The Killer, David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Winter’s Bone, Full Time, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

- The Killer [2023] - 60

David Fincher’s 2023 outing, The Killer, is a bit of an odd duck. Fassbender is great to watch, the film handles a noir narration in perfect stride, and each of the individual plot elements are well executed and interesting… but it somehow wraps all this up into a boring, tedious, and narratively confusing package. It’s kind of a revenge thriller like John Wick and kind of a slow-burn meditative satire about “the daily grind” and what it takes to get ahead like… movie titles that are escaping me right now… but it doesn’t quite commit to either lane and just ends up a chattering mass, instead of something interesting or meaningful. The Killer is a little like a puzzle that you put together blank side up — putting the pieces together by fitting their unique shapes into matching slots — only to turn it around at the end and have a halfway decent picture of fruit in a bowl. Fun to have been a part of, but ultimately unsatisfying and confusing why you bothered.

- David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived [2023] - -

To get the rating out of the way, I really don’t know how to rate documentaries… especially tragic ones. David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived is a documentary that follows the eponymous man himself — Daniel Radcliffe’s stuntman during the filming of the Harry Potter franchise — and the injury that changed his life. It’s a celebration of his art and a beautiful confluence of those he’s touched and the struggles he’s overcome to be the person he still gets to be. It’s memorable as a look behind the curtain of one of my generation’s core franchises, and important because of the great person David is and the life that was torn away from him by a mismanaged stunt… which is what makes it difficult to rate or criticize. To try, however: I’m glad I watched this and spent time with Daniel, David, and the others who made this possible but, though it’s a great human interest story, I don’t think it’s one that will greatly move those not already connected to the Harry Potter brand.

- Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011] - 72

I’ve been trying to chew through Rolling Stone’s “The Top 40 Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century” for the last couple of years… somehow I just keep getting distracted by other things. While Rise isn’t on there, Dawn is so, I figured I’d just watch all three of these again as I haven’t seen them since they came out. They’re uh… decent? Rise is a mostly bland and forgettable experience, who’s special effects mostly look “just fine” in 2023, and doesn’t really have major “issues” perse… except for all the logistical nonsense of keeping a lab ape in your home. The movie is so milk-toast that it really could have just been an intro sequence for the sequel film and nothing would be lost… mostly. It’s banality is unfortunate because there is one really excellent scene that sort of requires all the build up before to matter… but the movie itself isn’t really worth its 100-minute runtime.

- Winter’s Bone [2010] - 91

This is a film that’s skirted my radar for a long time and, as is Thanksgiving tradition, we gathered around to watch something sad and serious this year. Winter’s Bone is a difficult movie to compare to anything else. Not necessarily because of some wholly original plot or wacky creativity; just in its authenticity and believability. It tells the story of a small town, its troubles, its truths, and what happens with those boundaries and lines start to become blurred by need. It’s a little flat, but it’s meant to be, and it’s a little cold, but that’s wholly intentional. Definitely a film worth watching when you won’t be disturbed or distracted, Winter’s Bone is something that calls for a gentle focus and care that most others don’t really earn or require.

- Full Time [2021] - 85

A French film about the tribulations of a single mother figuring out how to commute to the city during major transit strikes, Full Time is a journey that examines the coldness of business and the lack of regard our world has for the human experience. Can’t make a corporate omelet without cracking a few people. While mostly transparent in plot, this isn’t really a mystery to begin with, and the performances and pacing of the story make up for the lack of intrigue. Though the ending is a little tidy, the execution and portrayal of the weight our “work to show your worth” world puts on people definitely earns your time.

- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes [2014] - 64

Now for the movie that actually is on Rolling Stone’s list. Uh… this one is not very good. The effects look arguably better as a whole with some seriously standout set pieces, but the story is stupider in every way and the film is 20-minutes longer… which equates to something like 4-weeks of my life with how empty the plot was. I’m not really sure why the decision was made to up the runtime from the first film, but I sure wish it wasn’t. While Rise is a mostly forgettable and kind of goofy story, Dawn is basically just one big logic fault from start to finish that requires a lot of the viewer in terms of leniency. Fine enough as a piece of “dinner and scrolling your social media” entertainment, so far this franchise is hardly something I’d ever recommend. I guess I’m already this far, so I’ll pick up War sometime this week…