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davidshirley
Reviews
Nighthawks (2019)
10/10 for Chiseled Jawlines 1/10 for everything else.
Dialog bounces between the vocabulary of the educated to the heavy expository that screams, "We're so smart we have to say it all again at a second grade reading level so all the idiots in the audience will understand." When the dialog switches to narrative from expository it is unnatural, boring, stiff, despite trying to make it flow like genuine conversations that have curiosity and care.
The acting is just as pretentious. The characters are generic stereotypes. No one character really breaks into the dynamic, making them stalely familiar caricatures of what we've seen in pop-television for decades. While the actors try to bring life to the cardboard standees they have been hired to play, they could have been replaced with household utensils or LEGO bricks and the film would have accomplished the same effect.
It doesn't take long for the film to devolve into clear expression of the writer's views of Hollywood culture and elitism in filmmaking with a kind of bait and switch plot device that ultimately fails to bring anything of substance or intrigue to the film.
I'm rather convinced the writer of this film heralds themselves as the next Tarantino or Cohen Bro with a Shakespearean twist, and unfortunately they are not.
The one interesting aspect of the film is the use of color pallets. In all the flashback narrative nonsense the narrator is shrouded in the same color lighting as he is in the present narrative of the film, while the other characters are not. It's a nice touch. So props for that.
On the Road (2012)
I am not exactly sure what happened.
I will admit that I walked into this film knowing nothing about it. It was the only film with English dialog at the moment here in Brazil. What I found was one of the worse films I have ever seen. Granted, I had no idea what to expect. The acting was pretty good, even though I would not say that e film required very strenuous acting. With the exception of a few scenes I felt completely disengaged from the actors on screen and spent the whole time waiting to see someone face some consequences other than the breaking of friendships and those friendships lacked a lot of true substance in my opinion. If I had seen this film alone I would have walked out after the first 30 minutes, the subject matter was just not something that I care to see or can relate to. I understand that it is in many ways a period piece and statement about a certain culture but I found this film to ultimately be a waste of time and money. Which is sad considering the cast comprised of some amazing actors.