Tag / teresa palmer

by Jaime Rebanal

Lights Out – Review

✯✯

Had I watched this even with the lights on, I would not see Lights Out being anything more than just pure mediocrity. Initially I had been turned off from watching Lights Out primarily because I disliked the short film which it was based on, but a few decent comments had me convinced to give the feature-length expansion a shot. To my surprise, I also found Lights Out to be much better than what I would have suspected based on the impression the short film had left me on – but I can’t say that’s saying very much. Like the short film it’s based on, the most fitting short summary I can come up with on the spot was that it’s a pure waste of a concept. I would say I was disappointed but in truth I had a bad feeling it was coming. Continue reading →

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by Jaime Rebanal

Triple 9 – Review

✯½

There’s a joy to watching heist films that felt so stunningly absent while Triple 9 was going on. Remember how expertly crafted the tension can be at least when done so perfectly under the hands of Michael Mann, Jean-Pierre Melville, or Jules Dassin when they were directing Heat, Le Cercle Rouge, or Rififi? Try to imagine any of those three films which I’ve mentioned without the suspense that kept everyone at the edge of their seat, and within no time, you’ll have whatever it was that Triple 9 was offering. Admittedly, you have two fantastic heist sequences setting the bar for the film, but my only wish was that John Hillcoat, whose own body of work I haven’t particularly been the most fond of, had chosen to handle them in a manner it would really stick within my head. Continue reading →