It feels like a director swinging out of his shoes for a home run that doesn’t completely land—and that’s not the insult it may sound like—it’s ambitious—but I also think ultimately Guadanino’s 4th best film to date- and he’s not PT Anderson so that’s a letdown after 2017’s brilliant Call Me By Your Name Swinton’s casting in multiple roles here seems a bit gratuitous and flexy—she should be Madame Blanc- great- she’s awesome as it- she’s become a veteran at playing these powerful figures—but it’s a bit distracting to see her in the other two roles It’s about the

Argento borrows from Bava, Hitchcock and Polanski (not to mention a whole heaping of German Expressionism) but this is it- a full-fledged masterpiece of the highest order and surely one of cinema’s most beautiful films Splendid Eastman Colour 35mm Argento’s 6th film- he never touched this level (or really was that close) before or after Horror sub-genre “Giallo” (gore, eroticism, emphasis on visuals over story/dialogue, dubbing, paranoia, beautiful women, elaborate deaths) We have the florescent lighting and the rock score by Argento and the band Goblin set it apart- apparently Argento played it full blast on the set of

A magnificent narrative (Academy Award screenplay win) fueled by Crowe’s best work as a director, a perfect (or near- I have one nitpick) rock soundtrack, and tremendous ensemble performances Deserved supporting actress noms from both Frances McDormand (who turns a cliché (the over-protective mother) into a person), and the luminous Kate Hudson The ensemble is a who’s who and Crowe deserves credit for assembling them (PSH and McDormand are two of the greatest of all-time and he has them here in their prime in key supporting performances)—Billy Crudup is perfect but you have Fairuza Balk, Zooey Deschanel--- the one

April 2017 It’s certainly one of the most situation of situation comedies but it’s a hilarious take on nature vs. nurture A very strong comedic cast led by Eddie Murphy and Aykroyd Great visual gags like the pictures of Regan and Nixon pictures next to the evil Ameche and Bellamy characters An even better visual set piece is the pictures of the club members in the giant senate-like hall where all the powers that be gather The casting of Bellamy and Ameche themselves are nods to fish out of water type screwball comedies. Bellamy’s is his girl friday and

Jacques Audiard is a narrative master- he zags when you think he’s going to zag—from A Prophet to Rust and Bone he bends genres—watching The Sister Brothers here I was enjoying the hell out of having absolutely no idea where he was going It ends with a wonderful simulated (ala Birdman but closer cousins to I, Tonya tracking shot of the two brothers at home—I think Reilly himself is in the “shot” three times—it’s a great shot-perfectly sets the mood- Idyllic semi-happy ending after so much harshness- sublime Complex, funny, these are four well-rounded characters and it’s an excellent,