Nocturnal Animals

  • Title: Nocturnal Animals
  • IMDb: link

Nocturnal AnimalsFrom the unconventional opening credits to the crushing final scene, Nocturnal Animals is a tour-de-force you won’t be able to take you eyes off of. Using a story within a story to reveal the truth about his characters, writer/director Tom Ford delivers a taut psychological thriller involving art gallery owner Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) whose blasé hoity-toity life is shaken by the arrival of a manuscript by her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal). Shown in three interlocking tales, we are witness to Susan’s current timeline and marriage to husband number two (Armie Hammer), flashbacks of her marriage to Edward (Gyllenhaal), and the fictional tale which unfolds in brighter tones and more visceral glee than anything in her current life, rocking Susan to her core.

Of the three, it’s Edward’s manuscript which turns out to be the most impressive on film. Also casting Gyllenhaal as a husband and father whose family (Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber) is harassed and attacked late one night on a empty stretch of road in west Texas by a group of hoodlums (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Karl Glusman, Robert Aramayo), we’re given a front-row seat to the tragic consequences of that night.

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Manchester by the Sea

  • Title: Manchester by the Sea
  • IMDb: link

Manchester by the SeaWritten and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea is a simple story that provides surprising depth. Following the death of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), the less-reliable Lee (Casey Affleck) is given custody of his Joe’s teenage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges) forcing him to leave his dreary life in Boston and return to the home he abandoned in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts years before.

Affleck and Lonergan thread a difficult needle here as Lee comes off as immediately unlikable, unreliable, and by all accounts the worst choice to be his nephew’s guardian, while still leaving the door open for our opinion to change as we learn more about his troubled past. It’s a good role for Affleck who knows just how to play the moody loneliness of the character while foreshadowing that there’s something far more complex going on with Lee under the surface. A stark contrast to his mopey uncle, Hedges is is a charismatic lightning bolt everyone seems to gravitate to (such as his multiple girlfriends who include Kara Hayward and Anna Baryshnikov). More together than Lee, most of the time it’s a little unclear who is taking care of who following his father’s death.

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The Eyes of My Mother

  • Title: The Eyes of My Mother
  • IMDb: link

The Eyes of My MotherMany horror movies attempt to showcase evil, to explain it, rationalize it, or hold it up as something supernatural or inhuman. With The Eyes of My Mother, writer/director Nicolas Pesce has something else in mind. Centering around an odd young girl (Olivia Bond) whose life is changed by the arrival of a stranger which leads her to grow-up into an even stranger, and lonelier, young woman (Kika Magalhaes), The Eyes of My Mother is an undeniably creepy tale presented largely from the point of view of a truly terrifying young woman whose deep loneliness leads down a gruesome road.

Presented in black-and-white with minimal effects and a small cast as if something from the darker limits of The Twilight Zone, the film take places almost entirely at Francisca’s isolated farmhouse, far away from prying eyes. Those who are unlucky enough to step foot on the property will learn their mistake far too late. The story is straightforward in Francisca’s desires, but far from expected as each dark turn will leave you squirming in your seat. Here’s a film that may indeed give you nightmares. Horror fans may be surprised by what they find, but they won’t be disappointed.

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Arrow – What We Leave Behind

  • Title: Arrow – What We Leave Behind
  • wiki: link

Arrow - What We Leave Behind

Arrow‘s mid-season finale moves beyond the Vigilante and Invasion! story arcs to center its attention back on the season’s looming big bad, Prometheus. Offering flashbacks to Oliver‘s (Stephen Amell) early days as Starling City’s vigilante (his costume has certainly gotten better), “What We Leave Behind” begins to fill in gaps about who Prometheus is and why he has a vendetta against Green Arrow (although I would have been more impressed if they actually tied it to First Season episode rather than filming new scenes). From their encounters it’s obvious the Church didn’t tell the villain anything he didn’t know, as Prometheus would have had to know Oliver’s identity years ago to retrace the man’s steps and train with at least one of the same masters (which doesn’t quite jibe with the villain’s actions since arriving in Star City as he only begin to focus on Oliver after Church’s deathbed confession).

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