Inherent Vice (2014) - Anderson turns in his career's first dud

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A psychedelic reproduction of star Joaquin Phoenix with a characteristic stoner look in rainbow colors make up most of this poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice

A hairy, uncool private investigator in 1970s Los Angeles gets a new, bewildering case, when his ex-girlfriend appears and sets his attention on the story of a disappeared real estate broker.

 

Inherent Vice is written, co-produced and directed by Californian master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight (1996)), whose 7th feature it is. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon (V. (1963)).

The driving narrative of the missing realtor never hooks us, and Inherent Vice looks and feels like an auteur who is verliebt in a time and a place, (1970s LA, where Anderson also set his Boogie Nights (1997)), but the result is never as fun, dramatic nor anything approaching exciting as it was supposed to be. Technically the film is beautiful, with a cool back alley cat attitude, which clashes with Joaquin Phoenix (Her (2013)) booby performance in the lead role, providing moments of measured mirth. This while a parade of stars come and go before the master's camera. Anderson with Inherent Vice is beating on an empty drum in an overlong running time to boot. It is a deadly bore.

 

Related posts:

Paul Thomas Anderson: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Phantom Thread (2017) - Anderson's exquisite drama of an English dressmaker and his Alma 

The Master (2012) - Anderson's stunning post-war reflection 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Punch-Drunk Love (2002) - Sandler breaks out of his routine in Anderson's delightful romcom

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Boogie Nights (1997) - Anderson's irresistible porn 'Casino'

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Hard Eight (1996) - Anderson debuts with downbeat crime drama

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 14.8 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.74 times its cost)

[Inherent Vice premiered 4 October (New York Film Festival) and runs 149 minutes. Shooting took place from May - August 2013 in California, including in Los Angeles, and in Las Vegas, Nevada. The film opened #20 to a 328k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 653 theaters (different weeks), grossing 8.1 mil. $ (54.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Italy with 707k $ (4.8 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay, lost to Graham Moore for The Imitation Game, and Costume Design, lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won an Independent Spirit award and 2 National Board of Review awards, among many others. Anderson returned with 8 music videos and a documentary prior to his theatrical return with Phantom Thread (2017). Phoenix returned in Irrational Man (2015). Inherent Vice is fresh at 74 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Inherent Vice? 

Insomnia (2002) - Nolan hones filmmaking skills with solid thriller

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+ Best Alaska Movie of the Year + Best Detective Movie of the Year + Best Remake of the Year

 

A gloomy darkness and a feeling of dread hangs over this poster for Christopher Nolan's Insomnia

Two LAPD homicide detectives are sent to a remote part of Alaska to investigate the murder of a teenage girl, but things go haywire in the almost ceaseless daylight of the extreme North.

 

Insomnia is written by Hillary Seitz (Early Bird Special (2001)) and directed by English master filmmaker Christopher Nolan (Following (1998)), whose 3rd feature it is. It is a remake of Erik Skjoldbjærg's same-titled 1997 Norwegian film.

An excellent 'little' thriller, Insomnia sports a masterful Al Pacino (The Irishman (2019)) and Robin Williams (Jumanji (1995)), who is good here in an unusual villainous part as a bestial murderer with inferiority complexes. The film also distinguishes itself with its insomnia theme, which is illustrated cinematically in Pacino's character's increasing confusion along with the entire plot, which is generally credible. Perhaps except for the spectacular Hollywood-type ending. (Although this is not to say that the film would be better off without said ending.)

 

Related posts:

Christopher Nolan: 2023 in films - according to Film Excess 

Oppenheimer (2023) - Nolan treats aficionados of history, politics, science - and cinema 

2020 in films - according to Film Excess

Tenet (2020) - Nolan blows smoke up your ass 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2017 in films - according to Film Excess 
Dunkirk (2017) - Nolan champions cinema with masterful war movie  

Top 10: Best future-set movies
Interstellar (2014) - Nolan heads to space in opulent, exciting epic
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or, Batman and the Storm, Darkness, Anarchy, Evil, Depression
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  
Inception (2010) - Nolan's best is a grand piece of action sci-fi, perfectly awesome nonsense 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
The Dark Knight (2008) - Nolan's best Batman 

The Prestige (2006) - Nolan's overrated magician picture 
Batman Begins (2005) or, Modern, Dark, Smooth Batman 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Memento (2000) - Nolan's overrated amnesia mindfuck   
Following (1998) - Nolan's ineffectual debut

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 46 mil. $

Box office: 113.7 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.47 times its cost)

[Insomnia premiered 3 May (Tribeca Film Festival, New York) and runs 118 minutes. Pacino was paid 11 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from April - June 2001 in Alaska and British Columbia. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Spider-Man, to a 20.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell out of the top 5 in its 2nd weekend, grossing 67.3 mil. $ (59.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.8 mil. $ (6.9 %) and Japan with 7 mil. $ (6.2 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Nolan returned with Batman Begins (2005). Pacino returned in S1m0ne (2002); Williams in The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2003, TV movie) and Freedom: A History of US (2003, TV-series) prior to his theatrical return in The Final Cut (2004); and Hilary Swank (The Hunt (2020)) in The Space Between (2002, short) and theatrically in The Core (2003). Insomnia is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Insomnia?

The Nice Guys (2016) - Good fun in Black's period buddy offering

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In warm, earthy tones and ocean blue, the two stars look inviting on this poster for Shane Black's The Nice Guys

In 1970s Los Angeles, a policeman and a private detective join forces on a case they share; of a murdered porn actress and a disappeared girl named Amelia.

 

The Nice Guys is written by Anthony Bagarozzi (Big Bad John (1990, electrician)) and co-writer/director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)).

Russell Crowe (Gladiator (2000)) and Ryan Gosling (Fracture (2007)) work impeccably as buddies, and there's no lack of fun situations and lines that spark nicely, - even if I still find it tough to link Gosling's baby face with a part as the single father of a teenage girl...

Shane obviously enjoys the moral licenses he takes by placing his plot in the grimy 70s' LA. The outcome of the gnarly, long plot is limited, but the film entertains brilliantly along the way.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 62.7 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.25 times its cost)

[The Nice Guys premiered 10 May (Los Angeles) and runs 116 minutes. Black and Bagarozzi had written the first script in 2001, and the film had been envisioned as a TV-series in the lengthy timespan before Black took it out again and secured financing, because Crowe and Gosling both signed on to play together, each for a salary of "more than 7 mil. $". Shooting took place around October 2014 in Georgia, including in Atlanta, and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release The Angry Birds Movie, holdover hit Captain America: Civil War and new release Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, to a 11.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 36.2 mil. $ (57.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 4.9 mil. $ (7.8 %) and Australia with 4.3 mil. $ (6.9 %). Black returned with The Predator (2018). Crowe returned in Saturday Night Live (2016, TV-series) and theatrically in The Mummy (2017); Gosling in La La Land (2016). The Nice Guys is certified fresh at 91 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Nice Guys? 

Seven (1995) - Fincher triumphs with evil avenging serial killer landmark

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The Biblical deadly sins make up a twisted check list on this grimy, trendsetting poster for David Fincher's Seven

A major city is haunted by a serial killer, who chooses his victims based on the seven deadly sins as outlined in the Bible, and detective Somerset, who was otherwise well on his way towards well-deserved retirement, is put on the case together with the young idealistic detective Mills.

 

Seven is written by Andrew Kevin Walker (Brainscan (1994)) and directed by great Coloradan filmmaker David Fincher (Alien 3 (1992)). 

It is likely one of the best films of the 1990s as well as among the best serial killer thrillers of all time. The quartet of Brad Pitt (Kalifornia (1993)), Morgan Freeman (Kiss the Girls (1997)), Kevin Spacey (The Negotiator (1998)) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Infamous (2006)) are all excellent here, and Fincher's knack for balancing stylization and realism makes Seven a very convincing study of a sadist psychopath. Darius Khondji (The Interpreter (2005)) did the phenomenal cinematography.

The effects of each scene in the thrilling story are optimized, forcing us to the edges of our seats, without the brutal violence ever taking place directly on the screen. Rob Bottin's prosthetics and effects do their part, and our imagination takes us the rest of the way. 

Seven packs dazzling suspense, and it is a pioneer in the (depraved) 'genius serial killer' subgenre, where we (misanthropically) are fascinated by the jigsaw logic of a mass murderer.

 

Related posts:

 

David Fincher: Gone Girl (2014) - Fincher's acerbic, capable murder of marriage 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - Fincher's Nordic noir is technically astute but overlong and redundant

The Social Network (2010) - Fincher's a-hole biopic leaves me cold (and more anti-Facebook than ever) 

The Game (1997) - Douglas shines in Fincher's cool mystery-thriller ride 

Alien 3 (1992) or, The Monsters Go to Jail!

 

 

Watch a short TV spot for the film here

Cost: 33 mil. $

Box office: 327.3 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 9.91 times its cost)

[Seven premiered 15 September (New York) and runs 127 minutes. Pitt was paid 4 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from December 1994 - February 1995 in California, including in Los Angeles. SPOILER Pitt and Fincher fought the studio bosses to shoot and retain the 'head-in-the-box' ending scene. The film opened #1 to a 13.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 3 weekends and spent a fourth still in the top 5 (#3), grossing 100.1 mil. $ (30.9 % of the total gross). The film was the 7th highest-grossing of the year. It was nominated for one Oscar, for Best Editing, lost to Apollo 13. It was also nominated for a BAFTA and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #19 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Seven Samurai (1954). Fincher returned with a music video and a commercial before his theatrical return with The Game (1997). Pitt returned in 12 Monkeys (1995); Freeman in Moll Flanders (1996). Seven is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Seven?

Fallen (1998) - Strong cast in Hoblit's sub-par supernatural thriller

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Co-star Denzel Washington's visage hangs in the lowest part of this eerie, effective poster for Gregory Hoblit's Fallen

After detective Hobbes has seen his newly caught serial killer catch pass away in the electric chair, a new murderer strikes, leaving mysterious clues with connections to the executed killer and a hidden past ...

Fallen is written by Nicholas Kazan (Mobsters (1991)) and directed by Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear (1996)).

Following an effective beginning, in which Elias Koteas (Let Me In (2010)) is seriously disgusting as the doomed criminal, (SPOILER who smokes a lot when he 'fries'), the film lives well on having brought together the stellar team of John Goodman (Treme (2010-11)), James Gandolfini (Surviving Christmas (2004)) and Donald Sutherland (Ordeal by Innocence (1984)) as colleagues to protagonist Denzel Washington (The Hurricane (1999)), who is well-acting throughout the increasingly wacky supernatural thriller.

Embeth Davidtz (Simon Magus (1999) gives a poor performance with a constant sad-face as the woman with knowledge of the past, which she is reluctant to reveal. SPOILER It all comes down to something about a malevolent soul, who changes body by touch! Fallen regrettably also becomes overlong as it explores its mumbo jumbo material.

 

Related posts:

Gregory Hoblit: Fracture (2007) - Gosling and Hopkins have it out in Hoblit's solid thriller 

Primal Fear (1996) - Hoblit's law thriller works due to a strong plot and great performances 

 

Washington gives a 4-minute interview about the film here

 

Cost: 46 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 25.2 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.76 times its cost)

[Fallen was released 1 January (Romania) and runs 124 minutes. Washington was paid 12 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from October 1996 - January 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, California, including Los Angeles, New Jersey and New York. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Titanic and fellow new release Good Will Hunting, to a 10.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 25.2 mil. $. Regrettably the international gross numbers are not available. The 0.76 times return rests on a likely 35 mil. $ world total - a number which could also be higher. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Hoblit returned with Frequency (2000). Washington returned in He Got Game (1998); Goodman in The Big Lebowski (1998); and Sutherland in Without Limits (1998). Fallen is rotten at 40 % with a 5.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fallen?

The Glimmer Man (1996) or, The Turkey Man

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+ Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year 

 

 

The two male stars hold guns and look tough in a blueish light, surrounded by darkness, on this poster for John Gray's The Glimmer Man

An odd couple of LAPD homicide detectives are up against a highly active serial killer with a religious spin on his misdeeds.

 

The Glimmer Man is written by Kevin Brodbin (Mindhunters (2004)) and directed by John Gray (Footlights and Flatfeet (1984)).

Se7en (1995) meets 48 Hrs. (1982) in this abomination, a thoroughly uninspired, poorly erected construction filled with racial stereotypes and clumsy attempts at humor. The stars, Steven Seagal (The Onion Movie (2008)) and Keenan Ivory Wayans (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)) exude no qualities together on-screen.

The Glimmer Man has the obligatory fights, which with their awkward moves will delight some Seagal fans, as he here sports Asian dresses and pearls with no explanation offered. The giant explosions are also on hand here, but The Glimmer Man is still a bottom of the barrel turkey.

 

Related post:

 

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a very short TV spot for the movie here

 

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 20.3 mil. $ - North America only

= Uncertain, but probably a huge flop

[The Glimmer Man was released 4 October (USA) and runs 92 minutes. Tommy Lee Jones dropped out of playing the villain part shortly before shooting; Brian Cox took over. Shooting took place from February - May 1996 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #2, behind The First Wives Club, to a 7.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its second week and grossed 20.3 mil. $. The-Numbers.com claims that the film made 16 mil. $ internationally, which would give it a 36.3 mil. $ final gross and designate it a huge flop. Gray returned with 9 TV movies, miniseries and TV-series before his theatrical return with White Irish Drinkers (2010)). Seagal returned in Roseanne (1996, TV-series) and theatrically in Fire Down Below (1997); Wayans in Most Wanted (1997). The Glimmer Man is rotten at 11 % with a 3.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Glimmer Man?

Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Ritchie's unappealing morass

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Robert Downey Jr. is gelled up and stares out as a man who knows he is a super-star on this well-made poster for Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes

Holmes, the highly gifted London detective with the heightened senses, is reluctantly in the process of losing his companion Dr. Watson to a female, all the while he fights the feared Lord Blackwood.

Sherlock Holmes is written by Michael Robert Johnson (Pompeii (2014)), Anthony Peckham (Silo 3 Jane (1995)) and Simon Kinberg (Jumper (2008)), based on a story by Johnson and Lionel Wigram (The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)), in turn based on the legendary character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the first story with Holmes was printed in 1887). The film is directed by Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)).
If you favor Ritchie's brand of postmodernist, hot-air-bloated, Quentin Tarantino-cramming style, you'll devour Sherlock Holmes raw. I don't, and I mostly see here a plot that has the refinement and depth of a weak children's movie, which gets blown up and served to fully grown adults.
Robert Downey Jr. (Lucky You (2007)) and Jude Law's (Black Sea (2014)) banter here, deliberately fashioned to bear the likeness of two old lovers quarrelling, can be diverting, - but regrettably the tension remains coy subtext. Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers (2005)) is pretty but has little to do in the film.
Holmes is now a champion boxer, and although his fistfights look cool, it is still incredible that Downey Jr. should damage one of literature's most alluring figures like this.
The sound design and mix are excellent, but Sherlock Holmes is too long and is also marred by an enormous faith in CGI, which give large parts of the film an unreal, ghastly look.

Related post:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 90 mil. $
Box office: 524 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.82 times its cost)
[Sherlock Holmes premiered 14 December (London, UK) and runs 129 minutes. Shooting took place in England, including London, and in New York from October 2008 - January 2009. The film opened #2, behind Avatar, to a 62.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the Top 5 (#2-#2-#5) and grossed 209 mil. $ (39.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 39.7 mil. $ (7.6 %) and Italy with 26.9 mil. $ (5.1 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Score (Hans Zimmer (The Road of Love (2017))), lost to Michael Giacchino for Up, and Art Direction, lost to Avatar. It won a Golden Globe and was nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. The film has additionally made in excess of 44.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. Ritchie, Downey Jr., Law and McAdams returned with sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), with similar success, and Downey and Law are set to return with a fresh director for a 3rd film, set to release in 2021. Ritchie made short Un Rendez-vous (2010) before the Holmes sequel. Downey Jr. returned first in Iron Man 2 (2010); Law in Arena (2010, TV-series documentary) and theatrically in Repo Men (2010); McAdams in Morning Glory (2010), and Mark Strong (Revolver (2005)) in Kick-Ass (2010). Sherlock Holmes is fresh at 69 % with a 6.22/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sherlock Holmes?

Saint John of Las Vegas (2009) - Slight deadpan comedy debut unduly dumped

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+ Best Las Vegas Movie of the Year

Splashy graphics with three of the film's stars on this poster give a vague sense of the luck-centered story of Hue Rhodes' Saint John of Las Vegas

John is addicted to gambling, and his vice gets an opportunity to soar when he heads on a trip to Las Vegas and its surrounding area to uncover insurance scams. He also has a new, sweet girlfriend, but the itch to gamble just won't leave his hands...

Saint John of Las Vegas is written and directed by feature-debuting Hue Rhodes (Practice (2006, short)). It is a funny little deadpan-comedic flick with a high Vegas quality to it. Rhodes has screwed it together well, - and gotten Steve Buscemi (The Messenger (2009)) to co-produce and play the title character, protagonist John, whom Buscemi inhabits with gusto.
Romany Malco (Top Five (2014)) looks good in any project, here in an undefinable partner part. There are fine, original characters at play here, even if the film is basically slight.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2 mil. $
Box office: 111k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.05 times its cost)
[Saint John of Las Vegas premiered 10 June (Cinevegas Film Festival, Las Vegas) and runs 85 minutes. Rhodes had come into contact with co-producer Spike Lee (Pass Over (2018)) as an NYU film student and later Buscemi and co-producer Stanley Tucci (Medora (2013, documentary)). Shooting took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in Las Vegas, Nevada. The film opened #52 to a 21k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #50 and in 14 theaters, grossing 102k $ (91.9 % of the total gross). The only other market for it was Russia with 9k $. The catastrophic performance of the film seems to have stubbed out Rhodes' budding career, although CinemaBlend's interview with him around the time of its release reads enthusiastically that "it certainly won't be his last." He has had no credit since. Buscemi returned with a voice performance in G-Force (2009) and physically in Youth in Revolt (2009); Malco in Bored to Death (2009, TV-series), Off Duty (2009, TV movie) and theatrically in Gulliver's Travels (2010). Saint John of Las Vegas is rotten at 23 % with a 4.28/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Saint John of Las Vegas?