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Utopia (2013)
People who help you and people who don't
It's hard to know where to begin with this show.
A rag-tag gang of comic fans are drawn into a deadly game with shadowy operatives and the Malthusian elite. "There's no such thing as 'sides,' just people who help you and people who don't." There are visual and verbal references to MK-ULTRA, the all-seeing eye, the Masonic compass, weaponized vaccines, and much more. Even for those who aren't interested in the conspiracy angle, Utopia still has much to offer.
Never have I seen such a unique and well-crafted presentation on a network series. The saturated visuals, the framing, the BRILLIANT and unsettling soundtrack, the writing and the acting - everything fits together perfectly and creates an experience for the viewer unlike any other.
As an American, I didn't recognize most of the cast, which made their roles even more believable. Everyone is good but Neil Maskell, Paul Ready and Fiona O'Shaughnessy give standout performances. The character arcs do not disappoint, either. Even though Utopia is a deeply cynical and brutal show, every character feels authentic and human. Unlike many other shows, their motivations actually make sense.
When I say Utopia is a brutal show, I mean it. Game of Thrones, a series notorious for it's shocking violence and surprise deaths, seems cheap and gimmicky in comparison to many moments in this show.
My chief criticism towards Utopia is that S2 is slightly weaker than S1, and it also ends on a generally unsatisfying note. (Utopia was intended to have 3 seasons.) Still, all 12 episodes are well worth watching - many times over. I could probably write 10,000 more words about how great this show is, but I urge you to just watch it (the whole series can be found free on youtube) and make up your own mind.
Dragged Across Concrete (2018)
Not for the easily offended or distracted - this is noir without the training wheels on
Please disregard the absolute brainlets leaving this film one-star reviews with little to no substantial criticism besides "it's too slow." Some, I assume suffer from ADHD. Others, perhaps were personally offended by certain scenes and lines that I will not spoil, but are important to the story.
The truth is, Dragged Across Concrete is an excellent film. It is not for everyone but it is most certainly not a one-star movie. This is Zahler's third motion picture and his most important. It is a raw slice of Americana that reflects the prevailing attitudes and fears of the racial and social strata inhabited by its characters. The cast, script and cinematography melt into each other and form a world enough like our own to be believable yet different enough to be interesting. Like a cryptic parable, this movie makes the effort to get to the essence of it's characters by inducing experience rather than analysis. There are no moral lectures to be found here, no blatant attempts on the film's part to justify or vilify many of the protagonists' questionable actions. Despite morally nebulous characters and scenes of shocking brutality, Dragged never falls into the self-indulgent celebration of pure nihilism like so many other crime films, even in its darkest moments.
While Zahler's take on violence in his previous two films has inspired comparisons to Tarantino (and the influence is undeniable), the blood-spattered scenes of Dragged provoke a much different reaction from the audience than the ludicrous plantation shoot-out in Django. Typically, the first step in an action movie plot is to give the protagonist a moral justification to take action - an ethical license to kill, if you will - and then turn him loose upon his enemies and let the audience revel in a guilt-free display of hyperviolence. Dragged makes no use of this feel-good formula. Even though there is an excellent showdown in the third act where much needed retribution is handed out, the situation is still morally complicated. This film also features one of the most chilling antagonists since Anton Chigurh; a superbly ruthless burglar named Friedrich, played by Udo Kier. His savage and calculated marathon of violence is deeply unsettling, and his total lack of commentary is arguably more frightening than Chigurh's philosophical ramblings.
The cast in general is excellent. Vaughn and Gibson play their parts very well and the platonic chemistry between them is palpable. Jennifer Carpenter is a standout despite the brevity of her role, delivering an emotionally rich and authentic performance that lingers in the mind long after she is gone. The real star, however, is Tory Kittles as a principled thug pulled into a spider web of brutality and deception. Many of the characters in this film may seem familiar to fans of noir, but they never come off as predictable or formulaic - in fact, they feel intensely real.
Dragged takes itself very seriously but never quite falls into try-hard territory. Zahler masterfully blends elements of hyperreality and the mundane, creating a starkly unique and emotionally vivid film that occupies a niche all of it's own. A common criticism of Dragged is that the pacing is just too slow. The plot ignores conventional Hollywood structure and at points it seems to be hobbling along with the urgency of a tortoise. It is my opinion that certain areas of the film would improve if re-edited.
However, the overall pace and structure of the plot is part of what makes Dragged a unique and gripping film. The characters have room to breathe and be real. Zahler had total control over this movie, and he was clearly more concerned with telling the story his way than making an "approachable" flick. I'm very glad he did. I can't say I've ever seen a film quite like Dragged, but I do hope that I get to see more in the years to come.
Whether you are seriously interested in film or a casual movie-goer that enjoys noir thrillers, I urge you to give Dragged Across Concrete a chance and your undivided attention. It is a slow-burn noir that blazes into a white hot heat. I suspect that in the years to come, it will meet a similar reception to NW Refn's Drive - another gem of a film lambasted by viewers greedy for snappy entertainment rather than real art.