Hell or High Water (2016) - Outskirts men revolt in Mackenzie and Sheridan's excellent crime drama

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+ Best Car Movie of the Year + Best Heist Movie of the Year + Best Texas Movie of the Year

 

Earthy, bright hues color this poster for David Mackenzie's Hell or High Water

A couple of middle-aged brothers rob branches of a small Texan bank with an unknown purpose and get a soon to be retired ranger and his partner on their trail.

 

Hell or High Water is written by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario (2015)) and directed by David Mackenzie (The Last Great Wilderness (2002)).

It is a cool crime drama with affinity for 'the little man', - in this case the man from the country, who hasn't seen the progress of the new millennium but has instead just gotten poorer and exploited by the bank to boot. The film is rich in Texan flavor and characters and is led by four esteemed performances: Jeff Bridges (R.I.P.D. (2013)) and Gil Chesterton (Wind River (2017)) are funny as the friendly-teasing partners; Chris Pine (A Wrinkle in Time (2018)) is a torn up survivor, and Ben Foster (Inferno (2016)) goes head-first into his devil-may-care criminal character who has lost himself in the fringes and knows it, - a formidable performance.

The film is well shot (cinematography by Giles Nuttgens (Grain (2017))) with an eye for wide panoramas (that could make one expect a horse opera) and the big cars that stand out beautifully in this solid man's picture.

 

Related post:

 

David Mackenzie: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Hallam Foe/Mister Foe (2007) - Bell charms again in Mackenzie's flawed romantic drama

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: 37.9 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.15 times its cost)

[Hell or High Water premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard section) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place from May - July 2015 in New Mexico. The film opened #20 to a 621k $ first weekend in 20 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #8 and in 1,505 theaters (different weeks), grossing 27 mil. $ (71.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.1 mil. $ (5.5%) and France with 1.7 mil. $ (4.5 %). The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Picture to Moonlight, Supporting Actor (Bridges) to Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, Original Screenplay to Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea and Editing to Hacksaw Ridge. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs, won an AFI award, won 1/3 Independent Spirit awards, was nominated for 3 Golden Globes and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Mackenzie returned with Outlaw King (2018). Bridges returned in The Only Living Boy in New York (2017); Pine in Star Trek Beyond (2016); and Foster in Warcraft (2016). Hell or High Water is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hell or High Water?

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) - Øvredal's ascent to big budget moviemaking gets by on weird horror sequences

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Harold the scarecrow looms ominously in the corn patch on this poster for André Øvredal's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

At Halloween in small town Mill Valley, Pennsylvania in 1968, a group of youths break into a supposedly haunted house, where a book belonging to its sinister past resident Sarah is stolen, - and all hell breaks loose!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is written by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman 
(The Lego Movie (2014, story), both) and Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak (2015)), with Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton (Feast (2005), both) contributing story elements, based on the 3-title 1981-91 Scary Stories novel series by Alvin Schwartz (Stories to Tell a Cat), and directed by great Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal (Trollhunter (2010)).
It is a 'fun' horror movie made especially for the younger crowd, which lives on its horror sequences, which are carried out with energy and a deft grip on suspense and special effects. SPOILER My favorite sequence is the early one involving a character turning into the scarecrow seen on the poster above, which culminates in some disturbing, powerful imagery. A later sequence that is memorable is weird in a similar, nightmarish way, as another character gets absorbed by a hugging, doughy creature with an unsettlingly broad smile in a hospital. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark gets its points for these weird, horrific scenes, which also include a limb-twisting and tearing 'Jangly Man' towards the end that recalls The Thing (1982).
The story otherwise is a Goosebumps and It-reminiscent meeting of teen characters that look and feel much like present day youngsters dropped in a 1968 environment. The actors are adequate at best, and none of them are likely to make break-outs out of their turns here. This inhibits the film, and especially protagonist Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti (Wildlife (2018))) seems like just a staple character with boring guilt issues and an individual drive, which seems a bit forced onto her or perhaps more motivated by the filmmakers hope that she will lead a sequel. Her budding romance with fresh-faced Michael Garza (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)) never takes flight. Austin Zajur (Fist Fight (2017)) can make some very large intense eyes, and that technique is about it as far as his acting goes as the idiotic Chuck-character here.
The film is handsomely produced, and the plot has similarities with Øvredal's much better, far scarier preceding film, The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), in which an innocent woman was also wrongly accused of horrific things in the past, sparking grave consequences for people in the present. Here the creepy creature designs and horror sequences are what keep Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark afloat.

Related posts:

André Øvredal: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - Unusual, surprising, gory, horrifying indie horror  
Trollhunter/Trolljegeren/Troll Hunter/The Troll Hunter (2010) - Øvredal's hilarious found footage kaiju horror comedy

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 28 mil. $
Box office: Unknown - releasing now
[Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was released 7 August (Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan) and runs 108 minutes. CBS Films acquired the rights to the books in 2013. Shooting took place in Ontario, including Toronto, from August - November 2018. The film is predicted to lead a packed group of new releases this weekend to come in #3 with a 15-19 mil. $ opening weekend. It will need to gross more than 70 mil. $ to become successful, and likely more than 100 mil. $ before sequel plans may begin to come together. Øvredal is in post production on his next effort, adventure action fantasy movie Mortal (2020) starring Nat Wolff. Colletti returned in City on a Hill (2019, TV-series) and theatrically in A Boy Called Christmas (2020); Garza does not have an announced next gig yet. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is fresh at 80 % with a 6.21/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?

Faster (2010) - Tillman Jr., the Gayton brothers and Johnson sculpt a fantastic action movie

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5 Film Excess nominations:

Best Screenplay: Joe Gayton, Tony Gayton (lost to Christopher Nolan for Inception)
Best Cinematography: Michael Grady (lost to Wally Phister for Inception)
Best Sound (lost to Insidious) 
Best Editing (lost to Somewhere) 
Best Practical Effects (lost to Inception)

+ Best Car Movie of the Year

Dwayne Johnson's impressive front adorns this poster for George Tillman Jr.'s Faster

After ten years behind bars, a vengeful bank robbery driver gets released, carrying with him a list of his accursed enemies. But a contract killer is on his heels. - And just how much vengeance is justifiable?

Faster, written by brothers Tony and Joe Gayton (The Novice (2014), TV movie) and directed by great Wisconsinite filmmaker George Tillman Jr. (The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (2013)) is a brilliant, refreshing, old school action movie. It has an original storyline and exciting characters that feel new and avoid the stereotypical as well as cool but still relatively restrained dialog. Faster has smart twists and carries a moral jacket on itself, SPOILER which works and culminates in a fine desert-set scene with the film's terrific star Dwayne Johnson (Get Smart (2008)) and a priest played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)) going toe-to-toe. This film is my personal favorite with Johnson.
Faster is beautifully shot, by Michael Grady (The Jolly Man (2001)), efficiently produced, - getting a lot out of its relatively low budget, - and it has a cool score by Clint Mansell (Black Swan (2010)). It's got exciting cars and a cast to suit it all, featuring also the great Carla Gugino (The Unborn (2009)) and Billy Bob Thornton (Dead Man (1995)). Don't miss it.

Related posts:

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Here's an interview promo video for the movie

Cost: 24 mil. $
Box office: 35.6 mil. $
= Big flop
[Faster was released November 24 and runs 98 minutes. Salma Hayek dropped out a week prior to filming due to "scheduling conflicts" and was replaced by Gugino. Filming took place from February - April in in LA and other places in California. The film opened #7 to an 8.5 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 23.2 mil. $ (65.2 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 1.4 mil. $ (3.9 %) and Malaysia with 1.2 mil. $ (3.4 %). Faster is rotten at 43 % with a 4.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Faster?