fetishistic closeups. The female lead also resembles Asia Argento. It was fun looking for the many, many scene and dialogue references to the master's works. I wish there had been more references to TENEBRAE, which is my favorite and most watched Argento movie. Overall, this Argento fan is glad he watched ONIRICA, if only for the many years of fond memories evoked by this tribute.