Killing Them Softly (2012) Dominik - This is the follow-up to the beautiful and compelling the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Some amateur criminals stick up a card game, causing more professional mobster hitman to get involved. The setting seems to be Detroit or a similarly destitute place, and the place looks haunting. Annoyingly, Dominik decided to intersperse the violent plot with speeches from Obama in his pre-presidential days to make a clumsy political/economic connection. Also, I found the music to be much too on the nose, creating an overall heavy-handed effect. 6/10
In Home
Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) Firstenberg - Super ridiculous, but fun sequel where the breakdancers must work together to save the local community center. Also, Turbo tries to win over a girl, and Kelly sacrifices ballet opportunities in France to help out her friends. The best! 8/10
Dark Horse (2012) Solondz - A loser 30-something works and lives with his parents. His younger brother is significantly more handsome and successful, leaving Abe to be the "dark horse" in the family. He starts an unlikely relationship with a woman that he meets at a wedding, and almost immediately proposes marriage to her. Things continue to get weirder and darker as the film progresses, all though I don't know why you would expect anything different from Solondz. 6/10
In Time (2011) Niccol - A Logan's Run-styled theme from a director that I know most fondly for my adolescent favorite Gattaca. You can tell that it's the same guy for the look of the film, the obsession with class differences in a future setting, and yet another pivotal nude ocean swim. In the future, time becomes our currency. They stop aging at 25, but only get to continue living if they earn more time by working, gambling, or stealing. Will Salas gets a century from a man trying to commit suicide. After leaving the ghetto, he gets involved with an heiress, and the two go on a Robin Hood-type spree. 7/10
Snowtown Murders (2012) Kurzel - A true story about a series of murders in Australia, unique because the killer was charismatic enough to get other people to help him. This film is really depressing, and takes more than a while to get going. Initially, we see three young boys getting taken advantage of by a neighborhood pedophile. The oldest boy is 16 and understandably wants some sort of revenge - an opportunity that becomes available through his mother's boyfriend, the killer. Just overall, this film doesn't add up to much of anything. 5/10
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